[DGoosen]

Here's a shot in the dark ... I'm currently using an Esoteric C-O2 pre amp and a Burmester 089 cd player. I'm looking into getting an Esoteric player to replace the Burmester. I like the Burmester, but would like to be able to control both the pre amp and player with a single remote. 
 
Now the questions:
I'm looking at the K-O1xd and the K-O1x as contenders.  Can anyone comment on whether or not there's much of a sonic difference between the two?
It looks like the remote I have can control the K-O1x and the C-O2 pre amp. Don't know if there's a remote that can control the C-O2 and the K-O1xd?
Any information you can pass on will be much appreciated,

[Danny Richie]

At one time I had a pretty top level CEC transport to an external DAC. It was considered one of the best transports out there, and I could then use it with a number of different DAC's.

Then my buddies walked in with a stock Mac Mini and we A/B'ed it to the CEC transport. My CEC transport got crushed, big time. I mean it got blown away.

The next day I sold the CEC transport for more than twice what a new Mac Mini cost.

Then the mods to the Mac Mini started and it felt like we found another improvement every other week. That went on for months. There were bigger gains to be had there than with different DAC's.

By the time we were done, there was no way I could go back to spinning CD's.

[DGoosen]

Thanks for the reply Danny. I thought my question was going out over the entire site, (user error on my part). I haven't compared playback of the Esoteric units mentioned (the K-01x or the K-01xd) to streaming files using a Mac Mini. Do you think it's reasonable to expect the result would be similar to your CEC comparison? If so, how would someone find a modded Mac Mini similar to the one you're using?

[NIGHTFALL1970]

I am very interested in that as well. Maybe make a video on how to modify it. Explain the advantages that each modification makes.

[bhassel]

Somewhere in the archives are discussions of the mac mini setup. It was running an older version of MAC OS and was stripped down even in that version to the bare essentials. I remember looking around but decided on a PC based approach instead. Being a techie, just going backwards on OSs made me twitch. Now that I'm older I twitch all the time anyway.

What's the latest in that regard?

I'd also love to see a schematic of the old Dodd battery powered amps. Since you can't buy them, maybe you could build them?

Bob

[nlitworld]

If you wanted to dabble in the discless realm, go check out the Hollis Audio Labs circle and look at his MS-6 streamer. LINK HERE It's a Rasberry Pi based system running a stripped down Windows 10. Don't ask it to play movies, but that's not what you want it for. It'd be an inexpensive test to see if the music server life is acceptable for you. And honestly, that little MS-6 server has no business sounding as good as it does for that price tag.