Is computer audio a bust?

"I see many posts as to the ease of using computer audio. But nothing about how long it took to set up your music library and the cost and time involved. Anybody? Were you able to get that great sound you have right out of the gate, or did you have to keep changing things as the technology improved? Just curious."

YEs, I got great sound right out of the gate several years ago using a Roku Squeezebox and DAC of choice. That continued as I moved to Squeezebox feeding same DAC and system, and now as well as I start to implement PLEX as an eventual Squeezebox replacement.

Cost is minimal compared to a lot of "high end" audio, especially if you already have a computer.
Creating and maintaining a library does involve some work to get tagging correct, but mostly for classical music. Setting up backups with software is not hard or costly. Seagate drives work great and come with backup software already installed for example.

Data volumes for lossless music libraries can get large. My .wav library of about 2000 CDs comes in at just under 1Tb and the converted FLAC version about half that.

As Mapman says, internet radio has very good sound quality, and I do listen to that on occasion. That's easy for me. I even pay a small monthly charge for better quality streaming. It also is a way to explore artists unknown.
But as far as me getting into the full computer audio realm, I don't see that happening. I had a heck of a time just moving from Windows XP to this Windows 8.1, which I hate, btw. Creating a new library? I'm too old and really not that interested. Just getting lazy, I guess. Old fart...

The original question was one of sound quality using a computer as a source vs a high-quality CD transport. I believe the answer to that question is "Yes, if the components are properly selected and configured, the computer source can sound as good as a CD transport".

A lot of discussion has gone both ways in terms of computer audio being a "bust" vs the future. I think that this question is more easily answered. After all, the convenience of computer audio and its ability to expose you to music that is either not music you're familiar with (from streaming audio sources like Pandora) or music from your own collection that you haven't thought to play on a CD for a long time, is a major plus.

But beyond that, where do we think that the true growth market in new music is going to be? If you're a young music group looking to get your work out there, the most cost-effective way of doing this is to have your work published electronically. It's going to be significantly more difficult to get with a record label that will stamp commercial discs. In addition, this allows them to also exceed the parameters of a redbook CD, and potentially get better audio quality.

So from a practical perspective, if we limit ourselves to physical discs (either vinyl or CD's), then we're sharply restricting our access to music to play in the future.

When seen from the perspective of computer audio being a large growth industry, then it will be almost certain that products will continue to evolve to support the quality demands of that small fraction of us called audiophiles that want good quality sound from computer audio. After all, we're the ones that divorced the transport and the DAC and frequently put them in two separate boxes, and we've been doing that for well over 2 decades (which is the majority of the duration that CD's have even been around). So it shouldn't take much to get a computer transport to be at least as good as a physical CD transport; indeed, I would argue that we are already there with many of our setups.

Yes, accurate and consistent tags in computer sound files is important. But we're seeing more and more automated tagging systems that can take care of this. And we're seeing more ripping software comparing the results of each track rip with other people who have ripped those same CD's to assess for the probability of having achieved 100% accuracy in the rip. So I don't think that either of these two arguments as reasons why someone should shy away from computer audio to be valid now.

Keep in mind that only in the past decade or so has storage space sufficient for an entire audio library in lossless formats been affordable. I remember when I was working as a software engineer that my company purchased a 64GB RAID array in 1997 for $20,000. It had over a dozen drives in it, and could hold maybe the equivalent of 200 or so CD's in FLAC format. Less than 20 years later a 2TB drive with 30+ times the storage space is available for under $100. The point here is that computer audio is still in its early years, and will continue to improve as time goes on.

This is the future, and the industry will be putting its R&D money here rather than towards further enhancing redbook CD transports. Consequently, we will continue to see better and better performance as the industry matures.

Just my 2 cents.

Michael

An interesting thread. I didn't realize that there were a large number of people who had sampled C.A., found it wanting, and went back to CDPs. If one reads audiophile mags, particularly the British ones, you would never get that impression.
I suspect that a lot of pressure has been placed on listeners by manufacturers that have invested in DACs and other computer based playback. They want to sell their new technologies and they greatly influence what the journalists write. Thus the word has gotten out that Physical Media will dissapear, that we all had better make the switch, etc.
I've dabbled in C.A. and only recently become to think that it may become a more often used format for me. Unfortunately my MacAir that is my server died, and I have a trip to the "Genius Bar" later today.
The first issue is sound quality. It should be at least as good as the CDs that I rip. USB has left me unsatisfied, and I've tried several ofthe work arounds. What did it for me is when I went to a firewire dac. I now believe the sound is at least as good, if not better, than the original.
The second issue is tagging. I listen exclusively to Classical Music and as others have noted it's a problem. It would be a good retirement project, but I'm about 10 years away.
The third issue is the computer itself. I hate being told that I need to download the latest version of itunes, that I haven't done a back up in the last 4 hours, or whatever. It detracts from the conveinence of the format.
It can definitely be a space saver. I am very attached to my thousands of discs and lps but realize that when I am on a fixed income and possibly spending sometime as a snowbird that I will be in smaller living quarters. The idea of having my whole collection on a hard drive or two tha I can transport if I wish is very appealing. I am trying to digitalize now and just hang on to my few hundred SACDs and Blu Rays but my purchases of CDs are still exceeding the removal rate.
The bottom line is that my collection has never sounded so good. Whether I'm playing CDs, SACDs, or C.A. via firewire, I feel very fortunate. Downloads are amazing as well but to many hassles for me. It really comes down to ease of use and what suits your lifestyle the best.

Building/having a computer audio set up is, the way I see it, no different then having a CDP (Digital source), Turntable (Analog rig), Reel to Reel set up, etc... I never considered it a replacement for the others I have, but; another option.

The search to build a CA system with comparable SQ, just supported the hobby of chasing audio nirvana I have been sucked into. LOL.

I have reached a point recently with minor upgrades where the SQ of my CA system is 99% as accurate as spinning cd's and records - in my system. That said, I enjoy listening to all equally.

Still cannot deny the benefits a Computer Audio System brings:
- Hanging out on the Terrace and being able to change music at will (60 ft. away) with an iPad.....without spilling my drink
- Being able to hand an iPad to visitors too browse and choose what they prefer.
- Having the convenience of viewing all of your music at a glance to enhance listening sessions encompassing various genre's, artists, etc.

Happy Listening!