Connecting a remote server to a high end system

Peter - My observation has been that the files I ripped to Apple lossless (iTunes 8.0.1 I believe) and then converted to WAV files are bit for bit identical with WAV files I ripped with EAC. Bit for for bit identical files cannot sound different when player through the same player. If they do, something else is going on. So, before people re-rip all their files, I suggest converting some ALAC files to WAV (iTunes does this) and compare those to WAV files produced from EAC. EAC has a comparison routine that quickly compares the files. There will be differences in the files for disk offsets, but EAC can be set to emulate iTunes behavior, which is to set the offset to 0. My belief is there may be issues with the iTunes player when playing Apple lossless files, but that the files themselves have the correct data bits for the music - at least using the version of iTunes that I used. Have you done these comparisons?

Depends if you are using MAC or PC. If I had alot of time, I would reburn all of my music to FLAC using Exact Audio Copy. You want something that will store tags, and WAV format isn't too good for that. If I were using MAC, I might just reburn to uncompressed AIFF. It's not a horrible reduction in sound quality, but it is noticeable on a good system. For PC, I've heard that MediaMonkey is good for music managment.

That is good to know about Apple Lossless. Do old files need to be deleted and reburned? If I burn to FLAC will the logitech boombox read the files? What software do you use for FLAC? What about storing an image of the CD like an ISO? Not space friendly but drives are so big and cheap. The ISO would contain the bit image of the CD which you could burn anytime.

In my experience so far, Apple Lossless has problems. If you burn in itunes, there is some minor loss in quality. I wouldn't have believed this, and have burned thousands of CD's in lossless - but listening tests do not lie. I've heard that the new version of Itunes corrects this "problem", and nothing was ever said about it. But after this experience, I'd be tempted to burn to FLAC instead, or just keep it WAV using exact audio copy. It's a pain in the A** to track down this issue and get agreement on it.

PS - I am using the logitech boombox, and it's very fun and easy to operate it. Your wife will like it. I wouldn't be surprised if a better sounding option would be a squeezebox or duet hooked up to a pair of Audioengine self powered speakers, if you have the space.

wow, you do have plenty of space! itunes is fine as squeezecenter will interface with it. any of the lossless formats would be appropriate as well. got to keep the wife happy! you will really enjoy it, it has totally changed my music experience and it also has my wife interested. the internet services as well as radio are worth it in itself. have a great time...

I guess we will order one of the Squeeze BOOM boxes and start with the Kitchen first. The will make my wife happy and give us a chance to build the database of music. Should I use iTunes and Applelossless? I have a Hyper V virtual server running 2 Server 2003s. One is 32 bit and the other is 64 bit. Does it matter? The physical server has a LSI RAID5 card with 6 1TB drives on a hot swap backplane. I do not think space will be an issue. I have room for 2 more drives if I need them. I have an extra drive I keep on the shelf for a spare.

check the products tab at slimdevices site. there are different versions of the squeezebox (which i would recommend for the kitchen system) and all can be controlled with one remote. the files can be stored wherever you like but just one copy needed. hope this helps, good luck with your system...

If I buy one of these for the big system what do I use for the kitchen? I only want one copy of the music on the server. I don't want to spend that much for the kitchen. The kitchen needs to be small, not lots of components. How would the overall system work and be configured? I wanted one of the original Logitech Squeeze boxes and speakers from a few years ago. They had a demo version in Fry’s which I tried to buy for over a year with no luck.

agree with swampkiller, logitech transporer. can stream high rez and has excellent user interface (new version just released this week). details can be seen at the slimdevices site.
(disclosure: i do have a new unit listed for sale)

Logitech transporter.