hey besides exact audio copy...what about burning

BTW-netgear is coming out with a device that turns a USB2.0 external HD into NAS with an IP address. Should be available this summerfor around $99.00.

I was looking at the Ximeta netdisk which requires a driver to use on a pc. The driver would have to be intergrated into the audiotron firmware in order for it to see it (right off the Turtle Beach webpage-forums/networking). More expensive NAS is accessed through a standard IP address. Thats why I said that you needed to spend more money in my original post. Triton makes a 120GB NAS that uses IP that retails for $399.00. Linksys makes a 120GB NAS that retails for $800.00 and the prices go through the roof from there. For $800 I can build a XPC or mini-itx PC with a big HD and stick it in a closet and just leave it on all the time. I was looking to spend as little as possible because this was just going to be an interm solution. In a year or two they will have larger/cheaper HD's and cheaper versions of the escient and request.com servers. When I can pick up a server with a built in CDRW, 400-500GB HD that supports lossless compression as well as wav/pcm in the $1500 range then I'm there.

I picked up an external USB2.0 200GB hard drive for about $125 (after rebates - hate them) and am in the process of ripping my CD's to it using Windows media player lossless compression. It uses varaible bit rate and shrinks files about 30%; not a lot but I want to get between 600-800 CD's on this drive. I looked into Network Attached Storage (NAS), but unless your willing to spend big bucks, your going to need a driver on your PC to access it. In addition, devices such as audiotron, Integra net-tunes will not be able to access it.

As far as audio quality of lossless compression goes, I did a blind listening test on my computer rig (B&W leisure monitors, B&W sub, Monarchy SM70 class a amp, M-audio revolution SB) and was able to tell the difference 23 out of 24 times. I actually prefered the WMA version because my office is a little "hot" (lots of drywall, Hardwood floors, huge 3' x 8' desk - I like to spread out). The WMA version had a slight softening of the "attack" of notes; kind of a "tube" sound (There I said it - don't burn me at the stake). It's good enough to listen to on the computer rig, and it's soooo convienient to have all those CD's just a click away.

If you want to do WiFi go with 802.11G; the range of "B" with the throughput of "A".

I have to agree that this is the future of audio and video. You will download your movies and music and store it on an HD or in RAM. All your media will sync up using wifi so it will be available in your car, on the portable, as well as throughout the house. BTW, Omnifi.com has a HD that attaches to your cars headunit, like a CD changer, and syncs with your computer using wifi. So as your car is sitting in the garage at night, it's downloading all your music. Cool! Two small problems: 20GB HD and only supports MP3 and WMA up to 320K. When they come out with the a version with at least 100GB and that supports uncompressed and WMA lossless compression I'll be the first to order one.

Edesilva,

You can use IP adressable NAS with the audiotron. The Ximeta NAS drives will not work with Audiotron. The Netgear USB NAS adapter was introduced at CES and is scheduled to start shipping in May or June. Being in the computer industry for over 25 years I've found that the biggest threat to hard drives is heat. If they are not well ventilated they will bake themselves. In all that time I've only had one drive fail in my own computers; an IBM XP series drive. Luckly I caught it before it failed and was able to clone it onto another drive. Sent it back to IBM and they replaced it under warranty. So. if your going to do an external HD make sure there's a fan in the enclosure. Sometimes the fans in external enclosures can be noisy, so you might want to look into replacing it with a good quality low noise ballbearing fan.