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Own a large CD collection? Then you've probably already considered
moving your entire music archive
to a computer storage for convenient
access.
According to the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA),
sales of physical discs
have been
constantly declining in the
past 5 years as consumers are flocking
to downloadable MP3 files.
There is
evidence to suggest the CD era is drawing
to a close although physical discs and
vinyl
will certainly coexist for some time.
Here's why you want to consider setting
up a music server:
- Stream music in high quality through your
home stereo
- Turn a computer into a reference digital audio transport
that will astound you
- Stream music to multiple rooms in your home
- Navigate through
your entire music collection within seconds
- Create global song playlists
- Listen to worldwide internet radio stations
- Listen to music purchased from online stores
such as iTunes or Linn Records
- Utilize digital room correction
- Digitize your analog record collection
- Independence of failing mechanical
CD transports
For new music, your
first option is to buy albums or single
titles directly as data files from an online store
like Apple's
iTunes music store. But be wary of lossy
compressed file formats. MP3 quality
below 320kb/s
isn't what you want. Another recent
high-quality alternative is Linn
Records,
Linn's very own online
store
which even offers true studio master
quality file versions without copy protection.
For your existing music archive, you need
to extract or 'rip' your CD's
into data files first. All you need is
a computer equipped with
a DVD drive and
some free software. Although the software
does most of the work
like tagging songs and
albums as you rip CD's, it's still a bit
tedious process though and might take some
time
to finish. But fortunately you only need
to do this once for each album.
Although
Windows Media Player and Apple's iTunes
get the job done, more demanding
audiophiles
might prefer Exact
Audio Copy because
it's known to produce bit-perfect results.
We strongly
recommend you
download and use this software for high-quality
audio extraction.
If you don't want to do all the work,
there's help from professional service
companies like Riptopia
who will
rip your entire CD collection in just
a matter of days.
Regarding file formats and quality levels, we
generally recommend sticking with
losless audio formats
such
as WAV, FLAC, WMA
Lossless or
Apple Lossless.
A properly set up computer-based
music transport can perform just as
good or better than even
the most expensive CD transports - at a fraction of the cost.
That's
because your music resides as bit-perfect data files on a harddisk. Once
properly stored,
your music is no longer subject to
read errors of typical CD players caused
by scratchy surfaces,
vibrations or non
centrical discs.
The resulting high-quality error free digital output stream can be translated
to an analog signal
by our digital-to-analog converters and then amplified. We
designed all our amplifiers to help you build
a reference quality music transport and support the
latest digital media products such as the
Squeezebox, Sonos music system, or Apple/PC computer transports right
out of the box.
But we believe this is just the beginning
of the next revolution in digital audio!
Once your music is digitally stored on a harddisk, it opens up previously undreamed-of
possibilities.
Now you can even perform digital room correction and
future upgrades become simply a matter
of a software update. Before dismissing all of this
as a hype, bear in mind that professional mastering
studios have long used computers for their daily work. These pros know why!
PC/Macintosh as Source
If you prefer the flexibility of computers and don't mind setting one
up in your listening room,
this appears to be a great choice. Simply connect the digital SP/DIF output
of your computer's
soundcard to one of our amplifiers. Your music would
reside on the computer's internal
harddisk
or on an external USB harddisk or NAS (Network Attached
Storage) drive. For playback and library
management software you have the choice
between Windows Media Player, Foobar or Media Monkey
on Windows platforms.
Laptop or MP3
Player
Establish a USB connection between your laptop/MP3
player and our amplifiers.
Any audio file can now be played back in high quality through your stereo
system.
Streaming Media Clients
Streaming media devices are quickly gaining
in popularity as you don't need a computer
in your listening room.
They look and work like
a home audio device and can be plugged into your home stereo
system
just like any CD or DVD player. Your music and the actual
server can be located anywhere in the
house
so there's no issue with noisy computer fans. Streaming media
clients pull your music remotely
from the server either
via wired or even
wireless LAN
connections. Any computer or laptop can become
a streaming server.
Some of the major
players are Logitech Slim Devices Squeezebox, Transporter,
Roku
Soundbrige and the Sonos music system.
We personally recommend
the Slimdevices Squeezebox and Transporter products
because of extremely high quality and reasonable pricing.
Apple Airport Express
If you're already using Apple itunes to manage
your music collection and want your music to be streamed
wirelessly in high quality to your home stereo system, then
Apple's Airport Express might be an alternative.
This device provides something like a "wireless digital output".
Simply connect its optical output to one
of our amplifiers for sonic bliss!
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