Help with FLAC playback, please!

A couple of weeks ago I acquired a free mint Macbook circa 2006. Plan was to turn it into a server for FLAC playback. I installed a new battery and will max out its RAM capacity (2GB) this weekend. I am hopeful, but not giddy about my chances, that I can install Snow Leopard bringing the OS X version from 10.4 to 10.6 with an installation disc I own. What I am finding is that the leading music players (Audirvana, JRiver, and even VOX) may not play nice with this no longer supported OS. VOX has an older version that claims it will work with 10.6 if I can get it there. And 2GB is considered minimum for any of these players.

Yes, I can load flash based thumb drives with the files and play them through my Oppo and/or my Denon AVR. But the thumb drive system is what I am try to avoid.

Am I correct in my assumption that I can purchase an external hd -- probably an SSD -- that will work like a thumb drive? Load the FLAC files now on my iMac onto the new drive, run a USB cable to either DAC which will recognize and play them? Without the use of an actual computer in the chain? Just like a flash drive?

What about adding a Jitterbug, or cleaning the signal with a Schiit Wyrd which doubles as a powered hub?

I am struggling with how to do this without buying a really expensive player. I will likely never own more than 100 FLAC files, so library management isn't a high priority; quality of playback is!

Any guidance will be appreciated!

 

Ehhh...it might work, but you will likely have lagging with the computer pulling information from the SSD and outputting to the DAC.

Have you tried Songbird? That should run on an older MBP OK, and it will play FLAC.

There isn't really any difference between Apple Lossless and FLAC. You may want to try the apple variant so that ITunes can still be your player.

 

If you can get to OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), you can use JRiver MC 21:
will j river 21 run on snow leopard ? »

That doesn't quite compute. Do you mean files or albums? If the average album consists of 10-12 files, that would mean you plan own only 8-10 albums.