It is fairly straightforward solution, however took more than two years of experiments to complete, and without the Altmann DAC and the help of Mr Altmann it could not be built on the same way.

Please find a general schematic drawing below which shows how the different parts were connected until I realized the external clock importance .

1. Media Storage

I am using a Quad CPU G5 Mac as a media server with a G-Technology G-Raid 2500 GB Disk Array.

It is connected through the Firewire 800 interface of the Mac and the storage.  I would hate to loose any of the grabbed files, so I am using RAID 3 protection which means, the actual storage is only 2000 GB, as one 500 GB drive is lost, I am using it as a parity drive. It means I can store roughly 6000 CDs using Apple's lossless encoding (compression) and loosing one failed drive will not cause any problem or data loss, as the system will get the lost data back from the parity drive. The picture below shows an early phase with another G-Tech drive.

I grabbed the music using an external Plextor Premium CD - writer through Firewire connection, placed the drive on a Mana table and was using an Audience Adept Response Power Conditioner. The Mac was connected to the same Power Conditioner as the power supply of the Plextor Premium drive.

2. iTunes playback

I am using a new Macbook as an iTunes playback device. It is much more quiet than a Macbook Pro or any of the PC notebooks I tried.

The Macbook is streaming the ALE (Apple Lossless Encoding) music files from the G5 media server through Gigabit Ethernet Switch. As the internal DAC of the Macbook is not too nice and the optical output is not of the highest quality, I was forced to use an external converter. As I have an Altmann DAC, I do need only a Firewire (or USB) to SPDIF conversion.

You can use the cheapest M-Audio Transit with the USB port (or any USB DAC with SPDIF output), but I got an M-Audio Firewire Audiophile anyway, so I am using this. I found the Firewire connection a bit more transparent, but your miles may vary. The other reason why I preferred the Firewire device, was the external power supply. It has an external wall wart 12V, 1A power supply, and earlier I found the sound (even in case of the Firewire - SPDIF conversion only) using the external power supply is much more dynamic and believable than using the really dirty power of the computer.

I found power supply noise and jitter really important aspect of the PC-based audio. While I was experimenting with different PC s and Macs, sometimes I realized that the overall sound of my system was degraded after I just connected a PC and switched it on. Switching power supplies can generate so much pollution, so you should have to be very careful about position and mains connection of your equipments. The Macbook has a nice power supply which did not destroy the overall sound of my system.

At a later stage according to the suggestion of Mr Altmann, I started to use the SPDIF output of my regular CD player as a central clock and externally synchronized the M-Audio Firewire - SPDIF converter to this clock signal (it can be done easily using a menu item in the setup software of the M-Audio). It changed my view immediately regarding the external power supply importance. For some (unknown) reason it started to sound much better this way when I was using the internal power supply of the Mac to power the M-Audio Firewire converter. The difference was not night and day but quite easy to realize.

So my final system is connected the following way:

3. D/A Conversion stage

The Altmann DAC is doing the conversion. It is a fully optioned unit equipped with JISCO, UPCI and High-Res input options.

Make no mistake:

it is absolutely the most enjoyable DAC I have ever used, and I was using professional dCS with clock generator and D-D converter box for almost two years, Audio Note DAC3, 3 Signature, 4 and 4 Signature, Theta Generation V and VIII, just to name a few. It just forces you to listen all kind of music, its sound can not be comparable to any unit I have heard, it does not have tube or solid state, OS or NOS sound. There is a purity and easiness of the sound which is really out of this word. You do not have to think which is better analog or digital. It is not an analog nor digital reproduction, it is just like real music. To be honest I really could not find any recording which was not listenable even some modern compressed pop music sounded quite good. You did not hear the Yesterday from Beatles until you listen it through the Altmann DAC. With all sorts of music genres and recordings you realize new layers and involving timing and a tone which is just immensely enjoyable. Try to listen the violinist Midori playing Bartok Romanian Folk Dances on the Encore! CD, or Cecilia Bartolli singing opera on the Opera Proibita CD to get emotions. Get the Mrs Vanderbilt track from Paul MacCartney and the Wings or the L.A Woman from Doors… Pop and Rock music on the Steroids. My son told me after the first few tracks: everything sounds "faster" but his brain has more time to understand the music texture somehow.

So if you are looking for a PC based system or a new DAC, just get an Altmann and you will be pleasantly surprised. Every positive opinion you can find on the net about it is true.

The rest of my system:

Amp: EAR-Yoshino 834T integrated amp.

Cables: Audience Au24 and Nirvana SL analog interconnect, Naim and Acoustic Revive DSIX jitter filtered active SPDIF cable, Audience Au24 speaker cable, Audience, Oyaide Tunami GPX, Acoustic Revive Power Max mains cables

Stands: Mana and Apollo tables

Accessories: Shakti Stones and On-Line, Shakti Hallograph, Audience AdeptResponse Mains Conditioner

CD/SACD: Accuphase DC-100/DP-101, Naim CDX2/XPS2

Speaker: Avantgarde Acoustics Trio with REL Stentor II Sub, with special Audience Au24 sub cable assembly.

I am lucky enough to have an Altmann BYOB amp for experimenting as well, not the DAC only.

So the story is probably not over yet….