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Author Topic: Hardware for new MC setup  (Read 1997 times)

skreich

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Hardware for new MC setup
« on: March 09, 2012, 05:41:37 pm »

If this has been answered before, I apologize, but I can't find it on the forum.

I'm currently using Windows Media Player>Sonos on an old XP computer with a large external HD I've dedicated to a music server.  After reading the 4 part article in Absolute Sound (of which I understood about 20% ), I'm interested in changing over to MC just because of the improvement in sound quality.  I'm currently using the system for convenience through a pretty high end stereo; I don't have multiple zones.  Currently, I have my computer hard-wired to the Sonos Bridge, which goes wireless to the Sonos Zone Player ZP90.  I bypass the internal DAC in the Sonos Zone Player and go by RCA-terminated digital interconnect into the DAC input on my CD player.

My CD player is a pretty high end unit, and I'd like to continue to use its DAC through the coax input.  My computer and my big stereo are in two different rooms, so I really have to go wireless.  Can someone tell me in simple language (I'm a newbie here and all the acronyms are foreign to me) what I would need to do this?  I've seen people mention the Apple Airport, but it doesn't look like it has a coax output to take a digital signal into my CD player.

Thanks in advance for any and all help.
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JimH

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Re: Hardware for new MC setup
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2012, 06:25:51 pm »

Welcome to the forum.  I will remove the other thread you started. 

It's not easy to understand exactly what you need.

In our world, DLNA is equivalent to Apple Airport.   You can learn more on the wiki and on the board here called "Media Network".

It is possible to use a DLNA Renderer to do what you want, but I'm not sure about the connector problem.  A Western Digital HD TV Live, for example, can serve as a renderer.  MC can play to it, and it accepts WAV or FLAC files.

What is the make and model of the device you're connecting to?  It would help to see a picture of the business side of it.
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skreich

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Re: Hardware for new MC setup
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2012, 08:38:22 pm »

I'm connecting to an Accuphase DP-78 CD/SACD player.  It has the usual analog OUTPUTS, but it has two INPUTS to the DAC, either coax or optical.  I can switch the input on the Accuphase so I can play CDs, or use the DAC separately.  Does that explain it sufficiently?
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goatherder

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Re: Hardware for new MC setup
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2012, 04:43:17 am »

Depends on what you're looking to play. If it's 16/44.1 audio and you're not looking to delve into the other capabilities of MC then the ZP90 -> DAC method is, to be honest, simpler and just as effective (sonically) as the MC route.

I use MC in my home office and as my primary "serious computer-based stereo", as I have a good number of high-res tracks - and also to sync some of my portable devices. For not listening when at a computer though, I have a few ZP90 / Play5's dotted around my home and I use those in preference to the MC setups for general listening around the home, especially through Spotify - but for 16/44.1 source material, the ZP90 is bit-perfect to a DAC, and through the iPad remote app (the level of sophistication of which j.River cannot match - bringing up Gizmo on an Android tablet alongside the Sonos app - it's really a tragic joke in comparison) it's way more pleasant to use as an appliance than MC.  
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