SERVER-QUEST: Transporter (Modwright) / Mac (mini) / music servers - Page 3

I already have one but ordered just, because. Will post an update when available.

*** Received a confirmation email that indicates I ordered a Squeezebox. Sent a printscreen of the order I placed and asked that they ship the listed item at the advertised price.

If I get it, I can send it for the Modwright updates. Sounds too good to be true.

Funk
I made the order as well, who knows - worst thing is I return it. Best thing is I save a lot of $$ and then do the MW upgrade.
Mark

I'm in SFO and got here at about 5AM and saw the thread, but the TP was out of stock. Went to bed, got up at 12 and saw the thread still going and went ahead and ordered it. What the hey, who knows.

I'll probably have a SB3 delivered and then return it. I saved all the website confirmation pages, but I doubt if that will help. Again, never know!

I skimmed over that post on the TP price. Holy crizzle that's low. Surely Staples made a mistake.

It is not the TP, but the SB - order canceled

Did you call to verify? The website still shows the TP.

I called to confirm the order, and she said yes we have you down for a SB to be delivered.... I mentioned that I ordered the transporter and she said we'll have to change the charge to your card. Went around and around for a while and she said "we fouled up."

So I canceled, you can buy a SB cheaper than that.

Ahh, too bad. Could have been a really good buy. Well at least you found out before it arrived and going through the hassle of having to return it.

Figures, I just ordered one as edealinfo.com had it so I just went with it. Now I read this thread... I saved the screenshot, but I noticed my e-mail confirmation just says "Squeezebox Network Music". Funny that a search for Squeezebox on the Staples web site doesn't even show a SB3, just a Duet, Controller, and Receiver. Ah well, I'll try an e-mail back to support@orders.staples.com and see what they say.

I got an email this morning. They indicated the item was out of stock and cancelled my order. Email still referenced a squeezebox.

Valued Staples Customer,

Re: Logitech Transporter/ Squeezebox Network Music Player

Valued Staples Customer,

Regarding your recent Staples order, item 761075 was pictured incorrectly on our website. The item pictured was a Logitech Transporter valued at $2629.99. The item on sale was a Logitech Squeezebox Network Media player valued at $299.99.

If your order was for the Logitech Squeeze, due to the high demand we are currently out of stock. This item will not be fulfilled and you will not be charged.

The Logitech Transporter is currently not available in Staples product assortment and is not available for purchase.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and we have not billed you for this item.

Please contact our Customer Service team by phone at 800-333- 3330 or by email at support.orders@staples.com with any questions or concerns.

Thank you for choosing Staples,

Staples Customer Service

Hi guys, I was hoping I could get everyone's opinion as to whether or not a mac mini feeding flac files(via any of the three connections) to a Cullen modified PS Audio DL III could produce music of the same quality as a stock transporter. The reason I mention this specific dac is because a friend is getting rid of his and he is offering it to me cheap.

If any of you use a mini as an htpc, what form of remote do you use? Using and Ipod Touch while itunes is on is great but I'm hoping there is something better than just a wireless mouse and keyboard for the rest of the time.

Also, I don't think I saw this mentioned(sorry if it was) but an application called Fluke can play flac files through itunes. I can't post the link but go to macupdate and search for Fluke .11.

I appreciate any and all help. Thanks.

Sorry, while I use the Mac Mini (connected to a 750GB HD) as a music server, I have no experience with the DAC you are interested in. PS Audio is a great company, so I doubt you would be disappointed.

I use the Logitech DiNivo Mini keyboard to control the Mac. It's got a built in touch pad for mouse control. The touch pad control is a little sketchy but worth the trade off of having to have a surface nearby for the mouse. My Mac Mini is connected to my prepro with a DVI to HDMI cable and I use a custom resolution to deal with overscan.

I love it.

Thanks for your help guys.

Sponge, when you say overscan, do you mean that you are missing the very top and bottom from your osx desktop or something else? I had thought that was only a problem when I connecting a laptop via the same method you described. Also, thanks for letting me know that you use the dinovo mini because logitech's site doesn't specify osx support for the it. I also ran across an iphone/touch app last night called remote buddy and it looks very promising even though its not free.

Funkmonkey, I use and love Fluke. I only found it last week but I have yet to run into any problems(running osx 10.5 and itunes 8). I accumulated about 300 gigs worth of flac files from my time with windows and Fluke was a godsend instead of having to convert all of it to apple lossless. One thing though, I showed it to a friend of mine who is running 10.4 and and he has tried it but cannot get it to work even though the developer's site specifies 10.4 support.

Not sure if I should wait until the rumored refresh of the mini in January or just grab a refurbed 1.83 intel now but I'm leaning towards the latter. Thanks again for the help guys.

Yes, with the standard resolutions on the Mac Mini, the entire outside edges (top, bottom, left, right) were all slightly cut off, or there was a black boarder around the entire desktop. With the option that was too big, I could still make out 3/4's of the task bar at the top, but it bugged me. So I scoured the internet and found this:

DisplayConfigX
http://www.3dexpress.de/

To get the output of the Mac Mini to fit within the viewable area of my Panasonic plasma I had to play around with the front and back porch.

http://www.peterkrantz.com/2007/mac-mini-overscan/

Hey Funk -

You know what I'm finding surprisingly compelling? Finding hi-rez album cover art. I started using the 240x240 cover art from Amazon, but then when I went full screen cover flow, I was like yuck! So I started google image searching for 500x500 or higher and I found that some of the images had been tweeked for higher contrast and brilancy. Now my cover art collection looks fan-freakin-tastic!

It's oddly satisfying hunting down the best art. It's got some sort of collector's appeal. Like hunting down a pristine Mickey Mantel baseball card or some sheeite. He's popular right?

Just thought I'd mention that in about a week or so I'll be getting Bel Canto's new "USB Link 24/96" USB to SPDIF converter. It is supposed to improve the sound of computer audio by reclocking the signal to reduce jitter. I'm currently using the optical out from the Mac Mini, which is supposedly full of jitter.

Bel Canto has even gone to the extent of providing a SPDIF cable of a particular length to further limit jitter. I've been reading up on SPDIF and aparently the length of the cable can affect the propigation of the signal and that it either needs to be 6 inches or 3 feet or 6 feet long, but nothing in between.

I realize that jitter is a topic of much debate, but what the hell. I don't have great expectations, but this is about all I can do to "tweak" the performance of the bits being sent from my Mac Mini to the DACs in my prepro. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised by the addition of the USB Link.



http://www.belcantodesign.com/news_usb_link.html

Funk -

First, I did some reading up on the new Mac Mini last night, and I get the impression that none of the improvements made to the new model would be pertinent to using it as a music server. The two primary changes are to the graphics board and the video output connector. The other changes include a larger HD and a faster processor on the entry level model. None of which are needed for audio reproduction (assuming you will be using an external HD). So, if you can find the previous model on a close-out deal for cheap, that would be the way to go.

As to your problems with your current Mac, it is definitely the result of an overload to your FIFO buffer which can only be rectified through galvanic isolation of the Mac. I'm pretty sure that Synergistic Research makes a power cable that will help.

In all seriousness, post your question over on the Computer Audiophile website forum. Lots of knowledgeable guys over there into using their PC's for music playback.

Good point about the video capability of the new mac mini if you are thinking of expanding its use into an HTPC, but I would think that you would want something with a BD drive in it for that. Unless you can stream HD content from the likes of Netflix. I haven't looked into that.

Here's the site I was talking about.

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/

You probably know this already, but the audio circle also has a forum dedicated to apples being used as music servers. This may be another place to go to for help with your static noise problem.

I while back I mentioned that I placed an order for a Bel Canto USB Link converter (converts USB to SPDIF digital) to connect to my Mac Mini music server.

I placed the BC USB Link into my system last night (Mac Mini >Kimber USB > BC USB Link > Classe SSP-800 prepro/DAC > Classe amp > Wilson Benesch Discovery speakers). Frankly I wasn't expecting much, but I bought the BC Link with the interest of providing a lower jitter signal to my prepro and the hope that this would improve the resolution / definition of the sound. First I have to say that I in no way felt my system was lacking in either of these areas--my system already has excellent resolution (even though I use the jitter-prone toslink output of my mac and a relatively inexpensive plastic fiber toslink cable). But I thought what the hell, everything is relative and maybe there is another level to all of this.

At first it was hard for me to hear any difference at all. I was hoping that the difference would be immediate and undeniable, but I had to resort to hours of A/B testing between the USB Link and the Toslink connection to dial in on the sound (if any) of the USB Link. It wasn't until I went through about 20 different songs last night and 50 more tonight that some qualities started to become more clear . . . I think.

The USB Link does bring more definition to the sound. It has more snap and edge definition, and at first I thought I liked this, but towards the end of last night I noticed that this came at the cost of some "musicality". Things like the strike of a cymbal or the pluck of a guitar string were more crisp, but the overall sound is slightly cold and metallic. Voices sound more granular and sibilance was also increased. The bass may be a hair tighter and defined through the USB Link, but not enough to sway me. I guess you could say that the USB Link made my system sound slightly more "digital", and that the toslink sounds more natural to these ears. Maybe I like the sound of jitter? I dunno. ;-) I heard no difference in soundstage, imaging or any of the other things we audiophiles typically listen for.

I'll be the first to admit that the difference between the BC USB Link and the Toslink are small enough that what I hear may all be in my head.

I'm going to hold onto it for another week or so to see if the sound quality changes with "burn-in" and I've got a better Toslink cable (Van Den Hul Optocoupler) on the way that I would like to compare it to, but at this point this interesting device doesn't look like it is going to stay in my system.

I would just to ask that anyone reading this take my comments for what they are-- one man's opinion of a device that has been inserted into a system that is probably nothing like yours. Like all things in this hobby, even though it didn't work out for me doesn't mean that it is a bad product. It may sound fabulous in your system. You'll just have to try it out and listen for yourself.

For a counterpoint to my experience, this guy loved it:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/be...ml#post5459929

Cheers,

- Tim

Tim, my suggestion would be to play signal through it for at least 100 hours and then give it an A/B. That may or may not provide more differences.