Ok this may be a very silly question but whilst I enjoy my music I have never really been to bothered with regards to the techno babble that goes along with listening to music stored on a laptop / iPod etc etc. I knew that if I use iTunes (which I do) the best file quality would be Apple Lossless (AIFF I believe this is called).
So I am about to purchase a DAC for use with my laptop at work with headphones...this is likely to be the Firestone Fubar IV Plus (as they will be having their December sale soon on this product).....I intend to connect this via USB for use with iTunes and Spotify with my Grado SR80i's and Sennheiser IE6's.
The Firestone supports 16 Bit - 32/44.1/48Khz music via USB (although I have no idea what this information means if anyone could enlighten me that would be great)
The question is If I want to download music onto my laptop from say HD Tracks or the Linn HD store.....what should I be downloading for best quality and for use wth the Firestone (AIFF, FLAC, 96/24 or 88.2/24)
Also how do I store these files? Obviously they are not compatible with iTunes so do I just save them elsewhere on my laptop under say HD music or do I need to use a media player like Songbird, MediaMonkey or WinAmp. Hence running two music media's....1 for Appe Lossless with my iPod / ipad and 1 for use with my laptop and DAC? Are these likely to conflict with each other?
If I go for DVD-Audio quality (96/24 or 88.2/24) with say MediaMonkey and then play them through the DAC would I be right in saying that the highest quality I would get would be 16/48 or would they not play, as they are not compatable via USB. Obviously this question relates more to the fact if I connected the Laptop via Dac to my home system (listed below) vis Co-Axial or Toslink I would want the highest quality possible.
Sorry for all the questions and I hope they make sense.......just trying to get an idea of what I should be downloading and into what for best sound quality and playback via the Firestone.
So I am about to purchase a DAC for use with my laptop at work with headphones...this is likely to be the Firestone Fubar IV Plus (as they will be having their December sale soon on this product).....I intend to connect this via USB for use with iTunes and Spotify with my Grado SR80i's and Sennheiser IE6's.
The Firestone supports 16 Bit - 32/44.1/48Khz music via USB (although I have no idea what this information means if anyone could enlighten me that would be great)
The question is If I want to download music onto my laptop from say HD Tracks or the Linn HD store.....what should I be downloading for best quality and for use wth the Firestone (AIFF, FLAC, 96/24 or 88.2/24)
Also how do I store these files? Obviously they are not compatible with iTunes so do I just save them elsewhere on my laptop under say HD music or do I need to use a media player like Songbird, MediaMonkey or WinAmp. Hence running two music media's....1 for Appe Lossless with my iPod / ipad and 1 for use with my laptop and DAC? Are these likely to conflict with each other?
If I go for DVD-Audio quality (96/24 or 88.2/24) with say MediaMonkey and then play them through the DAC would I be right in saying that the highest quality I would get would be 16/48 or would they not play, as they are not compatable via USB. Obviously this question relates more to the fact if I connected the Laptop via Dac to my home system (listed below) vis Co-Axial or Toslink I would want the highest quality possible.
Sorry for all the questions and I hope they make sense.......just trying to get an idea of what I should be downloading and into what for best sound quality and playback via the Firestone.