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Hardware (& external drive) setup options?

I hope everyone here is not heartily sick of elementary PC audio setup questions? If so I apologize in advance as I realize I am late to this party but I am hoping to draw on some of your experience and collective wisdom.

I'm just at the point of making decisions about hardware & need some advice about external hard drives and the best connection formats:

I was planning on using JRiver on a Windows 7 laptop feeding an external DAC via USB 2. I haven't decided on which DAC to use yet but have been looking at the Rotel RDD-1580. Advice or recommendations on the DAC choice & best connection method would be very welcome.

Also, my research suggests that it's preferable to store the music files on an external hard drive. However, I am unsure which is the best way to connect this drive to the PC. My options are via USB 2, Firewire or perhaps eSata via a PC card. The simplest route - in terms of buying an external drive - is USB, but are there any clear advantages to using either firewire or eSata?

TIA!


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Topic - Hardware (& external drive) setup options? - Scottson 10:59:38 07/12/14 (40)

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