I’m looking for advice in rebuilding my hifi from scratch after my primary CD-based Naim system went on the fritz a few months ago and is too old IMO to invest thousands of dollars into for repairs and recaps. (A Dialog/twin Phantom setup will cost about the same as repairing/recapping my Naims back to their 1995 standards at best.)
I’ll be selling bits off or perhaps the entire system at some point in the future assuming two Devialet Phantoms and a Dialog does the business with a home trial. I’m very much interested in taking advantage of the situation and simplifying my setup with a minimal number of boxes and the prospect of getting better sound with newer technology for a helluva lot less money than my old Naim rig cost.
Basically I know very little about building a digital music playback system using a computer and external hard drives as source and storage so I’m reaching out to the good folks at PFM for advice. My goal is simplicity with the new rig and a minimal number of boxes while getting the best sound quality out of them. My music does not need to be shared with other systems in the house and if that changes I can always setup a NAS but that’s highly unlikely to happen. (Other family members can stream direct to the Phantom setup as I understand it regardless using iTunes Match and Spark)
With that said, here’s the software/hardware I have (or will have) on hand to make this happen and a few questions:
Source: iMac and several external drives including one as backup for storing several thousand CDs I’ll be ripping at some point using iTunes.
I’ve also got a Squeezebox available which I might press into service purely for quick Internet radio access but perhaps it’s redundant once I discover using my computer as the sole music source (I'm really in the dark here as it’s only ever been used for computing.)
Q: AIFF vs Apple Lossless file system. Does one sound better than another or is the difference not worth worrying about? (After a bit of research it appears either would be fine sonically but AIFF eats up more space though it’s not proprietary like AL should I wish to move away from Apple in the future - The Great Ripping Project hasn’t begun yet so I can go in any direction now.)
Q: What the best (least distorted) way to get the music from my iMac and its attached USB storage drives to the Dialog? It’s a mid 2011 iMac so has a hybrid optical out/headphone jack IIRC so I’m assuming a Toslink cable of some sort direct to the Dialog will do the job or do I need a separate DAC and other stuff to get Good Sound? I don't have a problem with buying extra bits but I'm over chasing after perfect sound whatever that is)
Router: Apple Time Capsule. Currently located upstairs away from where the iMac/Dialog/Phantom rig will be installed in our basement family room but I can run an Ethernet connection from the TC upstairs to the Dialog downstairs without any hassle. I could also connect the Dialog to the Phantoms if required using Ethernet but I’d rather use WiFi for the Dialog/Phantom components minimizing trip hazards for guests and family pets in the immediate area. (I’ll have no problem connecting Dialog and Phantoms to the same AC circuit so PLC functions as required.)
Q: Unless I missed something it sounds like my Apple TC and a Dialog is all I need from a networking standpoint to send music from my iMac to the Phantom but I would be limited to accessing and controlling my music including volume levels from my iMac itself. Is this correct?
If I want to access and control my music and its volume level from my iPhone, MB Air or iPad from my chair instead of my iMac twenty plus feet away I’ll need an Airport Extreme bridged off of my Time Capsule with my USB drives attached to the Extreme and the Dialog/Phantoms running off a subnet from the Extreme or can all of these devices access and control the music stored on the attached USB drives on the iMac if all of the devices are on the same Devialet subnet? (again, I've never used a computer or iTunes for music so I have no idea if I'm correct with any of my assumptions)
I’m open to any suggestions (and corrections to my assumptions) as nothing is in stone yet guys.
regards,
dave
Last edited by dave; Today at 07:44 PM.
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Advice needed moving from Naim to Deviate
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