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What's my ideal music server? Read and recommend please

Right now I use a MacBook Pro as my server, and it drives my DAC. My MacBook Pro is getting cranky, it's storage is so full I don't have space to do a current Mac update and I am beginning to think better sound quality can be achieved than a MacBook Pro via USB to a DAC. I use JRiver media center, v.27, and right now, my JRiver and MacBook Pro aren't working properly together as I keep loosing the proper MIDI setting and get no audio output.

I'm aware of the Aurender N100H. I know that uses a USB output and I'm starting to wonder if USB is my best bet. Then I see the Aurender N100C which has a digital coax out, but that output is derived from the USB, so what's the point?

My wish list- probably no less than 2 TB storage; got to be easy to use in terms of getting music into it and playing music (downloading music from say HDTracks to JRiver is the bleeding edge of my technical skills); sound quality has to be first rate. I would also be interested in a server that has a BNC output, as a regular coaxial output can never be a true 75 ohm connection but a BNC can be. 

So- what should I have on my short list? Recommend away please, and thanks-
zavato

Showing 2 responses by cerrot

cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
I went from a PC based set up to an Aurender N10 and the N10 blew it away in both ease of use, lack of needing to be a network admin to get things going, and a definite sound improvement.  I would KEEP AWAY from USB at ANY and ALL costs as the USB interface truly sucks from a sound perspective.  USB is effected by almost every computer process which causes jitter and other digital remnants that you don't want going through your dac.  
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
@mgrif104 That is the problem - USB is system dependent on the computer.  That's the power supply, USB bridge, drivers, operating system and a whole other bunch of stuff. I have been playing with computer audio for 20 years or so.  USB is effected by many things but predominately the power supply and the Operating System (window uses IRQ settings which is what tells the keyboard to work when you use that ad the mouse when you grab that).  All sounds simple but creates havoc on the usb bus.  I had gone so far as to replacing computer power supplies with outboard power supplies with 5,000 microfarad capacitors it was still not up to sounding acceptable to my ears.  I added an ES @ Juliet sound card with spdif out and the sound was excellent - no comparison.  I also used MAC G5 and USB still sounded (to my ears) like crap.  USB was created for peripherials, not to feed multi thousand dollar dacs. You can hook up a mouse and keyboard, printer and even a scanner but please don't hook up a good dac.
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