Post by amatala July 20, 2008 (11 of 22)
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Claude said:
Interesting, although it is only an online poll of limited representativity.
As far as digital sources go:
- 36 percent use a computer
- 34 percent use CD players
- 11 percent use a SACD or DVD-A player
- 10 percent use a streaming server (Squeezebox, etc)
- 4 percent use iPods
- 3 percent use something else
Given how rare hi-rez downloads are, this makes a total of 84 percent who predominantly listen to music in redbook resolution.
Really glad that the world is moving in the right direction - I personally would never go back to the times I was not storing my music digitally and I would definitely not go back to the time when I dug myself into the hi-rez niche formats with their almost non-existent catalog choices...
I just hope that music vendors will understand that there is no way back and they will start selling more lossless quality music online because today it is really hard to buy albums in FLAC format - there are a few good sites which sell independent music in FLAC format and I am really happy that they exist, but we need more mainstream music! It is a pity that I often still have to buy CDs for the sole purpose of ripping to my server them and then storing them on a shelf forever...
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Post by DSD July 20, 2008 (12 of 22)
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amatala said:
Really glad that the world is moving in the right direction - I personally would never go back to the times I was not storing my music digitally and I would definitely not go back to the time when I dug myself into the hi-rez niche formats with their almost non-existent catalog choices...
I just hope that music vendors will understand that there is no way back and they will start selling more lossless quality music online because today it is really hard to buy albums in FLAC format - there are a few good sites which sell independent music in FLAC format and I am really happy that they exist, but we need more mainstream music! It is a pity that I often still have to buy CDs for the sole purpose of ripping to my server them and then storing them on a shelf forever...
I prefer the physical formats of SACD and DVD-Audio with booklets already printed up and stapled and put into super Jewel cases. Some download sights give you nothing but the music others will give you a PDF of the booklet and cover but NEVER the bottom sheet. Each page of the booklet takes an entire sheet of paper to print and you have to cut to fit and they are not neatly and professional in booklet style either, just loose pages and since my cutting tool is scissors and the edge is not always even so I have to use a finger nail file to smooth it out.
I don't use my computer (MAC Mini) to play music once I download it, I either burn it to CD-R (44.1kHz) or DVD-R (96kHz). Usually I only get the free downloads as it is too much work designing and printing my own CD top and bottom papers, I don't do a booklet just a list of titles.
No I much prefer the real thing, the real physical thing I can pull from the shelf and put in my player. The computer IS NOT an option for me for playback as I will not use a TV screen, a monitor and even a visual display. I want NO display, NO lights, when I listen to music. If I play a DVD-Audio I turn on the TV just long enough to select the 2 channel stereo program and then I turn off the TV and switch my player to Audio direct which removes the video circuits and turns off all the displays, all that is left is one little small blue on indicator light, there is a green on indicator light on my preamp and a small red indicator light on my power amp and that is all the lights. Also I prefer to play SACDs as I don't have to turn on the display and the TV, I just put it in and it automatically plays the 2 channel stereo program.
Without using a monitor or display there is no way to know where you music is on a computer. I have an iPod so I download music for it, I got the Shuffle even though it only does 320kbps max as it has no display screen and it is small enough to wear on a neckless.
I just hope the powers that be keep making recordings available in high resolution formats for people like me.
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Post by amatala July 20, 2008 (13 of 22)
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Of course that I would have never accepted a solution where I had to rely on a TV screen or computer screen for selecting the songs. Luckily there are enough audio-only music servers and streaming clients with their own incorporated LCD display which can be used for selecting the songs and then turned off or dimmed as per every one's own preferences.
As for the booklet which comes with the discs, I only read it for a couple of minutes after buying the CD and never touch it again. Moreover I mostly listen to music in the evening with the lights dimmed so I could not read the booklet even if I wanted to... So as far as I am concerned, no big loss - all these booklets can go away, at least this will save a few trees...
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Post by DSD July 20, 2008 (14 of 22)
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amatala said:
Of course that I would have never accepted a solution where I had to rely on a TV screen or computer screen for selecting the songs. Luckily there are enough audio-only music servers and streaming clients with their own incorporated LCD display which can be used for selecting the songs and then turned off or dimmed as per every one's own preferences.
As for the booklet which comes with the discs, I only read it for a couple of minutes after buying the CD and never touch it again. Moreover I mostly listen to music in the evening with the lights dimmed so I could not read the booklet even if I wanted to... So as far as I am concerned, no big loss - all these booklets can go away, at least this will save a few trees...
Now that does interest me, a music server which uses a display to select what I want to listen to and then turn off the display to listen to music. Do you know which music servers do this?
I guess it's too much as ask that someday they do DSD?
I also only read booklets when I first get a new recording and if it's a good recording I usually end up putting it down and turning off the lights. They usually end being bathroom reading material. I have referred back to a booklet but never read one more than once.
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DSD said:
Now that does interest me, a music server which uses a display to select what I want to listen to and then turn off the display to listen to music. Do you know which music servers do this?
I guess it's too much as ask that someday they do DSD?
Sony Vaio laptops!?
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Post by amatala July 21, 2008 (16 of 22)
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DSD said:
Now that does interest me, a music server which uses a display to select what I want to listen to and then turn off the display to listen to music. Do you know which music servers do this?
If you are looking for a server with a hard-disk, the best ones are the Hifidelio and the Olive products:
http://www.hifidelio.com/
http://www.olive.us/
No TV or external display needed, and also very important: no internal fan! They simply are dead silent.
If you want to use a diskless client and stream your music from a NAS (which can be stored anywhere in the house), then the best options are the products from Sonos and Slimdevices (Logitech) with their lovely color screen remote:
http://www.sonos.com/
http://www.slimdevices.com/
Needless to say that all these devices are perfect transports - when connected to good external DACs they outperform CD players costing many thousands of $$.
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FunkyMonkey said:
Sony Vaio laptops!?
Their (high-end) desktops rather. Or any PC that you install this software on, of course.
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Post by DSD July 21, 2008 (18 of 22)
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Thanks for the links amatala they were very informative.
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Has anybody tried the Wadia 170i Transport yet? IMO, it is a killer product as it can extract the digital signal directly from iPOD and output the digital stream to a S/PDIF output.
Rip your CD into Apple Loseless format, sync your music library to the iPod, dock the iPod to the Wadi 170i Transport, connect it to any DAC of your choice and get RBCD quality sound. You have an audio server with the best software (iTunes) in the world to manage your music library... The best part is that it is all solid state (except iPod classic) so no moving parts, no fan, no noise....
http://www.wadia.com/products/170i/170iTransport_home.htm
Of course, the perfect system won't exist until we can extract the SACD layer and build a hi-rez music library but....
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DSD said:
Thanks for the links amatala they were very informative.
Yep. I second that. Thanks.
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