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I am just starting to learn about this equipment. I do not own a iPod. My son downloads music frequently, but I have yet to see the need. Maybe by the spring, I will have some idea what it is all about.
Now that hi-rez files without DRM are starting to become available for download from several labels, are you ready for an audiophile music server?
But I don´t download music. I use my own CDs in a big hard disk and the Squeezebox conected to my Arcam+Tannoy. It is great. For the road, iPod Classic with looseless files, although iTunes sucks. I would like something more transparent.
As I work in IT, I really don't want to mess with computers at home, just surf stuff I don't look at in the office (hey, I'm supposed to be working right?). But given the really sad state of radio, there is enough incentive to come up with my own alternative. One thing that puzzles me though, is that computers add all sorts of EMI and RFI to the power lines and airwaves, and we audiophiles are spending all of those dollars on fancy power cords and conditioners to get rid of all of that bad stuff.
Needs to be a product that can connect wirelessly, have ample storage access, directly or indirectly through the network, provide high-quality translation of digital music as a high-end CD player, and lastly have a user-friendly interface
With the serious decline of music retailers coupled with the new and dramatic improvement in audio quality in the form of Dolby Digital TrueAudio and DTS Master Audio, it's time to move to higher ground. Instead of clinging to the past, we should embrace the new and work to improve it. High quality audio manufacturers should define their new servers with superior sound and adopt these new technologies. Within five years servers will be the new standard as physical media. If high-end audio wants to attract new customers, this is their opportunity.
If I knew what equipment to buy, how to store it safely, how to hook it up to my existing system, how to visually access it, and what the equivalent resolution would be relative to CD Red Book. So far, all the reviews and articles in Stereophile don't provide this info in a clear manner. I can't be the only one confused on this issue!
I don't know if MP3 or MP4 can be catogorized as audiophile. I think the content has to be TrueHD, or uncompressed Red Book, etc. formats. MP3 and MP4 don't sound exactly like the original. They are supposed to be for portables and cheap computer speaker formats.
I have a Sonos system that has worked out very well. I have a summer cabin with a very good stereo system but limited storage space for a large CD collection (let alone LPs). Instead, I added a Sonos receiver to my existing system in the cabin and copied a substantial portion of my music library onto a server. The result has been excellent—I can access a large music collection at my fingertips, and the sound quality has been very satisfying (I used FLAC lossless compression when ripping to the server). My next step will be a high quality external D/A converter (as the Sonos has a digital output), which will provide even greater enjoyment.
Set myself up with a stand alone server of 2TB, connected via ethernet/wireless to various outlets in the house, including one that's capable of 32bit/192kHz resolution playback. Definitely the way to go - controlling it all with an iPod Touch/Remote Buddy configuration that gives me two-way control of all my music (over a thousand CDs) via wireless.