CD Storage and music Streamers - suggestions

[matengawhat]

This is something I have been trying to get right for a while now but seem to keep making bad decision - i have bought and used both a Music M8 and Olive 3HD in the hope of finding a device that I can just feed my CDs into and would rip, store the music and pass on to my stereo so I can remove all my CDs from the lounge and store them away.

The Musicm8 was very badly supported by the manufacturer and never worked properly as the updates were always behind what the machine was actually capable of and my olive spent more time being disfunctional than functional, luckily on both occasions the stores refunded me for the items. I have left it a little while now in the hope that there is something out there that now fits the bill.

All I really want is an all in one unit that I can feed cds into rip at a lossless codec that has a screen to view artwork and phone app to use as a control that can connect directly to my stereo, networking features and access to spotify etc. would be an added bonus.

i was thinking of something like the novafidelity x40 but don't want to get caught out again, can anyone make any other suggestions, the unit can be connected directly to my music fidelity amp or via my musical fidelity dac so i hve some flexability on connections - i ideally want a minum of 2tb of storage, budget up to 1500

Thanks

 

[jjbomber]

i ideally want a minum of 2tb of storage, budget up to 1500

Cocktail Audio X30. Cost £800 these days. Digital output to your stereo.

 

[iMark]

All I really want is an all in one unit that I can feed cds into rip at a lossless codec that has a screen to view artwork and phone app to use as a control that can connect directly to my stereo, networking features and access to spotify etc. would be an added bonus.

I can only recommend what I'm used to: a Mac Mini with an external optical drive and an external hard drive for storing the iTunes library. I use the Mac Mini for ripping (actually I have ripped most of our collection with my previous Mac) everything to Apple Lossless files (ALAC). I use iTunes for ripping with error correction, finding artwork and tracklisting. Sometimes iTunes needs a bit of manual help, but most of the time it works OK. Not the best for classical music, but that's a problem for database lookup software.

The Mac Mini sits in my office and all music is streamed to the DAC in the living room via an Airport Express. I use an iPad as the remote control for the iTunes library.

Using a computer for this is a way of future proofing the ripped CD collection. The Apple Lossless files could be transcoded to FLAC if for some reason I would want to change computer systems. I do keep two copies of the library in case of hard drive failure. I never want to have to rip the collection again.

For just audio purposes, you don't need a state of the art computer. You could even look for a second hand Mac (other brands are available) with an optical drive, like a Mac Mini that was sold until June 2010 or an older MacBook or MacBook Pro. Or you could opt for an older design but still brand new MacBook Pro 13 inch (WITHOUT Retina display), the last portable Mac with a built in DVD drive and an optical audio output. The basic model ships for GBP 899. This would leave you with some budget for an Airport Express and hard drives for storing and backups. On top of that, you would have a very nice laptop for doing other stuff.

http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MD101B/A&step=config#

Using a laptop for ripping CDs and managing a library is pretty easy when you use a Mac and iTunes. I started over 10 years ago and the best thing was that I could simply transfer the whole library (stored on an external drive) to the next Mac.

 

[The_Lhc]

It doesn't have a screen (it really isn't necessary if using a phone app though) but I'd probably suggest the bluesound vault, should be well within your budget and I believe can be attached directly to a stereo. I will say I've never used one however.

 

[Q5]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

 

[marou]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

I use this brilliant piece of kit. Ripper, NAS, Logitech Media Player combined with Spotify/Tidal/TuneIn included and the excellent iPeng controller. No screen but with an iPad you don't really need it. Good support too.

 

[Freddy58]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

Looks like a good bit of kit. Got me thinking...

 

[Frank Harvey]

I use a Zen Mini myself. No, it doesn't have a screen, but it's not needed anyway. Can be streamed to a streamer via network, or plugged directly into a USB equipped amplifier/DAC and controlled by numerous control apps for phones/tablets. I use Squeezepad which works beautifully. Plug and play too - get it out of the box, plug it into the mains and your network, and feed it discs to start ripping to FLAC. Well supported and easy to back up. 2tb will cost you £599, so will saved you a fortune, or allowing you to add a hi-res DAC like the Chord 2Qute to give you a top notch source.

 

[Freddy58]

I use a Zen Mini myself. No, it doesn't have a screen, but it's not needed anyway. Can be streamed to a streamer via network, or plugged directly into a USB equipped amplifier/DAC and controlled by numerous control apps for phones/tablets. I use Squeezepad which works beautifully. Plug and play too - get it out of the box, plug it into the mains and your network, and feed it discs to start ripping to FLAC. Well supported and easy to back up. 2tb will cost you £599, so will saved you a fortune, or allowing you to add a hi-res DAC like the Chord 2Qute to give you a top notch source.

Hiya David. I'm rubbish at this new tech. I have the Rotel RA1570, easy to connect? Also, how is the tagging?

 

[bigboss]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

It looks very good!

Review here:

https://www.avforums.com/review/innuos-zen-music-server-review.11781

I'm interested in this one:

http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zenplus-oppo-mkii-movie-music-server

 

[bigboss]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

It looks very good!

Review here:

http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zenplus-oppo-mkii-movie-music-server

I think Innuos is a rebrand of Liv which was based on Vortexbox. Happy to be corrected.

 

[paulkebab]

a fortune?? Sheesh.. if I could re-do my streaming setup I'd still do it now the way I did back then. It's not the fastest car in the pits and won't tag WAV files but it works well enough and plays everything, a WDTV with a 4TB hard drive attached through the DAC and a £90 24" screen on the end. However, I do watch music videos too as the hi-fi is not in the same room as the TV. So, £250 for the streamer with massive HD and screen leaves you with whatever choice of DAC and could be a good upgrade to your non-streaming setup?

 

[matengawhat]

thanks for the suggestions so far - the innous stuff looks interesting, whilst not quite what i initially wanted the blu-ray ripping is a bonus again from a space saving perspective as long as user interface is easy to keep the wife happy. just wish was a bit more hifi in terms of connections, my dac has a usb interface but something that has a dac in it for high res audio may also be useful for future proofing

 

[Q5]

I think Innuos is a rebrand of Liv which was based on Vortexbox. Happy to be corrected.

Innuos is a rebrand of LIV, saw the OPPO one on Ideal AV's website when checking them out for the open day I was thinking of going to.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hiya David. I'm rubbish at this new tech. I have the Rotel RA1570, easy to connect? Also, how is the tagging?

USB into the PC USB on the back of the RA1570.

Tagging seems fine. Not every album has been correct - I have about 7 albums out of 800+ that are "unknown", and a couple that are incorrectly labelled or with the wrong artwork, but that can be amended - I just haven't got round to doing it yet as I'm too busy enjoying music

 

[cheeseboy]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

they are nice, but afaik they are all off the shelf parts running either a vanilla or slightly customised version of vortexbox.

if you wanted to build like for like you can probably take 40% off the price tag and have an identical machine.

Obviously if you're not in to building pc's then the 40% extra is probably worth it, but also note that the vortexbox software can be loaded on any pc, so any low powered pc with a cd drive would be a good substitute.

 

[Al ears]

http://www.innuos.com/en

No screen but does use an app for phone or tablet.

It looks very good!

Review here:

http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zenplus-oppo-mkii-movie-music-server

I think Innuos is a rebrand of Liv which was based on Vortexbox. Happy to be corrected.

Now that's a good idea to partner my Oppo, and Christmas is coming they say.

 

[Freddy58]

Hiya David. I'm rubbish at this new tech. I have the Rotel RA1570, easy to connect? Also, how is the tagging?

USB into the PC USB on the back of the RA1570.

Tagging seems fine. Not every album has been correct - I have about 7 albums out of 800+ that are "unknown", and a couple that are incorrectly labelled or with the wrong artwork, but that can be amended - I just haven't got round to doing it yet as I'm too busy enjoying music

Thanks for that David

I was wondering though, does it have to be hard-wired? There's a dongle thingy on the Rotel.