will
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There has been a lot of development in computer audio over the last several years, but not a total shift as far as I can see. Still loads of non-computer music being played. I don't know the best place to learn about it if you take an interest, but computeraudiophile.com has a lot of info and opinion! There are threads here also, probably in the ZDAC area. Maybe search computer?
I don't know the story as well as many, but here are some starting points. I chose a Mac Mini because I like Macs, but as much because they were tried and true as quiet audio players. They are made to be cool and efficient and therefore use pretty good (quiet) parts, and the solid aluminum case is a good thing...good for keeping out exterior noise and vibration reduction, and also for cooling without fans.
A main thing to consider with a PC is noise. Those cables do not just move digital data to DAC, but also electronic noise...so a quiet computer is a big deal as far as I can tell. A computer devoted to audio only, with the system as simplified as possible, will give the most attention to the audio app while using the computer resources minimally. Enough memory counts..the better audio players pull files to memory while turning off non-essential (for audio) system activity, but those I have talked with who have tested find that more memory is generally better sounding, again, chilling out computer electronics use. I found (as many have) that external drives are a better place for the music than internal, not using the system dirve except for essential stuff. And since my DAC is USB, I use a Firewire drive, leaving the USB buss for the DAC activity. And finally, at least with my system, the cables matter...different USB cables sounding different.
There do appear to be good server/players out there now, but I know nothing about them. Probably the easiest way to get going, but it limits DAC choices. Not sure that matters if the server DAC is great though. I am just one for flexibility, and you have a good DAC.
I really enjoy how my Tranquility DAC pulls the beauty from uncompressed, error free redbook, so I have not looked at highres. You can download highres files though...I think there are several places to do this, but HDtracks is one. You can also rip CDs with error correction software that accesses online databases for comparison, but also the software can more slowly correct data problems if the files are not in the databases.
I hope this covers the basic stuff.
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