Music server

no disrespect when I say this, but I am sure if you check the forums under "music server" ( which I just did ) it will bring up numerous threads on this subject.

I think many would say the Squeezebox Touch. I dont have any personal experience with it so I cant help in that regard. Beyond that it gets more complicated and quite a bit more expensive.

I am very interested in seeing more on the Wyred 4 Sound music server that is being developed.

Touch is a player, and not a server.

There is server software and server hardware.

Sb server (now called logitech media server) is a very solid server software choice on pcs for audiophile types that can acclimate to getting top notch sound without breaking the bank. It's good on other hardware platforms as well I hear.

May not be the best in quality, tho it sounds good to me. I have yet too really compare it one on one with the cd original. Great ease of use and very cost effective. Using your bluetooth capable computer or ipod touch, ipad with itunes etc, sending signal to the Xantech BT6 wireless bluetooth dock connected to RCA line input to your stereo system.
If your funds would allow the Olive units look interesting.

Glen , I did try the Olive HD4 , it was about what I was looking for but the CD drawer pilled up on the second day . I quickly returned it , but had to get Visa involved to get some of my money back .

There's this now from Wyred4sound: http://www.wyred4sound.com/webapps/p/74030/117839/620191

I have no idea what it sounds like but if their past products are any indication of their sound, then this might be a winner. I'm going to wait and see. There's a bit of a dust up over the sound of FLAC vs. WAV and this converts all ripped CDs to FLAC. It will all depend on the implementation. I can't wait to read the reviews.

Disappointing to hear of your experience with the OLive product, a few bugs yet in there system perhaps. Your quest continues. Please post your final choice.

Thanks for the link Nonoise, the Wyred music server looks promising. Hopefully it will have great sound and be dependable.

Anybody has experience with Sono CONNECT (player) pairing with TiVX S1 HD (server)?

The VortexBox 1Tb NAS (server) also looks promising since it has a built-in CD ripper that makes life easier. In Amazon, somebody use this to replace his Mark Levinson 31.5 transport. I mean, is it really that good? (the reviewer did not mention what media player he used)

I still prefer the player having digital out (at least SPDIF, preferrably AES/EBU) so audiophile quality outboard D/A could do the job.

I second the Vortexbox Appliance. Cheap, fairly easy to use, and intended for novice users. I have owned the 1TB model since the summer. Playback has been flawless. A software upgrade did not go well, and I will soon be reinstalling the software, and restoring my music files from my backup USB drive. Wish me luck. But even with all of this, the Vortexbox in conjunction with a SBT has made my transition to a server-based music library fairly easy, and the sound is outstanding. Great info on the VortexBox forums: www.vortexbox.org

W4S will be demonstrating this Server at The Home Entertainment Show in Vegas in a couple weeks.

I am looking forward to seeing what it can do.

FYI - I was able to do a "clean install" of the latest VortexBox software, and successfully restored my files from my USB backup drive. All is now right with the world.

I've had a Vortexbox Appliance (VBA) for a week and it's pretty sweet. The VBA will rip, tag and download the album art for each CD. It's optimized to work with Logitech Media Server (LMS), so its ideal to use with Squeezebox players. I have two Squeezeboxes and the LMS automatically detects the VBA in my network. I control all with a Samsung Galaxy 5.0 media player loaded with Squeeze Commander. It's just about the perfect set up and sounds excellent - indistinguishable from CD's.

The VBA is mostly plug and play, but it ships with very sparse instructions. I have had to lean on the VBA forum for a few things, but overall its pretty intuitive. Highly recommended.