Articles: Reviews

Touch Screen Music Server Option

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:50:00 +0000

I have been researching touch screen options for Macs in an effort to assemble a music server that competes with a Sooloos type of system for a fraction of the price. I found this company called Troll Touch tat offers a few different touch screen options. You can get a MacBook or iMac touch screen mac. Troll Touch also offers Cinema Displays modified into touch screen monitors. For a music server I can see great uses for each of these three options. One very appealing option to me is getting the Cinema Display only and connecting it to whatever Mac I want. I would also use a VESA mount on the display to mount it on a moveable arm connected to the wall behind my equipment rack. I can see it now, pulling the monitor forward to navigate my library and pushing it back when done. This all sounds very appealing to me. However, I have one concern. How good will the iTunes or Front Row navigation be using the touch screen? I am guessing it will be the same as using a mouse which is kind of disappointing. If I could scroll through the cover flow album view similar to using an iPod Touch I would click "Add To Cart" instantly. Read more for a video from Troll Touch.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

More at the http://www.trolltouch.com">Troll Touch site.

Audioengine 2 Speakers

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:55:00 +0000

Over the last few weeks I've been dropping subtle hints about an upcoming magazine column I'd be writing. Today is the launch of my new column in Tone Audio Magazine called The Computer Audiophile. I'll be writing regular columns for Tone Audio about music servers, computer based playback, software, high quality downloads etc... Without further ado here is a snippet from my first product review for Tone Audio.

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]There's nothing like coming home to find a new pair of speakers waiting at your front door. That is unless the temperature is 11 degrees below zero and the speakers have been sitting there for a couple hours! But once unthawed, I was able to get down to listening to these little jewels.

One third the size of the Audio Engine 5’s the model 2’s are definitely made for being right on your computer desk and fit exceptionally well on both sies of your your laptop (this is how they were displayed at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest when introduced) ... Weighing in at only 3.55 pounds each, they feature an internal 15-watt amplifier. It’s interesting to note that these speakers do not feature a Class-D or T amplifier; it is a real Class AB solid-state amplifier! Cost is $199 per pair...

... Connecting to the AE 2’s via the standard RCA inputs may be a little more familiar to the audiophiles in the audience and offers some additional customization. If your soundcard has RCA outputs this is a no-brainer. Unable to resist the audiophile urge to tweak, I grabbed my pair of Kimber Select (KS1011) RCA cables and connected the AE 2’s to my Benchmark DAC1 USB, which allowed me to use the volume control on the DAC1 instead of the one behind the speaker. Much more convenient!

To read the rest of the article go to the http://www.tonepublications.com">Tone Audio website and download your free copy of the magazine today.

http://www.tonepublications.com">click for Tone Audio website

Music Storage From Simple to Grand

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:53:00 +0000

The future of high end audio is on disk, not disc. Audiophiles who have traditionally been allergic to anything related to a computer are going to need disk space. Right now this means spinning hard drives that will eventually fail. In the not to distant future Audiophiles will be able to replace these traditional disks with Solid State Drives. These SSDs have a maximum number of read/write cycles that is very high, but eventually wear out as well. Since SSDs are not available in the high capacity that audiophiles need this article focuses on traditional disks.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

The Basics

So, you've got a few thousand CDs and you want to store them on your music server. You also download high resolution audio from numerous Internet sites like Linn Records, MusicGiants, and iTrax. You need a disk solution that is easy, within your budget, and will last for awhile. Nobody wants to fiddle with disk configuration or call The Geek Squad to upgrade their hard drives, when they could be listening to the latest Britney Spears album Blackout or Bolero from Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra, http://www.referencerecordings.com/minnesota.asp#rr92">Reference Recordings (RR-92). Honestly, I have both and listen to both. I’m a fan of music and entertainment. One is music and entertainment while the other is more entertainment than music. Whether you use a canned music server like the McIntosh MS750 or a custom music server like a Mac Mini you need disk. The Mac Mini needs disk to get up and running whereas the McIntosh MS750 needs disk to backup the internal drive that comes standard with the unit. Yes, I mentioned backing up. I sense another allergic reaction from audiophiles worldwide. To be honest, you don’t have to back up anything. It all comes down to how much time and money you have to purchase music again, or to get a “ripping” service to reload your music. If you don’t mind loading a few thousand CDs and losing some irretrievable downloaded music, then don’t backup anything. I can see the out of context quote right now.

“To be honest, you don’t have to back up anything.”

Computer Audiophile, 01/2008

Size

How large of drive you should get is best answered by you. Remember to consider the format factor. A 750 GB drive will not get you 750 GB of usable space. Roughly 10% of that will be lost to formatting and you'll want to leave another 10% as free space on the drive. You can try using formulas to determine how many songs at what bit rate / sample rate you can fit on your drive. I recommend copying a fewCDs at your desired rate to get get an average size. This way there are no external variables to consider. Right now 750 GB drives are the best deal on the Internet. Wow is this article going to be dated soon :-)

Simple

The simplest disk solutions don't involve backing up your music. If you have a canned music server with one internal drive then let it rip. Once your music has been copied to the drive you're done. Done working, but not done worrying. It is similar for custom computer based solutions. If you want the simplest disk solution just use a single drive, internal or external. Point your library to the drive and off you go. External drives are all pretty good now. usingUSB 2.0, FireWire 400 or 800, or eSata I or II will be perfect for your music library. If you'll be copying many GBs of data you may want to go with a drive toward the end of my previous sentence. eSata II seems to be the fastest one as of 01/2008. I call this simple solution the uninsured audiophile's method. You may save a little money and time up front, but chances are something will happen in the long run. Those of you without insurance on anything else, go right ahead and jump in to this simple solution with both feet.

Simple+

The simple+ (plus) solution is an add-on to the previous solution. For canned music servers that work like the MS750, you'll need to connect an external hard drive to the unit. Then follow the on-screen instructions to backup your music to the drive. This is a manual process that you'll need to do whenever you see fit. Pretty simple, but very prone to the lazy or procrastination factor. Custom systems can also use a manual method that is pretty simple. If your music doesn't take up much space, you can copy it to another hard drive manually when you get the itch. This can even be an internal hard drive if your main library is on an external drive or viceversa. If you want to get into the Simple++ category you can automate this music copy with something like Mac OS X Automator (see previous Computer Audiophile article). You can even skimp by copying only your online purchases for which you have no physical disc backup. iTunes makes that very easy through the purchased musicplaylist . A minor off-shoot of this is another method the MS750 is capable of using. If you have a network the 750 will be accessible over that network allowing you to manually copy music from it.

Simple / Grand

Half way between simple and grand entails using a couple external or internal hard drives for your library on a custom server. To the best of my knowledge this method is not possible on any canned music server. Don't even think about using RAID 0. You would only increase your chances of losing data and would gain nothing because you won't need the increased speed. You can set the drives up to use RAID 1, commonly known as disk mirroring. This is a pretty good solution. It is a little harder to setup at first, but saves a lot of time when a drive fails. If setup correctly, you'll be able to remove the failed drive and replace it without missing a beat. The drive should then sync back up with the good drive and you'll be back to normal. The downside of RAID 1 is half of your disk is unusable. If you don't mind purchasing a couple 750 GB drives, using only half of the space, and setting up disk mirroring, you'll be pretty happy with this solution. I'm sure some readers are yelling at the screen because I'm not recommending a simple one unit RAID 1 array. Well, that is another option, but it's not without a downside. Using an external device, from a manufacturer such as LaCie , that contains two disks in one unit is even easier than two separate devices and would probably work perfect. You must keep in mind that these units use an internal RAID controller that can fail. If this happens and you can't get an exact replacement you will probably lose all your music. There is usually nothing hard to setup with these units other than selecting if you want to mirror the two disks or not. This leads into the next category Grand -.

Grand -

The Grand- (minus) category is pretty expensive and can be more difficult to setup for a novice. In the long run this solution is a really good way to store your music. Devices in this category areNAS or direct attached storage. One difference between this category and the previous is this category will use RAID 5. This allows you to use much more of your purchased disk space. You'll need at least three drives to setup a RAID 5 solution. With three disks you lose the equivalent of one disk to store parity data. When a single disk fails you can replace it with another and the two good disks will rebuild the new disk. ANAS device is attached to your network and accessible via wireless, or wired ethernet, by your music server. This is a great solution when using a Mac Mini in your audio rack. Leave the disk in another room and hide the mini behind your DAC. The Apple Airport Extreme is very good at turningUSB RAID 5 arrays into NAS disk because of the built-in USB connection. The Airport Extreme does not limit you to 16 bit / 44.1 KHz music like the Airport Express does. This is because the Extreme is the same as a local hard drive as far as iTunes and your DAC are concerned. The Express actually receives music sent from iTunes which flows through it. The Extreme is "in front" of iTunes whereas the Express is in "back" of iTunes. Vastly different approaches. A popular device in this category is theNetgear ReadyNAS which is pretty expensive. Buffalo Technologies has some reasonably priced NAS solutions as well as a thousand other "off-brand" manufacturers. Many use the same internal parts so "off-brand" may not mean much. As with the previously mentioned LaCie type RAID 1 solutions, RAID 5 solutions are susceptible to RAID controller failure. I'm not suggesting this happens a lot, but it is something to keep in mind when selecting a music storage solution. The setup of these devices and performance of them ranges from difficult & slow to easy & fast. They are all over the board. Do your research if you don't like surprises. It is also possible to use one of these devices with a music server such as the MS750. Setup correctly the McIntosh will see the device directly connected as one large drive. Something to consider is you're going that route.

Note: The HP MediaSmart servers could go into this category. I don't recommend them for several reasons one of which is a data loss problem that has plagued the device. Another large issue I have with these servers is they use Windows Home Server for an operating system. This is way more than needed for a music server and way more work than you may think. I have nothing against Windows, but for this job it is not the right product.

Grand

Now that we've discussed simple, lets get to grand. This category has the biggest price disparity of them all. The Drobo is only $500 and storage for the Sooloos system is several thousand dollars. Since this is the grand music storage category these devices should do everything including know what you want to hear next. Maybe that is a stretch, but they come very close to doing everything an audiophile needs. Let's start with the relatively inexpensive Drobo from Data Robotics. I've been recommending this device for a while now because it is simple to use and it offers excellent music storage. The Drobo connects via USB and can be be upgraded as your music collection grows without any reconfiguration or hassle. This cannot be said for most other options. If you start with two 750 GB drives and run out of space, you can add a single 1 TB drive or an 80 GB drive or whatever you want. The Drobo will maximize this new disk, wasting as little space as possible. If this was a true RAID array you would want all the drives to be exactly the same or there would be some issues. The Drobo does this by using its own automated storage management. Don't know anything about music storage? That's OK becasue with the Drobo you don't have to. Just buy the thing and throw some disk drives into it and plug it in. To make this a NAS drive you can attach it to an Airport Extreme or any other router like device that accepts USB disks. Another option is to add the new DroboShare product from Data Robotics that is made specifically to turn the Drobo into a NAS device. The Drobo is so easy any audiophile can use it and spend more time listening to Billy Ray Cyrus or Miley Cyrus. I don't actually own either one but if you do, hey that's cool around here. On the expensive end of the grand music storage category is the Sooloos. What I refer to as the Bentley of music servers. This system uses a RAID array similar to some of the other devices mentioned previously. What makes the Sooloos grand is the lack of configuration, ease of installation, great looks, and simplicity when a disk fails. When a disk wears out you send the single disk component back to Sooloos. They send you the unit back with a new disk, you connect it like a regular component and your done. There are no decisions to make with the Sooloos. You can't buy it unless you purchase fault tolerant disk stores as they call them. Once you get the Sooloos home you only have to think about music and sound quality. What format to store your albums in and if you should use an external DAC. If you have the cash, grand is the way to go.

Stratospheric Grand

This is one category I wont spend much time on. I had to it include for all the nuts out there who have to have the absolute best. If you want the ultimate never-to-be-topped disk solution here you go. It consists of a one EMC Symmetrix DMX 4 with 1 Petabyte of storage and 256 GB of memory all setup in any RAID configuration you can think of RAID0, RAID1, RAID3, RAID4, RAID5, RAID 5+1, RAID 10 etc... Wait we're not done yet. For the better protection you need identical Symmetrix setups. seriously I'm not joking. Wait we're not done yet. The ultimate audiophile music storage solution wouldn't be complete unless the second Symmetrix was placed off-site and the data was replicated synchronously using the gold standard in data replication EMC's SRDF. I could go on and on about what else an audiophile could do with this, but I'll cut it short. I have designed and configured this setup before for a global IT network and I know it may be a little complicated for the ultimate audiophile. Plus it would set the ultimate audiophile back at least $5,000,000. This makes some of the systems at CES look pretty cheap. I'll stick with something in the grand category.

Conclusion

There you have it, music storage from simple to grand. This is by no means a definitive storage document. There are hundreds of off-shoots you could configure based on these suggestion or something entirely different. I skipped much of the technical detail, but if you want to know more or have any questions or ideas of your own please contact me through the Contact Us form. I'll be happy to discuss it.

Stereophile: 2008 Year of the Music Server

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

According to our friends over at Stereophile, 2008 is the year of the music server. Chances are if you're reading Computer Audiophile right now you already know this. But, if you're totally new to the music server world don't shy away just because others are already on the bandwagon. Stereophile's article provides a cursory look at some newer music servers displayed at CES 2008. Once you have read that article I suggest reading the Computer Audiophile series http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/98">Music Servers: Canned or Custom for a more detailed look at the current options. Read more for a snippet from the Stereophile article and a link to the complete story.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

from Stereophile.com

"Throughout 2006 and much of 2007, we got the feeling at Stereophile that most audiophiles were scoffing at the idea of a music server in their system.

But sometime last year, perceptions changed. Here we are at the 2008 CES and music servers and related products are popping all over the Venetian and at THE Show.

And then there were the surprising online poll results this week.

We asked in our Vote this past week if you are ready for an audiophile music server, and the response and number of comments have been overwhelming. A whopping 32% of you already have a server of some kind set up, and 44% are ready to jump in. We received more votes in this poll than any other in 2007!"

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2008/011308wrap">Link to complete article

Music Servers: Canned or Custom (Part I)

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:23:00 +0000

This is the first in a series of articles about hi-end music servers. The convenience of music servers is beyond question. Look at the success of the "game-changing" iPod. A portable music server that weighs a few ounces and has the masses purchasing music from the convenience of their home, office, dorm etc... For many iPod users and music listeners in general convenience is all that matters. If the product sounds good it is just a bonus for those who even notice. For decades most audiophiles have resisted convenience in favor of sound quality. For example, walking over to the turntable to move the needle and change the song has been the method of choice for many audiophiles. Enter the music server. A gigantic no-no in the hi-end audio world for many years. Fortunately audiophiles no longer have to make the choice between quality and convenience. Now they can have their cake and eat it too with a hi-end music server.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

This series of articles discusses two categories of hi-end music servers, canned and custom. Canned systems, often called turnkey solutions, are really single purpose computers in disguise. They can often be placed in a rack with existing components and blend right in. As long as the user can put discs in the drawer and follow on-screen instructions they are all set. Many of these canned systems use the same interconnects as CD players. Some manufacturers will even load music on to the music server before it is delivered. Canned units are by far the easiest way to integrate a music server into a hi-end system, but they can have limited expansion options. Custom systems require a little bit of computer knowledge to use, but offer almost unlimited flexibility and growth potential at a cheaper price. Most of the custom systems look like standard computers with a connection to a hi-end audio system. Those that want better aesthetics have the option to use a component-like case that blends in with existing audio components or they can use a nice looking Mac Mini. Here is where some of the flexibility comes in to play. A major point of contention for audiophiles is the spouse acceptance factor. With a custom system you can have your music server out of sight in another location. Do you have some room in the basement or a closet? Put your music server there and use a wireless device to transport the music to your main system. The main drawbacks many audiophiles have with a custom system are that they have to understand how their music server works to use it and they have to spend time "administering" the server. As opposed to a canned system where everything has been thought of and preprogrammed into the unit or the option has been disabled by the manufacturer to avoid confusion or user upgrades.

Will you turn your computer into a hi-end music server, or will you purchase, plug, and play one of the canned music servers? This series of articles will discuss these options and may help you decide which audiophile music server is right for you.

Links:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/104">Music Servers: Canned or Custom (Part II)

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/109">Music Servers: Canned or Custom (Part III)