Help this noob find a server for CD's only

[jostenmeat]

It's ok if what I want doesn't exist, or that it does and is very expensive (I just want to know about it). I am fine with putting cd's in the tray, but the convenience and coolness of going directly to different tracks does sound quite appealing. Educate me. I will only load CD's. No SACD, DVDA, DVD, BD, HDDVD, MP3, FLAC, nothing else.

*Lowest noise floor desired. (I even have to dim my lights to the "perfect" setting so that they are inaudible).
*I have in the ballpark of 600CD's, of which probably 500 are classical. I am not sure what size of hard-drive is required.
*I do not want to install a computer in the LR.
*Largest display possible, that also has a continuously variable dimmer, or at the least, many brightness settings. Even better would be a remote with display, but I doubt that exists.

Again, it's ok to tell me that it doesn't exist.

I got interested in this after a few recent posts in adk's build thread.

After a bit of hunting around, I noticed the expensive Olive system (this is probably an excellent fit?), among other possibilities like the Squeezebox, Popcorn (with a lot of video benefits, and possibly requires PC), and perhaps the best bang for buck could be Escient? Which of these would be a good fit for me?


Thanks in advance!

edit: OOPS! I guess this should be in the HTPC/Media Server subforum. Mods feel free to move!!

 

[Alex2507]

Oooooh !!! I have exactly 155 CD's that I need to put somewhere and quick like (next 10 days or so). This sounds like the thread for me. I think I need to pay attention to this one.

 

[jostenmeat]

Ok, I notice for Escient, I could set this display on top of their unit.

I wonder how much it costs. I admit that it is probably way bigger than I need. Hmrz, yeah it's too big really, and surely not worth the cost.

 

[jostenmeat]

Oooooh !!! I have exactly 155 CD's that I need to put somewhere and quick like (next 10 days or so). This sounds like the thread for me. I think I need to pay attention to this one.

Liar. I know you own the Lassus, so that's at least 156.

 

[Adam]

Liar. I know you own the Lassus, so that's at least 156.

I don't think that he's talking about his CDs...

 

[jostenmeat]

I don't think that he's talking about his CDs...

Oh yeah, I forgot those aren't his. LOL.

[/THREAD-JACK]



jk. Well, Alex will undoubtedly visit his family again, and he could just bring his server along at that time. OK, I gotta run, and I look forward to the responses later.

 

[Alex2507]

HEY !!!

We need a little help over here.

 

[Adam]

You might want to check out Craig's gallery thread, starting at around this post.

 

[jostenmeat]

transplanted quotes

We spent a couple of marathon sessions over the first couple of weeks loading in the first few hundred CDs. The rest have been added in over time. I'm not really sure about how to back up for the Escient itself. I don't think we've done that. On the other hand, I don't think the Escient is susceptible to failure the way a normal computer is (I hope).

While the chances are unlikely, I'll try to remember to tell you how if I ever figure that out during my research.

Small 13-15" LCD Tv's are cheap nowadays. You could pick one of them up to act as a display.

Come to think of it, my guess is that it will be to small too see from the LP anyways. Hm. I guess I'll stand up and approach to select. A few buttons of the remote is still more convenient than swapping/replacing CD's.

How bright and/or adjustable is the display? I have a tendency to like my AV displays to be very dim.

(LOL, I need a display for the Escient I now see.)

Hi guys,
I have the MX-111 it's 160 GB and I've stored my Cd's in FLAC. Cd's take about 2.5 to 3 minutes each, to copy.
You can also leave out tracks you don't like. How much it holds depends on what format you copy them in.

Is FLAC the bang for buck format? As in 100% lossless, at least as far as human perception, yet more compact as a file? Thanks, I've never transferred or copied any music file ever, at least that I can remember.

One nice feature is that it can be networked and can use your PC as if it's another drive.
The 'Fireball-PC' software can be downloaded from the Escient site.

I don't foresee myself ever using that, but nevertheless, thanks for that info.

I unplug mine when not in use. Since it less wear and tear when the drive isn't spinning, and quiet.

Here's some info: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-m2jfg8v3gww/p_641MX111/Escient-FireBall-MX-111.html

Hmm. Interesting. So, I take from your post that it is indeed rather audible when in operation, or at least surely has a higher than desired noise floor. Again, thanks for the responses.

 

[adk highlander]

How bright and/or adjustable is the display? I have a tendency to like my AV displays to be very dim.

(LOL, I need a display for the Escient I now see.)

The SE-80 fireball only has one very small light so that will not be an issue but as you said it will need to be hooked to some kind of display. It does have a 16:9 and a 4:3 mode so depending on what you choose you will not have distortion. The touch screen image you show is expensive but if you go ebay you can get it for under 200 bucks.

Is FLAC the bang for buck format? As in 100% lossless, at least as far as human perception, yet more compact as a file? Thanks, I've never transferred or copied any music file ever, at least that I can remember.

FLAC will be the only format the Escients will play that will really compare to CD quality. The high bit MP3's are fine for my whole house type setup but if I'm doing listening in the theater and really want the best sound I will pull out the disk. The SE-80 will store and play FLAC but WILL NOT rip it. You would have to do that with a computer and drag the files over with the software Rick mentions called Fireball PC.

Hmm. Interesting. So, I take from your post that it is indeed rather audible when in operation, or at least surely has a higher than desired noise floor. Again, thanks for the responses.

I hear the HD spinning and it can be annoying if it runs during a quite portion of a movie but it is not that loud. I think once I get the cooling fans installed into my rack it may help. My theater room gets warm in the winter due to the furnace being down in the basement.

I've found some very good deals on ebay that I will PM you.

 

[jostenmeat]

The SE-80 fireball only has one very small light so that will not be an issue but as you said it will need to be hooked to some kind of display. It does have a 16:9 and a 4:3 mode so depending on what you choose you will not have distortion. The touch screen image you show is expensive but if you go ebay you can get it for under 200 bucks.

FLAC will be the only format the Escients will play that will really compare to CD quality. The high bit MP3's are fine for my whole house type setup but if I'm doing listening in the theater and really want the best sound I will pull out the disk. The SE-80 will store and play FLAC but WILL NOT rip it. You would have to do that with a computer and drag the files over with the software Rick mentions called Fireball PC.

I hear the HD spinning and it can be annoying if it runs during a quite portion of a movie but it is not that loud. I think once I get the cooling fans installed into my rack it may help. My theater room gets warm in the winter due to the furnace being down in the basement.

I've found some very good deals on ebay that I will PM you.

adk highlander, your help thus far has been perfect. Those deals you sent me are really something too. I've decided this is not for me. I don't want to convert files on a computer first. After a bit of thinking, I also don't want a display that large. As it is, my integrated's display has a white backlight that even when set as low is much too bright for me. I recently had this display turned off, and so I try to be very careful that I turn the unit off between uses (because I can't tell visually). Even my cdp's on light is too bright for me.

The fact that this unit runs louder than I want is another strike. There are a lot of quieter passages in classical music, and that would drive me up the wall I fear.

I guess I'll stick with my caveman ways of manually loading CD's. Thankfully, classical works are typically longer in duration, so I don't have to get up to do that as often as others do.

I'm going to research the Olive unit more at some point, but I doubt that I'd get it due to price, and for all I know, I'd probably find something I don't like about it anyways . . .

 

[MidnightSensi]

I've messed with the Escients and would recommend against them. They are expensive and outdated. You can get an AppleTV that does similar for a couple hundred bucks. 155 CD's isn't much, I'd toss them on a hard drive and stream them using a AppleTV or Sonus. Also, since Escient won't rip to FLAC, you'd need to rip them manually anyways. The Escients are also pretty slow at ripping.

Finally, with all the network devices out there now, anything on your computer you can pretty much access from your home theater using one product or another. PS3... AppleTV...Sonus...pre-amps even....and so on. Once they are in FLAC on your computer, then you can change them over to whatever other format you want (wma, mp3 for your ipod, and so on).

 

[jostenmeat]

I've messed with the Escients and would recommend against them. They are expensive and outdated. You can get an AppleTV that does similar for a couple hundred bucks. 155 CD's isn't much, I'd toss them on a hard drive and stream them using a AppleTV or Sonus. Also, since Escient won't rip to FLAC, you'd need to rip them manually anyways. The Escients are also pretty slow at ripping.

Finally, with all the network devices out there now, anything on your computer you can pretty much access from your home theater using one product or another. PS3... AppleTV...Sonus...pre-amps even....and so on. Once they are in FLAC on your computer, then you can change them over to whatever other format you want (wma, mp3 for your ipod, and so on).

Thanks for chiming in MS. It's more like 600 CDs. (155 = a single Bach box-set). This would be for a separate living room stereo (HT is dedicated room). The stereo electronics only consist of integrated, cdp, and surge protector. The rack is probably 1.5 ft tall, heh.

So with that in mind: dedicated use of loading that # of cd's, which one between Apple and Sonus? A very, very adjustable display is of pretty high priority, and so is the lowest noise floor. Thanks for your time!

 

[MidnightSensi]

Thanks for chiming in MS. It's more like 600 CDs. (155 = a single Bach box-set). This would be for a separate living room stereo (HT is dedicated room). The stereo electronics only consist of integrated, cdp, and surge protector. The rack is probably 1.5 ft tall, heh.

So with that in mind: dedicated use of loading that # of cd's, which one between Apple and Sonus? A very, very adjustable display is of pretty high priority, and so is the lowest noise floor. Thanks for your time!

Sonos (I said Sonus, its actually Sonos ) for a system like that. You can use their remote to control the whole thing. The display is right on the remote, nothing more needed. The new one is very elegant.

As far as sound quality, the Sonos supports FLAC and it is as silent as a CD player.

If you leave your integrated on, you can just use the Sonos remote and hide everything except the speakers. The Sonus remote is RF, so everything can be hidden. It's perfect for a minimalist system in a living room.

I hate to sound like a Sonus advertisement, but, I've installed a bunch of them and everyone has loved theirs... from people really into music to people that just want a casual setup.

Another neat feature is if you want to do whole house music, it automatically does all the delay and time-alignment and is completely wireless and self-contained.

 

[jostenmeat]

LOL. Nice pic! That sounds like a nice fit! I sure don't need whole house audio, but who knows what I'll think years from now.

You got me thinking about hiding electronics. I don't really have a place to hide them, but I can tuck them away better, on a side wall and/or corner . . . hmmm . . .

What I don't understand is why the integrated must be left on. Ok, nm, I think I understand now: if I just want to use that single remote (which is very cool btw!!). If only they updated some FW to be able to use that as a universal remote . . . I mean . . . or just enough programming capabilities to handle a programmable on/off.

I have to ask, how much is this system? How large is the hard drive?

What is the best/easiest way to backup after everything is loaded?

Any retailer in particular to recommend?


EDIT: Ok. So, which unit listed here? I don't need a bundle, and I don't need a built in amplifier. Hm. Maybe I should call them soon, but I rather learn from you. The only other thing I need is remote, correct? That's listed as $350. I assume I don't have to buy the batter and/or ac adapter.
http://www.sonos.com/whattobuy/

 

[jostenmeat]

Wow, this Sonos system is pretty slick. I'm now thinking about the package combo, to throw some music in the garage! Some stoopid questions:

-how compromised is audio when transmitted wirelessly? Laymen terms, or technical terms, anything you know I'd appreciate.

-the easy access to radio stations is really cool (I assume I need a computer), so my first apprehension is that using a wireless router might not be enough bandwidth? If it isn't, what would be the bare essentials/components if I build a computer for 100% radio streaming, lol.

-The extra cost for the second zone amp + speakers (on top of remote + unamplified ZP90) is $450. I suppose I shouldn't bother with these speakers, forget about the combo pack, and use some monitors instead?

-to load my CD's as FLAC (which I'm now assuming is the best format from everyone's posts), do I need to use a computer? (I suppose that's waaay faster). My cdp only has analog outs, but I could grab my bdp or something to load with optical? I guess there isn't anyway around the computer to load music?

Thanks, if I seem like an idiot, it's because this is all very new to me.


What a slick system!

 

[MidnightSensi]

Whoops! Sorry about that giant image!!! Google Chrome auto zoom strikes again.

Wow, this Sonos system is pretty slick. I'm now thinking about the package combo, to throw some music in the garage! Some stoopid questions:

-how compromised is audio when transmitted wirelessly? Laymen terms, or technical terms, anything you know I'd appreciate.

It's all digital audio, so the wireless is as good as the local, since it just streams it through its own WiFi network (which has a higher transfer rate than needed for lossless FLAC) and then plays it locally. It's just a stereo output, so nothing multichannel. I would say its very good, but, I hardly have golden ears.... to me they are limited to the file itself.

-the easy access to radio stations is really cool (I assume I need a computer), so my first apprehension is that using a wireless router might not be enough bandwidth? If it isn't, what would be the bare essentials/components if I build a computer for 100% radio streaming, lol.

You don't need a computer, you just need a broadband connection. The sound quality of the Internet radio stuff varies though. Some of it is okay, some of it is bad. It's a database of internet radio stations, so, there is a huge mix. For background music it is great.

-The extra cost for the second zone amp + speakers (on top of remote + unamplified ZP90) is $450. I suppose I shouldn't bother with these speakers, forget about the combo pack, and use some monitors instead?

Yeah, I have a unamplified zone player and remote in my garage. I use an external amplifier. I've actually never heard their speakers, so, I don't really know..

I have setup an amplified zone player for a friend though, and the amplifier was fine for his bookshelf speakers. It's actually a pretty nice unit... push-down terminals and stuff.

-to load my CD's as FLAC (which I'm now assuming is the best format from everyone's posts), do I need to use a computer? (I suppose that's waaay faster). My cdp only has analog outs, but I could grab my bdp or something to load with optical? I guess there isn't anyway around the computer to load music?[/qupte]

Yeah, your stuck any way you go pretty much. It's nice having a regular digital copy though. I back all my music up to drives. It's a pain but it has come in handy.

-Thanks, if I seem like an idiot, it's because this is all very new to me.


What a slick system!

No problem!

It is pretty slick. I actually heard about it when it first came out, and kind of shrugged it off. I finally came around. Sonus and AppleTV are my favorite little gadgets now.

I think you can also use your iPhone as a remote, but I'm a Blackberry user so I never tried that. No hacks required, it is just an app.

 

[Alex2507]

Just to help you get past this page with ginormo photo I'll say that I went with free option Windows Media Player WAV files that I'll try to use like the DAWG does when I get back home with the sound card I have up there.

 

[Alex2507]

It only takes a couple of minutes to rip each CD.

 

[Alex2507]

I only have like a hundred and forty to go.