HDCD Cd Changer

[Grador]

Thanks
So if I buy a receiver like the one you suggested and rip my cd's to a flac or wave ( is wave a good format) the receiver will decode the hdcd and play it back for me.

I'd like to touch on this real quick. When you encode music to FLAC you lose nothing in the process, just like a wave file only ~half the size. Easier on the harddrive and easier on the network (if you end up playing files off a network).

I agree with almost all of the advice given to you so far, but I think you'd be best off with a less expensive receiver that lacks built in network/USB playback, opting instead for a player such as a WD TV or similar. There is some money savings to be had, and in my experience the user interface of many of the external boxes are superior to that built into receivers.

 

[davidtwotrees]

Great suggestions all!
I must gently disagree on the ripping and filing and saving and hard driving. Not everyone is enamoured of that whole process. The OP has CD's he would like to play on a machine that handles HDCD format. Here is one from Accessories4Less that he would like for $140 Denon DCM-390 5disc CD player that decodes HDCD.
For those of us that like the convienece of storing our CDs on a hard drive but don't like messing with computers to do so, Music Servers rock. Mine is almost 5 years old and it hasn't missed a beat. No crashes, viruses, patches, tech support, nothing.
To the original poster- it may seem harsh, but Bose is really, really a four letter word here. Give the people on this site a chance and they can point you to affordable speakers that will change the way you think about your stereo.
Welcome to the forum and I hope you get what you are looking for!

 

[PENG]

Great suggestions all!
I must gently disagree on the ripping and filing and saving and hard driving. Not everyone is enamoured of that whole process. The OP has CD's he would like to play on a machine that handles HDCD format. Here is one from Accessories4Less that he would like for $140 Denon DCM-390 5disc CD player that decodes HDCD.
For those of us that like the convienece of storing our CDs on a hard drive but don't like messing with computers to do so, Music Servers rock. Mine is almost 5 years old and it hasn't missed a beat. No crashes, viruses, patches, tech support, nothing.
To the original poster- it may seem harsh, but Bose is really, really a four letter word here. Give the people on this site a chance and they can point you to affordable speakers that will change the way you think about your stereo.
Welcome to the forum and I hope you get what you are looking for!

I thought he was aware of the 390 but was concerned about it's 'bad reviews'.

 

[wilejoe]

The Denon 390 gets bad reviews for reliability on amazon and some other sites. It gets either 5 stars or 1 star in the reviews. If I knew it would be reliable I would get it to start with because they say it sounds great and then upgrade my receiver and speakers. I kind of like my bose but I'm sure if I heard them side by side with other speakers I would quickly change my mind. As for the external hard drive I may get one just for my music and look into that process for the future.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I thought he was aware of the 390 but was concerned about it's 'bad reviews'.

My bad, I read that and forgot about it...................
Then don't worry about HDCD encoding. There are tons of great carousel players out there. I would go used if you are on a budget, but that's me.

 

[PENG]

As a more affordable alternative to the Denon 4310 and 4311, for as little (relatively speaking) as $620 you can also grab one of this:

Amazon.com: Marantz SR5004 Audio/video Receiver (Black): Electronics

and play all your favorite HDCD discs. Again that's only if you prefer to play disc instead of flac as other's suggested.

 

[wilejoe]

Once again thanks for all the help
I will replace my bose speakers in the near future
Most receivers that decoded hdcd that I saw were over $1300
so thanks for finding a reasonably priced one and marantz has a 5 disc changer that gets good reviews.

 

[PENG]

Once again thanks for all the help
I will replace my bose speakers in the near future
Most receivers that decoded hdcd that I saw were over $1300
so thanks for finding a reasonably priced one and marantz has a 5 disc changer that gets good reviews.

Keep in mind Marantz stopped including HDCD decoding in their newer AVRs so the last ones are the SR4600, 5004, 6004 etc. Of course Denon still offer hdcd decoding but only to the 4311 and up, but not the lower models.

 

[wilejoe]

Sometimes older is better in certain ways

 

[Lulimet]

Didn't some certain PS3 models decode HDCD? Or was it SACD?

 

[Grador]

Didn't some certain PS3 models decode HDCD? Or was it SACD?

The non-slim PS3s played SACD.

 

[wilejoe]

I agree completely. Rip the CDs and store the music in FLAC (lossless) format and play them back with a network ready/FLAC compatible receiver like a Denon AVR-2112ci. I'd also replace the Bose ASAP.

If I do store my music on a music server or an external hard drive and then plug it into a receiver how will I know which "cd" I'm about to play on the receiver. Does the receiver show this info on it?

 

[sholling]

If I do store my music on a music server or an external hard drive and then plug it into a receiver how will I know which "cd" I'm about to play on the receiver. Does the receiver show this info on it?

I have an Onkyo and it displays on the receiver or if you have it hooked to a TV it can display a lot better there. I just can't speak for other brands of receivers because I haven't tried them. If you don't have a TV hooked up then the receiver's display might be a challenge to navigate. I actually have a $94 Netgear NeoTV 550 media player hooked up to my receiver because I like the interface (it displays on my TV) better and I don't like bothering with DLNA. I'd rather just read from folders on my server. It just gives me more options and is 24bit compatible but I have it connected to wired network.

 

[wilejoe]

My stereo is in the basement and the speakers are on my main floor so there's no tv near my old receiver. I'l have to look into whatever new receiver I buy then and see if there will be a display. Regardless I have all my newer music on my desktop computer backed up to an external hard drive. I will get another external hard drive of some sort and start copying all my cd's onto it
Make it for music only

 

[sholling]

I would take an external drive to the store and try playing your music. With my receiver the receiver sees the drive and folders the same way a computer does, but the display is just two lines.

 

[selden]

Although it's apparently not the case here, I thought I should mention that some of us are old enough, and have large enough CD collections, that the idea of spending any time at all shuffling them through a computer's drive is extremely distasteful. We'd rather spend what little time we have left doing things that are much more enjoyable. (Like kibitzing here )


wilejoe,

The general rule of thumb is to spend about 2/3 of your budget on the speakers. They make the most difference in the quality of what you'll hear. Visit a brick-and-mortar audio/video store and listen to what they have in your price range. Although some people like to gamble and buy and return speakers from internet vendors, you may find it more productive listening to what's available before you pick a model to take home. There are big variations in the quality of the sound that you can get from different models of speakers.

Also, you might want to consider older, refurbished equipment which can play and decode your HDCD discs at a lower cost than more modern equipment. As mentioned above, previous generation Marantz and Pioneer equipment might be an option. Again, this is where a local store can have an advantage. They'll charge more, but you'll get more personal service.

(I use a Pioneer 300-disc DVD megachanger and a Marantz pre/pro to listen to my HDCD and DTS audio discs.)

 

[sholling]

Although it's apparently not the case here, I thought I should mention that some of us are old enough, and have large enough CD collections, that the idea of spending any time at all shuffling them through a computer's drive is extremely distasteful. We'd rather spend what little time we have left doing things that are much more enjoyable. (Like kibitzing here )

I'm not sure I qualify for your description at only 56 and with a mere 1500+ CDs but I'd far rather have my original CDs stored safely away and navigate my perfectly organized collection on a TV or computer monitor with the ease of picking a cable channel or playing back a video from my DVR. It's hardly rocket science if you organize.

The general rule of thumb is to spend about 2/3 of your budget on the speakers. They make the most difference in the quality of what you'll hear.

These two sentences I agree with.

(I use a Pioneer 300-disc DVD megachanger and a Marantz pre/pro to listen to my HDCD and DTS audio discs.)

Think of all the fun you'll have trying to get your 300 CDs out once it dies.

 

[selden]

I'm not sure I qualify for your description at only 56 and with a mere 1500+ CDs but I'd far rather have my original CDs stored safely away and navigate my perfectly organized collection on a TV or computer monitor with the ease of picking a cable channel or playing back a video from my DVR. It's hardly rocket science if you organize.

and don't forget about backups and off-site storage. Disks do fail, but easy offsite storage is an advantage for file servers, of course.

Think of all the fun you'll have trying to get your 300 CDs out once it dies.

I'd probably just take the top off the box.

 

[sholling]

and don't forget about backups and off-site storage. Disks do fail, but easy offsite storage is an advantage for file servers, of course.

I built a home server and backup to an external drive. For my systems (family room and bedroom) I'm connecting to the server using Netgear NEOTV 550 media players in each room because they use network shares instead of DNLA and they fully support 24bit fLACs. I'm using the TVs in both locations for navigation. It's really simple and far easier than dragging a couple of 300 CD changer from room to room.

If the OP is ripping to his PC and copying to an external drive to plug into the receiver then he has the original rip, a backup, and the original CDs. If he likes he can even make a 3rd copy for his safe deposit box. Are you going to tuck your 300 CD changer under your arm and run outside with it during a fire?

If he's reading off an external drive then my only real concern is navigating on the small display but he can always plug in cheap TV or HDMI ready flat screen computer monitor. An external hard drive should be simple. DNLA not so simple.

I'd probably just take the top off the box.

Hopefully it's that simple.

 

[selden]

Hopefully it's that simple.

It's called a saw.