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Giuanniello

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2012
783
218
Capri - Italy
Ok, mp3 is ok for casual listening but sometimes I just want to sit on the sofa and enjoy some quality music which I have into FLAC, I know I could convert into AAC and play through iTunes but why should I bother when FLAC is a more compatible format than AAC but this is not the point, I use VOX to play FLAC through my MacBookAir but I have to attach a cable (some day will get a dedicated DAC to link music source to analog preamplifier) every time and have it hanging to the computer so I am looking at a way to stream music from a source to the preamp in a more stable way. Thought to use an old MacMini (a core 2 duo) to store music but then how do I get to the player without to be forced to use a keyboard (I don't want more cables running around, already too many, want to rather simplify things) or a mouse? I know, I might remotely use the Mini through, say, the Air through RemoteDesktop app or something like that but was just trying to figure it out if somebody found more functional solution to a similar problem.

The stereo system is next to the router (which is something I have to fix because I can tell that some RF goes through the cables and sparkles through the speakers once in a while), would it be possible to stream a FLAC through wifi the the router or through the AppleTV and then somehow to the preamp?

Grazie
 
Airplay to Apple TV doesn't cut it?
airplay-audio-mountain-lion.jpg
 
The stereo system is next to the router (which is something I have to fix because I can tell that some RF goes through the cables and sparkles through the speakers once in a while), would it be possible to stream a FLAC through wifi the the router or through the AppleTV and then somehow to the preamp?

Grazie

Hey :) Use some balanced XLR or TRS cables if your Stereo system allows it, first of all :)

Airplay to Apple TV doesn't cut it?
View attachment 736239

AirPlay does not "cut it" for 24/96 Lossless files, it's a pure gimmick.

Giuanniello, use Audirvana and put your macmini to good use, organise some playlists and connect it to a decent DAC.
 
Plex doesn't work, I mean, I have an account, I have it installed on my Q-Nap NAS but it won't work there (I think it's not supported any longer) neither it seems to do much on the ATV4.

Converting to AAC is too much ha**le, how can it be that Apple doesn't allow an open format like FLAC being played straight away with iTunes???
 
i seem to understand, besides making Plex work, that over the air the music gets down sampled and as such loosing all the benefits of a FLAC file so I guess the solution remains to have the computer hooked to the preamp with a cable.

Thanks everybody for your hints and suggestions
 
i seem to understand, besides making Plex work, that over the air the music gets down sampled and as such loosing all the benefits of a FLAC file so I guess the solution remains to have the computer hooked to the preamp with a cable.

I don't know where you're getting that downsampling info about Plex. The problem for users seems to be that there NO setting to make Plex downsample audio and their streaming of audio via cellular is using too much data.
 
The problem is not into Plex, sorry, it's into the ATV which would anyways downsample because of the high bitrate of FLAC vs AAC and/or MP3, don't have the source handy but just read about it so I have to look at a different route to stream which will sure not be through the air but wired, don't believe my old Mini with a CoreDuo 2 can stand recent FLAC players standards nor I am sure it can play FLAC smoothly, only thing would be to give it a try and to remote it or to use a DVI to HDMI adapter and to use the TV as a screen.

Thanks for your suggestions
 
Converting to AAC is too much ha**le, how can it be that Apple doesn't allow an open format like FLAC being played straight away with iTunes???
skottichan was talking about ALAC, not AAC. ALAC is lossless and open like FLAC – and supported by every Apple device.
 
skottichan was talking about ALAC, not AAC. ALAC is lossless and open like FLAC – and supported by every Apple device.
ALAC really gives you the best of all worlds. It's lossless, free, open source, completely supported on Apple devices (going back to the iPod from 15 years ago), widely supported and ever more popular on other devices and operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, and uses a great container format to boot (MP4).
 
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