Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD
@gdhal if I had the huge library of music that you have I would certainly look to FLAC for storage. I am pushing 5 Tb in WAV my NAS library is manageable at the moment. The audio quality between the 2 is really dependant an the system you are playing it on. Mine sounds better with WAV but its not an expensive system either. 20Tb of FLAC music! How do you get time to listen to it all? |
@gdhal
Ethernet renderers, as audioengr refers to, are the way to go. |
How do you get time to listen to it all? I listen at a rate of 12 hours of live concert recordings weekly, for many years now. Each day I listen to a completely different show. In my case, I primarily, but not exclusively, listen to Grateful Dead. To date, I’ve listened to 4772 *unique* show hours and 2026 *unique* dates . My 20 terabytes is not all unique shows. Much of the material is the same show, but a different source. For instance, a show can be a soundboard, audience or matrix. I have about 1 year of music in queue. This is music I’ve already obtained but haven’t listened to it yet. I also have videos of many shows. Videos are typically 12Gb whereas a show in 24bit is 3.5Gb. Details are on my website http://halr.x10.mx/shows.html Ethernet renderers, as audioengr refers to, are the way to go. This isn’t practical in my case because I obtain and trade via client peer-to-peer bit torrent. I "collect" the music so as to retain in my personal possession. Grateful Dead can be streamed via ethernet rendering from archive.org, but my collection far surpasses what’s available on the site and is usually better quality sources. Note that at one time archive.org permitted downloading the files and not simply streaming as they do now. Moreover, IMO streaming is not as good as having the source files and playing locally. Streaming invariably involves occasional drop outs, especially if wireless is involved. My opinion on streaming music is that quality suffers in comparison to having the same music available locally. Streaming might be viable if I were just casually listening and not collecting on top of it. Additionally, not all types of music - especially live recordings - are available to stream. |
Streaming might be viable if I were just casually listening and not collecting on top of it. Additionally, not all types of music - especially live recordings - are available to stream. Why do you believe that Ethernet renderers = streaming? I don't do any streaming at all and I use an Ethernet renderer: my Ethernet DAC the ODSX or my Interchange Ethernet renderer. I play only my .wav files that are from CD rips and downloads from HDTracks. Everything is stored on a Raid1 and played from there. I can use Jriver, Twonky or Linn Kinsky for playback. It's the best sound quality I have ever had, and I've designed 6 generations of USB interfaces as well, Off-Ramp -> Off-Ramp 6. Here is an apples to apples comparison, measurements and listening tests: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=155232.0 Steve N. Empirical Audio |
Why do you believe that Ethernet renderers = streaming?Hi Steve. If I'm mistaken here (and you're saying that I am) then I appreciate your pointing it out. My DAC (Yggdrasil) does not support Ethernet in, and I'm in no hurry to get another one. But would I be correct in saying that your wav files that are from CD rips and downloads from HDTracks, that you are storing on Raid1 still has a cost of the storage device itself? And, is the cost of the storage more or less than $200 for 8 (eight) TB (terabytes), which is my cost for a western digital drive. And, aren't you using at least twice the storage space you would otherwise use if you stored as flac? Perhaps your configuration is capable of the best quality, and it that case I'll have to be content with less than best. That said, I'm curious if you are able to listen via "blind testing" and conclude the same results as your measurement data? |
