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What is the basic equipment required to get in on this newfangled stuff as an adjunct to a "real" audio system?
Suggestions on the minimum requirements for a computer, hard drive backup, software, DAC and internet connection speed would be greatly appreciated.
What is the best deal from a price/performance standpoint for the items required?
Thanks!
Follow Ups:
...and I'm assuming you do by your presence here...THIS is all you need: 1TB internal HD and handles every type of file that you can give it. It's a storage device, server, and DAC all in one with an absolutely amazing sound quality.
There are two interfaces that allow you to play hi-res as well as DSD right now:
1) Async USB
2) Network Renderer - wired Ethernet
These can be on outboard "converters" that feed a DAC with S/PDIF, AES or I2S or they can be integrated into the DAC. Generally better to be integrated, but not always.
The performance of either is all over the map. You don't necessarily get the best performance spending the most money either (as in all audio).
Steve N.
You can get more specific information and "Bill of Materials" if you can state whether you prefer Mac or PC and a little bit about the budget or commensurate gear.
Mac or PC will work fine and everyone has an opinion which is a debate you want to avoid. That rhetoric is confusing, sometimes acidic and not helpful. So just pick one on your personal preference.
You mention minimum requirements and price/performance.
I think Thorsten gets this right with "I would say Core Duo minimum, 4GB of RAM will not hurt."
The best price/performance is something you already have... like an older business computer, etc. Just put in more ram if needed and experiment for a while. It will probably sound great and you will love it. Try to avoid over thinking this and getting bogged down by paralysis by analysis and listening to too many opinions. People (especially here) can get so deep into their strong opinions of the smallest details it just gets way more complicated than it needs to be.
Hi,
> What is the basic equipment required to get in on this newfangled
> stuff as an adjunct to a "real" audio system?
You need:
1) A Computer
I would say Core Duo minimum, 4GB of RAM will not hurt. A Laptop that has been phased out may be a good idea. Windows 7 or 8 or you can play with Windows Server 2012. Mac's also work fine if they have a similar spec.
Personally my office System runs on a retired Lenovo Thinkpad T400, I do use WiFi streaming from the main custom build Multimedia Box to this. If using WiFi make sure you have .11n or .11ac level spec on both router and PC.
You can use an external hard-drive or even network attached storage (NAS) to hold the music, as has been discussed here before, in some conditions using an external drive will impact sound quality negatively, though OS tweaking can mitigate this.
2) Playback Software
At our office we have pretty much anything and everything. For someone starting out I would recommend J-River Media Centre on Windows and Audirvana Plus or J-River on Mac.
Many others exist. Some may be better or worse, for a beginner support is important and J-River as well as Damien at Audirvana are pretty decent.
3) Ripping Software
I still use dBPoweramp. It can rip many copy protected CD's and generally does a good job. Recommended. I don't get to use it much now as most of my new music is downloaded.
4) A DAC capable of HD
There are more USB DAC's out there than you can shake a stick at, from 49 USD to 31K USD.
For High Rez, I believe you have to pony up at last 189 USD to get a DAC that can handle PCM up to DXD (352.6KHz/24Bit) and 384KHz as well as DSD at single, double and Quad speed (Quad Speed DSD aka. DSD256).
The mainstream formats needed are PCM up to 192KHz and single speed DSD, so you may be able to find something for less that manages these, but DXD and DSD256 are emerging audiophile formats, so in terms of future proofing you may want them anyway.
There are a number of sites that focus on Computer attached DAC's, so have a good look there and decide what appeals to you most.
Ciao T
At 20 bits, you are on the verge of dynamic range covering fly-farts-at-20-feet to untolerable pain. Really, what more could we need?
Two years ago I started with a specially designed PC computer music server with 2-GB RAM and a 64-GB solid state hard drive running Windows 7. Cost was $699. I used a 1-TB eSATA external hard drive for music storage that cost $150. I used Foobar2000 freeware for streaming digital to a USB DAC. Foobar2000 will stream high-resolution PCM and DSD with the appropriate plugins that can be downloaded for free from the internet. I used Exact Audio Copy, also free software, to rip all my CDs. My internet connection is 12-Mbps, which is sufficient for streaming Netflix, YouTube, Pandora and just about anything else. I used this system for about a year and a half until I bought an Oppo BDP-105D Blu-Ray disc player that also functions as a music server, DAC, CD player and SACD player. That's what I'm presently using. USB hard drives and flash drives with high-resolution digital music can be connected directly to the Oppo BDP-105D, which functions as a music server without the need for an additional computer. It also connects to the internet and contains the necessary applications to stream audio and video. The Oppo BDP-105D is now the heart of my audio/video system and does everything except play vinyl.
Good luck,
John Elison
How do you organize your music files on USB hard drives and flash drives?
Just "artist" does not work. Composer, conductor, orchestra name, violinist (in the case of violin concerto), . . . . . , year of recording, . . . Was it easy to organize files in a way that works with the software by Oppo?
Is the pdf booklet of an album accessible with Oppo?
I use artist and album title for the folder name that contains all the songs. The Oppo sometimes displays pictures of the album. I guess it gets them from the internet. Files are organized alphabetically on hard drives and flash drives. Here is an example:
I'm still kind of streaming novice ... How are you getting your net streaming into the Oppo BDP-105D Blu-Ray ... USB?
Are you running the XLR to active speakers or are you running RCA into an amp driving passive speakers?
If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
--Zen Proverb
Internet streaming comes through a LAN cable from my modem/router. The Oppo also comes with a WiFi attachment but I use a hard wire LAN cable.
My system is balanced and I use balanced interconnects with XLR connectors from my Oppo to my preamp and from my preamp to my Parasound Halo A21 power amplifier.
Best regards,
John Elison
The Well Tempered Computer
Thanks!
I suggest you consult either
www.audiostream.com
or
www.computeraudiophile.com
Thanks!
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