me, the piss-off kid
![Wink ;)](https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/Smileys/classic/wink.gif)
Started the digital music in the midi era (1995). The first expensive digital audio related purchase was the Yamaha SW60XG, which held a 18-bit DAC on a 80386 (40 MHz). MP3 wasn't mainstream yet, the first public testing was during the Olympics in 1992 (mpeg1-2-3), For audio cards we could choose between the SB-Pro or market leader adlib. In 1995 the extension/name mp3 saw it's birth and came available for a PC. MP3 wasn't really used for audio as disc space was limited to 20MB, or if had 3 month salaries to spare, 2 for a 520MB disc. and 1 for a SCSI controller, you would have some room to store the 300-500kB mp3 files.
In the early 90's the CD-Rom came to the computer, so we could use the computer to play digital audio. But keep in mind not a competitor for the CD-player.
flac gained popularity around 2005, back then JRiver wasn't well known on this side of the pond, I stepped in with MC17