Music Storage

[musicismypassion]

Hello all. I have probably close to 400 cd's and would like to be able to store my collection digitally some kind of way. Is it worth it to get a digital music server or should I just get an ipod? I don't have much music on my computer right now, most of it is on cd. So would it be easier just to store them on my computer hard drive and transfer to an ipod or would a server be easier or faster? I'm confused about the differences between the two(other than obviously you can travel with your ipod). But as for home use, which is the better option? I must admit that being able to have all of my music in my car is appealing as well. But other than portability what are the differences? More hard drive space? Price? Please advise as to what you think.

[basite]

depends on it, ipod is a really bad idea, the sound quality of the headphone output is terrible compared to a pc or musicserver, second, do you really want to hook your pc up to your amp and everytime when you want to play a song wait for that slow os to boot up?? it is handy, ofcourse, since there is alot of support for music on your pc, but i'd go for a musicserver.

[musicismypassion]

I forgot to mention that at home I would be using this with my home theater system which I don't have yet(still working on it). So if I went with an ipod I wouldn't be using the headphones unless traveling. So wouldn't the sound be pretty good using quality speakers? I am considering the HK AVR 435 which has capability to connect to an ipod and NHT speakers. I do like the fact that I could take my collection to my car as well with the ipod. How expensive are music servers and what is a good site I can get one? Price may be the determining factor. I believe the ipod with the most memory is about $350 at CC right now. Around $400 is really all I want to spend. Would a music server cost more than this?

[GMichael]

Have you thought of something like these? http://www.yamaha.com/yec/separate/c...l?CTID=5002200

I have the 1300 and love it. J&R had an open box sale and I picked it up for less than half price. Still new, full warranty.

[musicismypassion]

Hmm. Interesting but more expensive than I thought. Maybe ipod is the best solution for me unless I can find a music server less expensive. Any more suggestions?

[basite]

sorry, (my english isn't perfect yet), when i say the ipod headphone output, i mean the minijack itselves.

anyways, if you do change your mind and choose for a music server (i know, they are very expensive). the yamaha is a very good one btw. if you win the lottery tomorrow, try this
http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/mcprod/s...&product=MS300

[noddin0ff]

A server is just a hard drive that multiple computers could access. A computers HD can also act as a server when networked.

The best option is to put your music on a hard drive. The reasons: 1) Odds are the hard drive will last longer than and iPod 2) I don't think you can take music off the iPod. 3) you have to put you music on the hard drive anyway in order to get it on the iPod.4) You'll need about 200GB to store 400+ CD's lossless compression, far more than an iPod holds. 5) You'll have far more flexibility with file formats and digital connectivity with your files on a computer associated hard drive. 6) Believe me, after your rip 400+ CD's you don't want to have to do it again. Do it right the first time, do it lossless. I'm almost done ripping my 600+ collection a second time. 1200+ rips is mindnumbingly tedious...

You can rip in a lossless format to a HD, and then load compressed versions onto the iPod. The very best option is to get 2 HD's and use one as a backup. Because there is a 100% failure rate for HD's, you just don't know when. The hard drive(s) can be internal OR external (for portability and flexibility).

[musicismypassion]

Noddinoff, thanks for your response. Which process is easier and less time consuming I guess is the question. I want the easiest way to be able to store my music collection and then be able to listen to it whenever I want through my home theater receiver and speakers. I realize that I would have to store it on my computer's hard drive before transferring to the ipod if I decided to go that route. But would the music server be less tedious and offer more memory like the 200gb you mentioned? Just trying to figure out the easiest and most practical way to do this. And I do realize for the ipod route I would need to have an ipod ready receiver.

[noddin0ff]

When I say 'server' I'm thinking in the computer sense (a hard drive that is networked) as opposed to some of the new HT Servers you can now buy that are dedicated media servers. Prices on dedicated music/media servers are very high compared to what you would pay if you used a home computer and some hard drives.

In my opinion, if you have a home computer, use it as a media center and just add hard drives for storage. Hard drives can be transferred to a new computer later, they can be duplicated, and they are the cheapest per Gigabyte. Currently an internal 250GB HD is just under $100. Rip once to a HD in a common, well-supported lossless format like FLAC, Apple Lossless, or WMA lossless and then you will always be able to convert to any other format later (like lower resolution, smaller files for portable players). I'm Mac based and use iTunes and Apple Lossless.

You can connect you computer to your A/V receiver mulitple ways (none of which require an iPod).

You can hook it up directly using analog connections from a good soundcard.
You can use the USB out to stream a digital signal to an external DAC and then analog to the receiver
You can run a physical connection from a digital out to a digital in
You can stream wirelessly to a device like Squeezebox (www.slimdevices.com) or Apples Airport Express that then sends either and analog or digital signal to the receiver....

I haven't implemented my HD based system yet but here's my lowest cost simplest plan. I already have an old laptop (circa 2000) with a wireless card in it and a wireless network at home. I'm ripping all my CD's to an external firewire 250GB harddrive (I should've got a bigger one because it looks like I'll fill it completely before I get the last CD's in). Drive just plugs into laptop and sits there. When I'm done I'll buy another drive (waiting for costs to drop again) and copy the whole thing over so I have a complete back up, backup sits in a closet. Backup drive contains 600+ CD's times $12+ per CD = more than $7000 in disks + value of the time (>100 hours to rip). Cost of backup is well worth it. Cost of drive $100, cost of firewire enclosure for drive ~$60.

Since I'm wireless already, I'll probably get Apple's Airport Express (http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/) for $129. It has both analog (won't use) or digital output. The digital output will be fed to my receivers digital in. Or BETTER, to an external DAC.

For a little more money I would substitute the Squeezebox for AE and DAC. Squeezebox is compatible with several music applications like iTunes and formats like FLAC, etc. The AE works with iTunes and formats supported by iTunes.

Easier? Ripping is ripping. Put a CD in a press Go. If you have an iPod, you're already using iTunes which is a solid and friendly interface for all of the above. Set the preferences to use error correction when importing and use Lossless encoding.

I'd personally skip the iPod ready receiver. Why make your whole system dependent on a little box that will wear out in a few years and can't hold your whole library...use the iPod for portable listening.