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January 18, 2008 - 9:08pm
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Airport Express and Tivoli w/ no Toslink
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The Pace-Car is a clock, not a converter. You will need an external DAC to accomplish what you want. Thankfully, you can find used ones for not too much. I bought an Audio Alchemy DDE v1.2 for use with my Airport Express, and it's certainly CD quality, if it's fed lossless or uncompressed files. It cost me $125 (came with the upgraded power supply). Check around on Audiogon and eBay for DACs.
I use Airport express to take audio from my laptop to my stereo.
I use the Toslink option -- a Toslink mini-adapter plugs into the Airport, and from there to a DAC.
I have a Bel Canto II, which has a push button switch between Toslink and the other digital input (can't recall at the moment what that is called)
I have my CD player's digital out plugged into the other input, and simply switch between inputs to use the DAC for my laptop or CD player.
I have a Tivoli radio, which is a nice little unit, but it may be that you wouldn't notice much difference between Airport's analogue out and its digital out (via a fancier DAC).
This could be the start of the slippery slope toward a higher end system.
Hey, thanks for the tips!
If I can get the same quality over wireless that I can get by plugging in straight, then it might be worth it for me... I'll look around.
best, j