Music Server vs. PC vs. Transport vs. ?

The first thing to determine is what interface you like and want to use, as well as your family. I would run the demo at:
http://www.sonos.com

The mass-produced music servers like the Sonos, Squeezebox and certainly the AirPort Express all have high level of jitter IMO. However, these can all be transformed into perfect sources with a device called a Pace-Car. It is a low-jitter reclocker. This way you get the great user experience as well as a world-class digital source. Then you will need a good DAC to feed the digital source into. There is a PAce-Car and AirPort Exress combo being given away on enjoythemusic.com. All you have to do is subscribe to their mailing list to be entered into the giveaway.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer

How refreshing, another self serving post from Steve N. advertising his products.

Okay, thanks to all! Every post so far taught me a little sometin sometin. Unless I am a lazy, slothful b@stard, I don't get a server, I get a computer. I always wanted a Mac, just to compare, so I get a very good quality Mac,it probably has an easy interface for the iPOD. The more I think about it, I am not sure I want or need to stream audio or xm if all my stuff is on a harddrive. I get two extra harddrives, and a couple of minis if I want internet streaming. So the only question left seems to be how best to get the output of the computer in hi-rez to the dac. I do have 101e's after all, they are discerning of things like jitter and high infedelity. Anything not right I get to hear. One thing about the mac solution I like, the kids are a bit scared of the stereo, but if it is iTunes and a computer, I may never get to listen again:) When I work, I always have a computer by me anyways. Now then, if the mac sucks, I know I need to do something about the interface. Then I go try a re-clocker, or dare I say it.. have all the units run off of one rubidium clock that has multiple inphase outputs. Have to go in and modify the Mac, but I would imagine just a matter of finding the clock and bypassing it with an external clock signal. Seems like if the transport (of whatever type, and the dac are slaved off of one clock that has multi inphase outputs, the jitter problem should be very minimalized. All of this is still a hell of a lot cheaper than say, an MBL transport.

Cheers to all so far, and thank you much for taking the time to help educate me.

Best,
Chris

Good one Kana - and now for something completely different...

So here is the deal Chris. You are dealing with two issues here - hardware and software. A "music server" bundles (combines) hardware and software to make a theoretically easy to use application. Naturally there are all sorts of costs associated with same, and while they are handy, most people on these boards choose to roll their own.

The easiest way to make your own server is to get a Mac and use iTunes, which is Apple software that comes free with the Mac. iTunes enables you to rip (take the contents of a CD and put them on disk), add metadata (additional information such as album art), and create playlists. It also lets you do a lot of other things that you might like including video, audible.com, and radio.

The beauty piece of this is that the same library that works for your reference system can also be used for your iPods. (Though Apple Lossless will fill up your iPod faster then AAC)

There are a variety of ways to get the data from the Mac to the DAC. You need to consider what I call the lifestyle parameters - how many places in the house do you want access etc.

Again one iTunes library can support several different approaches - for example a USB DAC or USB to SPDIF converter for your reference room, and a bunch of ethernet or wireless devices (eg Squeezebox and Airport Express) in other rooms.

As far as the USB options, there are several. The most basic are devices like the HagUSB from Hagerman Technology.
This is a box that you plug the USB cable coming from your Mac into, it converts the USB to SPDIF and then on to your DAC.

The best stuff bypasses SPDIF entirely and uses a protocol called I2S. The Wavelength products use this approach and they are excellent though not inexpensive.

Do some searches in this Forum, as well as the PC Forum on Audio Asylum - everything you need to know is easily found. This is no longer hard, and the results are spectacular - both acoustically and from a convenience perspective.

Chris, get a Mac (my preference), or a PC. The beauty is that once you've ripped all of your CD's, your music can be easily manipulated in any number of ways depending on what system you use, or will use in the future. Your music is suddenly future proof!

Want to use a PC as a music server? No problem. Prefer a Mac? Again no problem. Your music collection can be easily changed to Apple formats, or vice-versa. Need a remote? --any number of devices can be used as a family friendly remote.

The learning curve for PC's is a bit steep, at least it was for me. But if you go PC, there's a ton of free software: rippers, players, upsampling software, etc. available. The Mac is easier and more intuitve of course, but less customizable, although that's changing rapidly.

I started with a PC using EAC to rip and Foobar as my player. Now, I use a Macbook with Apple's Front Row media software and the Apple remote (both included with the Macbook). I have every CD in my coolection available to me in a few clicks of the remote, and the major bonus is that it sounds fantastic!

I couldn't be happier. Good Luck!