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Hard Disk Playback Systems

Why are more audiophiles not using hard disk playback systems? The category includes full blown systems by Linn, Escient or Revox; stand alone machines from Yamaha or Harmon Kardon and computer based systems such as Apple/MacIntosh running iTunes software. I've been using an Apple system for about a year and while there are a few drawbacks, the positives are overwhelming.

First the negatives:
- it can be expensive. The Linn or Revox turnkey systems are over $15k. The Apple system I've assembled (including multiple hard disks) cost nearly $6,000.
- a computer is noisy. I've had to place the computer tower within a closed cabinet, but it still introduces 4dB of added background noise into the listening room. I don't believe any of the dedicated systems have this problem.
- the initial setup is tedious. If you have a medium to large CD collection (say 500+), then individually "ripping" each CD and typing in title and song info is quite tiresome. However, if your hard disk/computer is hooked up to the internet, then that info can be automatically downloaded.

The positives:
- assuming you stored the music at full redbook spec (16/44.1), then the sound quality is comparable to a high quality CD transport.
- you have virtually instant access to all of your music collection. Additionally, using "playlists" you can organize your music whichever way you like. THIS FEATURE CANNOT BE UNDERVALUED.
- burning compilation CDs is very quick and easy. Simply click and drag whatever songs you want to a new playlist and hit "burn".
- it's networkable. The computer based and high end Linn/Revox systems have the flexibility to distribute a digital signal throughout your house. This can even be done wirelessly. - it's transportable. Say you going to your vacation home, what would you rather drag along, 100 of your favortie CDs, or a couple of 120Gb firewire hard disks with ALL of your music. Apple based hard disk systems also offer the possibility of downloading playlists to their iPod unit for even greater portability.

I'm sure I've probably left out some aspect of using hard disk playback systems, but I think I've highlighted the major points. The bottom line is that since switching over to a hard disk system I'm listening to music more often and because of the easier access I'm listening to music that I would normally not have selected. As far as I can tell, hard disk systems are a major advance in the enjoyment of digital based music.
128x128onhwy61
kennyt's avatar
kennyt
1,226 posts
 
We'll all just need massive hard drives in our Mac's (PC's for those who still use them!)

KT
mdoughty32a6
3 posts
 
I was using a hard disk playback system with my Apple G4 cube. Now however I use the dvd drive as the source. The cube is perfect for this application, it is small, it has no fan, and it is a beautiful machine. I got away from encoding my collection into wav files, it just got too time consuming and I couldn't perceive any audible differences between itunes playing the tracks off of the dvd drive or as a file from the hard drive. If your experiences are different please let me know. The cube does not have pci slots for sound cards so you have the option of using any one of a number of usb or firewire products built for the pro audio market. My system consists of the cube as a source, a roland ua 30 which is a usb d/a or a/d interface which provides volume control and a set of stereo rca outputs (digital toslink and coax in and out as well) to a mcintosh mc 2102 amp to living voice avatar obx speakers. Cabling is nordost blue heaven throughout.
These are some of the perceived limitations of a hard disk playback system.
1. Computer enclosuers have lots of emi interference which induces noise, this can be mitigated by using an outboard d/a converter as opposed to a sound card which is in the tower.
2. I have found no pro audio device which addresses the first limitation that has similar d/a conversion of audiophile grade equipment. Additionally most pro audio devices are engineered for hard disk recording as opposed to playback and these devices have alot of inputs for recording which is superflous to playback.
3. Computer software. I have never been pleased with the playback quality of itunes. Lets face it, these programs are designed for mp3's, which no audiophile who has invested countless hours and dollars in their system would consider using. I have experienced many dropouts and pops in my music as a result of this player (itunes). Also there is not as yet software that can handle hi rez sources such as sacd and dvd-a or even a program that can playback hdcd disks.
I would love to hear others ideas on equipment that can address all of these problems. I have been considering whether or not to buy a decoder which will reclock and convert the signal coming from my transport (computer) by using the coax output of the roland but ideally there would already be a high end device that could do this that had a usb or firwire input so I could get rid of the roland. Otherwise I'll be buying a wadia 861.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,211 posts
 
MOTU and Metric Halo both make Firewire based interfaces for Apple Macs. Each has a multitude of I/Os which most audiophiles will find superfluous, but they also sport digital ports which will allow you to connect an outboard D/A to the Mac Cube.

It's a shame that the playback software doesn't support higher resolution recordings. I've written to Apple, but there's been no reply.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,211 posts
 
Mdoughty, drops, pops and clicks can be eliminated by turning off all other programs when you rip the CD to your hard disk.
pmi_guy
72 posts
 
I think that hard disk playback systems should be the future but we're not there yet and we may never be.

As mentioned, software and ease of use are lacking. It's kind of a DIY area now. Also, audiophiles are generally the at the analog end of the spectrum. DIY computer projects are not something an analog guy relishes and are not something that the audio mags often review.

There are format issues also. Audiophiles are generally not happy with 16 bit CD quality. Both 24 bit digital formats (SACD, DVD-A) have copy protection so they're out. The wild card is HDCD which Microsoft bought. Who knows what they're thinking.

On the plus side, I think that a hard disk has the potential to be an excellent transport. We will be able to store 1,000 CD's on a hard drive within a few years. The potential to create playlists is awesome. I'll be looking at this type of system seriously when the drives get more capacity, especially if it becomes a little more mainstream as far as software, interfaces, etc.
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