CES 2008

But sometime last year, perceptions changed. Here we are at the 2008 CES and music servers and related products are popping all over the Venetian and at THE Show.

And then there were the surprising online poll results this week.

We asked in our Vote this past week if you are ready for an audiophile music server, and the response and number of comments have been overwhelming. A whopping 32% of you already have a server of some kind set up, and 44% are ready to jump in. We received more votes in this poll than any other in 2007!

Other than a small group of forward-looking, old-school audiophile companies such as Linn and McIntosh already shipping product, the manufacturing side has yet to develop in any significant way. Which means that most audiophiles are cobbling together all manner of systems, whether it centers on iTunes, Sonos, Transporter, Squeezebox or a home-brew PC/Mac and DAC ensemble.

Magico even built a one-off server for their demo room just so they'd have a source for their collection of hi-rez audio files. We suggested they think more seriously about it as a product instead.

The variety of approaches to creating a hard-disk–based music system was mind-boggling, and will likely lead to a bit of confusion in the short term.

Some products are basically a DAC with various wired and wireless connectivity options but no hard drives for actually storing music (you add those yourself). Some add a CD drive. Others include the hard drives, but not much connectivity. Others are aimed only at iPod owners (docks). Some are made for those with iTunes libraries. Some can't sync with an iTunes library. And some are audio-only devices and some include video. The permutations of features seem endless.

Companies like Sooloos demonstrated a complete stand-alone audiophile solution that focuses on the interface. I was surprised not to see other companies follow Sooloos' lead with a graphic touch screen. Seems to me this is the obvious way to go for anyone with a large collection of music, who doesn't want to have a TV on all the time to choose their tunes. Their software is intuitive (for me at least) and is a blast to use.

But at this time, the Sooloos systems do not include access to music streams, iTunes, Web radio, hi-rez audio, or anything other than a CD loaded on the hard drive via the built-in slot. The company hints this will change in the future, but for now, think of it as a replacement for a CD library and player and add the other streams elsewhere.

There are companies like Lyngdorf, Kaleidescape and Naim, who have created servers sporting graphical interfaces used primarily with a button remote control and a switched-on TV. This will be an obvious choice for a movie-based system, but not so handy for music. I find it very awkward having to turn on the TV to navigate these kinds of setups through large music libraries while using a button remote. Adding a Crestron-type touch screen, where possible, is one way around this issue.

On a slightly more traditional note (if traditional is even the right term here at the frontier), T+A's new Music Player comes complete with the ability to manage several digital sources including streaming radio, music servers, and even a turntable (via the analog inputs) from a single chassis which includes a CD tray. Construction is superb, and just might be the ticket, though once again it comes supplied with a button remote, so accessing a huge library of choices is a daunting task.

In a similar vein, PS Audio had a work-in-progress prototype of its Memory Link and Hovland a prototype of a very similar product, both of which can either play discs or rip them to a media server. Like the Hovland, the PS Memory Link runs Linux and the company says it will handle metadata (album art and info) for whatever you run through it and uses a small display on its front panel.

Wadia demonstrated the first iPod dock (the iPod is, after all, just a compact music server) that takes the iPod's digital stream straight out and into a preamp or the DAC of your choice. Shanling was showing a product that your iPod rests in, complete with tube amps and fancy metal work.

These docks seem more like temporary bridge products to get those that are iPod-centric into better audio. But with these, you have to control your library on the little iPod screen, and the capacity for uncompressed storage is, of course, limited.

And if you have an iPod loaded with music, that means you also have iTunes on a computer somewhere.

Which leads us to the clever companies like Resolution Audio who have figured out that Apple has already put millions of dollars into developing iTunes, the iTouch and its attendant hardware and software, so why not leverage those into the audiophile living room.

Resolution's method for doing this is ingenious, and gets my nod for best overall approach for those who already have large iTunes libraries. But once again, though much better than buttons, I find access to a huge pile of music through an iTouch touch screen remote a bit cumbersome. But very cool and relatively affordable.

And lest we forget, both Microsoft and Apple see all of this activity and are trying to jump into the living room with more gear and software. Apple already aims its Apple TV player and Front Row software at the media server customer, while Microsoft was handing out copies of its Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House? parody children's book.

Should be an interesting year indeed.