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I buy most of my music online now—classical, alternative, and jazz. To listen on my stereo I just burn CDs.

It's Bricks and Mortar, people, Bricks and Mortar! I don't have any audiophile buddies, and my friends who like to go to concerts don't think or talk about music, otherwise. How sweet it is to go into Digital Sound (for equipment) or Planet Music (for music) in Virginia Beach and talk to the salespeople and their customers in the stores about our passions. What website or server is going to advise you or care just to about what's good in music, past and present.

Andrew apparently has too much time on his hands.

Whole house distribution of the entire music collection? Even better if digital interconnects can be utilized...

This is the future of audio/video. Never in the history of audio have we had the chance to organize all of our music collections in one place, in one simple box.

Tell me again why I would want this? Too lazy to put another CD in the drawer or LP on the 'table? Low quality music in every room? Interesting new indexing features that you'll never use?

I'm mainly interested in backing up my cassettes, LPs,and even a few 8-tracks. I want to be able to record as wav files from analog sources, and I want better quality than I can get with a computer soundcard.

Music and computers do not mix. Indeed, I have the crummy speakers on my computer turned off and listen to my stereo system when I surf the internet. Audiophile (?) music server? Bad, bad Idea!

I am an old fashion guy that like to manipulate the cd or lp and read the liner notes.

Not my cup of tea

Yes, I'm extremely interested. But I still need to be educated. For example, there are so many different kinds of sound cards. Even the new Intel motherboard comes with a built-in Toslink output. Is the digital music created equal out of the digital connection, be it from motherboard, sound card, or even the laptop docking station that I am considering buying?

Even if don't want one, I am still interested. Let's get off the high horse and investigate (if not embrace) change.

I already have too many expensive metal boxes to plug in, unplug, wonder what went wrong, and finally just have a beer and wonder why the elves aren't running through the circuits properly. Now, I get to read and reread the record/CD jackets, insert tab A into slot B manually, and actually savor a sense of accomplishment(i.e. having once again overcome a case of the fumbles) while listening. If I had a server and it screwed up (and it would screw up), I would rip it from its moorings and serve it onto the hood of the Pontiac parked below.

This should be a relative slam-dunk product. Simple high-capacity hard drive, digital output, Audiophile grade DAC and you're done. It seems that this would be ideal for second systems, that way your don't have to divide up your CD library throughout the house.

The only solutions that I would currently consider to be audiophile products are very expensive and still have fairly limited storage capacity. I would want a minimum of 250GB of storage capacity and the ability to grow to at least 1TB. And, since this is basically a computer with special software and a high-quality audio output you should be able to offer it for less than $5k.

This whole hard disk thing is not a very good idea. The number one problem with computers is hard disk problems/failures. Looks to be very good for the product service people. The expense to repair/replace the drive will be very high.

Jukebox hardware/software has never made it to my short (or long) list of audio components. Why is this a Stereophile topic altogether?

Why do I need a music server, when I still can't get my PC (at home) or LAN/WAN(in the office)to work reliably? And best of all I can still use my (30 odd year old?) Revox B77 reel-to-reel with high-rez (7.5 ips) & low rez (3.75 ips) options. Plus, it's just so cool. Hey Mr RIAA (aka Bastardo), try & stop me from recording from LP onto R2R.

Well, unless it could hold and deliver 24/96 rez or better, I would just as soon pass.

The performances I want to listen to are mainly classical, primarily on small labels or only available from Europe, and even if they could be found on-line, I would not waste my time trying to download corrupted, bit-reduced files. Nor do I need "immediate" access when I am planning to sit down and listen for an hour or more.

This product will NOT be overpriced, of course. Yeah, right.

Seems like the future to me.

iTunes and an AirPort Express with fiber out to any DAC.

Is there a need for a dedicated machine? We can just use our old computer instead. A half decent soundcard is all it needs, or a very cheap one with digital output and a good DAC.

When not at home, I have thought of such a device, (an Ipod or the Dell equivalant), so I can access far more selections from my music library. At home, however, I have no interest. My two hands music serve me very well, as they search out my next musical selection from my music collection.

Even if it were possible to make an "audiophile" server product, what happens to your music collection when it goes wrong or disappears through the window attached to some light fingered Lenny? And where's the fun (sastisfaction) in downloading your music collection? Hard disks are great for video recording and MP3 players (and computers) but that is where my interest ends.

I have PC-based server and am interested in software/hardware to make it better. So please review it!

Correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought that the purpose of Stereophile was to explore the uppermost potential of the reproduction of musical sound. How in the world do jukeboxes and their associated hardware/software fit into that equation? I'm ready to cancel my subscription!

What's the point? A decent quality CD changer using digital interconnects will produce very similar sound quality and convenience for a fraction the price. And you won't have to spend a vast amount of time copying the content onto it.

Very interested. However, based on typical "high-end" pricing structures, I'll probably end up putting one together myself.