Following on from the earlier posts, consider the following

Meridian MC200...................................$4,000

Mac Mini..............................................$700
Pure Music Player...................................$130
Halide Design Async USB to SPDIF.................$450
Total ...............................................$1,300

When one doesn�t already have a Ripped Music Library, then there are quite a lot of merits to the Meridian MC200 system���
a) It will Rip the CD�s bit accurately (using the ControlPC App)
b) It will Store about 1,250 of your ripped CD�s (which might be enough for some)
c) It will Upsample and Apodize before outputting over SPDIF and Speakerlink
d) It�s a good stepping stone towards an 8xx/ID40 combination

To achieve the similar results with the Mac requires a little more work��but not a lot more

a) XLD for CD Ripping (includes AccurateRIP)
b) iTunes for Music File Management
c) Pure Music Player for Optimum Playback and bypassing the Mac�s Audio Midi
d) Halide Design Async USB to SPDIF Cable to minimize Jitter to very low levels

Setting all of these up to work together is very easy and much easier than it might first appear��.probably around the same time as it would take to get the MC200 and ControlPC communicating on the same network

The Apple Remote iPad app would have certain User Interface advantages over the current Sooloos iPad app, which is how you would control the MC200

IMHO the Storage Advantages that the Mac would offer (i.e. the use of a standard NAS System) over the current Sooloos options, is a very significant one

With an Optimized setup, I�ve found that the Mac / Async USB essentially matches the Sound Quality performance of the MC200 over Speakerlink / SPDIF����with a few other software add-ons offering Apodizing (not Meridian�s), it�s possible that it may even slightly edge the MC200�..but my jury is still out on that at the moment

For more Product Information and Reviews, see the links below

Pure Music
Product Info
Absolute Sound Review
Stereophile Review

Halide Design Async USB to SPDIF Cable
Product Info
Stereophile Review
Computer Audiophile Review


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