Who else suffers from very little usable range on the volume knob?

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Because I listen to original CDs using my CD player, amp and headphones.

 
Yeah but the thing is that if the problem isn't that your amps' gain or potentiometers are mismatched to the efficiency of your headphones but that those CDs are of albums that are fighting the Loudness War then you're already starting the signal chain with a problem.
 

 
I realize this limits the flexibility of my setup given my situation, but I like the low-noise operation of a CD player over a computer which has fan noise. This might change some day, but not for now.

 

In case you haven't seen these yet, you might own a device that can easily work as a music server - you just need a high-cap microSD card (if it's an Android) and a compatible USB DAC or USB to SPDIF converter (if you already have a DAC, or a CDP with SPDIF inputs). Fanless (if WiFi/4G are disabled heat it no problem) although some need to be taken out of the case to fit on the dock), also has airplane mode if you're getting interference through whatever wireless system either uses, like annoying people who contact you while listening (unless it's an iOS device and you need wireless to access storage mediums).

 


 
Here's what I'm saving up for though - essentially these are either CDPs with an HDD on top or instead of a CD transport, or a DAC with USB and LAN ports for storage. A tablet or smartphone with a remote app can navigate through hundreds or even thousands of albums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kramer5150]

Nice rig Protoge.
 
I have two MBPs a smaller one about 7 months old with a hard drive the latest one at 2 months old with the Solid state drive and they both run completely cool and silent.  Key is keeping the internal drives dormant. I also dim the monitor screens.  I have all my CDs burned onto a 2T external USB drive and thats where all the activity happens.  Thinking about adding an airport and plugging the drive into that to serve as a media streamer over wifi... no more USB cables.
 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Nice rig Protoge.

 

Thanks. I once took a photo of it at a local Sennheiser event along with my CD of Kamelot's Silverthorn that I received from Amazon on the same day, which I posted to their FB page, but I can't find it anymore. Quite a few people asked what the heck the amp was. Actually, everywhere I brought it, people ask what the heck that amp is, and only one close guess - "Shanling," since they mass manufacture them for Meier - and there are actually only two of them in this country...along with, I think, two Headfives and one Symphony, but a bunch of Stepdance and xMove (and later iterations)