The death of my Yamaha CD player is the catalyst to move into the 21st century, reduce the box count in the media cabinet and more importantly make space for coffee cups on the coffee table by reducing the remote control count from 7 to 1.
First, my sincere thanks to many contributers who have already saved me much money and months of trial and effort. After 3 days of almost solid reading the head is spinning with your collective wisdom. So, the current thinking is:
- Mac Mini to Benchmark DAC1 to Yamaha AX-750 to Dynaudios & Whatmough (See signature)
- Ripped CDs to FLAC format in iTunes
The Mac Mini approach is attractive (more so than Squeezebox, etc) because it also serves up DVD, MPEG video, TV/PVR, Web browsing and digital photos, all from the comfort of the couch and the Apple remote control.
Now the questions:
1. Given the choice, is Toslink the better option (price/performance) over USB for the Mac to DAC1?
2. How noisy is a Mac Mini? Will it interfere with listening enjoyment if not hidden behind glass?
3. Is there a Secret Rabbit Mac software equivalent to upscale ripped FLACs from 16bit/44.1kHZ to 24/96 or 24/192?
4. If I follow the setting rules for MIDI/iTunes, including setting volume to Max, does this mean volume can't be controlled by the Apple remote? If so, would a Harmony remote do the job of the Apple and Yamaha remotes?
Thanks in advance.
The death of my Yamaha CD player is the catalyst to move into the 21st century, reduce the box count in the media cabinet and more importantly make space for coffee cups on the coffee table by reducing the remote control count from 7 to 1.
First, my sincere thanks to many contributers who have already saved me much money and months of trial and effort. After 3 days of almost solid reading the head is spinning with your collective wisdom. So, the current thinking is:
- Mac Mini to Benchmark DAC1 to Yamaha AX-750 to Dynaudios & Whatmough (See signature)
- Ripped CDs to FLAC format in iTunes
The Mac Mini approach is attractive (more so than Squeezebox, etc) because it also serves up DVD, MPEG video, TV/PVR, Web browsing and digital photos, all from the comfort of the couch and the Apple remote control.
Now the questions:
1. Given the choice, is Toslink the better option (price/performance) over USB for the Mac to DAC1?
2. How noisy is a Mac Mini? Will it interfere with listening enjoyment if not hidden behind glass?
3. Is there a Secret Rabbit Mac software equivalent to upscale ripped FLACs from 16bit/44.1kHZ to 24/96 or 24/192?
4. If I follow the setting rules for MIDI/iTunes, including setting volume to Max, does this mean volume can't be controlled by the Apple remote? If so, would a Harmony remote do the job of the Apple and Yamaha remotes?
Thanks in advance.