[Marius]

Ok, thanks. A lot.

Only decision left then is whether a MAcmini to rip my cd's would suffice. (that way I would have it all in one place.) And how to connect the ripped cd storage to the BDP on the one side and to the ripping machine on the other. Everything is networked, thats not the problem.

The DbPoweramp software would do a better job than the Itunes in ALAC format? reading the difficulties people have with the cover art and placing files and directories in the right place to be able to get them showing in the interfaces through Ipad/Ipod/MAc I'd like to hear your experience also!

Getting a 24/192 stream into the bryston system out of my computer would need a usb to spdif converter since the optical output doesn't go higher than 24/96, and the usb on the BDA is 1.1 and thus limited to 16bit audio? (and the other inputs are taken by the BDP and BCD......)


Greetings,
Marius

You can not stream to the BDP.
The BDA can only be used as an external soundcard to your computer. You will still need to play the files on your computer with some audio playing software on your computer.
 

The easiest software is DbPoweramp. It can also convert any file type to any other file type.
It is completely useless to convert your CD's to a higher resolution than the native one of the CD; 16/44.1. It will only consume lots of drive space, the quality will not improve.

It does not get much easier than this I'm afraid.

[BrysTony]

Ok, thanks. A lot.

Only decision left then is whether a MAcmini to rip my cd's would suffice. (that way I would have it all in one place.) And how to connect the ripped cd storage to the BDP on the one side and to the ripping machine on the other. Everything is networked, thats not the problem.

The DbPoweramp software would do a better job than the Itunes in ALAC format? reading the difficulties people have with the cover art and placing files and directories in the right place to be able to get them showing in the interfaces through Ipad/Ipod/MAc I'd like to hear your experience also!

Getting a 24/192 stream into the bryston system out of my computer would need a usb to spdif converter since the optical output doesn't go higher than 24/96, and the usb on the BDA is 1.1 and thus limited to 16bit audio? (and the other inputs are taken by the BDP and BCD......)


Greetings,
Marius

Marius,

Be aware that dbPoweramp does not work with the MAC OS.  You will have to run Windows which can be done on a Mac.

Tony

[Marius]

thats a good one..thank you.

quick browsing leads to http://sbooth.org/Max/ Max. PureMusic for the streamer http://www.channld.com/puremusic/ , or even Audirvana, which is still much a work in progress but apparently very promising http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/.

pure music is also talking about 24/384 resolution, as are others. Is that the next step?
Marius

Marius,

Be aware that dbPoweramp does not work with the MAC OS.  You will have to run Windows which can be done on a Mac.

Tony

[Marius]

just to get back to this:

if I were to use a USB to BNC converter (to connect my USB2 Mac to the BDA-1) would there be advantage with  a 24/192 converter over a 24/96  converter. ie the Halide bridge seems to get nice reviews, but only goed up to 24/96. I would want the USB-BNC connection to be able to use the other 2 rca's for machines with only RCA output.

greets,

Marius

You've got a lot of sources!
 
It's not that the BNC or RCA are totally inferior to the AES/EBU, but if one is splitting hairs, you might use the AES/EBU with the highest quality source that you listen to most frequently (probably the BDP-1 or the BCD-1).
 
Optical sources usually have higher measureable jitter than the coaxial sources, but certainly good enough for TV, Airport Express, cable box, etc.
 
So if the BDP-1 is your most frequently listened to source, I would connect
 
BDP-1:  AES/EBU
BCD-1:  RCA or BNC
Marantz 7004:  RCA or BNC
Marantz UD7006:  RCA or BNC
TV:  Optical TOSLINK (maybe only option?)
Airport Express:  Optical TOSLINK (only option)
Cable Box:  RCA or BNC if available, otherwise you are out of inputs
Mac Mini:  USB (if 16/48 is adequate)
 
I am assuming the TV only has an optical output and I don't know whether your cable box has a coaxial as well as optical.
 
The Mac Mini could be used with the USB input, but you would be limited to 16/48 files.  If you need higher resolution your options would be optical for up to 24/96 (but you are out of optical inputs) or a USB to S/PDIF converter (but you may again run out of outputs.
 
Are you using an antenna for OTA channels on the TV?  If not, a TV connection seems redundant with a cable box.  If you don't need a TV connection then that would free up an optical port for the cable box.
 
If you are going to use every source mentioned (including TV) you would have enought inputs (7), IF your cable box has a coaxial AND USB is sufficient for the Mac Mini.  If not, you will need an external switcher to add an input or two.
 
Steve