I don't know that I have a high-end system, more "mid-end" by some people's standards - Cambridge Audio 840C CD/DAC, Naim Nait XS and Dynaudio Contour 1.3mk2. There is no difference in sound quality between using a ReadyNAS Sparc-based NAS, an atom-based mini-pc or an Intel Core-i5 laptop. As others have explained above, all are capable of delivering the TCP-IP data packets to the SB Touch, subject only to a reliable network connection.
Having said that, now I only use the ReadyNAS as storage, and run the server on my mini-pc, simply to speed up the UI and libary scans, and allow the possibility of real-time transcoding of flac to mp3 to make my collection available over the internet. The Atom-based mini-pc is more than capable of these tasks, as well as running XBMC connected to an HD TV. If you do go down the NAS route, get a powerful one, for the reasons others have given above, but not to improve sound quality, as it won't make any difference. If I was starting from scratch, I'd get the mini-pc and a large USB disk, and forget about the NAS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ darrell's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13460 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=95276 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
