Music Servers-Why so few?

One reason may be that the record companies don't seem to be committed to cd res or better downloads.

They're fine with mp3s but they would rather have a system where you only rent the music and don't own a copy.

Speaking with a McIntosh person recently about as to whether they would be replacing their 750 model music server. His answer was no. Explaining for companies like Mac, with wanting to get a product right the first time and at their standards takes a good amount of time. Time in which in that area of technology the next new thing is out so fast, it is not worth it for them.

My take on it is that with smart and clever choices, one can have a music server with their laptop as the base which sounds great and is very convenient and is very inexpensive.

It is just not worth it for companies whose products cost into the thousands to try to complete in that arena. They stick to the heart and soul of a system.

As Glenfihi says, the ease of putting together a music server system using a PC or Mac, off-the-shelf hard drives, relatively inexpensive playback software and a DAC means that purpose-built servers have a hard time competing on price and inevitably are quickly behind the technology curve.

Its just going to take some time. From what I've read, there are already some very good servers out there and its always been the habit for companies to wait and see where the crowds are going before they jump in front and claim to be the leader, just like politicians.

There are also competing designs out there like thishttp://www.lessloss.com/laminar-streamer-sd-player-p-207.html that just may be giving some people a headache as it would eliminate the PC as the playback medium.

I recommend to avoid the all-in-one servers unless you just cannot navigate a computer. They force you into using a certain playback software, ripping software, formats, resamplers, DSP etc.. These are usually not the latest and best performing available, such as the free tool XLD for ripping on Mac, Amarra, Jplay or Pure Music player, or the Izotope resampler. These will all be obsolete with in a year or two.

You are better off to just buy a Mac Mini and put the best software on it or pay someone like Mach2music.com to do it for you. If you juse need a transport, then buy a good USB converter. Then you can upgrade both software and hardware over time as things improve.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio