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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 3:53 AM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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My favourite joke~caption is a scene of two down-and-outs lying by the road-side, the one saying:
I had a family, a good job, owned my own home, then one day, I discovered that I could hear differences among audio components ...
Each to their own ... I've spent many years promoting better hi-fi simply because the improvements are incredible. But I've matured: I accept that people have different priorities. If your present system works for you then I think that's wonderful. For those who like vinyl, tape, CD, downloads ... fine. I've opted to go the Streaming route but use CDs as my source (ripped to the PC~NAS). It's far from the cheapest option but it's even further from the dearest set-up. And every so often I think it's time for an upgrade so I spend weeks or months mulling over whether to spend X on changing one component or another.
I visited a good long-time friend approx. 15 months ago, a guy who earns at least 10 x as much as me ... he lives in a fabulous house in a rich part of the country, etc. When he put a CD on to play I knew is wasn't likely to be to my taste but I tried to guess the vocalist's name ... I opted for Bryan Ferry only to be laughed at ... no, it was Alison Moyet! He's now disposed of his hi-fi (!) system and plays CDs through his DVD player (with a Sound Bar) saying that most of his listening is via his iPod Classic, presumably using iTunes.
Whatever works for you ...
Mitch
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iTunes?? Bah....
Only physical formats for me.
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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 8:26 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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Hey, FB, the 90s called....they want you back! 
Seriously, though, I can see myself in you some 5-6 years ago. Going 'cyber' with my music collection seemed absolutely out of the question. Only CD's untill I die!
Then I suddenly decided to transfer all my CD's to iTunes one day. Took me about two weeks. I didn't expect that to change anything -- just to back up my collection, in a way. Well, as it turned out, I hardly ever played a CD after that. The convenience of having everything a few clicks away (as I'm mostly by the computer during listening anyway) did indeed change my habits.
These days, I don't even have a CD player. I have a BluRay player that can play my CD's, of course, but I need the television set to be on, and that's a bit annoying. Or I could play it in my laptop's CD drive, but why would I do that when it's already in iTunes?
In short -- just because you're totally dismissive now doesn't mean this won't change down the road. It happened to me; an ex-hardcore 'physical format' guy.
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Hey, FB, the 90s called....they want you back!
Seriously, though, I can see myself in you some 5-6 years ago. Going 'cyber' with my music collection seemed absolutely out of the question. Only CD's untill I die!
Then I suddenly decided to transfer all my CD's to iTunes one day. Took me about two weeks. I didn't expect that to change anything -- just to back up my collection, in a way. Well, as it turned out, I hardly ever played a CD after that. The convenience of having everything a few clicks away (as I'm mostly by the computer during listening anyway) did indeed change my habits.
These days, I don't even have a CD player. I have a BluRay player that can play my CD's, of course, but I need the television set to be on, and that's a bit annoying. Or I could play it in my laptop's CD drive, but why would I do that when it's already in iTunes?
In short -- just because you're totally dismissive now doesn't mean this won't change down the road. It happened to me; an ex-hardcore 'physical format' guy.
So the 90s called? I would take an offer from the 80s, though! :-D
I'm only on my PC when I have something to do there. After I'm finished, I switch it off, and put on a CD or LP. There are days when I don't have the PC on at all - highly recommended to everyone! I don't listen much to music online and I never have it on in the background while surfing.
The future? Of course I don't know what will happen with my listening habits, I'm kind of relaxed about that, to be honest. :-D
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^ Nice.
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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 1:32 PM
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By: |
Mr Hand
(Member)
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I have ripped a large number of my CDs onto my computer and listen to them on computer speakers while I'm working. But my main audio system is in my living room--away from my computer. I know I can stream digital files to my living room wirelessly, but it's a hassle. There is one solution I'm considering: the Sony HAPZ1-ES music player system.
http://store.sony.com/hi-res-music-player-with-1tb-hdd-zid27-HAPZ1ES/cat-27-catid-All-Res-Audio
This beast has a built-in 1TB hard drive and can accept and play virtually all types of digital music files. And if 1TB isn't enough, you can daisy chain additional external hard disks. Apparently the unit has the ability to up-convert lossy files and make them sound better. Some of the reviews in the audiophile press have been glowing. The price is steep but, like most tech items, the expense will drop as it becomes more mainstream.
To me this might be the happy medium between being tied to the computer and having access to music in a more traditional listening environment. Any comments?
This is way too expensive for me. A few years ago, I bought this multimedia system for €80 (and added a HDD) : http://www.homecine-compare.com/lecteur-HYUMBOXTP01-HYUNDAI-MBox-TP01-sans-DD.htm It can play nearly all video, music and pictures file formats. I chose it because of the small LCD screen, which allows me to select and play music without switching the TV on.
At first glance, I can't see what it can't do when compared with this expensive Sony system. This model is now discontinued and I think it was only available in select European countries at the time, but I mention it just to show how much you can get for your money.
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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 3:49 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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I have ripped a large number of my CDs onto my computer and listen to them on computer speakers while I'm working. But my main audio system is in my living room--away from my computer. I know I can stream digital files to my living room wirelessly, but it's a hassle. There is one solution I'm considering: the Sony HAPZ1-ES music player system.
http://store.sony.com/hi-res-music-player-with-1tb-hdd-zid27-HAPZ1ES/cat-27-catid-All-Res-Audio
This beast has a built-in 1TB hard drive and can accept and play virtually all types of digital music files. And if 1TB isn't enough, you can daisy chain additional external hard disks. Apparently the unit has the ability to up-convert lossy files and make them sound better. Some of the reviews in the audiophile press have been glowing. The price is steep but, like most tech items, the expense will drop as it becomes more mainstream.
To me this might be the happy medium between being tied to the computer and having access to music in a more traditional listening environment. Any comments?
I'm a bit confused at what you're seeking to achieve: presumably this piece of kit will reside in your living room, attached to your hi-fi system.
It is designed for streaming, presumably, as it has an ethernet wi-fi connection - or is that merely for on-line access to control the music and provide a web-based database (e.g, to identify music on the HDD)?
How do you transfer music onto the HDD? Site it next to your PC to transfer your existing rips and then move the kit to your living room? If so, what about adding music?
I've looked at a few music streamers et al. but admit to not having seen this Sony model.
One thing I have read comments on, though, of which you should consider. HDD kit are basically computers and, as such, have moving parts. We accept PC noise sitting and working ... it may be intrusive if placed in the living room. Even during quiet passages of music the drive may be noticeable. A modification to this type of player is the SSD version (I have no idea whether Sony have introduced this yet) - no moving parts - but then you need connection - or risk wireless - to the music storage on a PC/NAS ... i.e. back to square one.
I'd really think hard (I did!) about whether you want an HDD piece of kit ... or whether you can achieve the same result through other means.
Mitch
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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 5:24 PM
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By: |
eriknelson
(Member)
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I have ripped a large number of my CDs onto my computer and listen to them on computer speakers while I'm working. But my main audio system is in my living room--away from my computer. I know I can stream digital files to my living room wirelessly, but it's a hassle. There is one solution I'm considering: the Sony HAPZ1-ES music player system.
http://store.sony.com/hi-res-music-player-with-1tb-hdd-zid27-HAPZ1ES/cat-27-catid-All-Res-Audio
This beast has a built-in 1TB hard drive and can accept and play virtually all types of digital music files. And if 1TB isn't enough, you can daisy chain additional external hard disks. Apparently the unit has the ability to up-convert lossy files and make them sound better. Some of the reviews in the audiophile press have been glowing. The price is steep but, like most tech items, the expense will drop as it becomes more mainstream.
To me this might be the happy medium between being tied to the computer and having access to music in a more traditional listening environment. Any comments?
I'm a bit confused at what you're seeking to achieve: presumably this piece of kit will reside in your living room, attached to your hi-fi system.
It is designed for streaming, presumably, as it has an ethernet wi-fi connection - or is that merely for on-line access to control the music and provide a web-based database (e.g, to identify music on the HDD)?
How do you transfer music onto the HDD? Site it next to your PC to transfer your existing rips and then move the kit to your living room? If so, what about adding music?
Mitch
As I understand from the description, Sony provides a LAN cable you can use to transfer a large library of music files from a computer to the player. As you acquire more music, you can then transfer the files wirelessly to the player. The unit comes with a simple remote control, but Sony also has apps for Android and iOS devices to control it and view the tracks, artwork, etc. It's intriguing.
Soon I am going to a Sony ES dealer to learn more and to hear how it sounds. I'll let you know what I learn.
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Posted: |
Mar 28, 2014 - 6:35 PM
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By: |
samlowry
(Member)
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Does anyone find it strange that I create a new playlist for every CD I rip?
I do the same. One play list per album which resides in subfolders I created for each composer. This makes it very easy then to browse your music per artist and just see the albums of that artist.
I also have other folders for certain types of albums, like a "Song Albums" folder for all my soundtracks which are made up of songs instead of score, or a "Compilation" folder where I put in the playlists of all these film music concerts, anthologies, genre best of's, etc.
If you don't adopt such a structure, it may be fine navigating through your collection when it's small, by browsing the main window or using the search field to get to a specific album. But with a large collection like mine, playlists become important to keep a tight overview of your collection and easily get to what you want. Plus it looks really cool when you click on a little folder named say "Goldsmith, Jerry" and bam the front covers of 228 albums of him show up on your main window! This never gets old  You can enjoy a full album or jump and hop around his scores listening to a favorite track.
As others have mentioned, the ease of access to the music, having it all at a mouse's click is just extremely exciting and it makes you actually listen to your collection MORE than when all your cd's were on a wall and you had to sprain your neck reading the spines and figure out which one you were going to pull out!
Times have changed, my cd's served me very well for many years, but now they can rest and look pretty on a shelf. Today's technology takes the art of listening to music to a whole different level, a level that if you embrace it, will provide you with LOTS of satisfaction.
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