River Media Center will allow you to all this, and complement or replace iTunes for you. If you are really determined to use Windows, something like J. Under Windows, it just ain't that simple. The difference of course, being that under MacOS, you turn the iTunes and System volume up to full, point your system sound makers to another audio device, turn off the equalizer setting in iTunes, and voila! If the file you are playing matches the output settings (sample rate, depth, etc.) you are bit perfect, which is, I think, a wonderful place to start. That just isn't going to happen, though to be honest, it doesn't happen with iTunes under MacOS either.

I think what you are really looking for here is for iTunes to grab an audio device in exclusive mode. Looking forward to getting started with computer audio, thank you for any help! Is there a definitive answer on this? Is iTunes -> VAC -> USB DAC indeed bit perfect? There were also a few comments referring to the stability/instability of the program - does anyone know if the program would be reliable enough for a dedicated 24/7 music server. And a few people even suggested that Virtual Audio Cable doesn't truly bypass the kmixer.

I just wanted to run this idea by the CA forum though, because most of the posts I found were from 2-3 years ago. While the machine still might not be up to Mac/iTunes/Amarra/etc standards, it seems like at least a major issue would be solved (kmixer) One potential solution I found was using Virtual Audio Cable to route sound from iTunes to the USB DAC - thus bypassing the kmixer as a source of sound degredation. But for the moment I'm stubbornly sticking with the iTunes/Windows concept. It seems like the clear Computer Audiophile consensus is that iTunes on Windows is a sub-optimal playback system. but have run into a roadblock with software. I'm hoping to buy a computer (perhaps CAPS) that will function as the server for my system. I'm new to computer audio, and have spend the past few weeks reading through the forum.

Virtual audio cable skype itunes