Figured rather than starting a new thread I would post my questions here. Total digital music/streaming newbie here so I apologize in advance. I'll start with this, simplicity and sound quality are my goals.
Just bought a Hegel H300 integrated amp and it has a well reviewed DAC. I have all of my music in iTunes and on my MacBook Pro. 85%+ of the songs/files are low quality AAC files. I do not want to buy 100's of CD and get a CD player so I will be slowly rebuilding my library once I learn how to rip them in high quality high resolution files. Through lots of internet research I am thinking of this, but want to know if the Salk StreamPlayer would be a better option. Thinking of using my Oppo bdp83 via optical/digital to the Hegel to listen to a few CD's I am going to buy (5.1 mixes, remastered SACD), then buying a Mac Mini and using Jriver (want to distance myself from iTunes) with an external HD and store all the HQ music there. The Mac Mini would be connected to my Hegel via USB.
Would the Salk StreamPlayer be a good alternative? Ease of use and sound quality is important. I'm also not 100%, OK, not even 30%, confident in my skills to set up the Mac Mini for optimum audio performance.
Thanks for all the help!