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Digital Audio for Dummies

As I have stated before, I'm a bit of an audio dinosaur.  I love simple.  I love reliable.  I love a high performance/price ratio.  So no surprise I'm still happily spinning discs.  Give me a nice CD player direct to an integrated and I'm good to go.

But it is 2018.  Reading on this forum about the demise of Oppo was a bit of a wake up call. Also the Lyngdorf 2170 has inspired me.  An elegant all in one box product that is ready to connect with many of the digital options now available.  So I'd like to get educated on what's out there and what you suggest.  Basically I would want to know about ripping all my CD's--exactly how that is done.  Dedicated audio computer?  How big of a hard drive/other considerations?  Wired vs. wireless.  And then what streaming services are out there?  Cost, quality, ease of use?

PLEASE keep things simple and don't assume the reader knows, for example, what Roon is.  I've seen it mentioned, but would want to know exactly what this does, how it functions, etc.

THANKS!
corelli
reubent
7,003 posts
 
@uberwaltz @rhljazz - I'm very curious about the Bluesound Vault 2. I'm leaning in that direction. Question: Once you rip your CDs and have a backup, is the file structure a common standard and are the files portable to another platform if you change/upgrade to a different digital music server in the future?
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
@reubent
You can chose the encoder setting in the Vault settings for file type
Choices are

FLAC, MP3,WAV, MP3+FLAC, MP3+WAV

I have ripped all my cds to WAV.

Only thing I have tried so far is that I accessed the vault through my pc to copy some WAV files over to my phone so I can listen to stuff on the plane.
Not sure if that helps?
reubent
7,003 posts
 
@uberwaltz - Thanks. Looks like the files are standard, portable and independent of the Bluesound operating environment. This is goodness as I only want to rip my CDs once. As long I keep a solid backup, or two, should be good to go for years to come.

2psyop's avatar
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2psyop
1,593 posts
 
I agree with @rhljazz, @uberwaltz, and others on the Bluesound Vault 2. A very nice piece of audio gear that takes the computer out of the equation. Another note- One of the best things to know about Bluesound is the committment they have placed into customer service. Those guys had helped me alot. Not just once, many times with integration of my Node 2. But the Vault 2 does all the work once you place the CD into the device... even better.
corelli OP
994 posts
 
Thanks for the further thoughts guys.  Gives me some direction on some avenues to explore.
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