Rotel RB-1091's and RTi12's - No 2Ch Imaging!

mmadden28

I personally started with the mindset of pumping my music to the AVR/Amp via the Xbox360, but I found it more of a pain to boot the XBox up get into the Media area , etc. etc, than to just hook up my iPod to aux in on the AVR. Not to mention the damn noice the Xbox puts out. Besides You'd also be taking life away from the xBox potentially reaching that RRoD stage sooner.

What about a Media centered HTPC with a really good sound card like the Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro? Or a Squeezebox or Roku Soundbridge. I have the Soundbridge radio (no line outs), but they do have a model that does have line outs. It also supports FLAC.

Of course lately I've been more into the higher resolution formats (SACD/DVD-A/surround) but still find my mp3/FLAC collection quite satisfying. I really do hate swapping CDs-My players take so damn long to eject or start playing.

mstang1988

mmadden28 wrote: »

I personally started with the mindset of pumping my music to the AVR/Amp via the Xbox360, but I found it more of a pain to boot the XBox up get into the Media area , etc. etc, than to just hook up my iPod to aux in on the AVR. Not to mention the damn noice the Xbox puts out. Besides You'd also be taking life away from the xBox potentially reaching that RRoD stage sooner.

What about a Media centered HTPC with a really good sound card like the Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro? Or a Squeezebox or Roku Soundbridge. I have the Soundbridge radio (no line outs), but they do have a model that does have line outs. It also supports FLAC.

Of course lately I've been more into the higher resolution formats (SACD/DVD-A/surround) but still find my mp3/FLAC collection quite satisfying. I really do hate swapping CDs-My players take so damn long to eject or start playing.

Yeah, that blasted RROD! That's what the PS3 is for though... With the 360 now though you can set it to go straight to media center which is a +. The PS3 looks like it might be doing upsampling and perhaps the same as the 360. http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/outputfrequency.html.

mmadden28

mstang1988 wrote: »

Yeah, that blasted RROD! That's what the PS3 is for though... With the 360 now though you can set it to go straight to media center which is a +. The PS3 looks like it might be doing upsampling and perhaps the same as the 360. http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/outputfrequency.html.

Yeah I set my xBox up that way, but it still takes time, and its still loud, Eventually I will build my own HTPC. Much more control over playlists, etc. Right now, If I want a playlist I have to create it on the computer first. If the computer is part of the Home Theater already, then no problem//

mmadden28

Depending on the application serving the music and how the PC is setup, some kind of transcoding is likely occuring even if using FLAC. Another reason why directly connected PC to the A/V is likely better if you go that route

Here's a lnk to the Soundbridge . With my Roku and XBox I use the FireFly Media Server app.

mstang1988

And the answer is...

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39168

I'm still a little skeptical but as I have to wonder what the likelyness of a timing error etc but at least there is an explained reason for the difference. I'll have to investigate a better source now, doh! I really liked the prospect of a seperate DAC in my search though.

Jitter appears to be the issue causing issues with digital media but it only occurs on the redbook format when reading audio CD's. CD-ROM's do not suffer from this. Because my entire media collection was encoded via PC's as data does that mean all reader introduced Jitter has been removed? The only remaining Jitter that could be introduced now is via the optical cable leading to my receiver. I might have to try the PS3/PC with lossless audio sent through a standalone DAC and see what the results are. Now to just get my hands on a standlaone DAC without buying one...