Music Servers - Baetis vs. Music Vault

I would second the support provided by John Mingo - a lovely guy and a class act. I purchased the Baetis Revolution II several months ago for my two channel system but due to work have only recently got around to using it. I have been ripping uncompressed FLAC files of all of my CDs using DB Poweramp on a separate PC and steadily have transferred them across to the Baetis. I am very impressed so far - having played files on JRiver through my APL HiFi DAC through both USB and SPDIF connection. The sound is excellent and whilst I have to give the edge to my APL Esoteric transport it is a mighty close thing on some CDs plus it is so much more convenient being able to access all of your CDs in the one library. I resisted the server approach for a long time - not sure why - maybe locked into the purist approach of listening to CDs individually but this has been a great experience. I am now considering HD Tracks for downloads.

Vicks7, that's very interesting. Couple of questions:
>Is there a difference between the USB and SPDIF outputs in terms of sound quality? Is one better than the other, and by how much?
>Why are you using a separate PC to rip and download into Baetis? Have you tried ripping directly with Baetis, and if so, any difference in sound quality?
>Am I correct in my understanding that the Baetis can operate as a PC/browser (with maybe iPad as head?) and can be used to find/download hi-rez track directly?

Thanks...

Wow, what a pleasant surprise to see others chiming in, in recent days.

Update... I did buy a Baetis Rev-2 and am enjoying it very much.

The sound is very good. I am very pleased.

I have not yet had a chance to get to all of the items on my punch list.

At this point, I've been ripping cd's and getting in some listening sessions.

John and his son Dan have been very responsive and helpful.

I use DBPoweramp in the Rev-2 for ripping, then playback via JRiver. I decided to rip in Wave, not FLAC.

One thing that I really like about using DBPoweramp for ripping is that it will take several passes of each cd, to ensure that it captured all of the data. And, during the process, it shows you these details and confirms when it's gotten a fully accurate rip.

Once you start using it (set up and ripping, etc.) you'll realize that this truly is a computer that has been engineered and dedicated to audio playback. Then, once you start playing back via JRiver, you forget that it really is a computer, and just enjoy the music. I'm not much of a computer guy, and I'm getting by just fine.

Other units may have a few less steps, in the ripping process. For example, in DBPoweramp, I have to click on "rip," when I insert a cd. Whereas, other servers may automatically rip the disc, upon insertion. However, I don't find this to be a major deal

I plan to get to the other features very shortly, and will report back, as I go...

Lastly, Icorem, I'm not sure about your "no dac needed" comment. That was not one of my goals. The Rev-2 feeds my DAC, via its BNC/SPDIF output.

Barrelchief, the big question: how does it compare to whatever you used before as a transport (a CDP, BDP, etc?)?

Also looking forward to responses from txlef and vicks7.

I made other front end changes at about the same time that I brought in the Rev-2. Therefore, I did not get in a lot of "critical" listening, and comparing the Rev-2 to my transport.

With that being said, I am comfortable in saying that my perception is that the sound that the Rev-2 puts out is as good, if not better than when I was using a transport.

I also will tell you that my digital front end, with all of the recent changes, has never sounded better!