audiophile music servers the latest products, info

I use the QSonix with a Benchmark DAC1. The user interface is absolutely fantastic - search the threads for "QSonix" and you'll find my detailed description.

Sonically, IME you will hear the sound of the DAC with little character imparted by the server vs. a high end transport. I have used my DAC1 with my Cary 303 as a transport - and the dig outs of my Bel Canto and Sony SACD-1 CDPs as well - for comprison purposes. The Cary has adjustable OS rates (and a non OS setting) as well as user selectable tube and ss output stages. The DAC1 sounds a bit different than any setting on the Cary.

The Bel Canto, Sony, Cary and the QSonix sounded damn near identical (to my ear) when used a a transport with the DAC1. It's always possible that YMMV, but I would expect that most listeners (even the lunatic fringe) will be satisfied with the sonic performance of the QSonix as a transport.

2 other quick notes:

The analog outs are pretty decent, but unlikely to make you happy - you will very likely want to use the unit as a transport.

My model is the (older) 100 and gets quite noisy from time to time. Th e newer 110 is reportedly quieter, but reconditioned 100s are available at pretty steep discounts. If you can isolate the drive chasis (as I can), IMHO the 100 -though not cheap - is a pretty compelling value in touch screen servers.

In sum - find a DAC you like and the QSonix will sound great and the interface will change your listening habits forever. I coud never go back to a CD player (or even a text based server) after living with the QSonix.

Good Luck

Marty

I still don't get computer audio for the audiophile. The only true benefit is that you don't have to get your butt off the couch to change songs. People are talking about dumping $10k for a sonoos thing and then running it into a $1k benchmark DAC for "good" sound. Why on earth would anyone spend all that money for a sound that is not nearly as good as a $4k cd player just to sit on the couch and surf. Sorry, but these are my opinions and no matter how you slice it it is just convenience, which costs a lot of money all to hook it up to a mediocre DAC. Once you start hooking up expensive DACs then the whole thing is lost even more.

Then there are downloads. To get the best sound you need to buy the CD anyway then rip it. Sure there are hi-rez downloads....about 20 of them in weird genres. So for arguments sake let's say everything is downloadable in hi-rez. Then what, you are faced with backing up drives and media......CDs can last forever (at least as long as the average human lives)....hard drives have been lasting for about 5 years.... I have CDs that are almost 30 years old and play with no problem....I have had 4 computers in the last 10 years........So now you download all this stuff and every 5 years or so you need to copy it to a new hard drive somewhere.

Sorry folks, I am not seeing it. I am sure I will get hammered for this post but I couldnt take it anymore. It is downright silly to invest in something like a Sooloos thing to me.

Good points Arbuckle. I'm considering a Sooloos-like device because the interface could get other family members more involved in use of my system. Once you get started, there's no reason not to rip everyone elses music into the system. In my case that's several thousands more songs, leaning toward Radiohead, Brazilian traditional music, to a really eclectic bunch of stuff. Right now, they're afraid to touch my system.

After using iTunes at work for the last couple of years and on planes with my iPhone, I really like that type of interface, finding it much easier to find what I'm looking for, or putting together a program mix to suit my mood.

The troubles with most "servers", including the Sooloos, includes; little attention paid to the the DAC (I can overcome that with the excellent DAC in my Playback Designs); lack of hi rez; 1/3 of my album art isn't available for the system; my 1200 LPs will need to be manually archived then ripped; and pricing is out of character with performance (Sooloos, Mac, Linn).

Pluses are; digital ripping services as low as $1 per disc; all in one solutions; nice interfaces.

Mac-based solutions tend to be overly minipulative and controlling. I've got an Apple TV for viewing my photos. It's basically a hard drive with a wireless reciever. Unfortunatly it only works with iTunes running on a nearby computer. Doubly unfortunately, Apple feels compelled to "improve" iTune periodically and it screws up the wireless connection. In the nine-months that I've had the Apple TV I've had to set it up (bacially reinstall it) about three times. Last weekend, it took 3-hours to resync several gigs of photos that had been synced two time previously. Imagine doing that with a terabyte of hi rez data.

SO, I can never trust Apple. In the PC envirnoment at least hard drives act like hard drives and don't puke all there data everytime the application changes. I'm waiting another year and if there's no pre-packaged solution that does almost everything right, then I'll probably build my PC-based server.

Dave

Arbuckle says:

People are talking about dumping $10k
for a sonoos thing and then running it into a $1k benchmark DAC for
"good" sound. Why on earth would anyone spend all that money
for a sound that is not nearly as good as a $4k cd
player

Why do you say "not nearly as good?"
Many will say that it is indeed as good, if not better.

Another questionable part of your argument is that it's all about convenience.
There is that, but the real benefit, according to many I know who have made
the move, is ACCESS. They all say they listen to far more of their collections
than they used to, and discover or rediscover hidden treasures. That's not
about being lazy, it's about getting more out of your music collection.

Read the Stereophile review of the Sooloos. It's SQ was not up to the Benchmark DAC. That's not good any anyone's book, at least for a $10,000 piece.

Dave