Mac mini or a new cd player

I sold my CD5X and Flatcap 2x over a year ago.
Went Mac DAC.
Never looked back.
I have be playing cds this week for the first time in a year and its a pain having to go and choose one, get it out of the rack and put it in the cdp.
I have got so use to just scrolling and clicking.
I dont mind getting the records out of the rack though.
Stu

This is a concern for me, tho I"m going to hold off for now. It would be nice to have Mini and half size DAC on same shelf.

I put my luxury cash toward a new TT and cartridge and loads of new vinyl. It was well worth it. I"m getting added bonus of working my abs getting up and down from the couch.

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I put my luxury cash toward a new TT and cartridge and loads of new vinyl.

Spending your luxury cash on essentials eh?

I prefer CDs to the Mac, but I wouldn't mind an audio-computer at some stage - still I'm waiting for young munch to throw out all his CDs.

Go Mac route but rip rather than use the transport

Interesting comments is the transport not that good then?

Why would you use it as a transport? Rip it and it is there forever and easy to access. I don't get the transport question.

Neil

Just curios that's all, I still like to have CDs, I guess I'm kinda old fashioned

I still have my CDs and buy on CD mostly but once I'd experienced the convenience of being able to access all my music at a tap of the finger the CD player just gathered dust, in the end I sold it to finance upgrading my amp. If you go the mini route rip your CDs in a lossless format, now I just look at CDs as slightly outdated containers of data.

Once you go Mac/DAC/Sonos/Rip Route you never go back...

I still buy CD's, wrappers off, rip and store...

Today I bought my first Hi Res down load! 96Khz/24 bit! DEAD excited. Havent listened to it yet. The down side is that Sonos doesnt support such resolution. Im not thaaaaat bothered cause there is so but sooo little music of my taste in Hi Res formats that it was just like a taster ... Ill toy with it during the weekend (Toslink from macbook directly to DAC)

I hear the Nay sayers that the silver spinning discs still have the edge in performance, but IMHO there is no comparison to having your entire music collection at your finger tips, plus God's gift to humanity, Shuffle...

So in a nutshell... Go for Macmini. (or a NAS for less money and more bang!)

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

I put my luxury cash toward a new TT and cartridge and loads of new vinyl.

Spending your luxury cash on essentials eh?

I prefer CDs to the Mac, but I wouldn't mind an audio-computer at some stage - still I'm waiting for young munch to throw out all his CDs.

I like the young.
I am the same age as you.
Cant and will never through them out .Worth to much money.
Also if Mr copy right turns up at my door i can show him everything i have ripped i have paid for.
Stu

Well being a current mac user mainly for computer use kind of made sense, especially as secondhand mini macs are quite attractive which was my main reason for considering that route, I also have a LCD HD tv I could use as the monitor for the mac, my only concern was a loss in sound quality using a ripped cd over a cd player, but reading the threads it appears this is not an issue, so it may be a strong consideration

quote:

Originally posted by Lee Henley:
Just curios that's all, I still like to have CDs, I guess I'm kinda old fashioned

You dont have to stop buying cds.
They are so cheap to buy.Just buy more and rip them.
If it goes tits up you still have the cds to rip again.
Stu

quote:

Originally posted by Lee Henley:
Just curios that's all, I still like to have CDs, I guess I'm kinda old fashioned

Sensible IMHO - I can't really see the point of ripping CDs beyond making a back-up copy, but I can see the point of an audio-computer and a good DAC (read Naim DAC). Computers are a bit clunky and noisy compared with better CD players, but it'll get better. iPod into Naim DAC is an option.

There are options and the iPOD into the Naim Dac is a shite one imo.
Its handy for the kids to use.
Would you rather have Keano or Alex?
I know where i would go.

I'd like to hear the iPod option as the iPod touch has no noisy discs and it doesn't pump stuff back in to the mains (as it is not connected). Assuming it has a DAC bypass operation then it is an interesting option. Doubt it'd beat a good old CDX2 though

PS - I heard an iPod playing HMHB and preferred it to a CDX2 playing Barry Manilow.

quote:

Would you rather have Keano or Alex?

Neither - I want to be the next in line (wouldn't mind José Mourinho) - applied for the England job once, but they gave it to Graham Taylor: did I not like that.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
I'd like to hear the iPod option as the iPod touch has no noisy discs and it doesn't pump stuff back in to the mains (as it is not connected). Assuming it has a DAC bypass operation then it is an interesting option. Doubt it'd beat a good old CDX2 though

PS - I heard an iPod playing HMHB and preferred it to a CDX2 playing Barry Manilow.

quote:

Would you rather have Keano or Alex?

Neither - I want to be the next in line (wouldn't mind José Mourinho) - applied for the England job once, but they gave it to Graham Taylor: did I not like that.

Taylor was fun.
You never new what team he was going to put out next
He was shite but looking back now you just have to laugh.
At the time you wanted to kill him.
I have heard the iPOD/iPhone through the Naim DAC.YOU WOULD NOT USE THEM AS A SOURCE AT HOME ON YOUR CHIPS.

quote:

Originally posted by Lee Henley:
Just curios that's all, I still like to have CDs, I guess I'm kinda old fashioned

If a CD is ripped your computer will re-read the disk to correct any errors, indeed the HDX checks each bit upto four times. EAC (other programs are available) operates on a similar principle. The data is then bit perfect, whereas a standard CD player will just read once.[/QUOTE]

Hy there.
my point of view: i hate it to sit infront of an computer to bring music (maybe i have payed
in the net for it)to my equipment to listen to it. to me its work.


Next thing is: ihave to download covers and information from the internet using the cds i have until now via server.

and the visual information is NOT so easy to get out ,as it is possible on a cd cover ,
sitting in the chair during an listening session.

also important for me: iwant to listen a piece of music in my car. so what to do?.
burn it on a cd with the computer.
bring it into the i pod and plug it in my car?
i have four cars.

and now to my ears the most important point:

i own an naim amplifier because of i prefer
its sound quality to the newest and most innovative digiamps. (tact millenium,as an example).

most of us listen to vinyl,out of sheer sound quality.

and i (my ears) can NOT admit, that one of those
new digistreamers(klimax ds, ps audio perfect
wave, and a lot of others can bring the same
bass sound quality,and overall freqency homogenity than any good cd-player.


at last: highest and clearest information is NOT
the same what icall "following the tune of music" Music has nothing to do with single effects,that are not in perfect connection
to the "whole homogen and essential Sound"
O.J.

Oj you just need a iTouch to scroll your albums and just click.
Even new Naim kit has a iTouch app.
Stu

If you go the computer route then make sure you have a backup drive and back up regularly. Computer hard drives can and do fail.

Technically I believe that CD versus a 16 bit PCM file played through a DAC is worth about 2 bits of resolution, that is 4 times as much or two levels of Naim equipment upgrade. The subjective difference is even greater with music having wide dynamic range. That's exactly how it sounds to me whenever I hear the comparison. Maybe it's just me but I actually find MP3s more musical and involving than PCM16 files whenever I have compared.

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Originally posted by Lee Henley:

The mini mac would be fed via the optical out to the DAC and I would not be streaming Lee

Does a mac mini even have an optical out?

quote:

Does a mac mini even have an optical out?

yes it's a combination jack. Mac Mini is a Macbook with more useable I/O due to it's form factor. All its components are from a laptop instead of a desktop PC.

Lee - its a great solution. I can't see why anyone would invest in a new CD player now when a computer audio solution can be so good (and now Naim make a DAC i'm sure it'll change the minds of a few that listen with their eyes rather than ears). The Mini makes a great music server and is very quiet (even quieter with a SSD drive). All my music sits on a NAS drive in the study. It's so easy to browse my whole collection and i dont think i've spent so much time listening to music as i have since i've gone down the computer route. The iPod touch makes a great remote control too.



James

quote:

Originally posted by james n:
Lee - its a great solution. I can't see why anyone would invest in a new CD player now when a computer audio solution can be so good (and now Naim make a DAC i'm sure it'll change the minds of a few that listen with their eyes rather than ears). The Mini makes a great music server and is very quiet (even quieter with a SSD drive). All my music sits on a NAS drive in the study. It's so easy to browse my whole collection and i dont think i've spent so much time listening to music as i have since i've gone down the computer route. The iPod touch makes a great remote control too.



James

James many thanks for that, is that a Weiss DAC that you have there, how do they sound?

BTW it was your picture in another thread on here that got me thinking about using a mini mac, another option just to test the theory out could be to unplug the imac and set that up downstairs, all beit I dont have a DAC yet but could borrow one from the local dealer just to try it out

Cheers

Lee