Warm Up Your Digital Tunes
For someone who insists on storing all his tunes on his desktop, there&#39;s still a path to a more analog sound&#8212;the Peachtree Audio Nova. The Nova, which is both an amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter, processes your digital files in a more complex manner than your computer&#39;s soundcard (which has a bias toward smaller, less powerful speakers). It then goes a step further by augmenting the music with a tube, adding a touch of warmth to what was formerly 1&#39;s and 0&#39;s. Another tip for those serious about their gigabytes of tunes: Rip your CDs into higher-quality Apple Lossless or AIFF files. Yes, it takes a bit longer, but hearing them on high-quality speakers and an amp like this makes it worth the extra few minutes.
Peachtree Audio Nova, $1,200, available at www.peachtreeaudio.com