[baumer]

huh. Is any mac mini an acceptable source or is it the new one's that have that special hot sauce?

Just get one, uninstall everything but Itunes and you're good?

What about a macbook? A cheap used one? I'd rather have something I could keep near the system and the DAC itself and not need it's own seperate monitor.

 What is it about a Macmini that's so special?

 Why not just get a really fancy PC soundcard?

One nice thing about the mini is it's size. It will fit just about anywhere by your system without taking up much space and can be set-up to import cd's automatically to iTunes and eject when done. All without the use of a monitor. If you have your TV next to everything else in your system, just attach an HDMI (assuming that the TV will accept it) and you have your monitor! All you need is a wireless keyboard and you're surfing from the couch!

It would help also to have something like an iTouch to use as a remote control for iTunes.

[Rclark]

So the macmini outperforms a PC with a super-high end soundcard? Just a stock couple-hundred-dollar mac beats say an Nforce motherboard with say a five or six hundred dollar soundcard?

 I've been out of computer audio for a while. My last foray was an Audigy 2 platinum, I've long since returned to good old cd's, about 5 years now.

 So really, a Macmini is THE definitive computer audio source. Just bone stock. That's very counterintuitive. But cool if true.

[baumer]

It does what I need it too, but haven't compared it to any hot-rodded pc. Take a look over at http://www.computeraudiophile.com/ for lots of info. regarding mac mini's (as well as digital audio!).

[corndog71]

So the macmini outperforms a PC with a super-high end soundcard? Just a stock couple-hundred-dollar mac beats say an Nforce motherboard with say a five or six hundred dollar soundcard?

 I've been out of computer audio for a while. My last foray was an Audigy 2 platinum, I've long since returned to good old cd's, about 5 years now.

 So really, a Macmini is THE definitive computer audio source. Just bone stock. That's very counterintuitive. But cool if true.

Um, to be fair the new mac mini aint a couple hundred dollars.  It starts at $700 not including taxes or extras.  If you want the Touch remote that's another $229.

[nickd]

I took the plunge and bought a Tranquility DAC today. Should have it in a week or so. Now to chase a new mini and western hard drive. Am I correct that I need a hi end USB cable from the hard drive to the mini too

And how come none of you A/C guys know if Amarra works with the Tranquility
Someone go find Eric and drag him out of the basement

The Play software is a little short on user friendly options

[low.pfile]

nick,
it is generally not recommended to use a USB DAC with music stored on a USB hard drive. Go with a FireWire external drive.

[dBe]

The Play software is a little short on user friendly options

Yeah.  All it does is sound good...

And, what l.p said:  use a firewire or SATA Drive with the Oxford controller.  I have a couple of 1TB Hitachi drives in Rosewill RX81-MP-SC cases with the Oxford controller.

Dave

[nickd]

lowprofile , Thanks for that little important little tidbit. I would have bought the wrong thing

[dmccombs]

I took the plunge and bought a Tranquility DAC today. Should have it in a week or so. Now to chase a new mini and western hard drive. Am I correct that I need a hi end USB cable from the hard drive to the mini too

And how come none of you A/C guys know if Amarra works with the Tranquility
Someone go find Eric and drag him out of the basement

The Play software is a little short on user friendly options

Nick,

   Congrats on getting the Tranquility DAC.  It is a superb DAC.  It really allows whatever front end you put in front of it, to shine.

   Amarra will work with the Tranquility DAC.  I tried it out, but Play sounds so much better and Amarra relies on that POS virus called iTunes.  When I got my tranquility DAC, I tried Play, Amarra, PureMusic, Songbird, and iTunes.  IMO, Play sounded the best.  But, if you like to spend money and/or cover art is a necessity, then try the Amarra trial.  It will work.  Just be sure to demo the others to see which you like best.  They all have demos you can try out.  Its worth the effort to see what works best in your system.

Enjoy...

[nickd]

Hey DM,
So if I understand correctly, you can use play to load format and organize your storage and playlists and bypass I tunes altogther? The bad news is no cool graphics and you can only load 10 songs at a time. I can live with that if its easy to use. I'm from the world of little silver discs used in a high end single box (Audia Flight CD2) player. I do not want to have to learn to Mac code (not sure what even lurks behind that cool Mac GUI) to listen to my rig after a long day at work.

[dmccombs]

Hey DM,
So if I understand correctly, you can use play to load format and organize your storage and playlists and bypass I tunes altogther? The bad news is no cool graphics and you can only load 10 songs at a time. I can live with that if its easy to use. I'm from the world of little silver discs used in a high end single box (Audia Flight CD2) player. I do not want to have to learn to Mac code (not sure what even lurks behind that cool Mac GUI) to listen to my rig after a long day at work.

Yes, you can bypass iTunes altogether.  I only use iTunes to play internet radio stations. 

Play.app has library functions (sort by Artist, sort by Album, Search, playlists, etc).  The only thing missing is Album Art (which I personally don't miss).

I'm not sure about your "10 songs at a time" thing.  I use the beta/unstable version of Play.app which is newer and better, and is not unstable at all.  It has no 10 song limit.  I throw 20-40 songs in the queue on a regular basis and save them as playlists too, no problem.

IMO, it is the best sounding player.  If you can live without Album Art, it is definitely worth demoing.

[Rclark]

Albumn art is part of the experience. Do these things just give you a screenshot of the cover or do you get ALL the liner notes, etc?

[Rclark]

I'll take that long silence as meaning it's a situation yet to be rectified.


I'll also leave this info here in this thread: the Emotiva XDA-1 is now available for preorder. It ships Nov 30. FWIW. I've got mine reserved.