Is this the END of DAYS for the high end CD player

I think the death blow to the dedicated CD player will be the laser mechanism manufacturers. CD only readers are becoming more scarce everyday. There's very little money in it to the big guys, IMO. They'll all make mutli format only readers sooner than later. The universal players aren't nearly as beloved by people like us.

I highly doubt the CD player will completely vanish for a very long time. Then again, I see the turntable outlasting the CDP, and quite easily. Albums are so much cooler to people than CDs and will hold their retro value far longer than a small disc.

I think entry level CDPs like the NADs will die off first, followed by the $1-$4k or so market. All that'll be left will be above or around that. Hopefully not, but that's what my logic tells me.

Along with the theme of this thread, I think the way music gets distributed will dramatically change. I think it'll be downloaded from the artists site directly eventually. I say this because a lot of them currently have their concerts available for download on their sites. They're generally available in mp3 and FLAC. They also have album artwork and CD labels. For an example, check out Live Metallica dot com. Pearl Jam one ups it by adding the option of having a CD created for you. Last I looked, Phish has their concerts available in high-res. Prices are z bit absurd though. The others I've seen are around $10 for mp3 and $12 for FLAC.

I think it's a matter of time until they ask themselves why can't they do that with studio recordings too. I'd love high-res downloads direct from the artist. So long as I have a way of making a hard copy backup though.

I have looked around quite a bit here and on the web (particularly on "Computer Audiophile" for a good succinct article explaining how to get the highest fidelity out of a computer-based system. Can anyone who has already implemented one and/or done the research direct me to a good article that breaks it down? Or can people describe what solutions they have come up with that works? It seems to me that burning your CDs onto a hard drive or music server in AIFF is the way to go (but why is that better than WAV, or is it?) The hard drive then feeds a computer (usually an Apple product) that then feeds a DAC which in turn feeds the preamp. Are so-called music servers better than your basic hard drive and, if so, why? What is the ideal solution for commanding the system (as in, pick out and tell it what song to play next)? Is there any loss of fidelity with the wireless systems, like, say, the Modwright Transporter? And, if you had a Mac Mini, is there any loss of fidelity for it to read off the hard drive wirelessly or is it better to have a direct connection?

Neophyle: There are numerous ways to go with computer audio. My suggestion is go the path of least resistance as you start out and keep it simple. A mistake I made when I started was to complicate the process with multi zones with a NAS (network hard drive) and then an incompatible hard drive among other things. Forget all the wireless stuff for a while.

Start out with a mac mini and two harddrives. I chose OWC (http://www.macsales.com/) for the hard drives due to MAC centric technical service and warranty. A few more bucks but worth it to me. Probably a good place to buy the Mini as well. BTW, I bought mine on Craigslist for $300.

With regards to usb converters, usb cable, digital cables, and DAC... well... that's another thread but I suggest to go cheap at first and live with it for a while.

Neophyle,

I hear you. I'm navigating those same waters and it's taking me time. Fortunately I'm patient!

The Computer Audiophile website is good for this. They've put together a "Computer Audiophile CD Ripping Strategy and Methodology" (found at http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/Computer-Audiophile-CD-Ripping-Strategy-and-Methodology), which I'm following to get started.

They also have setup guides (eg: JC River and Windows 7), but I haven't looked into those yet. It's a good place to get going.

BTW, an apparently very easy way to get into computer audio is with a Squeezebox Touch, which allows to stream wirelessly, play hi-rez, listen to internet radio, etc for $300. This is the initial route I'm taking.

I hope this helps.