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chebby

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For the price of a good DAC (and an Aiport Express) you could get this...

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/7164

Someone else mentioned it earlier and I thought it was an excellent idea.

It will get you going straight away with AirPlay (free on that offer) and FM/DAB/Internet radio etc. It also has optical digital, coax digital and USB inputs which will take care of three digital sources on top of what it already offers.

Plug the thing into your modem/router with an ethernet cable and you are good-to-go with a plethora of internet stations, BBC iPlayer, iTunes, Youtube etc.

You can control that lot wirelessly with iPads, iPhones or iPod Touch if you want to. (It's optional.)

Look... Radio 3 in 320K and no wires. (69 pence Tunein Radio Pro app).

The NA7004 also has superb FM when you want that bit of extra quality.

Review...

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Marantz-NA7004/

(And many other great reviews from other mags that we can't mention.)
 

Cass

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Sorry to butt in, but I'm in a similar position to PP and am looking at the Airport Express as a cheap way to get started with streaming music from my laptop. My concern is that I recently tried connecting the laptop to my amp via a 3.5mm to phono cable, and the sound quality was dire. Would it be reasonable to assume that this would be due to the quality of the laptop's sound card, and that I could expect better results when using an Aiport Express, even (initially) without a DAC?
 

harrydg

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FATS 2828 said:
:shame: Now why would you want to go too souless downloads ? Where,s the fun in that ? With that lovely turntable, all those future upgrades and new vinyl to collect . Much more civilised

I ask: can you help me buy a computer?

your answer: don't buy a computer, a typewriter has charm

how exactly is this helping/useful?
 

chebby

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Cass said:
Sorry to butt in, but I'm in a similar position to PP and am looking at the Airport Express as a cheap way to get started with streaming music from my laptop. My concern is that I recently tried connecting the laptop to my amp via a 3.5mm to phono cable, and the sound quality was dire. Would it be reasonable to assume that this would be due to the quality of the laptop's sound card, and that I could expect better results when using an Aiport Express, even (initially) without a DAC?

Yes.
 
chebby said:
For the price of a good DAC (and an Aiport Express) you could get this...

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/7164

Someone else mentioned it earlier and I thought it was an excellent idea.

It will get you going straight away with AirPlay (free on that offer) and FM/DAB/Internet radio etc. It also has optical digital, coax digital and USB inputs which will take care of three digital sources on top of what it already offers.

Plug the thing into your modem/router with an ethernet cable and you are good-to-go with a plethora of internet stations, BBC iPlayer, iTunes, Youtube etc.

You can control that lot wirelessly with iPads, iPhones or iPod Touch if you want to. (It's optional.)

Look... Radio 3 in 320K and no wires. (69 pence Tunein Radio Pro app).

The NA7004 also has superb FM when you want that bit of extra quality.

Review...

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Marantz-NA7004/

(And many other great reviews from other mags that we can't mention.)

That looks pretty tasty. The only hesitation is the PC is in the bedroom and would prefer wireless rather than draping 40' of cable from one side of the house to the other (sorry, should've mentioned that before).
 

The_Lhc

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plastic penguin said:
chebby said:
For the price of a good DAC (and an Aiport Express) you could get this...

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/7164

Someone else mentioned it earlier and I thought it was an excellent idea.

That looks pretty tasty. The only hesitation is the PC is in the bedroom and would prefer wireless rather than draping 40' of cable from one side of the house to the other (sorry, should've mentioned that before).

Where the PC is doesn't matter so much as where your router is. Where is it?
 

John Duncan

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It's very easy to extend your wireless network. You could even do it with an Airport Express!

However, just to confuse you even more - I still think that a very good option for you would be a Cambridge 651BD; it plays all the discs you could want, is probably a very good CD player (intuitively) and can act as a media server if you stick a hard drive into one of its USB slots. The latter adds a complication which you may wish to avoid (getting your music on there would involve ripping it on your PC, copying it on to the hard drive, unplugging and plugging it into the back of the player) and I suspect the UI is a bit prosaic (ask me next week ;-)) but it could be a very neat solution.
 
A

Anonymous

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I'd avoid using your PC as it is a bit of a pain if it's in a different room. Of course you could get another computer such as an imac mini or an ipad for convenience and usability but this will add to the cost significantly.

My suggestions would be something from Olive (4D or maybe 3D) or Linn DS or Naim that can store the files internally or on an external drive connected by usb (you can get something small with 1tb for £50 now)

My experience of trying to migrate to computer audio is:

- even using the £5k+ weiss dac 202 with firewire to a computer isn't quite as good as using a very good transport to the weiss

- some software is better than others (the best I've found so far is jplay which unfortunately doesn't have a great interface)

- high res downloads are great, but you will still spend at least 95% of your time listening to 16bit resolution music

- network connections with NAS servers are not always stable; wifi is even less stable

So, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in computer audio
 
John Duncan said:
It's very easy to extend your wireless network. You could even do it with an Airport Express!

However, just to confuse you even more - I still think that a very good option for you would be a Cambridge 651BD; it plays all the discs you could want, is probably a very good CD player (intuitively) and can act as a media server if you stick a hard drive into one of its USB slots. The latter adds a complication which you may wish to avoid (getting your music on there would involve ripping it on your PC, copying it on to the hard drive, unplugging and plugging it into the back of the player) and I suspect the UI is a bit prosaic (ask me next week ;-)) but it could be a very neat solution.

Cheers, John - I've not ruled out the Cambridge by any stretch. Have to confess, though, think I might prefer the Marantz Bluray or Chebby's suggestion (Gawd, what a pain I am) for the Marantz server/tuner etc. if I can make it work.

BTW, the router is directly on top of the PC.
 
A

Anonymous

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Ref Olive 3HD/4HD suggestion

I had one of these (note past tense) and not highly recommended by me. Nice idea, nicely built but seriously flawed.

Olive run on Linux and the back up files they create are non proprietary archive files which can't be unzipped to create copies of your original files. i.e. it will backup onto the Olive but not onto your PC or anther hard disk

The CD transport packed up after a few weeks

Editing file tag data is very slow and time consumin

Using it with a PC via a web interface is like watching paint dry

Its a nice idea but to be honest I am somewhat sceptical about these all in one units, they are in some cases a (Cheap) hard disk with a cd ripper and a DAC chucked in but nicely packaged. Meridian Soolooss 15 is a case in point. Not even a DAC in that and a puny 500Gb hard drive.

I went DIY in the end, DBPoweramp on laptop for ripping, Buffalo NAS and a small 1TB which you can piggy back onto it for an extra back up. Works just fine. It can be a steep learning curve but thats why these one box wonders seem popular as they appear to take all the worry away but sometimes at a staggering cost. Also Olive packs in Burr Brown DAC's which are ten a penny these days. And if you want Olive multi room you need to take out a second mortgage as the add on controllers cost a packet. Sonos much better option and its lovely and stable. Okay won't handle high res stuff but there's not that much about yet. In any case a good 16 bit recording sounds as good as a bad 24bit.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Re: Olive... That's awful! I'm surprised to hear that as WHF keeps giving the Olive 4HD top honours. If what you say is typical of the Olive experience then of course that should be avoided. But for someone not very technical, I still think using a PC for audiophile audio is not easy.

I should also mention, I have an oppo bdp-93 which has a very basic interface for playing flac & wav files off the network and sounds great through digital output into a good dac. But high res digital output is not possible for dvd/bluray players unless it is through hdmi to a receiver/HT amp.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I still think using a PC for audiophile audio is not easy.

I agree with that and it is a steep learning curve. However I got there in the end!

Maybe I got a bum machine from Olive but doing some googling on the CD transport failure its not uncommon.

Another point which I have seen aired a lot (not on this forum) is that NAS drives can be noisy, mine certainly is not buried the back of the telly. Storage is so so cheap now as well. The Sonos helps a lot of course and is a very pleasant way to control your listening evening. I bought the proper Controller as well, yep they are expensive but it works very nicely and in any case I haven't an ipod etc so can't use the free Sonos App.

Shame as the Olive is a really nice and solid looking machine and certainly passes the wife test!
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
Maybe a dopey question: If I had the Marantz server, would storing the downloaded music (and accessing through the USB port) on a memory stick compromise the SQ?

Is this so you can avoid connecting it to your modem/router or PC? (The 40ft cable you mentioned earlier.)

There are better ways around this and not terribly expensive.
 
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Maybe a dopey question: If I had the Marantz server, would storing the downloaded music (and accessing through the USB port) on a memory stick compromise the SQ?

Is this so you can avoid connecting it to your modem/router or PC? (The 40ft cable you mentioned earlier.)

There are better ways around this and not terribly expensive.

Indeed. If I stick the memory stick in the back of the PC - download and save - and then transfer it to the server. I was assuming the display on the server would show the formatted music as: Track 1... track 2 etc.
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
Indeed. If I stick the memory stick in the back of the PC - download and save - and then transfer it to the server. I was assuming the display on the server would show the formatted music as: Track 1... track 2 etc.

Yuck!

Try...

(a) Get a good wireless router installed near the hifi (connect with a short run of ethernet cable to the Marantz) and pop a USB wireless gizmo (About £10) in the back of the upstairs PC so it can talk to the internet.

Or...

(b) Some kind of Powerline/Homeplug 'doodads'. (Pop one in a mains socket near your current modem/router upstairs, then connect together with short ethernet cable. Do same downstairs with other Homeplug and connect to hifi with short ethernet cable.)

Either way, you get to keep all that lovely AirPlay-ability (and internet radio).
 
chebby said:
plastic penguin said:
Indeed. If I stick the memory stick in the back of the PC - download and save - and then transfer it to the server. I was assuming the display on the server would show the formatted music as: Track 1... track 2 etc.

Yuck!

Try...

(a) Get a good wireless router installed near the hifi (connect with a short run of ethernet cable to the Marantz) and pop a USB wireless gizmo (About £10) in the back of the upstairs PC so it can talk to the internet.

Or...

(b) Some kind of Powerline/Homeplug 'doodads'. (Pop one in a mains socket near your current modem/router upstairs, then connect together with short ethernet cable. Do same downstairs with other Homeplug and connect to hifi with short ethernet cable.)

Either way, you get to keep all that lovely AirPlay-ability (and internet radio).

Ah, right, wireless router: (Thinking out aloud) That means that all other connections to and from PC will be wireless. If so, that sounds good.

Thank you, Chebby.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
harrydg said:
FATS 2828 said:
:shame: Now why would you want to go too souless downloads ? Where,s the fun in that ? With that lovely turntable, all those future upgrades and new vinyl to collect . Much more civilised

I ask: can you help me buy a computer?

your answer: don't buy a computer, a typewriter has charm

how exactly is this helping/useful?

1 .YOU did,nt ask the question .

2. it was just an observation on pp ,s system . ;)
 
FATS 2828 said:
harrydg said:
FATS 2828 said:
:shame: Now why would you want to go too souless downloads ? Where,s the fun in that ? With that lovely turntable, all those future upgrades and new vinyl to collect . Much more civilised

I ask: can you help me buy a computer?

your answer: don't buy a computer, a typewriter has charm

how exactly is this helping/useful?

1 .YOU did,nt ask the question .

2. it was just an observation on pp ,s system . ;)

Did I say downloads are souless? What I said was that "FM Radio" is the best out of all options (Freeview, DAB) in connection with the DAB thread someone posted.

If I thought all modern repro was souless I'd have a cassette player rather than a CDP.

Can you help with my dilemma?
 

Gareth82

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I think chebby has hit the nail on the head with using the marantz along with some powerline/homeplugs. Also don't forget that marantz say you can use the na7004 even when you haven's got a network so i gather you can connect a external hardrive to it and play your music from that which is another good option as harddrive storage is so cheap now days. I think the marantz is a winner but don't forget that nad have a new streamer out (review in this months magazine) plus rotel do a similer one to marantz with dab etc...
 
Gareth82 said:
I think chebby has hit the nail on the head with using the marantz along with some powerline/homeplugs. Also don't forget that marantz say you can use the na7004 even when you haven's got a network so i gather you can connect a external hardrive to it and play your music from that which is another good option as harddrive storage is so cheap now days. I think the marantz is a winner but don't forget that nad have a new streamer out (review in this months magazine) plus rotel do a similer one to marantz with dab etc...

Certainly the Marantz route is very appealing, and I like the Marantz sound, which helps.

Cheers, Gareth.
 

CnoEvil

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PP, this is a good place to start: http://www.ripcaster.co.uk/

I've used them.....very helpful and knowledgeable. It's worth giving them a ring and talking through your concerns and what you want to achieve. Highly recommended.
 
iceman16 said:
Naim Uniti.

Don't be silly...
smiley-smile.gif


If I had different speakers then it would be a serious contender.
 

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