[Balmoral]

Hello. I hope this is the right section for this if not, perhaps a mod could move it to the appropriate place. I currently use an I-Pod 160gig through a wadia into an Anedia D1 Dac. This has served me well for years now, however, I have been getting more and more curious about hi rez music and have been thinking about trying to transfer my music onto a laptop and replacing the I-pod -Wadia combo, but I have no idea how to start this process. I have looked online for an answer, but must be wording it wrong since I haven't been able to come up with anything. If anyone could help point me in the right direction I would be appreciative. Thank you all for taking the time to read.

 

[Balmoral]

No one? lol As I said, I'm not sure if my question is worded quite right. If anyone needs clarification as to my question I'd be happy to try. Thanks

 

[obobskivich]

What exactly are you trying to do? Use a computer as the digital source in place of the iPod? Do you have a computer currently? If so, what kind of computer is it? Is it how you've put files on the iPod in the first place? Are those files already on there with iTunes/stored on the machine?

Hooking up your computer to the DAC is pretty straight forward, assuming it has a common connection with the DAC (which looks to offer a lot of options). So if the files are already on a machine, just plug the DAC in, and you're ready to go, and there's no point in having the dock or the iPod or any of that mess.

I'm not sure what kind of information about "the process" you are after - in order to have the files on the iPod they had to start out on a computer somewhere, do you still have that? If so, it should be pretty straight-forward plug-and-play to the DAC.

 

[Currawong]

Your music on the iPod wont be high-res, so I'm not sure exactly what you are hoping to benefit from when you transfer them to a computer. You'd have to find the same music in high-res formats anyway, if it is available as such.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hello. I hope this is the right section for this if not, perhaps a mod could move it to the appropriate place. I currently use an I-Pod 160gig through a wadia into an Anedia D1 Dac. This has served me well for years now, however, I have been getting more and more curious about hi rez music and have been thinking about trying to transfer my music onto a laptop and replacing the I-pod -Wadia combo, but I have no idea how to start this process. I have looked online for an answer, but must be wording it wrong since I haven't been able to come up with anything. If anyone could help point me in the right direction I would be appreciative. Thank you all for taking the time to read.

Buy all your music in 24/96khz or DSD from sites that sell high res audio.

However given storage issues on fanless laptops, the noise from a fan-cooled laptop will just mask the minute differences. You might as well stick to the iPod, unless the music you like at some point only comes in hardcopy and high res download. For example, Dream Theater's latest album only came out in CD, LP, 24/96 studio final copy (before conversion to CD), and MP3. No 16/44 FLAC or ALAC, although you can just get a music player app like Foobar to do the conversion.

 

[Balmoral]

Thanks for answering all.

obobskivich : I have an old windows laptop that I was thinking of using that. It is not the computer I currently have I Tunes on. That's on my desktop. I thought about transferring my Ipod directly to the laptop though. As far as connections go, I don't think the usb would be a viable choice, since the Anedio D1's usb is only 16/44. Everything else is 24/192(?) from my recollection. I suppose some kind of adapter would be necessary.

Currawong : I figured I couldn't just convert stuff to high rez. I was hoping to expand my library with new music and perhaps replace what I have a little at a time. The benefit, obviously being better sounding music. Maybe this isn't really the case...I don't know.

ProtegeManiac : I didn't even consider the fan in the laptop to be honest.

My real reason for trying this was simply that my system just comes off kinda dated and limiting at this point. It sounds very good the way it is, but as Currawong pointed out, it's not hi rez, nor will I be able to use hi rez with it, Also if the differences of redbook and hi rez are as "minute" as ProtegeManiac claims, perhaps this isn't worth the consideration. I'm just not sure at this point.

 

[obobskivich]

Good read on "hi rez" - https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

As far as the "setup" here goes - if we assume everything on the ipod exists on that desktop computer, there is no need to do any "conversion" with the ipod. You've already got all the audio files on the desktop, and they can be manipulated much easier there. You could just share them over your home network and then say "boo" about laptop storage capacity, or you could transfer them to the machine, or do whatever else you want from there as far as connectivity to the DAC or similar. If you have iTunes and all that, AirPlay might be worth looking into too.

I don't know much about your DAC or what it even supports in terms of inputs (as in bitrates - I looked up a picture of the rear panel to see what it physically offers) or decoding, so that'd be worth investigating too (the owner's manual can probably tell you this stuff, one would hope).

 

[Currawong]

I think looking into good recordings are definitely worth doing. For example, Chesky records has released a number of binaural recordings, there are recordings from Linn, Decca and others that are available in high-res. What is not pointed out in that linked article is the effect of high-res files bypassing the awful filters included in many DACs. I would argue that much of the hype surrounding it was the result of manufacturers switching to electronics that performed worse with regular CD quality music. If you're looking to upgrade your DAC, there are a couple of manufacturers that now focus on getting the most from CD Quality music that produce very reasonably-priced products.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Thanks for answering all.

obobskivich : I have an old windows laptop that I was thinking of using that. It is not the computer I currently have I Tunes on. That's on my desktop. I thought about transferring my Ipod directly to the laptop though. As far as connections go, I don't think the usb would be a viable choice, since the Anedio D1's usb is only 16/44. Everything else is 24/192(?) from my recollection. I suppose some kind of adapter would be necessary.

Currawong : I figured I couldn't just convert stuff to high rez. I was hoping to expand my library with new music and perhaps replace what I have a little at a time. The benefit, obviously being better sounding music. Maybe this isn't really the case...I don't know.

ProtegeManiac : I didn't even consider the fan in the laptop to be honest.

My real reason for trying this was simply that my system just comes off kinda dated and limiting at this point. It sounds very good the way it is, but as Currawong pointed out, it's not hi rez, nor will I be able to use hi rez with it, Also if the differences of redbook and hi rez are as "minute" as ProtegeManiac claims, perhaps this isn't worth the consideration. I'm just not sure at this point.

You can just save up and if you want a more user friendly interface than a scroll wheel device sitting on top of the desk, convert to a network music server.

That has WiFi of LAN to connect to a Network Attached Storage drive in your home, then you download the manufacturer's control app so instead of squinting at a two-line screen, you browse the content on your phone like any smartphone music player.

Sure, you can program a laptop to do the same thing, but:
1. Cables are coming out the sides of the laptop, unless you have one of those loud gaming laptops or equally heavy but for being overbuilt business laptops that have USB ports n the rear
2. You'd be limited to USB, unless you have one of those MSI Gaming laptops that have a combo 3.5mm analogue/optical output jack
3. What's the laptop screen and powerful processor for when a player-focused device can run smoothly

Basically, if you just want a more modern interface, and are willing to spend on it anyway, look into the music servers, like the Marantz NA700x (x being a variable, ie, NA7002 or something).

 

[Balmoral]

Currawong : Thanks for the info on the hi-rez and binaural info. That's the kind of stuff I'm interested in. Never thought of upgrading the Dac though. I know the Anedio is an older unit, but I think it was very well regarded for it's design when it came out. Unless something has been released other than DSD in the last few years that would make a new unit just bounds better than what I have, I don't have an overwhelming urge to purchase a newer Dac, unless it's something like ProtegeManiac is referring to.

ProtegeManiac: That's actually something else I was contemplating. With something like this you basically use the built in dac of the media device, yes? I really don't know if the internal dac would sound as good as what I have atm, but the connectivity and convenience factor can't be ignored.

Thanks again guys for the great info and advice!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

ProtegeManiac: That's actually something else I was contemplating. With something like this you basically use the built in dac of the media device, yes? I really don't know if the internal dac would sound as good as what I have atm, but the connectivity and convenience factor can't be ignored.

Thanks again guys for the great info and advice!

There's always the option to use an external DAC if it sounds kind of anemic even if you crank up the volume, but I'd doubt any of these will be outputting a non-linear, low voltage signal anyway.

 

[Balmoral]

ProtegeManiac : I didn't know you could bypass the DAC's on those network media players. That would certainly increase my interest in them though...if only to just to have the option for the "just in case" senario.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

ProtegeManiac : I didn't know you could bypass the DAC's on those network media players. That would certainly increase my interest in them though...if only to just to have the option for the "just in case" senario.

That's what they all did initially and also the first few that came out had a tiny DAC and output stage board that one can look at and immediately see it's nowhere near the same brand's CDP. Now whether it actually sucks or it's psychological (note that even my Meier amp's single PCM2702 DAC had a more believable soundstage than some fancy CDPs that pushed the bass drum too far forward), the idea there is that manufacturers can convince people to buy them because they'd have that option.

If anything the original MF M1 server did kind of suck next to the M6 CDP (used the M1S via digita input from the M6CD used as a transport), but it also sucked vs my Meier amp's PCM2702 DAC, so I'm more confident I wasn't imagining it. I came across a couple comments before about the Marantz sounding identical to the CD500x, so that makes it the safest choice, especially since it's cheaper than the MF.

 

[Trihexagonal]

I run my Thinkpad X61 with FreeBSD as an OS playing my digital music files with XMMS through my Pioneer SA-520 tube amp, Optimus 10 band Graphic Equalizer and Jensen Model 4 speakers or my Koss PRO4AAT headphones.

All it takes is a double RCA into an 1/8 inch female end patchcord from the jacks on the back of the EQ and a cord to fit the headphone jack of the X61.