Wow! Thanks to all of you for the thoughtful responses.
I probably misrepresented my plan when I used the term "server" in my original post. I don't intend to network music around the house, merely to use a cheap little laptop/netbook with a good DAC as a consolidated music player. It would be hard wired to my existing 2 channel systems (living room and family room) of the main floor of my house. The other thing I failed to mention is that I selected a laptop/netbook so I could drag the music along with me when I go to our family cabin, which also has a pretty decent 2 channel system. So a desktop/mini-Mac solution would not work in that instance.
At the price point I'm looking at, all laptops seem to come with spinning hard drives. The outfit I'm going to use to rip them for me is http://www.musicshifter.com . Besides loading the music on the hard drive of your choice, they also burn DVDs for you as a backup. I think it's worth 69 cents a disc for them to do it all at once.
Greg_MTry using FLAC instead of MP3
I use Songbird, it's free and has FLAC built in
The biggest single improvement was getting a 24/96 Digital Sound Card from M-Audio. It was night and day compared to the on board sound output stuff
For a play list host I use FUBAR it plays FLAC as well and is free too
I was originally set on using Apple Lossless/iTunes, but I know that FLAC is popular with the high end audio community. BTW "FUBAR" is not an encouraging acronym for those of us with military backgrounds. The computer nurd at Frys yesterday I should use MPG with the lossless (0 compression) option because it is the most versatile in the long run. Now I'm not sure what to use.
I can see I will have to adjust my expectations. On the other hand, based on my experience "pretty good" to members of this forum means "damn good" to most of the hi-fi community at large.rusty jeffersonGetting a "High End" computer based audio system to sound as good as a "High End" stand alone CD player or CD player/DAC combo, is tricky, as well as expensive.
The system you laid out, and the variations others have shared are pretty simple, probably sound pretty good, and won't break the bank, but won't give the performance in a "High End" system you may (or may not) need/want. It seems like it should be simple. "They're just 1s and 0s" everyone says, but everything in the chain has an effect (usually for the worse) on the sound quality getting to your audio system.
As a matter of fact I do get there from time to time as I live in the Puget Sound area. I found a great technician in Camas to rebuild my tube gear. I'll send you a PM the next time I'm down.SEAWOLF97 Your profile says "PacNW" ...if you are ever in Portland, stop by and I'll demo how the laptop and mini dac sound