hey besides exact audio copy...what about burning

I was looking at the Ximeta netdisk which requires a driver to use on a pc. The driver would have to be intergrated into the audiotron firmware in order for it to see it (right off the Turtle Beach webpage-forums/networking). More expensive NAS is accessed through a standard IP address. Thats why I said that you needed to spend more money in my original post. Triton makes a 120GB NAS that uses IP that retails for $399.00. Linksys makes a 120GB NAS that retails for $800.00 and the prices go through the roof from there. For $800 I can build a XPC or mini-itx PC with a big HD and stick it in a closet and just leave it on all the time. I was looking to spend as little as possible because this was just going to be an interm solution. In a year or two they will have larger/cheaper HD's and cheaper versions of the escient and request.com servers. When I can pick up a server with a built in CDRW, 400-500GB HD that supports lossless compression as well as wav/pcm in the $1500 range then I'm there.

BTW-netgear is coming out with a device that turns a USB2.0 external HD into NAS with an IP address. Should be available this summerfor around $99.00.

Alpine is coming out with a car stereo that will interface with your i-pod,
take over it's functions and keep it charged. For me, that's a better solution than some of the others like Sony and Omnify. Sony and Omnify
make Hard Drive units that are dedicated to the car. The i-pod interface means you can plug your i-pod into your home stereo, your car stereo,
take it to the beach, etc. To me, that's the Holy Grail.

Also, when ripping CD's to a hard drive using Apple's AAC at 320 kbps,
one CD took up about 100 Megs. That's 100 CD's per 10 Gigs. With a
200 Gig Hard Drive, you could store 2,000 CD's.

When ripping them uncompressed, one CD took up about 500 Megs.
With a 200 Gig Hard Drive, you could store 400 CD's. You'd need 500
gigs to store 1,000 CD's uncompressed. That's two 250 Gig Hard Drives.

Just depends on your ears and how important are issues of sound quality
and Hard Drive space usage to you.

Another alternative is to prioritize. Perhaps you rip some CD's compressed and some uncompressed. A solution to the time expense of
ripping all those CD's is to pay a kid a few bucks an hour to do rip your
CD's. A child of 10 could easily do it and would love to have the money.

gosh i'm going to check on that wireless stuff.cool. rsbeck your idea of paying someone to rip cds brillant.maybe we could start an 'audiophile'company,and ah chatge.yeah that's it.cool you know i could do that my mental age is about 11 and i'd love the money...

edesilva hmm i've read of other getting better results with varible before.maybe that's *another*thing i'll try.learing. :)

ah i need another hard drive !!!! thanks everyone :)

Also, apple is not the only company that makes a hard drive digital jukebox. I'm told that Just about any car stereo that is capable of
running an external changer can be set up to connect with an i-pod and
most other digital hard drive juke boxes. But, the Alpine is the only one
I know that will take over the i-pod's functions. So, most car stereos could be modified to connect with a hard drive, but the Alpine will keep
the i-pod charged, take over it's functions, etc. Point being, I am not trying to push Apple, although I love their digital music solutions, but
there are other companies that make similar products. Some of them are also less costly than an i-pod. I would imagine that in the future most car stereo companies will develop car stereos that can interface with these players.

Maybe someday someone will broadcast music, uncompressed.

I'm a dreamer!