Sick and tired of music player hardware manufacturers? Vote and rant here...

[wappinghigh]

^ Again. With all due respect David, what you or anybody else *thinks* customers "might" want is irrelevant. How do you know what they want? Do customers have the choice of a 4k receiver with or without full universal music file compatibility? The answer is no. So how can you (without your bias thrown into the decision making) offer them a choice ? The answer is you can't. So how can you make these assertions?

[realhifi]

^ Again. With all due respect David, what you or anybody else *thinks* customers "might" want is irrelevant. How do you know what they want? Do customers have the choice of a 4k receiver with or without full universal music file compatibility? The answer is no. So how can you (without your bias thrown into the decision making) offer them a choice ? The answer is you can't. So how can you make these assertions?

 

Why do you assume I have any bias? You are right, I can't offer them a universal format device and man are they hopping mad about it. Not. My point was simply that MY customers (the ones I talk to, question, work with, help find something that suits them and their needs) not only don't care about the different file types being able to be played (except of course the basic Apple or Windows based ones AIFF, MP3, FLAC, etc.) they look at me like I'm from Mars when I ask them about it.

 

As far as 4k, people ARE asking me about it and are not only curious but are getting ready to make that move.

[wappinghigh]

If there were 2 exact same receivers in a shop. Same price. Side by side. Except one had full gapless music universal file capability, and the other didn't. And this was demonstrated to customers and the dufference was clearly pointed out. Which one would sell more?

[realhifi]

If there were 2 exact same receivers in a shop. Same price. Side by side. Except one had full gapless music universal file capability, and the other didn't. And this was clearly pointed out to customers. Which one would sell more?

 

Wireless?

[wappinghigh]

Well sure. Wireless. Why not?

[Audio_ELF]

If there were 2 exact same receivers in a shop. Same price. Side by side. Except one had full gapless music universal file capability, and the other didn't. And this was demonstrated to customers and the dufference was clearly pointed out. Which one would sell more?

The one that had the most stickers on the front regardless of what they meant!

[Hiro]

Yes by (a more careful reading of) the docs, it certainly does. As you say - that's progress.

 

-Paul

 

It's kind of surprising that it's a consumer electronics company like Onkyo that is blazing a trail here, and not some specialist audio manufacturer. It seems like they have some catching up to do, as far as the networked audio is concerned ...

[Paul R]

the one that had the most stickers on the front regardless of what they meant!

 

rotflmao!

[realhifi]

If there were 2 exact same receivers in a shop. Same price. Side by side. Except one had full gapless music universal file capability, and the other didn't. And this was demonstrated to customers and the dufference was clearly pointed out. Which one would sell more?

 

The one with the streaming capability.

[wappinghigh]

[wappinghigh]

The one that had the most stickers on the front regardless of what they meant!

hahahaha. Yep. And a spare one for my mouth too*

[realhifi]

hahahaha. Yep. And a spare one for my mouth too*

 

Lol. Nah...your chatter is infectious.

[Audio_ELF]

Back to the original topic... Do you have a price point you would want this "mythical" product to hit?

[wappinghigh]

Sure.

 

$500-$995 depending on quality of the analog side.

 

I mean why not ?

 

The Oppo is priced there, as are most receivers and the coming Olive One.

[Hiro]

Back to the original topic... Do you have a price point you would want this "mythical" product to hit?

 

If there weren't so many redundant PCM formats (FLAC, ALAC, WMA, WAV, AIFF, LPCM, DTS HD), all this device would need to do is support just two formats PCM and DSD.

[wappinghigh]

Flipping this whole discussion on it's head again (and I'm sorry).. but am I the only one that finds this strange..that there isn't a universal player?

 

I mean seriously how difficult would it be ?

 

I find it plainly ridiculous that nobody has picked up the ball here and designed something like this with Universality as a PRIORITY above everything else..

 

Surely the ability to play all formats gaplessly would be a huge marketing point..

 

I find this insane..

 

That nobody in the hifi world isn't onto this?

 

Why is that?

 

I still don't have a solid logical answer...

[4est]

???

It would seem that you are wrong either in your assumption: it would be cheap and easy or a huge marketing point worth the time and expense. People aren't stupid as a whole.

I still don't have a solid logical answer...

[Hiro]

???

It would seem that you are wrong either in your assumption: it would be cheap and easy or a huge marketing point worth the time and expense. People aren't stupid as a whole.

 

Do audiophile manufacturers only go after things that are cheap and easy?

 

It is certainly easier and cheaper to develop a USB DAC than a fully-featured network player, but that doesn't mean there isn't a market for such a product.

[wappinghigh]

^ Exactly.. That's the bit I don't get.. Not when products like Sonos have proved so successful..

[Audio_ELF]

^ Exactly.. That's the bit I don't get.. Not when products like Sonos have proved so successful..

To assess though (and thinking about off the shelf network solutions) ...

 

PCM formats ... a large number of streamers available

Stereo DSD ... only a couple of devices - Lumin; Marantz and Auralic along with Oppo (not gapless?) and some new AV receivers.

Multi-channel DSD ... nothing.

 

Now if you add in computer solutions then Multi-channel DSD is possible but only using 1 DAC (the Exasound) or a stack of 3/4 Mytek DACs. The easiest solution (for the end user) would be if there was an interface which would support DSD to a AV receiver from a computer. That is the big missing link (IMO).

 

Eloise

[Kal Rubinson]

To assess though (and thinking about off the shelf network solutions) ...

 

PCM formats ... a large number of streamers available

Stereo DSD ... only a couple of devices - Lumin; Marantz and Auralic along with Oppo (not gapless?) and some new AV receivers.

Multi-channel DSD ... nothing.

 

Now if you add in computer solutions then Multi-channel DSD is possible but only using 1 DAC (the Exasound) or a stack of 3/4 Mytek DACs. The easiest solution (for the end user) would be if there was an interface which would support DSD to a AV receiver from a computer. That is the big missing link (IMO).

 

Eloise

Oppo

[Audio_ELF]

Oppo

Not gapless though is it?

[wappinghigh]

^ No it's not gapless...But yes, a dedicated device (perhaps like the Oppo) is the missing link.... 5.1 Analog out would be crucial though I believe...otherwise the listener is not going to get the benefit of the dedicated hardware's DAC... nor would they be able to use it as a pre-amp direct to power amps....

[jcbenten]

Does the new Sony Z1 meet the criteria? WiFi...Ethernet...USB connect... oh wait. Only analog out? And only 1 TB? Oh well...never mind.

 

I will wait for the Aries and see what it can do.

[wappinghigh]

^ Yep.. all is hanging on the Aires right now.... but remember this is not MCH..