Laptop + dacmagic or media player + nas

[rabrade]

Am not sure of the best way forward I have an office system a powerful(extreme quad) Xps computer with dacmagic feeding a Marantz 7200 with tdl speakes and celef studio monitors .I can make lossless recordings on this system.My listening room has Roksan Kandyl3,cd integrated amp and power amp with Dali mentor 6 speakers.I want to move to a digital system in the listening room and wonder if now is the time to go the Linn/NAS route or to hedge my bets with a High quality laptop and dac.

Any views

 

[idc]

Hi rabrade. I recently changed laptop and found the sound different from the old one. After posting here on the forum the change turned out to be down to moving from Windows XP to 7. So when you say a 'high quality laptop' I am not sure that matters. In any case Linn and high quality do come together (going by reviews) in a way that would matter.

For music NAS - Linn - hifi does appear to beat laptop - DAC - hifi.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a cheap netbook, running W7, works fine (wireless N, hd storage attached to router), and is very quiet (be careful with that if you buy a power hungry laptop). I could not live with a system without easy possibilities to (auto)add tags, add album art, etc. so a computer somewhere in the chain is essential for me. I can access the netbook from other computers using remote desktop. Having a dedicated netbook also makes it easier for other in the house to use the system.

So it depends on the way you (and others) want to use the system, and there are lots of options. The SQ however, will depend mostly on the quality of the DAC, the source/amplification etc being equal.

 

[rabrade]

Thank you gentlemen.You have helped clarify my question which is essentially what are and how do the critical parts of a digital system interact.I hadn't(stupidly) thought the software would be a factor so have been experimenting with windows,soundbooth(adobe) and creative media.There is a difference but haven't decided which is best.Equally the point about noise is important unless I wish to deafen the neighbours.My plan is to experiment more on my offfice and then use an existing laptop(inspiron9300) plus CA Dagmagic in the listening room.

anyway thanks again pointers where to go always helps when too many variables exist.