Nah, image compression levels are much higher than audio files. I use WAV and wouldn't have saved much (relative) space if I had used FLAC instead, even with thousands of albums.
I've noticed many programs have better support for MAC operating systems than for Windows. Anyone know why?
I've used J.River Media Center for the longest time on a Windows 10 computer and never had a problem. Does MAC laptops offer quieter power supply noise or something when compared to Windows laptops? I see so many audiophiles using MacOS.
About to buy a new laptop for the music room and not sure what to get which is why I asked.
I don't think power supply noise should be an issue though right? Laptops run from battery (low noise) and all of them have only a few fans for cooling anyways. Some nowadays are fanless so even better. Also the introductory of galvanic isolation devices and digital to digital converters shoulf make USB noise obsolete. Any comments?
If you look at the whole thread, it's noticed that folks just get used to something. The whole PC VS MAC thing will never end maybe. Though some think every computer sounds a little different, I do. Still it's really small differences and much could be attibuted to the placebo effect. Same as WAVE sounding better than FLAC. If your mind thinks something is slightly better it sounds slightly better.
It's really too bad there are not better music only PCs or music only MACs which are dedicated like gaming computer rigs! Obviously companies have tried to make media servers which take a few parts from a computer and make stand alone boxs which are computers in a way but are simply made for music. In Asia small audio music players are made to be way cheaper than a computer or our western high end media severs. But that is the question, if a stripped down media server for $200 from Asia could sound better than a PC or MAC because it has fewer parts, and smaller power supply?
In the end I think you just have to try a bunch of stuff.
Though I personally think taking both USB and the full computer out of the loop is the wave of the future.
I've noticed many programs have better support for MAC operating systems than for Windows. Anyone know why?
I've used J.River Media Center for the longest time on a Windows 10 computer and never had a problem. Does MAC laptops offer quieter power supply noise or something when compared to Windows laptops? I see so many audiophiles using MacOS.
About to buy a new laptop for the music room and not sure what to get which is why I asked.
I don't think power supply noise should be an issue though right? Laptops run from battery (low noise) and all of them have only a few fans for cooling anyways. Some nowadays are fanless so even better. Also the introductory of galvanic isolation devices and digital to digital converters shoulf make USB noise obsolete. Any comments?
if your room is quiet, a fanless solution will most likely improve the fidelity of your music a few magnitudes above any other change aside from the headphone/speakers. but I would do that only for a computer I don't plan to use for much else. and once you start going that road, maybe something like a raspberry pi would make more sense and save good money?
making black and white concepts where battery is silent and home plugs are noisy is missing too much of the real picture and can lead to faulty reasoning. audiophiles really love faulty reasoning so be careful with that.
for the most part, the computer doesn't really matter as long as you don't mess up the configuration and the DAC is well made to deal with whatever crap can come from the source. some DACs were made in a clean controlled environment and the designer never bothered with real life beta testing before he started selling the gear. for such a silly device, you will most likely need all the usb magic boxes in the world, and power cleaner, and maybe build a Faraday cage around it to achieve proper audio. to me all that isn't the sign that I have improved my sound system, it's the sign that I should get a proper DAC.
anyway, I mostly suggest to have a problem before you concern yourself with solving it ^_^. I know some audiophiles are the kings of precautionary measures thinking it might improve the last 0.0001% of sound(objectively or subjectively), but often enough it goes way out of hand from an objective point of view and you can't tell the difference with good old paranoia. and I've never seen happy paranoiacs. IMO, just get something you're familiar with, something you know you'll enjoy using. that can really make listening to music nicer, be it the computer, the OS or the player itself.
my thought too. but then again I bought 2 more 2T drives for picture backup, and storage is fairly cheap. so I guess it's just not something important.
About to buy a new laptop for the music room and not sure what to get which is why I asked.
I don't think power supply noise should be an issue though right? Laptops run from battery (low noise) and all of them have only a few fans for cooling anyways. Some nowadays are fanless so even better. Also the introductory of galvanic isolation devices and digital to digital converters shoulf make USB noise obsolete. Any comments?
I have an Alienware M11x R2 with Windows 10. With headphones, I never got any noise related to the computer or power supplies, with the exception of the Schiit Fulla...but I did get really bad noise with the JBL LSR305 active studio monitor speakers I recently got. (Using a Schiit Fulla 2 as DAC/preamp.) It was definitely related to the computer's power supply, because it stopped when I unplugged it. Thankfully, all I needed to do was put a cheater plug on the laptop charger and that fixed it.
USB noise is not obsolete by a long shot. You can very well encounter it. But don't worry about it unless you do.
Also, as far as I know, laptops only run on battery power if they are unplugged. Mine is getting old and can't even last an hour without being plugged in.
if your room is quiet, a fanless solution will most likely improve the fidelity of your music a few magnitudes above any other change aside from the headphone/speakers. but I would do that only for a computer I don't plan to use for much else. and once you start going that road, maybe something like a raspberry pi would make more sense and save good money?
making black and white concepts where battery is silent and home plugs are noisy is missing too much of the real picture and can lead to faulty reasoning. audiophiles really love faulty reasoning so be careful with that.
for the most part, the computer doesn't really matter as long as you don't mess up the configuration and the DAC is well made to deal with whatever crap can come from the source. some DACs were made in a clean controlled environment and the designer never bothered with real life beta testing before he started selling the gear. for such a silly device, you will most likely need all the usb magic boxes in the world, and power cleaner, and maybe build a Faraday cage around it to achieve proper audio. to me all that isn't the sign that I have improved my sound system, it's the sign that I should get a proper DAC.
anyway, I mostly suggest to have a problem before you concern yourself with solving it ^_^. I know some audiophiles are the kings of precautionary measures thinking it might improve the last 0.0001% of sound(objectively or subjectively), but often enough it goes way out of hand from an objective point of view and you can't tell the difference with good old paranoia. and I've never seen happy paranoiacs. IMO, just get something you're familiar with, something you know you'll enjoy using. that can really make listening to music nicer, be it the computer, the OS or the player itself.
I've built a half dozen fanless machines over the past decade. They are more expensive and more difficult to build but worth it. No background noise and almost no dust inside even after several years running.
Also agree that one can go overboard with certain tweaks. Sometimes better to simplify your setup and enjoy the music. Once you find the right DAC (for you), setting up everything else gets a little easier.
I just fear a fanless computer would degrade quicker over time due to cooling concerns.
I'm a student and need a laptop for both personalized music enjoyment as well as school and homework. I've had a gaming computer back then with an intense graphic card (GTX1080) and 9 case fans, but it still didn't make any noises with my DAC. Now that I have a digital to digital converter, noise becomes less of a problem. The main concern I had bad then was at late nights I could hear those fans working and to a more than audible degree. I saw so many people having MAC books on this forum as their source so I figured it was quiet in both aspects, power and fan noise.
I'm a windows guy so after hearing you guys talk, I think it's safe to stick to windows and just get any decent laptop? I was thinking the fanless Dell XPS 13. It has a USB 3.0 socket and should suffice. Maybe if I need more room I should drop in a bigger SSD or utilize an external drive?
I just fear a fanless computer would degrade quicker over time due to cooling concerns.
I'm a student and need a laptop for both personalized music enjoyment as well as school and homework. I've had a gaming computer back then with an intense graphic card (GTX1080) and 9 case fans, but it still didn't make any noises with my DAC. Now that I have a digital to digital converter, noise becomes less of a problem. The main concern I had bad then was at late nights I could hear those fans working and to a more than audible degree. I saw so many people having MAC books on this forum as their source so I figured it was quiet in both aspects, power and fan noise.
I'm a windows guy so after hearing you guys talk, I think it's safe to stick to windows and just get any decent laptop? I was thinking the fanless Dell XPS 13. It has a USB 3.0 socket and should suffice. Maybe if I need more room I should drop in a bigger SSD or utilize an external drive?
if this is your situation, just forget all about those audio concerns and get the computer you need and can afford for your life. you obviously have more important stuff than maybe improving on some most likely inaudible noises. as for the external noise from fans, only you can tell if it's important to you or not. I'm one to go crazy about any audible noise, but most people just forget about it entirely.
now mac or most fanless PCs aren't exactly the number one suggested solution for gaming if it's still your thing ^_^. I have a "gaming" laptop, it's kind of doing everything wrong, for the money one would probably do better getting a gaming PC and a cheap light laptop.
if this is your situation, just forget all about those audio concerns and get the computer you need and can afford for your life. you obviously have more important stuff than maybe improving on some most likely inaudible noises. as for the external noise from fans, only you can tell if it's important to you or not. I'm one to go crazy about any audible noise, but most people just forget about it entirely.
now mac or most fanless PCs aren't exactly the number one suggested solution for gaming if it's still your thing ^_^. I have a "gaming" laptop, it's kind of doing everything wrong, for the money one would probably do better getting a gaming PC and a cheap light laptop.
I didn't hear the fan noises before until I took more attention into this hobby so many the paranoia of others has made it's way to me. But you're definitely right, I've seen others who just completely ignores all of these things.
No more gaming for me as I have to focus on school. The girlfriend is made me quit, so maybe after I'm done and financially stable I'll bounce back into it. I laughed so hard when you blatantly pointed out the gaming laptop problem and how it's probably better to get a gaming PC and cheap laptop on the side for audio among other things. Life is fun, we see our problems but sometimes we continue to do it anyways because a part of us just wants to do it. >_<
I'll go with the Dell XPS 13! I was looking into Dell's and was surprised they no longer offered the heavy gaming XPS laptops of the past but then I realized they acquired Alienware some time ago. Stupid me... x_x
Anyways, what program do you use for audio playback?
I've been using J.River Media Center since they day I joined this jobby, it offers a decent selection of possible DSP, etc so I never found any need to go elsewhere.
Now there are so many uprising programs with support for this and that, I'm just completely confused.
You can hear the difference between two lossless files? That's astounding.
I have a hard time hearing the difference between digital connections let alone files. I thought WAV would only be better if the computer is too bottlenecked to decompress it, but even then, that job doesn't take much work on the computer or program. Maybe this shows a flaw in the program and not the files?
I've done previous wav vs flac showdowns in the past but have always concluded that they sound the same unless on a super crappy computer.
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