Hi Jim,
So you don't want to relocate your office rig, and your specs seem to rule out all of the USB-DIF converters, DACs, etc, etc. OK, I'll bite...how about one of these?
The speakers and enclosures are based upon the original designs by Koss.
http://www.tivoliaudio.com/products/internet/networks-w-stereo-speaker-walnut-gold.html |
Hi Blindjim,
Hoping things are better in your world, and relative to this thread, just wanted to alert you to the fact that the next (latest) issue of Stereophile contains a review of better quality PC sound cards.
Oh, and regarding: >> I use MC 15 & Fubar<<
I Use MC 15 also, and am wondering if you use Foobar 2K exclusively for your rips and file conversions.
Thanks, |
"Say what?"
Not too terrible in the grand scheme, but a couple of times when HDTracks download stream was slow, I'd return to find that a single-album download was stored with each song in individual folders. I combined songs into a single file folder structure, but still showed up in JRiver as 7 or 8 Herbie Hancock "River" albums, one or two songs each, never (yet) to be merged again.
I like your archive scheme, esp. its designation - just hope it wakes up sooner than each 20 yrs.
I found the dbpoweramp app to be intuitive enough to install and operate without more than a few moments in the help file. This is certainly true if not using batch modes. |
Hi BJim,
Glad that you had such good results with DbPower. It looks like almost all features are available for a one-time price of $38, including conversions, so likely will go this route.
Why convert? hmmmm... maybe if I have .wav files that I need to relocate on a different server, I would need to convertfirst in order to retain metadata. or if I download from a site that doesn't support flac, I might convert after the download. Or, maybe to rip cd's as you mentioned. No big deal, just another arrow in the quiver.
Thanks for the two album tips, just added them to my "get" list.
I had a similar experience with tag management using JRiver vs. dBPowerAmp.
Thanks for mentioning the the DSP functions that I had overlooked. Yes it looks powerful. I have some HDCD's and for me, that ripping applet in DSP alone makes it worth uploading.
Oops! The soundcard comparo is in TAS, not Stereophile! I don't subscribe, but they were handing out free advance copies at THE Show last Saturday.
The article ends up raving about the ESI Julia (esi-audio.com), as the "first computer component to forsake computer artifacts" And it is priced at only $200. Other than the M-audio (m-audio.com, $200),, all of the other sound cards reviewed are priced at $400 - $700.
Hope this helps, let me know if I can dig out more for you.
Keep on ripping!
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Oh - Two more things I have to mention - If you haven't done so, be sure to check out:
- In JRiver, run Theater View/Audio/Playing Now, and watch the software glean a slideshow of images from the internet that are related to the album, genre, artist, and composer.
All while you're listening to the audio.
- Google logo for Wed, June 8, commemorating Les Paul.
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Tim,
Thanks for posting a lead on the Musiland. It's good to see yet another bit of gear that might again disprove the notion by some that major bucks are always needed for good quality computer audio.
Although already owning a couple of great DACs, I'll likely give this one a go on another system. |
Jim,
"According to what I saw the other day on the DVD Extractor web site… a Blu Ray version is upcoming."
Were you ever able to check out DVD Extractor?
Cerrot,
"I had predicted about about 5 years ago that within 10 years, ethernet would be the standard. I do believe we will see it."
Guess you can always hope, but not likely. Instead, it will soon be USB 3.0 (& subseq.) and Thunderbolt, i.e. Light Peak.
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"I believe i"m going to buy DBPower amp"
I started a few weeks ago using dBpoweramp for all rips and conversions and like it lots. It allows ripping in dual file types to dual destinations, so you can, e.g., rip an archival copy in FLAC to a server for metadata conservation, and rip a .wav file to your playlist directory if you prefer that format for playback. It also has a reasonably good metadata/tag editor, which for many albums gets reads from several online sources and allows you to select your preferred result.
So far, JRiver seems to catalog the resulting rips cleanly and handles the tag structures w/o much fanfare. Hope that trend holds up, because I've also experienced the dreaded "15 - album" display from a single album rip or download, and not found a solution short of deleting and starting over.
Best,
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Thanks for the heads-up on HDTracks. I got Ray's Genius and it sounds mighty good at 16/44, so can only imagine what the Hi res would be like.
Two of the Lynxes are included in the TAS review. Your less costly AES 16 was cited as having the better SQ.
But since you're feeding into a Bel Canto DAC 3, I'm wondering how your PC Board > AES/EBU > DAC 3 pathway compares to using one of the now ubiquitous USB converters, such as Bel Canto USBLink, M2Tech, etc. |
