[mbratrud]

I'd like to go Toslink into a very high end DAC. I am building a highend computer server and it looks like I should use the RME Digipad 96/8 as the best bit perfect digital out using iTunes lossless. Sooooo....

I have read that some people are using 1 gig or larger memories as a large buffer capable of loading a whole CD....Do I need a large amount of memory? Will this buffering concept help the digital output? IF so how?

Many thaks.

 

[jnewman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbratrud I'd like to go Toslink into a very high end DAC. I am building a highend computer server and it looks like I should use the RME Digipad 96/8 as the best bit perfect digital out using iTunes lossless. Sooooo.... I have read that some people are using 1 gig or larger memories as a large buffer capable of loading a whole CD....Do I need a large amount of memory? Will this buffering concept help the digital output? IF so how? Many thaks.

I can't see why it'd be terribly necessary, but at this point RAM is cheap enough that (in a nice computer, and when you're going to be buying a "very high end DAC") there's almost no reason NOT to put in at least a gig of RAM. Hell, it's cheap enough you can even reasonably put a gig of RAM into a laptop!

 

[lan]

A dedicated computer source based server doesn't really need to be high end as it doesn't use a lot of processing power or RAM. You don't really need 1GB of memory and probably can get by with 256MB. The quantity of memory doesn't affect the quality of the digital out.

 

[pedxing]

The size of the buffer should be determined by the length of the interruptions the computer will encounter while streaming media. In fact, the buffer does not have to exist if the hard disk drive and OS can keep up with your demands. However, computers are usually occupied doing other things in the background and interruptions wil occur. The buffer is a resevoir of data that will let the server stream data at a constant rate as the computer does something else. If the buffer drains too quickly and runs out of data, the computer will have to access the data from the hard disk which may induce high latency and interrupt the constant flow of data. An interruption in constant flow of data may affect playback on the client end, resulting in pauses or hiccups.

The other advantage of having a huge buffer is instant access to any part of the media memory. Uploading an entire CD to memory will allow you to playback or edit any section of CD with low latency. The computer won't have to wait for the hard disk to access it on demand because all that work was done upfront.

If you are just streaming data for music listening or movie watching, making the buffer larger beyond a certain size will not benefit you much more. I don't know which platform you are working on, but a buffer that is too large can hurt the server's performance because it might not have enough memory to perform its routine tasks all in memory.