[Bob in St. Louis]

BTW: This definition gets interesting in the computer world.  Presumably the "source" is the application that reads the files and sends a digital stream to the next link in the chain (foobar, Winamp, iTunes, SqueezeCenter). 

Right.
Is the "source" the hard drive, or the PC, or SqueezeBox? Heck, for that matter, the router could be considered one of the source components.
But let me make one thing perfectly clear: The first person that starts a thread titled "Rolling wireless routers in the system and the effective changes in sound quality" is going to have a visit from me.   
Let's not go there. 

Bob

[TONEPUB]

But what's the point of all this....

[martyo]

I've always defined source as the source material. A Cd, or DVD, an album, a Flac file......Not a piece of Hi-fi equipment.

In the HeadFi thread, there was an argument made that "source" has a concrete definition in the pro audio world as the content, and that using other definitions would be confusing. 

While I agree that differing definitions is confusing, a quick look at the "for sale" sections here and at HeadFi show the common usage of "source" to indicate a piece of hardware used for playback.  Stereophile categorizes items under either "digital source" or "analog source", although I couldn't find a definition of "source" or "transport" in Stereophile whitepapers.  Neither Audiogon nor Audio Asylum use the term source as a category. 

Interesting. This seemed so straight forward.........Makes you wonder with all those "subjective" terms, or I guess, just all the terms we use to describe how something sounds, what the heck we all think we are talking about.

[BradJudy]

But what's the point of all this....

The original point on HeadFi was to come up with a kind of primer on the digital chain, define the pieces, their roles and which parts are always present in the playback chain.  Show that these pieces may reside in a variety of components (DAC could be in a computer, a headphone amp, a SqueezeBox, receiver, dedicated box, etc).  Basic stuff so beginners can see things like somewhere an mp3 has to be read by something that understands the file format, and converted to analog at some other point. 

Perhaps it seems less important on AC due to the higher average experience level, but basic questions like "what is a DAC, do I need one?" or "can my DAC accept mp3 files?" come up regularly on HeadFi (and among those just getting started in audio as a hobby in general). 

[Bob in St. Louis]

But what's the point of all this....

To pass time, chat with like-minded individuals and dangle shiny things.  

[ted_b]

Personally I've been using these terms lately:
software: the actual music file source, be it physical or soft copy (cd, dvd, flac file, mp3, even vinyl).  "I'm looking for new software to play on my system.  Bought a cd at Borders, and downloaded some stuff off Linn records."
source:  this term is used for the component (i.e hardware) that houses and processes the above mentioned music file or music disc (cd player, turntable, transport, media streamer). "What source are you using?  I use a Modwright Transporter, the software being flac files via Squeeze Center."    There's a lot of ambiguity to this definition as some would say the Squeeze Center (pc) is the source.  Not me, but that's simply my old school way to describe what ultimately could be the producer of the line level to the preamp. 

Anything that interrupts and processes the source-preamp flow is then explained in the system as part of the source setup.  These would include DAC's, reclockers, dejitterers, phono stages, EQ's, etc.
"What source are you using?   I use an Esoteric CD transport, which then goes to a Berkeley Alpha DAC for 24/192 output"


 It's easy with analog (lp, turntable/arm/cart setup, phone pre, preamp).  With digital you could have several "boxes" or processes in the signal path (EAC -> WAV -> FLAC -> Squeeze Center -> Inguz EQ -> SB3 -> Monarchy DIP -> Benchmark DAC -> TACT -> Room EQ -> digital speakers and amps, yada yada.  I'd stil  call the FLAC file your software, and if asked would call the SB3 your source.  That would only tell very little of the story, though.

Now, onto the dangly shiny stuff.....although not a process flow by any means, this Visio diagram by an AVS member is one that i want to develop for my system.  My $.02

[Bob in St. Louis]

Great definitions Ted.
And an "A+" for showing a very sexy diagram.

Bob