Are music servers the future?

"Also, what is available for streaming, is unlikely to satisfy the tastes of many listeners. "

Do you have any numbers to support that?

High res streaming from internet sources these days still is not even CD quality technically, but the actual results can be surprisingly good, at least for the kinds of music most people listen to, maybe even more.

Plus there are many excellent solutions for streaming over a home network these days.

Hard core audiophiles are a fringe group that are the hardest to please. But frankly, if music streaming is done right, be the source on the local network or even external via internet, the results are very good, better possible than what 99% of teh people out there might have hard to-date otherwise.

It's definitely to the point where any serious lover of music and good sound should consider giving it a try. Plus, it will only continue to get better over time.

No, unless iTunes gets into the business.

You could be just as well talking about:
Stereo recording
Solid state amps
Quadraphonic records
8 Track tape
Cassette tape
Digital FM
Etc.

Only time will tell.

Mapman, no I don't have any figures, Stereophile, if I recall does have figures about its growth. I am reconciled to realize that modern culture has passed me by. I cannot stand most modern music. I deliberately did not quantify my statement.

I am listening now to double DSD from my server. Of course listening to 44.1 at double DSD upsampling moves the filter dramatically upward revealing much heretofore unheard realism. And SACDs if they are real upgrades, are outstanding.

I'm streaming my .wav files at home to my PC at work using plex configured for highest sound quality and listening on klipsch s4 earbuds. Sounds damn good!

I listen to the same files on my "big" system at home via Squeezebox to my DAC of choice. This is the bomb!

Still like records as well, especially older titles that are high quality excellent analog recordings. Those are always a special sonic treat. Not as much many records made in the 70's and newer. Mediocrity started to set in on a large scale there as well. Good modern digital streaming is much more consistent overall, even if the nth degree of technical perfection in terms of resolution is still out there still on the horizon somewhere.

I do hear new things on some recordings that are hard to detect otherwise in any case, even listening at work on those inexpensive but good qualty ear buds hooked to my standard-issue PC