Starting to think about stowing my wall of CD's . . .

[BrianZ]

and holy crap is my head spinning from Googling the topic of music servers. so i'm hoping someone here is further along and can help me narrow down the field. not knowing too much about it, here are some of the things i think i want it to do:

- unit would be added to my Ikea tv/media stand, so the smaller the better. but this will be a judgement call.

- store and play all manner of music files, including wma lossless ideally as that's what most of my music is (legacy from my Zune days). i guess if an otherwise perfect unit required me to convert or even re-rip (god, i hope not) then i might be open to that. no need for hi rez music (for the rare occasion i would really need this i'll just plug in my FiiO X3). 500GB would be more than enough.

- interface that does not require plugging into my tv. so either a small display or remote control, or both ideally. mobile app would even be fine i think.

- i envision it plugging into my current receiver via RCA jacks, so a decent DAC equivalent to my current CD players (PS3 and Yamaha carousel changer).

- to keep costs down it doesn't need to be a HTPC or anything, just music.

- cost target: any chance it can be like a stripped down small PC or expensive tablet? say $500? i don't know if this is a reasonable target or not so i'm open to discussion on this.


just to show you where i am, i would almost be open to the idea of just using my FiiO X3 player and going line out into my receiver, which i sometimes do right now. this is nearly a zero cost solution, except that to really get all my CD's involved i'd need to buy a 2nd 128GB microSD card. the downsides to this are: the inconvenience of having to swap out sd cards, having to constantly recharge the thing, and no remote control. it's really these three inconveniences that prompted me to look into a different solution.

ok that's probably enough to get the conversation started. so what say you?

 

[Haywood]

Have you considered Sonos?

 

[Flint]

I have three Logitech Squeezebox players I use to listen to my ripped CD collection anywhere in the house.

I ripped the CDs using Microsoft Media Player in either Lossless WMA or highest quality VBR WMA format. Since doing that, I have a network share with all 5,000+ CDs readily available to any connected device in my house, plus I have three Squeezebox units, plus I can load those files onto my microSD card on my Samsung phone to carry around with me. Finally, I used Amazon's music match tool to give me access to about 2/3rds of my music off there Amazon Music service from any PC, phone or tablet from pretty much anywhere in the world.

So, I have dozens of methods to access my music in many different formats.

 

[mcad64]

I have 3 squeezeboxes like Flint and they work flawlessly. Your problem is that you have your library ripped to WMA Lossless. Squeezebox does not support WMA lossless natively, but would have to transcode it to .flac I believe. I think foobar can convert from WMA lossless to flac.
Mike

 

[Flint]

I don't do critical listening when I use my Squeezeboxes, so I am not worried about any degradation from transcoding.

 

[mcad64]

I don't do critical listening when I use my Squeezeboxes, so I am not worried about any degradation from transcoding.

That was meant for Brian not you...but just curious, why not critical listening with the Squeezebox? Don't like the Burr Brown Dacs?

 

[Haywood]

There is no degradation transcoding from lossless to lossless. The only issue is you can't fast forward or rewind within the same track. I have two Squeezeboxes myself and I really like them. I run the Logitech Media Server component directly on my NAS and have enough space for far more than what is in my library. The only problem is that Logitech discontinued the Squeezebox line a couple years ago, so you can only find them used. That's why I suggested that you might want to look into Sonos.

I learned the hard way that WMA Lossless is a very poorly supported format. After doing a bunch of reading and listening and discovering that even professional recording engineers cannot reliably tell the difference between a well-encoded 320kb MP3 file and the original disc (in an acoustically treated room with very high end equipment), I decided to just re-encode my entire library in high bit-rate lossy.

 

[heeman]

I run 2 Squeeze Box Duets in the house, 1 in the Den (which is also connected to the outdoor system) and 1 in the Home Theater. They work great!

 

[BrianZ]

ok so forgive the noob questions but i don't know anything about the stuff mentioned so far. the Squeezebox and Sonos are both wi-fi recevers, right? if so then i don't think that's what i'm looking for. sorry, either i wasn't clear or i don't understand. i simply want something to locally store and play music files on my existing main system - a replacement for my CD's and CD player. this device will sit permanently in my tv/media stand and feed an RCA cable directly into my receiver. in other words i want it to act just like a CD player. and i want to be able to occasionally load new files via a flash drive or USB or something. file management in general is something i imagine would require a fairly extensive UI. does anything like this exist?

like i said, the portable DAP's are really close to what i have in mind except for the inconveniences of charging and no remote control. so i guess i'd like a non-portable DAP with remote control (and a nice UI). is this a stupid request?


Haywood, i believe what you say - truly, i do. but there ain't no way i'm ever going back to lossy. especially not with massive storage so cheap and easy. self delusion is in full effect over here. thanks though.

 

[mcad64]

ok so forgive the noob questions but i don't know anything about the stuff mentioned so far. the Squeezebox and Sonos are both wi-fi recevers, right? if so then i don't think that's what i'm looking for. sorry, either i wasn't clear or i don't understand. i simply want something to locally store and play music files on my existing main system - a replacement for my CD's and CD player. this device will sit permanently in my tv/media stand and feed an RCA cable directly into my receiver. in other words i want it to act just like a CD player. and i want to be able to occasionally load new CD's via a flash drive or USB or something. does anything like this exist?

like i said, the portable DAP's are really close to what i have in mind except for the inconveniences of charging and no remote control. so i guess i'd like a non-portable DAP with remote control (and a nice UI). is this a stupid request?


Haywood, i believe what you say - truly, i do. but there ain't no way i'm ever going back to lossy. especially not with massive storage so cheap and easy. self delusion is in full effect over here. thanks though.

Brian,
I believe what you are describing is essentially the Squeezebox. Sits in the equipment rack and feeds prepro/reciever via analog or digital depending on which component's dacs you want to use. However it can not be updated with a usb stick. New cd's are ripped stored on whatever device you store your music on and the squeezebox server software controls it from there via the classic frontend.
Mike
i think I have that about right??

 

[BrianZ]

Brian,
I believe what you are describing is essentially the Squeezebox. Sits in the equipment rack and feeds prepro/reciever via analog or digital depending on which component's dacs you want to use. However it can not be updated with a usb stick. New cd's are ripped stored on whatever device you store your music on and the squeezebox server software controls it from there via the classic frontend.
Mike
i think I have that about right??

so the music is stored elsewhere (say on my main computer) and the Squeezebox streams it via wi-fi network - is that right?


btw, i edited my previous post as i didn't mean to suggest that i want this new device to do the ripping. i fully intend to do all ripping on my main computer.

 

[mcad64]

Wifi or over ethernet. I have two wifi and one ethernet. The wifi one can sometimes be a bit flaky having to rebuffer, when it drops the wifi signal. If I could get ethernet to all three I would.

Sorry , yes. I have an external hard drive with all my cd's ripped on it. I have it attached to an old laptop running the squeezebox software.

Edit: You can control it with a remote, universal or one provided with the Squeezebox, or as in my case , i am sitting on the couch and controlling it with my laptop. Easier on my 50 year old eyes, then trying to look across the room at the player.

 

[BrianZ]

Wifi or over ethernet. I have two wifi and one ethernet. The wifi one can sometimes be a bit flaky having to rebuffer, when it drops the wifi signal. If I could get ethernet to all three I would.

Sorry , yes. I have an external hard drive with all my cd's ripped on it. I have it attached to an old laptop running the squeezebox software.

Edit: You can control it with a remote, universal or one provided with the Squeezebox, or as in my case , i am sitting on the couch and controlling it with my laptop. Easier on my 50 year old eyes, then trying to look across the room at the player.

ok, that's pretty cool. but i'm afraid i'm gonna keep looking for some sort of local standalone solution. streaming from a PC is just not what i had in mind. thanks for the input though.

so any other suggestions folks?

here's something like i have in mind: Sony HAP-ZE1ES
but it's $2000, damn.

 

[Botch]

I think the NAD M50 digital music player and M52 digital music vault would do exactly what you're looking for, stores 24/96, FLAC, WMA, even something called Ogg Vorbis (?). Sadly, its out your, mine, and everyone else's budget 'cept maybe United Arab Emirates....

EDIT: Here's a link, and the M52 has been discontinued. http://nadelectronics.com/reviews/Superb-NAD-M50-and-M52-Review-from-The-Ear

 

[mcad64]

ok, that's pretty cool. but i'm afraid i'm gonna keep looking for some sort of local standalone solution. streaming from a PC is just not what i had in mind. thanks for the input though.

so any other suggestions folks?

here's something like i have in mind: Sony HAP-ZE1ES
but it's $2000, damn.

That's a lot of cake for what is essentially a 1 terabyte harddrive? Or am i missing something. Oh yeah,it will do DSD . I am not sure if the squeezebox can go beyond 96/24. Can't read that tiny screen on the front of the Sony from across the room, so you are either using a laptop or as they suggest an android or Ios smartphone to run it.


This is the Squeezebox duet. Screen in the remote.


My goodness, I sound like a Squeezebox zealot don't I?? Time to go watch a movie.

 

[Haywood]

Just out of curiosity, why are you opposed to streaming from a PC or NAS? The vast majority of the devices you are looking for stream the music from a computer or NAS of some variety. Sonos has their own appliance. Local storage just doesn't make a ton of sense for most applications.

If you are only using your music locally, lossless is great. I didn't switch to high bit-rate lossy to save storage (I own an 8-Bay NAS). The problem I ran into with it was compatibility across a wide range of devices. I wanted to be able to stream my music to any device anywhere and none of the lossless formats are supported well enough to do that. There is no advantage to lossy files if you just want playback on a couple devices on your own network.

 

[CMonster]

I have a last generation Squeezebox Classic that I no longer use (replaced by AppleTVs) that I'd give you a good price on if you decide to try that route...

 

[BrianZ]

Just out of curiosity, why are you opposed to streaming from a PC or NAS? The vast majority of the devices you are looking for stream the music from a computer or NAS of some variety. Sonos has their own appliance. Local storage just doesn't make a ton of sense for most applications.

If you are only using your music locally, lossless is great. I didn't switch to high bit-rate lossy to save storage (I own an 8-Bay NAS). The problem I ran into with it was compatibility across a wide range of devices. I wanted to be able to stream my music to any device anywhere and none of the lossless formats are supported well enough to do that. There is no advantage to lossy files if you just want playback on a couple devices on your own network.

well i guess i'm being stubborn, or maybe i'm stuck in an outdated paradigm. but the notion of having to keep my computer running to stream music over wi-fi is simply unappealing to me. actually there are very practical problems with that for me because my PC is in my upstairs home office, so to play music i'd have to go upstairs and take the PC out of standby. it's an extra step i don't like. plus we get a lot of family & friends visiting and my the home office doubles as our spare room (real estate is ass expensive here in DC!). so here's just one very real scenario off the top of my head: we have a visitor who wants to sleep in and i want to put on some tunes while i'm downstairs making breakfast or whatever (which is almost every day), so i'd have to either wait for them to get up or tip toe into the room and turn on the PC. anyway, you get it.

i'll just keep the CD's out until i come across a more practical (and reasonably priced) solution for my very specific needs. but i do appreciate you challenging my preconceptions - it does help me to keep thinking out of box. that is exactly why i started this thread, so thanks.

 

[BrianZ]

That's a lot of cake for what is essentially a 1 terabyte harddrive? Or am i missing something. Oh yeah,it will do DSD . I am not sure if the squeezebox can go beyond 96/24. Can't read that tiny screen on the front of the Sony from across the room, so you are either using a laptop or as they suggest an android or Ios smartphone to run it.


This is the Squeezebox duet. Screen in the remote.


My goodness, I sound like a Squeezebox zealot don't I?? Time to go watch a movie.

yeah i know, the price on that Sony is totally out of range for what i have in mind.

and no worries about your sales pitch. it's clearly an awesome device and no wonder so many of you all love it. if it weren't for my aversion to streaming and preference for local storage (see explanation above) i'd be all over it. that remote in particular looks absolutely perfect. if only it had a couple of high capacity sd card slots i'd be set. i'd only need like 200GB or so.

 

[yromj]

I skimmed this thread so forgive me if I missed this. But have you considered a NAS for storing the music (and ultimately a lot of other stuff once you start using it)? I use a QNAP NAS to store my media and as a DLNA server. This way, you don't need a true PC to be on to stream the media and playback devices, such as a Squeezebox, a Sonos, or even a network capable receiver, can be used to listen to the media.

John