Laptop as Digital Music Server??

[GO-NAD!]

Just curious - would a laptop with a large capacity hard drive do a good job as a digital music server? I was wondering how I might reduce the space occupied by my 2 X 300 CD changers. The MusicCAST and various Escient products are awfully expensive. I just wonder if the sound quality would be poorer. Plus, would I need some sort of converter to connect it to the analog inputs of my amplifier? I'm such a luddite....

 

[AVRat]

Have you had any problems with your jukeboxes? I was contemplating picking one up but read mixed reviews. I'm also exploring other options, but as you found they're not cheap!

 

[oppman99]

GO-NAD,

I'm using an external DAC (Cambridge DACmagic) from my computer hooked up via USB and have been very happy with the results. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a laptop. Not quite as good as a dedicated player, but I feel it has been worth the tiny difference in SQ for the added convenience. Media Monkey seems to be a popular choice to use to manage everything. I use Winamp and it works well for me. Foobar is rated at the top, but apparently isn't very user friendly.

A less expensive solution might be High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer for $99. I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty confident it will sound better than the converter you would have to use otherwise.

 

[skers_54]

I use my laptop as a music server. The optical output sound identical to the HDMI output from my DVD player. The analog outputs are less than stellar, so an external USB soundcard is a must. They're really cheap (~$30) fortunately. Heard good things about the Turtle Beach from Newegg.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Have you had any problems with your jukeboxes? I was contemplating picking one up but read mixed reviews. I'm also exploring other options, but as you found they're not cheap!

I'm considering other ways of storing all my music because these machines take up a lot of room. I'm in the planning stages of building a stand for my components and I'd like it to be compact, because it's in my living room - not the HT room. But that's impossible with the changers - they're just so big! I don't have any serious problems with them- just a half-dozen or so CD's that they are a bit fussy about reading and the first track or two will sometimes skip. But, I have about 450 CD's loaded, so a small number like that doesn't get my nose too far outa joint! Otherwise, they work just fine.

I bought the changers so that I wouldn't have to build a storage cabinet for all the CD's. Overall, the changers save me a lot of room, but I'd still like a more compact solution. If you have room in your component stand, I say go for it. If you do, get yourself a cheap PC keyboard to enter all the info for your CD's. You'll get carpal tunnel syndrome and have to decorate for Christmas before you finish entering info with the remote control!

 

[GO-NAD!]

GO-NAD,

I'm using an external DAC (Cambridge DACmagic) from my computer hooked up via USB and have been very happy with the results. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a laptop. Not quite as good as a dedicated player, but I feel it has been worth the tiny difference in SQ for the added convenience. Media Monkey seems to be a popular choice to use to manage everything. I use Winamp and it works well for me. Foobar is rated at the top, but apparently isn't very user friendly.

A less expensive solution might be High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer for $99. I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty confident it will sound better than the converter you would have to use otherwise.

So, you think there is a drop in SQ? Even a tiny one? The programs you mentioned - do they save the music as FLAC files? I don't want to put them in the MP3 format. I mentioned using a laptop because my PC is in the basement and the stereo is in the living room. So, I considered purchasing a laptop, with the primary purpose being storage and playback of my music. I thought I'd scan the CD covers, so that I could see them and get song listings on-screen, while the music is playing. Is that a logical solution? Or is there something better out there, that won't cost an arm and a leg?

Thanks for the info - I'll check out the items you mentioned!

 

[GO-NAD!]

Dedicated Laptop as Music Server

So, if I were to buy a laptop, whose primary purpose was to store and playback my CD music and with the following requirements:

1) in the original uncompressed format (well, no more compressed than the original) and display the covers, song listings and maybe the liner notes during playback. I have, as mentioned, about 450 CDs and that collection gets larger as time passes. So, an estimate of storage capacity would be helpful.

2) connect to the analog inputs of my integrated stereo amplifier.

Would the previous recommendations still apply - or do I need something else/more?

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[GO-NAD!]

I use my laptop as a music server. The optical output sound identical to the HDMI output from my DVD player. The analog outputs are less than stellar, so an external USB soundcard is a must. They're really cheap (~$30) fortunately. Heard good things about the Turtle Beach from Newegg.

Can a dedicated quality soundcard be installed in the laptop beforehand? I don't have a laptop yet, so hopefully, it could be configured to do what I want right from the beginning.

 

[GO-NAD!]

GO-NAD,

I'm using an external DAC (Cambridge DACmagic) from my computer hooked up via USB and have been very happy with the results. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a laptop. Not quite as good as a dedicated player, but I feel it has been worth the tiny difference in SQ for the added convenience. Media Monkey seems to be a popular choice to use to manage everything. I use Winamp and it works well for me. Foobar is rated at the top, but apparently isn't very user friendly.

A less expensive solution might be High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer for $99. I haven't tried it, but I'm pretty confident it will sound better than the converter you would have to use otherwise.

I checked out the Cambridge DACmagic and I guess I should've given a budget. I'm thinking $500 - $700 for the whole works, including laptop! I can't justify $400 for a DAC alone. Thank-you for the tip though. It gives me some ideas about the route to follow.

 

[MDS]

So, if I were to buy a laptop, whose primary purpose was to store and playback my CD music and with the following requirements:

1) in the original uncompressed format (well, no more compressed than the original) and display the covers, song listings and maybe the liner notes during playback. I have, as mentioned, about 450 CDs and that collection gets larger as time passes. So, an estimate of storage capacity would be helpful.

CDs are 2 channel 16/44.1 kHZ PCM so if you rip to WAV format (uncompressed PCM just like the original) each minute of sound will occupy (2 * 16 * 44, 100 * 60) / 8 = ~10.5 MB. For reference I have 5,130 WAV files from about 530 CDs stored on an external 300 GB drive and it takes up 214 GB of the available space.

If you were to use a lossless compression algorithm like FLAC, you could cut the space requirement roughly in half and FLAC supports ID3 tags to store the artist, song title, album, etc whereas WAV does not.

 

[Nemo128]

FLAC is a must for best quality without throwing away lots of storage space.

 

[oppman99]

So, you think there is a drop in SQ? Even a tiny one? The programs you mentioned - do they save the music as FLAC files? I don't want to put them in the MP3 format. I mentioned using a laptop because my PC is in the basement and the stereo is in the living room. So, I considered purchasing a laptop, with the primary purpose being storage and playback of my music. I thought I'd scan the CD covers, so that I could see them and get song listings on-screen, while the music is playing. Is that a logical solution? Or is there something better out there, that won't cost an arm and a leg?

Thanks for the info - I'll check out the items you mentioned!

All the programs mentioned will allow you to use WAV, flac, mp3 ect. I use WAV because I have a TB hard drive. I rip a cd in and it automatically creates a playlist (saved) with all the tracks on it organized by album title. Gracenote allows you to find album covers and have them show up on screen when the albums play. I really like it.

As for the difference in SQ, it was small enough that it could easly be all in my head. Most likely not a real difference, just a slightly different sound between the cambridge and the DAC in my player. I haven't used the player in months, and I'm not noticing anything lacking. I hope that puts you as ease.

Do some research on the Music Streamer I mentioned earlier. The cost of $99 still leaves you within your budget for a laptop that will meet your needs.

 

[oppman99]

Almost forgot, definately follow Nemo's advice about using flac. If you asked about even a tiny difference in SQ between the external DAC and a player, you won't be happy with mp3.

 

[skers_54]

Can a dedicated quality soundcard be installed in the laptop beforehand? I don't have a laptop yet, so hopefully, it could be configured to do what I want right from the beginning.

The issue with using a laptop's analog outs is that the audio decoding is done in a very noisy environment. The first laptop I had only had analog out, and I noticed an improvement in quality when I use the digital out on my current one. The analog out is better on my new one, but not quite as good as digital. I think this is a limitation of the compactness of laptops. With a PC, the sound card is usually farther away from the other components, making this much less of an issue. I personally haven't seen any mass-market laptops that allow you to upgrade the sound card (I think they are integrated in order to save space). USB DACs are pretty cheap, so it would probably cost more to try to get one that has a better card from the factory.

Most decent playback software will allow you to display album info. This will require either sitting close to the laptop or connecting it to your TV via HDMI or VGA. I'd use a VGA output for this, or make sure that the laptop you buy can output audio over a different output than HDMI. I'm pretty sure mine won't do that but I haven't really tested it as I just use HDMI for audio and video when I use my TV as the display.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Thank-you all for the info so far. It's all helpful. Then again, it may be merely an academic exercise if approval doesn't come head office, if you get my drift....

 

[AVRat]

It probably won't help you, but Vann's is selling the Escient MX-111 for $900. Just pulled the trigger!

 

[taso1000]

What about something like a dvd player with a usb input and optical output? My Oppo DV-980H has both and plays SACD's. SACD is why I bought it, usb was a nice surprise. My Denon receiver has usb inputs too. You can get a Samsung DVD1080P9 for just 65 bucks with usb but it's digital output is coaxial, not optical. In theory they're the same but I like the optical. It physically disconnects the electrical signal path and you can see it working lol. I only looked for a couple minutes, but I'm sure there are other dvd players. You can rip all your music with EAC, Exact Audio Copy, it will even help you tag them, as wav's and store them on an external usb hard drive. I don't know about the album art and ripping will be a lot of work. Have all your computers ripping and you'll be done before you know it. You can find terabyte external hard drives for $100 or less on sale. Make sure they are name brand and have their own power supply as usb alone can't reliably power them. I've had many corrupted partitions because of lack of sufficient power. You can even get a second external as a backup of the first, so you won't have to re-rip everything if there's a problem or failure, and use it in the other room too. So for under $200, or $400 for two complete setups, you can get the job done. I personally have a file server for all my media and a htpc for audio and HD video all on a gigabit network, but that is out of your $500 budget. A project for the future perhaps.

 

[GO-NAD!]

It probably won't help you, but Vann's is selling the Escient MX-111 for $900. Just pulled the trigger!

I take it you gave up the idea of getting a mega-changer? After the info I've received in the last couple of days, I think you made the right choice. If I were in your position, I'd probably do the same as you. But, since I already have these changers, it's not quite so cut and dried. I'm going to have to crunch all the numbers and get my justification ducks in a row before seeking approval. There was a time when I used to just "do things" before informing my wife, as my logic was "it's easier to ask for forgiveness, than to obtain approval". But, I don't do that anymore, because it just ain't the right thing to do.

I'm wondering if I'd get very much for my changers, as there are better alternatives available now. It may make the total cost unjustifiable. On the other hand, if a screw driver "just happened" to get "accidentally" shoved into the mechanism of each changer...

 

[GO-NAD!]

Well, I guess it was an academic exercise. She's pretty resistant to the idea. I'm sure if I conducted an extensive lobbying campaign, I'd be able to wear her down. But, I have other ideas in mind as well - like building an in-wall sub and a CX 2310 (or even a DCX 2496) for the stereo and a 50" - 52" plasma/LCD + BD player for the HT. These all have a higher priority right now. I'll have to get my priorities listed and go from there. Oh well, I've got some good info for future consideration.

Thanks to all for your help! It wasn't wasted I can assure you. I'm a bit more edumacated than I was before!

 

[ParkerAudio]

buy a netbook, Asus makes a good one, around $300, 160GB HDD plus a SD card slot, USB ports, plenty of storage, plus stream radio internet, rhapsody, whatever, then buy an adapter like this one to get optical out.


http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Advantage-Micro-Sound-Card/dp/B0002ICGDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252941842&sr=8-1