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Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive

128.221.224.207

Posted on May 20, 2015 at 13:51:18
The whole idea of a music server has intrigued me for quite awhile.
I have experimented with an old Yamaha CD recorder with an on-board
hard drive, a Windows computer and a Mac mini.

While having easy access to a lot of music has always been the
thing that brings me back to the idea, the interface has always
been the issue for me. While I am very competent with Windows OS,
OSX, and IOS, I just don't like using a computer or phone as play
engine. I much prefer a simpler interface with a hand held remote.

Now I have an Oppo 103D that I am experimenting with. While
I like the simpler interface, now the idea of having to spend a lot
of time ripping CDs makes me wonder if it is all really worth it.

And we all know that getting up off our butts and changing the CD
or LP is a good thing.... ;-)

So what has been your experiences with storing music on a hard drive
and playing it back? Did you stay with it?

Thanks,
Bill

 

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RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 18:00:18
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
I liked my SB III and upgraded the crappy wall wart with a nice regulated linear power supply. I used EAC and stored the files as FLAC's. I streamed wirelessly and never had any network issues or dropouts etc.

The sound was better than when I played CD's via a transport to the same DAC. Then that HD failed after a year in that old PC well before I bought a USB RAID w/ enough storage for most of my discs. I had only loaded a couple hundred discs and kind of hated doing that.

When I went back to my transport it was pretty bad. BUT that was with a plain old power cord. I bought two cryo'ed plugs and dH labs power wire ad made a power cord and used better isolation than before when using the same CD transport.

Now this setup has the best sound ever for me via digital. I must admit I do miss the ease of a music server in that you have all your music via a remote.

E
T


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 18:20:25
mbnx01
Audiophile

Posts: 7954
Location: Eagle, Idaho
Joined: October 22, 2004
It was a lot of fun for awhile and I really enjoyed.

I got tired of maintaining the libraries and the software and the hard drive space, etc, etc.

I bought a real nice SACD player and now I'm happy spinning discs again.





'A lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on'. -Mark Twain

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 18:59:24
F2a
Audiophile

Posts: 13
Location: San Francisco
Joined: November 22, 2006
You might try a music service, most have a free trial period so no downside. I am happy with Tidal which streams 25 million lossless tracks for $20/month, Google Play is also good at $10/mo but not lossless. No need to rip or store anything and you can also stream/download to a mobile phone when out and about. I use an Auralic Aries streamer which runs Tidal digital out to a DAC, it sounds much better than the Mac Mini that it replaced. I saw that Aries also has a low cost version coming out soon.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 19:14:30
Jack D II
Audiophile

Posts: 1535
Location: Hot Springs, AR
Joined: June 17, 2009
I never could get an lp to fit into it and so gave up on it.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 19:19:18
Picklesnapper
Audiophile

Posts: 492
Location: East Coast U.S.
Joined: January 16, 2010
I gave up on that nonsense when about half the music I had on my hard drive just disappeared one day. It's as though it had never existed. Screw that. Give me the hardware any day. It never crashes.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 19:26:26
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
It's a bit onerous to get started but I prefer the computer. Here's what I have done.

Connected my laptop to my computer screen so I can sit in my chair with my wireless mouse and keybpard. Connected the computer to my Line Magnetic 502CA DAC via the USB and my CD player via SPDIF.

All my music is on an external hard drive that I try and remember to save to another hard drive just in case.

I play using Foobar2000 which isn't the greatest in terms of prettiness but it never drops out or pauses or hiccups or anything. Nor does it do anything to annoy me - and that's half the battle. Though I do toy with buying J-River since it's pretty cheap and the interface looks a lot better.

So I can sit on my butt and use my mouse and select all my songs and videos.

Next step is to buy a 55+ inch TV and I'll be set.

 

Too Many Variables for Good and Reliable Audio Playback, posted on May 20, 2015 at 20:52:39
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37308
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
1. I've yet to hear a playback of a file ripped to HDD from a CD that I preferred over either the CD itself or even a CD-R copy. I also prefer a CD-R copied directly from the original CD than one first ripped to the hard drive.

2. The sonic variance of ripping software and different HDDs makes it almost impossible to find a combination that I thought would be reliably satisfying, long-term. (I have no ripping programs to recommend, because what works on one hard drive/OS might work awful on another hard drive/OS. I had favorites when I used Windows XP, but these favorites fell down when I switched to Windows 7.)

2a. I find "anti-jitter" options on ripping software to consistently make the sound worse. I find different CD burning software burning identical CD-Rs to vary sonically more than the same CD burning software burning different brands/types of CD-Rs.

3. The audio files I've ripped to HDD over the years don't get much play time.... I prefer the sonics of CD on a computer's CD-ROM drive over that of the ripped file.... I also prefer the sonics of a dedicated CD player over that of a CD played on a PC.

4. I find ripped files almost always to sound worse after the drive is de-fragmented. I find ripped files to usually sound worse after a major update to the computer's operating system. (I started creating a "library" under Windows XP, only to find out everything sounded awful after upgrading to Windows 7.)

5. I find the only tolerable high-resolution playback of ripped files to be uncompressed WAV or AIFF formats. I believe something strange goes on with "lossless" playback decoded in real time. Most notably, an attenuation of "vibrato" from singers and solo musicians. (I passed an "ABX" test on this.)

6. I do enjoy YouTube videos via PC.... But for music enjoyment, that's about it. High-resolution audio from ripped files gets almost zero play time on my PCs. (I've never purchased music in "computer file" formats.)

7. Barring some unexpected surprises, I think I'll still be playing vinyl and CD on dedicated CD players ten years from now. I have not ripped a CD in over a year. To me, the variables (software, drives, OS, hardware, etc.) are too great, and I've come to the realization that it's a total waste of time.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 20, 2015 at 21:38:28
Old Listener
Audiophile

Posts: 2090
Location: SF Bay area
Joined: February 6, 2005
I selected JRiver as my music player software over 9 years ago and ripped my CD collection over the next few months. It has been a joy to play music from a computer based system. The library management and user interface make browsing my collection so much better than it was with physical CDs and LPs.

I take backups of my music collection at appropriate intervals. When the hard drive I used to store music developed a few bad sectors, I bought a new drive and restored my music collection and the JRiver library files from a backup. It was routine to copy the files and my system immediately used files on the new drive.

If you don't like using a computer or have poor computer skills, stay away from computer based music playback. If you aren't willing to learn some new things, stay away.


my blog: http://carsmusicandnature.blogspot.com/

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 00:20:53
stehno
Manufacturer

Posts: 739
Location: Oregon
Joined: November 8, 2001
I've got the 105D and with just using the CD drive section, it was easily more musical than my $9k Esoteric CDP.

I later switched over to using the OPPO's passive volume attenuator for significant improvements and when I finally switched over to using thumb drives and then an SSD, significant improvements yet again.

Funny, though for the first month or so of using a thumb drive with the 105, the audible differences were negligible. But within a month or so, the differences were quite audible and large.

Just be very careful inserting the drive into the OPPO's USB ports. Recently I forgot to ground myself before inserting my SSD into the OPPO's USB port and I saw a night little blue arc between the USB plug and the OPPO's chassis.

Turns out I fried the SSD's firmware and it was irreparable. Bad enough that the cost of the SSD was down the drain, but since I had only maybe half the music backed up, I still haven't fully recovered from the loss.

Electrostatic electricity is not your friend. Always ground yourself first before plugging in or unplugging the drives. The OPPO was unscathed.

But the SSD or HDD is definitely the way to go. First and foremost for the eventual and rather significant improved levels of musicality. But then when you use your iPad with OPPO's free app, you'll also have a beautiful and simple user interface to access all of your music with just a few swipes of your finger.

I'm assuming of course the 103 is not much different than the 105.

 

RE: Too Many Variables for Good and Reliable Audio Playback, posted on May 21, 2015 at 00:23:07
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
I basically lower my expectation with music from the computer - I have found the CD sounds better played on the CD player through the same DAC.

And you get on forums and they tell you to buy this or that software this or that cable - use a laptop that has no bloatware - never use Wifi etc. It's just easier to stick the CD in if one has to do all that crap and it still can't sound "better" than the original CD.

The computer is purely for convenience and frankly that's fine by me - I'll put all the one hit wonders and mediocre recordings onto the hard drive where sound quality isn't that great and for my favorites and or better recordings it's CD or Vinyl (as soon as I buy a turntable that is acceptable to me).

But the computer playback is fine for me and for casual listening but whatever "gestalt" factor and goosebump factor seems to get lost.

Good turntables/arm/cart/phono stage is just so damn expensive. But at least the money spent is worth it. Seeing $10,000 for puny ass computer audio boxes that sound mediocre at best is irritating. A while back I compared a Nottingham turntable through a moderately priced iFi phono stage against a computer audio DAC through $20,000 Avantegarde speakers - the Turntable ate the computer audio and the hi-res recordings for breakfast - the CA was downright unlistenable. The old beat up Pink Floyd LP was stunning. Actually the whole turntable rig was about $3,000 which is pricey but less than half the price if I remember correctly of the CA DAC. And those hi res downloads are not exactly cheap either.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 03:03:47
oldmkvi
Audiophile

Posts: 10574
Joined: April 12, 2002
I love my Sony HAP Z1 and prefer it to the Sony 5400/VSE.

 

I love being the "Master of my Own Domain"!, posted on May 21, 2015 at 05:33:36
rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006
My apologies to Seinfeld! By having my music backed up on several USB drives I have redundancy and fault tolerance. And by additionally maintaining the original discs from which this music issued, I have full copyright protection to make and keep backups.

You guys who are paying for downloads are playing a fool's game that has been constructed to benefit the big players, not you. Your download does not belong to you, you are merely renting it in perpetuity. And you are paying as much, or more!!, for this privilege as you would if you bought the physical discs.

Sooooo, I'm hedging my bets. I'm keeping all my original discs AND I have also backed them up to my own hard drives. If an original disc goes flaky on me, no problemo, I'll just stamp out another from the files I have. And if a file's sectors get corrupted on a hard drive, no problemo, I'll either re-rip the original disc or go to one of my backup drives and restore the file from there.

People who bitch about disc storage are just whiners, I have at least 3,000 - 4,000 discs contained within a few of those plastic storage boxes you can find at WalMart for $7.00 each - maybe 8 or 9 of those - and they stack nicely in the garage...

-RW-

 

RE: Too Many Variables for Good and Reliable Audio Playback, posted on May 21, 2015 at 05:51:09
lokie
Audiophile

Posts: 1986
Location: Georgia, USA
Joined: January 28, 2003
"I basically lower my expectation with music from the computer - I have found the CD sounds better played on the CD player through the same DAC.

"The computer is purely for convenience and frankly that's fine by me"

That pretty much nails it for me as well. My system is in my living room, so, "good enough" gets played quite often (and with a lot of joy). But if I had a dedicated listening room and only listened to music "seriously," I'm not sure I would use computer audio.

 

RE: "But in a month or so, the differences were quite audible and large.", posted on May 21, 2015 at 05:59:30
My vote for *Most Interesting Statement* (in your response)!

 

Best thing since sliced bread!, posted on May 21, 2015 at 06:08:23
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37471
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
April 5, 2002
Took a couple of weeks to rip everything, first with EAC and later with dbPoweramp (highly recommended purchase). Now, I have a single library accessed by five systems. The in house system uses the server where the library is stored for playback via Foobar while the main music systems use Touch, iPeng or Oppo players as streamers. Most of them can also play internet and XM radio. Buy a CD, rip it and put the case on the shelf most likely never to be used again. Or, download a higher resolution album in minutes.

I've rediscovered lots of old friends with random play. Many times I build play lists on the fly using either my phone or pad as remote. I have four backups stored on inexpensive USB drives put in a fireproof cabinet. Since they are used for less than an hour per month to add new content and backup other data, they'll last quite a while.

As for exercise, I'm a runner.

 

"Electrostatic electricity is not your friend. ", posted on May 21, 2015 at 06:11:15
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37471
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
April 5, 2002
It sure is in my case since it can make beautiful sound. :)

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 07:08:25
nikodemia1
Audiophile

Posts: 190
Location: michigan
Joined: March 30, 2003
I tried it several times but always gave up on it.
The last time I had a squeezebox.

The convenience was nice but I found that what I would usually do was pick something to play and then immediately start browsing for what I was going to play next rather than seriously listening to what was already playing. I can't do that with my physical media because they are all stored out of reach of my listening chair.

 

It started 8+ years ago, posted on May 21, 2015 at 07:21:35
LWR
Audiophile

Posts: 66808
Location: The woods
Joined: August 12, 2003
and as time went by the hard drives got bigger and bigger. Now I have a 6TB drive in the Mac Pro & a 2nd 6TB connected to the Mac Mini which is connected to the stereo gear.
I back the software up every time I add more music and these days that is about every 3 days or so.
10992 albums categorized into several genres and all controlled with an Ipad Air using Audirvana to play back at 2X rez and controlled with the wonderful Splashtop software.
Started downloading 24/96 a couple of months back and they sound super at 24/192.
Best move I have ever made concerning my music collecting.
Most intelligent means of accessing and choosing and playing music as well.

 

not sure why this concept hasn't found it's niche in high end, posted on May 21, 2015 at 07:42:28
Green Lantern
Audiophile

Posts: 16952
Location: San Diego, Ca
Joined: November 12, 2002
Contributor
  Since:
June 17, 2003
concept: access stored music on a hard drive with wireless control capability, .

IF such a device does exist (< $1500) I'd be d*mned if I could find one a couple years ago.

Thanks to a few fellow inmates here who offered their advice on the Logitech squeezebox (no longer manufactured), my journey led me to the following:

foreground: my old galaxy tab 10.1 (or any smartphone will do); download the free app in Google store and you have wireless access.

background: Logitech squeezebox being fed by a 2T hard drive immediately behind it (not shown). The squeezebox is fed into a Levinson No. 36 DAC (not seen).
I have an additional 2T hard drive with the same music (thousands of albums) as a back-up stored away in a cabinet. They're rather inexpensive these days; $69 on Amazon.



The Squeezebox, although finicky at times, was truly advanced when released IMO. It can stream live free music from around the World, save to favorites, playlist, etc., roughly $200-$400 used online.

Why in this day and age of blue tooth, digital streaming, HD video, etc, such a pkg'd device doesn't exist within a reasonable price is beyond me.

My thoughts on a 'super squeezebox':

-blue tooth capability
-video playback (imagine watching your favorite movie on your lap-with high def sound)
-youtube access (many decent concert videos and music exist on youtube)
-the ability to access your hard drive (via your smartphone, laptop, etc.,) from anywhere in the World via internet connection.

These aren't outrageous request, in fact the capabilities are already available online with a few (free) apps. But an 'all-in-one' system doesn't.











 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 08:35:37
jsm71
Audiophile

Posts: 1123
Location: Cincinnati OH
Joined: June 16, 2011
I ripped all my CDs into iTunes awhile back and put new purchases and download options in there as well periodically. That's as far as it goes but that provides me with tollerable listening when I'm interested to do so from the computer. I have no interest in messing with changing formats or worrying about lost data for my main listening. If I ever lost my iTunes library, oh well, I still have all the CDs.

I'm 95% vinyl in my listening room with a SACD/CD player if I must listen to digital.

 

Don't you know?, posted on May 21, 2015 at 08:43:13
rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006
It's *obvious* that the Oppo's USB ports needed to burn in. Until then, the 1s and 0s are mal-formed and you don't get accurate data transmission...

Sheesh!!
-RW-

 

There is no going back, posted on May 21, 2015 at 09:17:50
panhead
Audiophile

Posts: 920
Location: chicago
Joined: January 20, 2007
The best analogy I can think of is the DVR or Netflix. After the experience can you go back to watching live tv or renting movies and taking them back. Maybe on occasion but not for your normal viewing.

The same is true for audio. I did fire up the TT when an old friend stopped by. But for normal listening I stream WDCB for jazz in the morning or listen to some classical from the HDD. The whole collection is at my fingertips and I can switch genres or artist or play a certain CD at my leisure.

Yes its a lot of work and its a long process. Computer audio has a lot of pitfalls and can be quite expensive but that's a typical audiophile experience these days.

My system is listed here:

http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/8490.html

This is about the 4th or 5th generation of server for me. Started with XP tweaks here at the asylum.

Here is a general guide and starting point:

http://www.cicsmemoryplayer.com/index.php?n=CMP.Headless



I used EAC to rip cds using two pcs at the same time. It look quite a bit of time to rip. But once again as a summary:

Threre is no going back!

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 09:18:34
michaelhigh
Audiophile

Posts: 839
Location: midwest
Joined: August 18, 2010
I did. Foobar2000 works great with WASAPI output, and my ass is getting huge from sitting in my chair enjoying music!

 

Are your ears are so untrained you're unable to discern audible differences?, posted on May 21, 2015 at 09:47:10
stehno
Manufacturer

Posts: 739
Location: Oregon
Joined: November 8, 2001
Something like that.

Oh, I get it. You're one of those that has abandoned your untrustworthy ears and rely solely on measurements to determine if you've reached the audio holy grail.

Why don't you try visualasylum.com?

Of course, over there, they can't rely on their untrustworthy eyes so they revert to listening with their ears.

Or was it, viewing with their ears? Yeah, that's it. Very confusing.


 

lol... , posted on May 21, 2015 at 10:18:12
TBone
Audiophile

Posts: 4197
Joined: April 5, 2000
those mal-formed 1s and 0s are the pits.

 

It's good here, posted on May 21, 2015 at 10:22:14
Bill Way
Audiophile

Posts: 1884
Location: Toms River NJ
Joined: May 28, 2012
Contributor
  Since:
December 14, 2012
I've bought music from HDTracks and Linn. Play it with cog through a Metric Halo ULN-2. Easy to keep track of, easy to use, sounds good. I've ripped 24/96 FLAC safety copies of some LPs, and the sound quality is surprisingly close. I always maintain multiple backup generations of my computer docs, so that isn't an issue - the music gets backed up with everything else.

WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

I'm surprised at how many only listen to CD, not, posted on May 21, 2015 at 10:55:07
oldmkvi
Audiophile

Posts: 10574
Joined: April 12, 2002
Hi-Rez.
I have and listen to all Formats, wouldn't want to be without Hi-Rez Downloads.
DSD 128 is completely Awesome, even playing CD Rips.
Not everything is available in all Formats, why short change yourself?
CD, SACD, Hi-Rez Downloads, My own DSD Recordings, Cassettes and LPs.
Some Cassettes and LPs have been converted to DSD 128.
I like it all, but really love the Download thing and my HAP Z1.

 

RE: Too Many Variables for Good and Reliable Audio Playback, posted on May 21, 2015 at 11:40:28
stehno
Manufacturer

Posts: 739
Location: Oregon
Joined: November 8, 2001
Too many variables? C'mon.

Transferring bits across wire has been done with great success and integrity for decades now.

It's called backups, archiving, etc. And it's been done on equipment that costs far less than a typical playback system.

I suspect you're choking on gnats while trying to swallow camels.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 11:54:52
Posts: 53
Location: Nebraska
Joined: August 20, 2007
I completely ripped my 4,000ish cd collection in Vortexbox (a linux distro) and have a complete backup offline and also remote in case of failure. I keep my most listened to albums on a Pogoplug running VAMP which is basically a small black box that has an ethernet port and some usb ports one of which has an usb dac connected and one has a flash drive for storage. I control this via my smart phone. It is fanless and uses less than 10 watts of power. I am a huge fan of KISS (keep it simple s*head) and if you saw my speakers in the garage you would understand. I feel like the more complex something is the more chance of setup error their is. This setup runs 24x7 and if I want background music I just turn on the amplifier connected to it. Also I can access this music on my iPhone via iPeng if I want to listen around the house or on my fireTV in the basement or... You get the idea.

 

"the idea of having to spend a lot of time ripping CDs. . . ", posted on May 21, 2015 at 12:39:33
Posts: 26351
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since:
February 6, 2012
Yes, it can be a HUGE investment of time, depending on how you do the rips. I'm about 40% through my collection of about 3500 CD's right now, and what consumes the time for me is getting/correcting the meta information (album cover graphics can be surprisingly difficult to obtain sometimes), and then obeying my rule that I have to do a listening-check of at least one track from every CD I rip. This can really slow you down.

BUT the rewards can be surprisingly gratifying - and I'm not talking about the improved SQ (IMHO) and convenience once the CD's are on the hard drive. No, it's the actual process of forcing oneself to listen to CD's that you may have had on your shelf for decades and rediscovering their wonders. I can't tell you how many times I've been wowed by listening to hard drive tracks derived from CD's which had just been sitting on the shelf forgotten. Just the other day, I was checking a few tracks from Felicity Lott's 1994 Chandos recording of Strauss Orchestral Songs (volume II) and the emotion in the listening was overwhelming. It's the process of rediscovering one's own library that can be the greatest source of delight and satisfaction!

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 14:11:26
farmdoc
Audiophile

Posts: 190
Location: No. California
Joined: December 8, 2002
Well, good so far....but so far has only been three weeks since I ripped my CD's. Took about 3 months off and on to rip the 1000 cd's, using XLD software via AIFF /Mac Mini with two TB Lacie HD's as backup. (I get distracted easily.)
Had a lot of help from some inmates; just ask some of these guys and they are great about pointing one in the right direction as we stumble around the digital world. Having the library at my fingertips (Apple remote on Ipad) is a luxury; I am listening more to tunes/artists long forgotten, and the sound is comparable to a good redbook cd player.

Best of all worlds? Probably not, but pretty damn good for sound, convenience, increasing the scope of your listening arena. Plus, with multiple backups as mentioned above, I should (hopefully) only have to rip once.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 21, 2015 at 15:02:13
DRam
Audiophile

Posts: 1309
Location: Montana
Joined: July 30, 2005
A good part of my vinyl was ripped to a hard drive early on, not necessarily as storage, but that was the only way to get it to an iPod. Once on the hard drive they stayed there and once in a while they are played off the computer. It isn't something that really excites me, and now the iPod is full so I've stopped ripping to the hard drive.

When there is something that just begs to be saved elsewhere it goes to the reel to reel.

 

RE: "music stored on a hard drive" , posted on May 21, 2015 at 15:34:13
Does driving a U-Haul truck filled with boxes and boxes of vinyl LPs down a rough country road count as "music stored on a hard drive"?

 

RE: not sure why this concept hasn't found it's niche in high end, posted on May 21, 2015 at 15:49:19
concept: access stored music on a hard drive with wireless control capability, .
IF such a device does exist (< $1500) I'd be d*mned if I could find one a couple years ago.


There have been tons of choices for 5+ years. Squeezebox, Sonos, loads of Blu-Ray players and smart TVs, Roku, Boxee, WDTV, AppleTV, etc.


Why in this day and age of blue tooth, digital streaming, HD video, etc, such a pkg'd device doesn't exist within a reasonable price is beyond me.

My thoughts on a 'super squeezebox':

-blue tooth capability
-video playback (imagine watching your favorite movie on your lap-with high def sound)
-youtube access (many decent concert videos and music exist on youtube)
-the ability to access your hard drive (via your smartphone, laptop, etc.,) from anywhere in the World via internet connection.

These aren't outrageous request, in fact the capabilities are already available online with a few (free) apps. But an 'all-in-one' system doesn't.


You're just not looking very hard. Granted, it's not all available in a single box from one vendor, but I don't think that's a good idea anyway. The best way to do it IMHO is get a NAS with internet sharing, a Roku 3, an iPad Mini or tablet/phone of choice, and if you want high quality sound at home maybe add a dedicated network streamer. If a Roku 3 isn't portable enough, get a stick. If you're in an Apple ecosystem, get an Apple TV.

 

Do it, and get a NAS, posted on May 21, 2015 at 16:09:30
Sure, it is a pain to rip your music collection. It will take a lot of time if you care about accurate metadata. But it's something you only need to suffer through once, and the convenience is so worth it.

I recommend a NAS, and I strongly recommend it if you play your music in multiple rooms. I can't think of any good reason why you should have to manually maintain multiple copies of your music collection and manually back it up. But then again, I put everything on a NAS: music, DVDs, photos, videos, documents, email archives, etc.

I also have an Oppo 103D and I find navigating my music using its menus with the D-pad remote to be slow and clunky and missing essential features such as a playlist. If that's what you're using you can do so much better. I don't really use my Oppo for music anymore but when I did I was using the BubbleUPnP app on an tablet to control playback.

 

Easy way to find cover art, posted on May 21, 2015 at 16:10:13
hesson11
Audiophile

Posts: 2279
Location: Florida
Joined: December 8, 2005
Hi Chris,

At the risk of telling you something you already know, I've had great luck going to Amazon and typing the numbers under the CD's UPC bar code into the search window. I almost always find a match and can download it with a click. I listen almost exclusively to classical music, and have found some things I really didn't expect to be available by this method.

-Bob

 

RE: Too Many Variables for Good and Reliable Audio Playback, posted on May 21, 2015 at 16:58:05
RGA
Reviewer

Posts: 15177
Location: Hong Kong
Joined: August 8, 2001
The thing with convenience is that I tend to listen to more music - and that's what all this is supposed to be about. I wouldn't listen to one hit wonders on vinyl (or CD for the matter) but on computer you can listen to the band's one hit and move on.

It has its place and it can sound quite fine enough.

 

RE: Easy way to find cover art, posted on May 21, 2015 at 20:17:51
Posts: 26351
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since:
February 6, 2012
Thanks, Bob! Yes, Amazon is one of my main sources for cover art, but I've never tried the trick of typing the numbers under the UPC bar code into the search field. Thanks for the tip!

I also use Discogs to get cover art, and, sometimes, I just use Google images. Occasionally, I prefer the cover art from the LP rather from the CD and this will sometimes take a bit longer to find. (For instance, I so much prefer the Capitol LP cover art of, say, Kempe's Tchaikovsky Fifth to the Testament CD issue (although I'm very thankful that Testament did reissue this performance). I also like to try to download a larger graphic if I can find it - certainly nothing less than 300 x 300 - but every so often I have to make do with a smaller size if the graphic itself what I need.

 

RE: not sure why this concept hasn't found it's niche in high end, posted on May 21, 2015 at 20:41:44
Green Lantern
Audiophile

Posts: 16952
Location: San Diego, Ca
Joined: November 12, 2002
Contributor
  Since:
June 17, 2003
Funny you should mention that; I actually just bought a KODI (actually XBMC) a couple months ago (but strictly for TV channels, never even thought of it as a media server since I already have a squeeze box).

Will look into it.









 

This summarizes the biggest benefit to me!, posted on May 22, 2015 at 06:27:33
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37471
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
April 5, 2002
I can't tell you how many times I've been wowed by listening to hard drive tracks derived from CD's which had just been sitting on the shelf forgotten.

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 22, 2015 at 14:02:06
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15486
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
Bill-

there will never be a replacement for a physical medium (CD/LP).

 

I wouldn't have it any other way.... no plans to go back, posted on May 22, 2015 at 14:17:38
AbeCollins
Audiophile

Posts: 46200
Location: USA
Joined: June 22, 2001
Contributor
  Since:
February 2, 2002
"And we all know that getting up off our butts and changing the CD or LP is a good thing."

No it's not. When they make an ice cream server I'll rip all my flavors to it too and use a remote control to have it delivered to my listening chair. ;-)

"So what has been your experiences with storing music on a hard drive and playing it back? Did you stay with it?"

Yup! Works great, sounds awesome, and too convenient to go back to CDs. I use my iPad or iPhone as a remote control.

P.S. You don't have to rip your entire CD collection in one sitting. Take a stack and work through it. Do another stack the next day or the next time you feel motivated. That's what I did.


 

Cloud - no computer, no interface issues, no going back, posted on May 22, 2015 at 19:40:46
longtimequadowner
Audiophile

Posts: 1040
Location: Vancouver BC
Joined: April 25, 2003
Didn't read all the other responses here but for me, the second I plugged my Apple TV optically into my Dspeaker Antimode 2.0 dac, I knew it was all over. Was using a computer for years before that. Listen to internet radio, hear song you like, while it's still playing do a search in the Apple library and buy it for 99 cents. Go back later and preview the rest of the album to see if you want the entire album. All from across the room while it displays on my 55" tv. There has never been a better time in history to be a music lover.

To use an Apple TV you have to be able to use an up arrow, a down arrow, and a select button. When you buy music through Apple TV, it's stored on the cloud for you - no hard drive, no computer. But of course you can download it to a pc should you decide to go that route.

I have purchased probably 30 albums in the past few weeks now - all I owned before on various media, but that's ok. I understand Apple musicmatch will let you download the albums for free if you can show you already own them on other media? Sadly, I'm just too lazy (now).

Don't really care about all the tweakophile ultra-high-rez crapola, most of the old albums I want aren't worthy, and new recordings seemingly mastered digitally from square one fill my room nicely, all I'll ever need. Don't think about audio any more - only music. Cliche I know - but true, finally.

 

Todd - that's one of the most outstanding collections of. . . , posted on May 23, 2015 at 01:03:48
Posts: 26351
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since:
February 6, 2012
. . . audiophile fetishes, taboos and shibboleths I've ever seen. Congratulations! (Well, except for your singular endorsement of YouTube audio!) ;-)

 

RE: Please post your experiences with music stored on a hard drive , posted on May 23, 2015 at 06:56:22
Condorsat
Audiophile

Posts: 1909
Location: NE Ohio
Joined: January 13, 2003
I only use 192kbps MP3s (ripped on Itunes for Windows) on my PC hard drive.
They are downloaded to my Ipod for car & FiiO X1 for taking walks mostly.

I use MP3's like the old blank cassette tapes ... ephemeral.

All my serious listening is done on LP or CD.

I stream on Spotify Premium all the time. If I really like the album & it's record really well (rare) ... I'll purchase a high res copy.



 

No, John, my ears are not so "untrained" as you put it..., posted on May 23, 2015 at 09:38:16
rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006
In fact they've been in training for going on 50 years now. And I honestly do not hear "huge" differences between digital files played back from USB via my Oppo BDP-93 from the 1st day I did (about 4 or 5 years ago) so until the present. It sounded terrific right off the bat and still does so.

And if I were one who relies solely upon measurements to discern differences, I'd have to ask you exactly what measurements I should be looking at because I highly doubt that a scope trace of the USB output would have changed one jot over time and I most certainly have not jacked a bunch of test equipment into my rig so I can look at squiggly traces and such.

It's probably more accurate to say that *your* ears became trained to the sound and found it more pleasing over time and that my ears simply made the leap on the very 1st day...
-RW-

 

RE: No, John, my ears are not so "untrained" as you put it..., posted on May 23, 2015 at 13:50:42
stehno
Manufacturer

Posts: 739
Location: Oregon
Joined: November 8, 2001
50 years, eh? You're obviously confusing developing trained ears with pleasure listening.

Look at it this way.

For years, every Sunday you've been driving your grandmother to a church that's 40 miles away in your BMW M5. You take the plunge and drop $40k into your M5 for a DINAN package that significantly alters the suspension, the snake and exhaust, the shifting, braking, and the overall engine power by 105HP.

On Monday, you pick up the M5 with the new DINAN package and you're so excited with all the vast improvements that you call in sick the next few days just so you can take a road trip.

The next Sunday you pick up your grandmother for church and on the way there you explain to her all the modifications you just had done and what they've done to the M5's performance.

And your grandmother says, "It seems the same to me. Why did you waste your money like that?"

Your grandmother would have made for an excellent "audiophile".

 

RE: Todd - that's one of the most outstanding collections of. . . , posted on May 24, 2015 at 02:56:40
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37308
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
That should be a topic on AA.... What are your/my most unusual audiophile opinions/traits? .... I think I'm about as strange as you'll encounter....

For example, several days ago, I was getting a pizza delivered.... And blasting out of the driver's car was Beethoven's Leonore Overture #3, of all things.... (The music was loud enough to bounce off the windows of the houses across the street.) I told him to enjoy that Leonore #3, and he acted stunned that someone recognized the music.... (I was shocked that someone would be blasting Beethoven from his car.... Like how most people blast hip-hop.)

 

RE: No, John, my ears are not so "untrained" as you put it..., posted on May 24, 2015 at 07:42:08
rick_m
Audiophile

Posts: 6230
Location: Oregon
Joined: August 11, 2005
"exactly what measurements I should be looking at"

If you take the dive, try looking at read-latency variations and powersupply current variations and spectra. I think that at least the large drives do quite a bit of wear-leveling and the "seek times" (or whatever you call it with flash) change with use and mapping and not necessarily in any sort of linear way. The controller may decide that you've got too many bad sectors and dump a block in favor of using a whole new one so they might even "improve" with time.

Sure the data is ultimately the same but unfortunately the systemic result may not be.

Just a thought...

Rick

 

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