Hello! Webby Here...

[webby]

hope that load of disorganised info is of help.....

For sure Hamish.

It's funny, I just came back to this thread to add some info. I was looking at your gear in the gallery, so I was a bit bemused to see your name pop up again! Anyway, thanks for the info.

Now, what was I gonna add? Oh yeah, that I also have a Rega Planar 2 in the loft, a Sony Cassette Deck as new (TC-K520 I think), a Sony Mini Disc recorder and 2 hifi racks (one by Sound Organisation and the other is Target I think). The racks are in the garage cos I just don't have the space for them. I keep meaning to Ebay them.

My Audiolabs are sitting on glass shelves under a 32" CRT!! EEEK I hear you cry!

[webby]

dbPoweramp is windows only.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

dbPoweramp is windows only.

shame it is very good

i think my kit is fairly main stream compared to most on this site. sounds bloody good though and thats what matters

good luck with your computer audio endvour anyway

[Beechwoods]

Hi Webby, and welcome! I'll take a look at your question over on the Audio Output on Mac OSX thread but might be a day or so with loads of other things on right now! There may be someone else here who can give you a quicker answer, mind!

Glad you decided to join up anyway. This is a great place, and fans of the SFA are always welcome in my book

Cheers dude.

[webby]

I now have a better idea of how to go about the task in post 1 of this thread.

I'm going to rip to AIFF or ALAC with iTunes into a separate iTunes Library which will be situated on an external USB drive (500gb). I've read about things like Cog and Max for playback and ripping and how they rip better and sound better but I just can't be bothered to stray from the iTunes layout I know so well. I'm sure the improvement is negligible and has been debunked by a few here anyway.

My current library will carry on serving my iPod, while the new lossless library will serve my hifi. That external drive will be backed up by another 500gb hard drive using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.

A new DAC will crunch the numbers into music and hand it to my Audiolab 8000S. I've just noticed a slight hurdle here actually. I've just measured the length of cable I need from iMac to DAC and it's more like 6m rather than 5m. I've read that the limit for USB is 5m. I could get around this by moving the amp closer to the imac (and use up the 3m of slack I have in the speaker cable) or I could connect optically. Is there any affect on sound quality when using long runs of optical cable? Or should I not worry about a 6m run of USB?

Is it possible to copy tag info from my current library to my new one? If so, does that include album art? I sort my albums by artist by year and I sort artists by last name first using the sort artist tag, so Paul McCartney comes under M.

When I get around to this is another matter but I'd like to thank those that have helped me so far in the various threads that I've started.

Anyway, does that sound like a plan or what?



Webby

[webby]

It looks like optical cable has a longer length limit. I've found 10m lengths available.

Is there a certain spec I should look for?

[webby]

Hi folks,

Well, after much research here, and on the Computer Audiophile forums (I think a few of you are members there too) I realise I have 2 options, and it may all come down to budget. I don't have hundres and hundreds to splash I'm afraid.

Streaming wirelessly (remember, my iMac is over 5m from the hifi):
Airport Express £80
Mark Grant analogue cables (used with a 3.5mm adapter) £21

This has future upgrade potential, but gives me the quickest and easiest way to start using my iMac as a source (or Transport I beleive you call it ).

I could later add a 7520 DAC (£170) and a mark grant glass optical cable (£27) and use the analogue cables for the DAC output.

Wired:
Beresford 7520 £170
USB cables with repeater to take care of the length £20 (I'm guessing, can anyone help here?).
Or, instead of USB, Optical cable. A mark grant glass cable of 12ft is £45, so I'd say at least £60 for 18ft.

My instincts tell me that the 2nd option will probably sound better but the cost is a lot more, while the first option is hassle and cable free.

Hmmm.....

[webby]

Any thoughts on the above re: cabled or wireless?

[Codifus]

Hi folks,

Well, after much research here, and on the Computer Audiophile forums (I think a few of you are members there too) I realise I have 2 options, and it may all come down to budget. I don't have hundres and hundreds to splash I'm afraid.

Streaming wirelessly (remember, my iMac is over 5m from the hifi):
Airport Express £80
Mark Grant analogue cables (used with a 3.5mm adapter) £21

This has future upgrade potential, but gives me the quickest and easiest way to start using my iMac as a source (or Transport I beleive you call it ).

I could later add a 7520 DAC (£170) and a mark grant glass optical cable (£27) and use the analogue cables for the DAC output.

Wired:
Beresford 7520 £170
USB cables with repeater to take care of the length £20 (I'm guessing, can anyone help here?).
Or, instead of USB, Optical cable. A mark grant glass cable of 12ft is £45, so I'd say at least £60 for 18ft.

My instincts tell me that the 2nd option will probably sound better but the cost is a lot more, while the first option is hassle and cable free.

Hmmm.....

Webby,

this is what I have;

PowerMacG4 running iTunes, to Airport Express, minitos link optical to TC7520 then analog out to my integrated amp, Yamaha-AX-596 driving Cambridge Soundworks Tower IIs.

Oh, and to clarify, the connection from the Mac G4 to the Airport is over ethernet which are well over 50 feet apart in different rooms. All the components in my listening room, like the airport and TC7520, are completely silent.


You can get Airport Expresses cheaply on Ebay. I bought 2 of them for separate rooms. The Airport Express N and G versions are the same except for better wireless capability of the N version.

If you go that route, I strongly suggest you use the optical out and avoid using the airport express as a DAC. It's DAC capabilities are merely adequate.

Hope this helps!

CD

[webby]

Thanks CD,

I didn't know you could connect to the express via ethernet. My imac is a G5 and has only the older .11g network speed so it doesn't matter if I pick up an older non 'n' express.

Would you say there's a big difference between the express with and without the 7520?