Hi everyone =)
I used to think that streaming audio is merely something that I would not dabble in as the sound quality is greatly affected the moment I rip a CD into my Macbook pro.
That was about a couple of years back when I was still enjoying my CDs. All this changed when I realised that nowadays, my wife and I are playing music from our laptops and have stopped going over to the CD player to load in the CDs.
It was then that I realised that I have finally caught up with technology and I am right now wondering how to go about making life more convenient but not at the expense of sound quality.
I realise by surfing the internet that there are solutions today that can ensure sound quality of streamed music be as good as or if not, better than what my CD player can dish out.
Therefore, I am exploring the possibilities of what I can do with the current equipment that I have, and I was hoping that you gurus out there can help me as I am a total newbie when it comes to streaming music.
I have the following equipment:
- Naim CD5i-2
- LFD Zero LE Mk 3.0
- Ruark Sceptres
- Mac Mini from 2009
And with the following questions:
1) I understand that it is possible for me to use the Mac Mini as a music or media server? Was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to learn how to go about doing this?
2) I would like to use the Mac Mini to rip CDs and to store all my CD collection. Can it rip high resolution?
3) Then the next problem would be how do I go about connecting the Mac Mini to the LFD? Or is it necessary for me to connect it to a DAC before connecting to the LFD?
4) How can I use the Mac Mini to play content from all other computers in the home?
5) Can the Mac Mini be a NAS?
6) Can the Mac Mini go headless in this configuration i.e. without a monitor? How do I go about setting the Mini up for this?
7) Should I consider a nDAC? or a ND5 XS?
8) Will the Mac Mini be redundant if I use an ND5 XS?
Any help would b greatly appreciated.
Thanks much!
tj
Posted on: 13 April 2012 by AndyPat
Whole can of worms here TJ but to get you started:
You need a server, somewhere to store your music digitally.
You need a renderer, something to convert that digital information into music you can hear.
You need a control point, something to give you control over getting the music/information from the server to the renderer.
You can use a mac mini and the apple site has a perfectly usable guide to setting up itunes on it.
The mac mini/itunes combo can rip cds but it stores them by default at a lower resolution than the 16 bit/44.1kHz of the CD (Red Book) format. However there are other players made for macs that can. Amarra being one, but an Apple officianado would be a better guide. One will pop up shortly no doubt.
I don't think many people will be able to comment directly on your amp. Purely from looking at their website it doesn't strike me that it has a digital input (but check, it should be labelled). Therefore you will (probably)need a DAC to convert the information from the digital (computer) to the analogue (amp) domain. You'll also need appropriate leads to connect the three items. Can't help you there.
Your mac mini, like pretty much any other computer can be set up to access music on other computers provided it is given access to them. Usual way is to use a home network, which you may already have. With Windows 7 I click properties on a music folder and it gives me an option to share that folder with the whole home network. I think Apple actually might be even easier. Only things is that each device will need to be switched on if you want to access the music.
To get round the above some people put their music on a NAS that can be woken up, unlike a computer, by your renderer. But any computer can be a NAS, only downside being having to leave it switched on all the time as generally they cannot be woken up remotely. So your Mac mini could work as a NAS (becoming your server).
You can use the mini headless, in which case you'd have a control point on any/all of your other computers/ipad/ipod/iphone etc. etc. (Naim n-stream).
You could consider either the nDAC or the ND5XS (renderers). The latter will give you more functionality and will most likely be an improvement over your CD5i. Not guaranteed, some prefer CD replay, but the ND5XS is a series above.
The mini will not be redundant. You still need somewhere to store the electronic music. The ND5XS cannot do that. An HDX, or Unitiserve with nDAC, can but that's a different ball game.
The usual disclaimers now. Try before you buy. You need to listen to your amp and speakers with a dac-equipped Naim. There are plenty of options and other makes of course. Streaming can be really good but its not the easy route some make it out to be, particularly if you don't like to do much tinkering. It is extremely convenient but it can be a pain in the backside if you want reliability and high quality sound.
Personally I rip to wav format on an HP desktop using dbpoweramp software and Asset UpnP and have the music stored on the computer. Wireless streaming of a ripped CD sounds better to my ears than the original CD (in both cases using a Uniti) so I don't think you need worry about being able to maintain your current sound quality.
Hope this helps.
Andy
