Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225

[Florestander]

Does anybody else have one of these?

Recently, I have attempted to rip CD's onto the hard drive. Users of this equipment will know that the system searches on the internet for the source recording to ensure that the version saved on to the hard drive is as good as it can be. (Irrespective of the condition of the CD/recording). the last two times I have done this, the files saved are completely different artists and tracks to the source CD inserted, suggesting that there may be a software glitch. Has anybody else experienced this and/or does anybody have any ideas as to how this issue may be resolved. (I have contacted the UK distributors for assistance who have informed me that the current owners of the Musical Fidelity brand are no longer providing support for this product, which is disappointing as these are not cheap bits of kit!)

I would welcome any assistance or feedback from the expert community on this forum.

 

[Gray]

Never seen that unit before, looks nice but you're right its not cheap.
(And today's (Amazon) price is getting on for double the price when WHF reviewed it 5 years ago ).

The EAC audio ripper that I used (and others) report the accuracy of the rip, they also seek out album art from online....but they will only get the audio file from the disc you're ripping.

Are you saying the MF takes the actual audio file from online? Surely not.
(Even if it's only linking incorrect album art / metadata to your disc though, it's obviously not right).
Presumably this the first time you've used it for ripping? - so you've just discovered the problem? And it's well beyond the guarantee period?
Regardless, disappointing (to say the least) if MF don't want to know.

 

[WayneKerr]

Never seen that unit before, looks nice but you're right its not cheap.
(And today's (Amazon) price is getting on for double the price when WHF reviewed it 5 years ago ).

The EAC audio ripper that I used (and others) report the accuracy of the rip, they also seek out album art from online....but they will only get the audio file from the disc you're ripping.

Are you saying the MF takes the actual audio file from online? Surely not.
(Even if it's only linking incorrect album art / metadata to your disc though, it's obviously not right).
Presumably this the first time you've used it for ripping? - so you've just discovered the problem? And it's well beyond the guarantee period?
Regardless, disappointing (to say the least) if MF don't want to know.

Trusty EAC and a PC is still the cheapest and most reliable option

 

[Florestander]

Thanks guys.

As far as I know, the unit seeks the original recording from on-line archives (and probably album art too). This appears to be borne out by my actual experience. Since I have had the unit, I have successfully ripped over 200 CD's from my collection on to the hard drive. I have had the unit for a while now - at least a couple of years. However, for the last two attempts, when the unit searches online, it returns and downloads completely different audio material than the source CD. This could not happen unless it was searching for audio files. (The unit plays the correct album material when playing directly from the CD, just as any normal CD player, so the CD's themselves are definitely not corrupted in any way.

 

[Al ears]

Is there a way of disconnecting it from the Wi-Fi so that it has to rip the CD itself?

 

[Florestander]

Hi AI Ears,

I don't think so. It appears that the software is set up as a default to go online and search for the source material, but I will check the handbook to see if this function can be disabled.

Now you mention it, that does seem a rather obvious thing to look for! Isn't the phrase something about an inability to see the wood because of the trees? .... (Doh!)

Thank you

 

[Al ears]

Hi AI Ears,

I don't think so. It appears that the software is set up as a default to go online and search for the source material, but I will check the handbook to see if this function can be disabled.

Now you mention it, that does seem a rather obvious thing to look for! Isn't the phrase something about an inability to see the wood because of the trees? .... (Doh!)

Thank you

No problem
Hope there's a way as most CD rippers do just that, they don't download from a database.
What happens if your CD isnt on that database??

 

[Florestander]

If the CD isn't on the database, the software seems to allow the audio files to be save but lists the album as 'untitled'. You can then manually assign a title and track names, artist information etc - but it seems to only do this as a secondary solution. I haven't managed to ascertain any way of bypassing the online search function just yet.

Cheers!

 

[Al ears]

If the CD isn't on the database, the software seems to allow the audio files to be save but lists the album as 'untitled'. You can then manually assign a title and track names, artist information etc - but it seems to only do this as a secondary solution. I haven't managed to ascertain any way of bypassing the online search function just yet.

Cheers!

So if it is simply downloading from a database and not ripping your CD what format are your tracks in? Are they all MP3? Surely not.
PS: reviews including WHF s refer to ripping CD so your device is only getting track data from the internet and not music files..
"Put a CD in and the Musical Fidelity will default to ripping the disc onto the in-built drive rather than playing it straight away. This is done primarily to help with speed of playback.

Once copied, the player can read the music files quicker and more accurately than if it had to fetch the information from the disc."

 

[Florestander]

tracks are listed as FLAC files.....

 

[Al ears]

Is there a way of disconnecting it from the Wi-Fi so that it has to rip the CD itself?

it would appear it actually is ripping from the CD itself or it should be as it's the default setting.....

 

[Gray]

I haven't managed to ascertain any way of bypassing the online search function just yet.

I'm sure you'll be able to.

(With the EAC (exact audio copy) ripper we speak of, there's no obligation to accept the metadata that it finds online - but, like I said, it never gets the audio from online).

 

[Florestander]

Guys,

I am grateful for your thoughts and research, but also confused

I am not technical enough to be able to offer any cogent arguments against your findings. However, if the system is really reading the files from the disc and then ripping these files to the hard drive, It seems odd that completely different music is saved. (If I play the CD on another player, the correct music is played). For example, when I put in and attempt to rip a CD of the Kings College Choir, what is actually ripped and stored on the hard drive is an album called "Tango Argentin0 1: Liedenschaft und Sinnlichkeit, by various artists..........

I am always open to new musical genres, but it seems the equipment is making its own preference known - Is this an example of the green shoots of AI making themselves known? Ooer.....

 

[Gray]

For example, when I put in and attempt to rip a CD of the Kings College Choir, what is actually ripped and stored on the hard drive is an album called "Tango Argentin0 1: Liedenschaft und Sinnlichkeit, by various artists..........

That's a mystery.
But the fact that you've had no such problem with over 200 previous rips suggests that a fault has developed.

It's always worth fully reading user guides, but that's unlikely to help solve your issue.

You say you've contacted the distributor - but between them and (whoever currently owns) MF.....some form of help should be forthcoming.
For the price you've paid, it's the least you should expect.

 

[Al ears]

That's a mystery.
But the fact that that you've had no such problem with over 200 previous rips suggests that a fault has developed.

It's always worth fully reading user guides, but that's unlikely to help solve your issue.

You say you've contacted the distributor - but between them and (whoever currently owns) MF.....some form of help should be forthcoming.
For the price you've paid, it's the least you should expect.

I would be interested to see what shows up as metadata if you try to rip that same Kings College CD with any other available CD ripping software, be it EAC, JRiver or whatever.
When I rip discs on my pc the software I use searches four databases, not all of these show the same information

 

[Gray]

I would be interested to see what shows up as metadata if you try to rip that same Kings College CD with any other available CD ripping software, be it EAC, JRiver or whatever.
When I too discs on my pc the software I use searches four databases, not all of these show the same information

Safe to say that all EAC users would bet on it coming up with the correct Kings College details - slight chance of it coming up with nothing - no chance of it assigning the wrong metadata.

I ripped over 1000 CDs with EAC.
Never once did it come up with metadata from an incorrect disc - although, for the vast majority I had to correct something about the details (because the database is built by manual entries from other users, including spelling errors).
And the album art it found, although usually relevant, I could always find higher resolution versions to use (one reason the process seemed to take forever 😐).

 

[Al ears]

Safe to say that all EAC users would bet on it coming up with the correct Kings College details - slight chance of it coming up with nothing - no chance of it assigning the wrong metadata.

I ripped over 1000 CDs with EAC.
Never once did it come up with metadata from an incorrect disc - although, for the vast majority I had to correct something about the details (because the database is built by manual entries from other users, including spelling errors).
And the album art it found, although usually relevant, I could always find higher resolution versions to use (one reason the process seemed to take for ever 😐).

One wonders what software MA uses in this device to find metadata

 

[Florestander]

That's what I would like to know Al Ears, and to find a software patch, and a method of installing it. But as MF aren't supporting, I don't know how I could obtain the same.

 

[WayneKerr]

Guys,

I am grateful for your thoughts and research, but also confused

I am not technical enough to be able to offer any cogent arguments against your findings. However, if the system is really reading the files from the disc and then ripping these files to the hard drive, It seems odd that completely different music is saved. (If I play the CD on another player, the correct music is played). For example, when I put in and attempt to rip a CD of the Kings College Choir, what is actually ripped and stored on the hard drive is an album called "Tango Argentin0 1: Liedenschaft und Sinnlichkeit, by various artists..........

I am always open to new musical genres, but it seems the equipment is making its own preference known - Is this an example of the green shoots of AI making themselves known? Ooer.....

When you say different music is it just the metadata that's wrong or the saved music file is completely wrong. I have ripped several hundred CDs using EAC and I did have one where the metadata on the disc was wrong, it's a long process to correct it.

 

[Florestander]

Good question WayneKerr, I have not gone bac and played the tracks, as they do not appear related to what I, (or my family), would normally listen to.
Having done so, however, it does appear that what is supposed to be Argentinian Tango, (possibly), is actually the choirboys of Kings College, - so it could just be picking up the wrong album and track listings.....

This rather suggests that i may be able to edit the details manually (possibly), which would be a potential solution, but I think that that would really like to solve the original problem, if I can - that is tackle the symptom, not just how it may manifest.

 

[nopiano]

Idly looking at Henley Audio website, I found this:-

Musical Fidelity - For out of warranty Musical Fidelity repairs of products that were part of the range prior to 2018, we recommend you contact our preferred “Historical Products” Musical Fidelity service agent. You can contact Deco Audio in the following ways:

By phone: 01296 422224
By email: info@decoaudio.com
Or pop in in person to chat: Kempson Close, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP19 8UQ, UK

For models that were on sale from 2018 onwards, bookings are made on the express understanding that there is a minimum inspection fee of £50.00 (for still current products) or £150.00 (for discontinued products). This fee includes 0.5 days inspection/labour time and the fee is absorbed into the final invoice. If at the end of this inspection period no resolution for the repair is found, one of our Service Engineers will be in touch to suggest the most economical solutions for you moving forward.

Henley Audio | Returning An Item | Welcome to Henley Audio

Returning An Item. To continue reading our returning an item support page, head to our website today. Henley Audio - Quality Hi-Fi Distribution.

www.henleyaudio.co.uk

 

[nopiano]

I also found this on another forum:-

The incorrect info will be a database thing rather than an encore thing I'm afraid, the Encore queries the https://musicbrainz.org/ database which is a open source repository for CD metadata.

 

[Florestander]

Thank you for this information - I will see where it takes me!

Much appreciated!