Music Servers - Baetis vs. Music Vault

Vicks, thanks much for the info. Honestly, I find it very interesting and a bit odd that the Baetis sounds so good via it's USB output when John Mingo readily admits that he didn't really do much with USB other than to include it, preferring to focus on BNC-SPDIF output because he believes it sounds better. So we have a fairly standard USB output (no soTm usb card or the like), with a switch mode PS (as opposed to the heavily favored Linear PS), and an almost fully functioning PC (with the OS and associated browsing/ripping/playback applications running), all of which seems to run counter to what many other server builders contend (including just about everyone at Computer Audiophile, Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio, Antipodes, Lumin, Musica Pristina, Aurender, Mojo, Core, etc.). I just don't see the special sauce here, so it makes me wonder if any server will work well within reason. I am just about to pull trigger on either Musica Pristina or Antipodes, as it seemed they put more effort into their servers and especially their USB output, but all this Baetis-appreciation is making me pause and consider. Look forward to more input. Thanks again...

I'm late to this thread, but wanted to throw another option into the mix. I used to use my MacBook Pro/Amarra/off ramp 4/dac combo as my source and felt this combo was excellent sounding. About 5 months ago I got a Salk Stream Player which is a Linux based music server. It play any high resolution files and DSD. It is takes the approach of being streamlined to only play music files and nothing else. There are no buttons, no display, no remote, no disk drive and no fans. There is a 2 TB hard drive built in to store all the files. It is controlled by an ipad using the Mpad app. It's output is USB only. It retails for $1295. I have no affiliations other than being a satisfied customer.

The Salk Stream player sounds better in every way from my previous source listed above. Music sounds natural and realistic with a huge sound stage. It is definitely worth looking into. The designer Jim Salk delivers the best customer service in the industry in my opinion.

While I am very happy with the sound that Baetis is sending to my DAC, I think the simple truth is that music server designs & options have come a long way, and we now are fortunate to have several viable choices.

I very likely may have been just as happy with the Vault, or Salk or Antipodes, etc.

I did not have the opportunity to compare. I pulled the trigger with Baetis and am very happy with how my system sounds.

I don't think that it's a case that only one is good and the others are bad. I suspect that many of the options are good. And, that's a good thing for us - the consumers, and the industry.

I joined a'gon almost 15 years ago. Back then, I had the time to chase my tail with every last detail. Today, I just want to push the power button, and enjoy the music.

With the server options that are out there today, and will continue to rise, I/we are one step closer to that.

Barrelchief, that's exactly what I was alluding to in my last post. I suspect that, based on all the positive reviews for virtually every server out there, most servers do a very good to excellent job at "serving", even though they may use different methods to achieve their results. My specific comments about the Baetis lacking "special sauce" refers to the voluminous reviews and comments I've read that focus on Linear power supplies, fanless designs, sotm usb cards, stripped down OS and no bloated applications like Jriver, etc, as some of the keys to better server sound. The Baetis has none of this and yet still seems to offer very good sound. Perhaps, as I said earlier, just about any server can sound very good. I guess the only way we will know is when people actually compare these purpose-built servers to each other, and not to basic or even tricked out Apple products and Windows-based laptops.

Actually, let me not sell the Baetis short, as if they do nothing special. They do indeed, but differently, and claim their different methodology sounds better. They specifically focus on a "perfected" SPDIF-BNC output directly from a special motherboard. That's THEIR special sauce, but it is significantly different than most other server architecture.