He went on to attend Oberlin Conservatory initially as a percussion major, but eventually switched to study in the school's then newly created program for Technology in Music and Related Arts.

His drumming work as a sideman can be heard on recordings, such as Since by Richard Buckner, Enantiodromia and Life on the Fly by Azita, Near-Life Experience by Come, Kernel by Seam, Chicago Wednesday by Jandek, and The Spectrum Between by David Grubbs.

[2] He also owns and operates Soma Electronic Music Studios in Nevada City, California, to which he relocated in 2018 after 25 years in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago and then a brief stint in Los Angeles.

He has also engineered, produced, and/or mixed albums and tracks for many artists including: Bell Orchestre, Stereolab, Bright Eyes, Bobby Conn, Teenage Fanclub, Sylvain Chauveau, Kaki King, Tom Ze, The Ex, Smog, Trans Am, Eleventh Dream Day, Cougar, Antibalas, Innaway, The For Carnation, Dianogah, U.S.

McEntire is a pioneering user of modern digital audio workstation software, first employing Pro Tools on the 1997 The Sea and Cake album The Fawn and then on Stereolab's Dots and Loops, released later the same year.