USB vs. iPod Dock's coax out

[Edoardo]

Good evening everyone,

 

I have a question for you guys,

 

As digital sources, I currently own a NetBook (running Linux), an iPod Classic and an Arcam rDAC.

 

Since my listening files are mostly CD rips (few Hi-Res albums in storage) I'd like to know whether getting an iPod Dock featuring an SPDIF coax. out such as the Onkyo ND-S1 for listening just to those rips would be an upgrade, a downgrade or neither.

 

my current chain is just like this:

FLAC files on ext.HDD |---USB---> NetBook |---USB(dCS)---> DAC

 

instead of...

ALAC files on iPod |---USB---> Dock |---coax SPDIF---> DAC

 

Would something change in better or worse?

Does ALAC and FLAC files give the same playbacking quality?

Can that tiny iPod CPU do the job?

Can that tiny USB/SPDIF converter to the job (or was it meant to be fed with lossy files, indeed?)

 

My headphone amplifier is really a very very revealing one, I'm afraid of all that tiny stuff before it to make some kind of noise...

 

 

 

On one hand, I know I could invest that money on starting to build a music server (would that be such a cost-effective improvement instead?); on the other hand, the idea of "going back" into listening to music without having to switch the computer on, especially after having spent a day working on it, attracts me.

 

Also, I've read around that connecting two such devices to the same USB hub of a Netbook is far from being the best solution, because of their power management issues, and I was wondering if this implementation could give better results, at least with CD rips, even though my rDAC features that "famous" dCS asynch USB receiver I would stop exploiting...

 

 

 

[nemick]

Hi. I am using a MacBook as my primary source. I am simply playing the files out of iTunes into a DAC and then into a receiver. Originally, I used an iPod Classic mounted on a Wadia i170 transport as I felt this would be the most elegant solution. Unfortunately, the sound quality using the iPod/Wadia is inferior to the sound quality when using the MacBook. Please note that I was using an original Wadia transport with only S/PDIF coax output, unlike the new version which has more output options.I don't know why this was inferior, as the files on either device are ALAC and presumably identical.

 

I am not using off board storage, so I don't know if that would make a difference. I am told that FLAC and ALAC are pretty much the same, both being lossless formats.

 

Others experience may vary, but for me the improvement in sound quality by using my MacBook was too large to ignore.

 

[Edoardo]

thank you for sharing your impressions,

 

one thing: how is the MacBook connected to the DAC?

 

[nemick]

I am using a Musical Fidelity V-DAC II and as such, I have the option to connect from the MacBook either via USB or Toslink (Optical S/PDIF). I tried both connections and I find that I slightly prefer the USB connection, although there isn't much in it, in my system. A higher end system would perhaps show greater differences and I am sure I will be upgrading various items as I go forward, so time will tell.

 

[Edoardo]

Thank you again for the feedbacks.

 

I guess I'm going to build some kind of little music server on my own then...

 

[nemick]

Depending upon the budget you have in mind, there are many options out there that might suit your needs. If you like to build things yourself, you could even build the CAPS2 which has been designed by the owner of this forum. I haven't heard one, but it seems to garner a good deal of praise. I am contemplating building one myself if I can figure out the assembly steps. The actual list of necessary components is listed elsewhere on this site.

 

[Edoardo]

If I am going for a music server, I'd like it to have an SPDIF out like through an ESI Juli@ or something like that.

I would like to spend less than 200 EUR + the internal soundcard.

 

All the solutions I have seen up to now are either by far too expensive or by far too big. I need the device to fit in my library somehow.

 

Can anyone suggest a motherboard that can feature a wifi card and an ESI Juli@ and a case smaller than the average HTPC?