[whaleyboy]

Good morning folks.

I currently use a dedicated CD player (Marantz SA8260) to drive a headphone amp (Maxed Out Home) that supports some HD650 cans. For me, the combination has been very good but I am starting to think about change.

I am considering using my computer as a storage mechanism for music and switching to an outboard DAC to then feed my amp and then, of course, my head. The reason for switching would be convenience - I use the cans in my office and get tired of chasing CDs around the house.

Is something like the Apple "Lossless" compression adequate for storing music files that will be converted w/some DAC? I hope so but have never heard from anyone who has used this format.

Has anyone tried the HeadRoom amps with the DAC integrated into the unit? I have only heard the Desktop unit with the DAC fed with some mpeg file size (not lossless). It sounded good to me at the time but I have to admit to being under the influence of beer so it all probably would have sounded good.

Thoughts are appreciated!

 

[HFat]

Hi,

ALAC is fine. I've never used it myself (I don't own Apple hardware) but there's no reason it should be less than perfect. It's not "Lossless" by the way: it's simply lossless.
Read all about it here: http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=ALAC

I'm not sure I understand your situation... but if you already have a DAC it should sound very similar (if not identical) when connected to your computer as opposed to your CDP.

Beer is fine too but you should also try gin.