I'm happy with a MicroDAC feeding an HR-2. Meant to use the microdac as a stepping stone, but liked it enough to just stick with it instead.

Quote: Originally Posted by schaqfu dougwx12: Yeah, I really like the Airport Express option too, with its optical out; the only problem is iTunes (as far as I have been able to tell) supports files at higher resolutions than the AE is capable of putting out -- basically I think the...

Quote: Originally Posted by schaqfu QUESTION: what is the most ironclad bullet-proof way to get absolutely bit-perfect 192Khz / 24-bit S/PDIF output from both my desktop and laptop (playing Apple Lossless files, hopefully some day in 24-bit tracks) to my external HeadRoom DAC? I want...

Quote: Originally Posted by error401 My point is basically that if Apple chose to use one of the existing formats we wouldn't have a problem in the first place. Why they chose to implement ALAC is beyond me, I can only presume they did so to try to secure future marketshare. If everyone...

Wow, this thread took a real FUD left turn. There are open source ALAC decoders. It's a proprietary algorithm inside a vanilla mp4 container. Apple has shown no possessiveness towards the technology, as they do with the proprietary stuff they want to keep a lock-in on. Worrying about which...

Don't have an emu02. Just checked it out, and it looks very promising indeed. But, he did specifically ask PCMCIA. Oh, I just noticed he changed that. To the OP, yes, USB gives you far more options. And the sky's the limit on quality, depending on your budget. Emu 02 would also certainly best...

Quote: what users would suggest for on-the-go headphones that do not require amplification but are still quality for 50-200$ (pk2 range up to shure e4c range) You mentioned the E4's, which I have and like the sound of. If in-ear annoys you (and it does me), then I switch to Sony...

I'll second the Echo Indigo (I have a DJ.) For cheap, even the Turtle Beach Audio Advantage (USB) will beat the Thinkpad sound.

The MicroDAC/MicroAmp stack from headroom should also be considered. I like the MicroDAC so much that it's actually my main headphone DAC, home or elsewhere. There's also the bithead line, which are combo units. http://www.headphone.com/products/headphone-amps/

Welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet. You're asking the same basic question that I asked when I joined. "Here's a chunk of money, how do I get better sound?". Problem is, the more you get into it, the more you realize that's an impossible question to answer, due to the variety of stuff...

Doesn't have to be spyware. IE is a frickin' CPU pig, and the scroll-wheel used to give me problems as well. Why scrolling causes such a huge CPU spike, I'll never know.

Find the setting in quicktime for the priority level it runs at, and set it to high or realtime.

Price range? What are you looking for out of the new DAC/amp? What don't you like about your receiver?

Good cable. Hmm, there lies religion. Especially religious for optical, where shielding and wire gauge are irrelevant. My opinion: For short runs, anything is fine. I use $2 radio shack or monoprice cables. It's a digital signal, and your DAC will either decode it or not, and any jitter...

Quote: Originally Posted by unclejr 1. Standards 2. Bandwidth I found your arguments a little strange. For #1, everything you said is true for any lossless format. Great argument for lossless for your digital masters, but nothing for FLAC specifically. For #2, peer to peer...

My, you folks are harsh sometimes. Look, lossless is lossless. That means that the bits (0's and 1's) between any two lossless files are identical, and further when uncompressed, also identical to the raw PCM stereo bits. That does *NOT* mean that they will sound identical. Or even that...

While I've read that coax is better than optical (never heard the difference, and not true if EM noise is a factor on a long run), coax wasn't on his list of possibilities. And whether USB is the first choice depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is what's the DAC, does it have...

Depends on your OS. Assuming Windows XP, I like "Exact Audio Copy", which you can couple with the freeware flac encoder.

Quote: Originally Posted by krmathis All lossless formats are identical quality wise. Hence the lossless name... Their differences are:Software support. Hardware support. Compression rate. Encoding/decoding speed. Features (tags, artwork, etc...) What he said. And furthermore...

When I use a computer as a source, I have only one goal. Get the bits from my files to my DAC without modification. For PCs: KS/ASIO + Foobar will get that done. But I'm too lazy for that. I use iTunes streaming to an Airport Express, and punt the entire Windows sound system. But...

mini digital? Is that digital coax out of a stereo mini jack? Of the ones listed that I'm familiar with, I'd go optical.

My reasons are similar to many others. In ten years, when mp9xxPHAT is all the rage instead of mp3, converting your mp3 collection will require digging out your CDs. Converting my lossless will not. Simply put, it removes the "what devices support my format" question entirely.

No need to re-rip. Even if true, you can simply transcode to AIFF. Lossless is lossless.

For the digital part of the signal path, it means that if you shove a certain sequence of 0's and 1's into one end, you get the identical sequence at the other end. So, from CD -> digital out, or Lossless file -> digital out. Most players and OS's modify the bitstream, by default. Bit...

Step one, do the WAVs sound good in Foobar? This will verify the initial WAV decode. Step two, do the WAVs sound good in iTunes? This will verify that iTunes/Foobar sound the same on the same file. Step three, if the WAVs sound good in iTunes and the ALAC doesn't, then I'm baffled. I...