Please help me bake a cake!

[Spirit]

Imagine that you want to bake a really delicious cake: you have all the ingrediants but have no idea what the recipe is. If you mix the ingrediants improperly - well, the cake will taste awful.

This is how I feel about my quest for learning about Computer Audio - I have most of the ingrediants I need to get me there - but I don't have the knowledge to make it work. This is where the nice people of this Forum can help me (I hope!). Here are the :ngrediants" that I have at home:

1: Sonus system

2: PS Audio DL III USB Dac

3: Computers are PC based and are on a wireless Home network although the hard-drives are not shared (mostly because I am not sure how to allow one computer to read another computer's hard drive; don't laugh - I'm over 50!)

4: E machines laptop

5: 3 external hard drives with CDs encoded with FLAC

6: An audiophile quality 2 channel system.

Here are my goals for now

1: To be able to listen to excellent computer based audio through my home system, but I don't know how to do it. If I could get some direction that would be great.

3: To be able to listen to Hires music with 24 bits. Since I don't have any of this music presently, how do I get the music and what kind of device would allow me to decode a 24 bit signal. I believe that my Sonos systen is 16/44.1 and I also think that the USB input on the PS Audio is also limited to 16 bit

 

[Roseval]

It all depends on connectivity and the quality of the components used.

You have an audiophile quality 2 channel system.

Most likely it accepts analogue line input (RCA).

If you connect the PS Audio to it, you can play all the music on your PC using the USB.

Sonos probably has a analogue out too.

If Sonos has a optical out and the PS a optical in, you probably get a better sound quality using the PS DAC.

 

In Windows Explorer you can right click on any drive or directory, choose properties > sharing.

 

Hires, check the specs of Sonos and PS, if they are limited to 16/44.1, no hires for you.

A good quality USB DAC like Benchmark DAC1 allows you to play 24/96.

There a couple of companies like Reference Recording or Linn offering hires.

The catalogues a very limited. Makes me wonder if you miss much.