2. pc-audio
  3. 1147036039

The basics of PC audio

Some questions for you:

Assuming you have the PCU (in my case, a Mac Mini) near the stereo, with a USB DAC coming out of that into the preamp (or do you have it configured some other way?):

a) What does one do with the monitor--perhaps run an extra long cord and put it away from the system to keep the RF from feeding into the audio?

b) Can the CPU be placed far enough from the preamp to where RF from it won't affect the sound of the system?

c) What about using Apple AirPort Express and AirTunes and running a USB DAC out of that into the preamp; are there any advantages/disadvantages to that sonically vs. having the CPU feeding directly into the DAC?

d) Suppose you buy music from the iTunes store in MP3 form. Can it be converted to aiff or some other "lossless" format such that you'll wind up with a high quality file? Or does the fact that it was already converted to MP3 doom it to sonic mediocrity?

e) How quickly are USB DACs improving in quality? I don't want to buy a DAC and have it be obselete the next year.

I appreciate your answers.

Thanks,

Matt
descartes

Showing 1 response by descartes

descartes OP
16 posts
 
I appreciate the responses. I hadn't realized that there's no going back from an MP3; though now that I think about it, it's very reasonable. Given that all I have are MP3s right now (and I have lots of them), the DAC on Airport Express should be more than adequate, I should think? Or, perhaps even the DAC in my laptop via the headphone jack would be adequate?

Thanks again,

Matt
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