Mac & Dac

It would probably work...
However AIFF is just a raw PCM data file with extra header for meta-tags (artist name etc...).
other than that it's identical to wave and other uncompressed pcm files.

I assume that if you are talking about an optical feed, then you are either thinking of feeding via an airport express or direct from a PC. Either way I think the DAC is getting the music as a decompressed bit stream, and not the data in a compressed file format. In which case, it will play anything that iTunes will play.

Next week when my nDAC arrives I will be able to say for sure, and there must be people out there with nDACS who have tried this already.

By the way, I read somewhere that iTunes converts files to Apple Lossless always when sending data to the Airport Express, which then decompresses and streams it. But I read that on the web somewhere, not in Apple literature, so don't know whether it is true or not.

quote:

Originally posted by cafez27:
Quick question, presumably the DAC can receive and play iTunes files via an optical feed, are there certain file formats that simply won't work accepting that the AIFF is probably the best?

Thanks

Jez

It worked in the Naim demo - didn't sound as good as CD though to my ears. It may be the Mac's S/PDIF that lets it down as a source - no idea really, but there is something about a computer source that still doesn't work for me.

The nDAC is very good though when fed by a CDX2-2.

The DAC will play anything iTunes outputs over optical as long as its stereo. Unfortunately the DAC will even try to play 5.1 streams as stereo resulting in unpleasant chirps and white noise. It would be nice if it would mute when receiving a non stereo bitstream.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

Originally posted by cafez27:
Quick question, presumably the DAC can receive and play iTunes files via an optical feed, are there certain file formats that simply won't work accepting that the AIFF is probably the best?

Thanks

Jez

It worked in the Naim demo - didn't sound as good as CD though to my ears. It may be the Mac's S/PDIF that lets it down as a source - no idea really, but there is something about a computer source that still doesn't work for me.

The nDAC is very good though when fed by a CDX2-2.

The DAC (except for the USB stick input thing) does not play data files of any format. Your media player or streamer is what has to be compatible with, and able to read/play AIFF/FLAC/MP3 etc. These files are converted to a stereo PCM SPDIF data-stream which is THEN passed to the DAC (except for the USB stick input thing) for conversion to analogue.

quote:

he DAC (except for the USB stick input thing) does not play data files of any format. Your media player or streamer is what has to be compatible with, and able to read/play AIFF/FLAC/MP3 etc. These files are converted to a stereo PCM SPDIF data-stream which is THEN passed to the DAC (except for the USB stick input thing) for conversion to analogue.

Agreed - but it didn't sound anything special when a Mac was doing the conversion through its S/PDIF - at least not to me.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Agreed - but it didn't sound anything special when a Mac was doing the conversion through its S/PDIF - at least not to me.

ROTF,

You seem happy with your CD players and uninterested in computer audio, that's fine. But there is no particular virtue in that.

If, with your obvious computer knowledge, you haven't managed to get audio from a Mac/PC/HD source that matches the digital feed from a CD transport - I think it's fair to assume that you don't actually want to. Why not just say that, rather than imply that it hasn't met some kind of 'standard' because that's just nonsense.

Hair shirts are not compulsory.

Joe

If you are taking an optical out from you mac then the dac will convert all that is thrown at it. This includes volume noises, received emails etc, I think there is a way in the audio pref to have alerts come out the mac.

As long as the stream is stereo then the dac will play it.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
If you are taking an optical out from you mac then the dac will convert all that is thrown at it. This includes volume noises, received emails etc, I think there is a way in the audio pref to have alerts come out the mac.

As long as the stream is stereo then the dac will play it.

When and IF I implement computer based HiFi I would have a PC (or Mac) dedication purely for that task. Since my music collection would be on a NAS drive I would have full protection against any rouge webpages and and viruses. I would probably be using a Mac. The computer would then have no other sounds coming out of it other than the dedicated audio.

quote:

If, with your obvious computer knowledge, you haven't managed to get audio from a Mac/PC/HD source that matches the digital feed from a CD transport - I think it's fair to assume that you don't actually want to.

Not really fair - I would like to because like it or not that is how some music is delivered - yes I could burn CDs, but that is not ideal. I was really hoping it was the quality of S/PDIF in general purpose computers that was responsible for it not sounding as good as I'd like it too - because I think that is a problem that could be solved. The HDX+nDAC definitely sounds good, but that is an expensive option compared with sticking a USB stick in the front of the nDAC - which may be the answer.

quote:

Since my music collection would be on a NAS drive I would have full protection against any rouge webpages and and viruses.

Why would using a NAS through an un-authenticated UPNP connection prevent viruses (PC) or rogue web pages (malicious java applets) destroying your music collection. If you are Internet connected then you still need to be cautious, not paranoid, just cautious. As long as you have a back-up of your files stored off line on a durable medium such as DVD/CD then you should be safe.

quote:

As long as you have a back-up of your files stored off line ...

Off-line back-up would be the point, would it not? How this is managed will require attention whatever method is used. If it is by Hard Drive then they will need running up every so often and two of them will infinitely be preferable to one [the spare tyre can be as flat as the flat tyre on the car], but even CD-Rs or DVD-Rs don't last forever. They require to be copied every so many years for safety, and two copies would always be better than one ...

The point is that all thse things require more care than is generally realised.

No different to anything else, if the job is worth doing then it is worth doing properly.

ATB from George

quote:

CD-Rs or DVD-Rs don't last forever

Not sure what the MTBF is, but it is generally better than HDs. I prefer CD-Rs or DVD-Rs because they are write-once - though more easily scratched than a hard disk. Important thing is not to rely on mirrors as if one half is corrupt then the other half is likely to be so too.

In a way a download library/vault is a great idea - should you lose a file then you simply download it again.

Of course here is another way

quote:

MTBF

Don't you just love acronyms?

I have no idea what his means.

quote:

Of course here is another way

You have to be kidding?

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:

quote:

MTBF

Don't you just love acronyms?

I have no idea what his means.

MTBF = mean time between failures. It is a very geeky way of describing how long a hard drive is expected to last.

Could we stick to English as it is understood in general polite usage?

Something like, "expected average life," would be better, rather than something that looks like a miss-spelt Polish word in capitals.

Grumpy old man hat off now!

ATB from George

quote:

Originally posted by Naijeru:

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:

quote:

MTBF

I have no idea what his means.

MTBF = mean time between failures. It is a very geeky way of describing how long a hard drive is expected to last.

But some will still go early, and others will last far longer than the average. C'est la vie.

There again, with Google offering 200Gb of online storage for 50 USD per year is looking like a viable alternative. Waiting to get it all back down will still be a chore. But at least you could get it back without re-ripping.

John

quote:

Originally posted by fixedwheel:
There again, with Google offering 200Gb of online storage for 50 USD per year is looking like a viable alternative.
...
John

That is hugely expensive.

Here you can buy a Samsung 1500GB disk for about 113 USD (once not every year ).
Samsung's MTBF for HDDs is 500,000 hours (Seagate and WD drive even 25% to 50% more than that). That means that if you use your PC for 9 hours every day, your HDD should operate for 152 years. So that's not something to get overly exited about.

If you regularly check the function and health status of your HDD, with some software that can check also the SMART values of the drive, you shouldn't be in for nasty surprises.

So it is more efficient to setup a proper external backup solution than those online storage facilities.

-
aleg

quote:

your HDD should operate for 152 years

I've never known a HDD to last as long as that - mind you those Victorians made things to last.

BTW people get upset if we use TLAs like USD and HDD, PC and WD or FLAs like MTBF on a thread about MACs, DAC, WAVs, MP3s, AACs like this.

I think NASs are on the way out and OLS is the way to go - let Google do all the back-ups and no need for noisy old fashioned HDDs cluttering up the homestead.

Just switch on your player and it comes on at once from ROM or SSD - enter your on-line account details and the name of your on-line storage and it mounts for you to play a network file system (let's call it NFS - a term on which the Sun may never set). So there is no delay from the wire you just cache to SSD. Guess I'm describing a Highly Desirable Streamer or as some will abbreviate it HDS.

If we had this then perhaps people would just listen to music rather than ripping it 17 different ways to see which sounds best and computer audio would have come of age.

Or you could just play a record.

The future's so bright - I gotta wear shades.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

your HDD should operate for 152 years

I've never known a HDD to last as long as that - mind you those Victorians made things to last.

Heeeey, I didn't make those specs .

But on the other hand I have not yet seen one of my disks fail over the last 17 years either. So another 135 years to go to see if I get to the mean.

And if you would run it 24 hours a day it would only last 50 years on average.

-
aleg

quote:

Originally posted by Aleg:

quote:

Originally posted by fixedwheel:
There again, with Google offering 200Gb of online storage for 50 USD per year is looking like a viable alternative.
...
John

That is hugely expensive.

Here you can buy a Samsung 1500GB disk for about 113 USD (once not every year ).
Samsung's MTBF for HDDs is 500,000 hours (Seagate and WD drive even 25% to 50% more than that). That means that if you use your PC for 9 hours every day, your HDD should operate for 152 years. So that's not something to get overly exited about.

If you regularly check the function and health status of your HDD, with some software that can check also the SMART values of the drive, you shouldn't be in for nasty surprises.

So it is more efficient to setup a proper external backup solution than those online storage facilities.

-
aleg

You can buy as many drives as you like, the really important thing is to implement a comprehensive back up plan, including off-site duplication.

Add to the cost of the Samsung drive:-

1. A caddy or other means to protect it whilst in use. Or get a unit already in an external case. But that will be more money.
2. Add in the cost of somebody to connect and reconnect it each time.
3. Add in the cost of somebody running a backup or synch routine when you connect it, you can't schedule it as you have to manually attach the drive.
4. Now double or triple the number of drives as you have to have at least one in the off-site storage location all the time. Hint: If you are transporting the only back up unit to the main site to do the back up then at times you do NOT have an off-site backup.
5. The cost of the off-site storage location as it needs to be geographically far enough away to avoid the flood, fire, earthquake scenario.
6. The cost of getting the drive(s) to and from the off-site storage location on a regular basis


And that is just for starters. And if you think that the time required in points 2 & 3 above is "free" because you aren't going to charge yourself then bear in mind that all that time is time you can't spend listening to music, spending with family and friends etc. Not really "free" is it?

John

1 Nas drive - 2 years and 1 disk failure. Pull broken drive out, put new one in caddy leave for a couple of hours and all fully restored. Once a month plug in my external USB drive. Press button on front of NAS and 24hrs later all is backed up to the external drive.

All very simple

James