Hard Drive/Computer Audio at the SHOW and CES

Hack: That's reassuring. We definitely need more turntables out there. With 125MM copies of iTunes in use vinyl needs a chance to catch up ;-)

I've said it before: the industry is lame.

I spent my time at the Venetian and T.H.E. Show, I didn't bother with the LVCC where the consumer stuff is kept. You're interested in convenience, there's plenty of consumer-grade products to pick from that cater to that side of the market, Apple's webpage features some examples that compliment the iPod. Theta announced a gadget, and B&W have released the Zeppelin to cater to the 'pod crowd. This is the "industry" you value, that's fine with me.

The people on this site are interested in sound quality first and foremost, compromised source material is of little interest to us. And there's nothing lame about the sound of a well set up analog rig, but there's plenty lame about consumer digital. I suppose that's a different part of the "industry", I'm thankful it's still alive and kicking.

You know, Hack, that elitist attitude of yours is contributing to the death of high end. There are quite a few here that are interested in a very high quality music server. The OP did not say anything about mp3s or Ipods. And not all source material is available on vinyl. There does not seem to me to be any technical reason that a quality recording ripped from CD to a hard drive, and played back through a high end DAC cannot sound great. Some of us here are interested in a way to integrate computers into this process. The physical media is only a means to an end.

Swampwalker,

I don't have a problem with any media, and I use it all so I'm not an "elitist". I do think you ought to match the media to the appropriate gear, the gent mentioned iTunes and I just don't see how that plays well into a high end system. I have yet to hear any digital system match analogue, which implies the digital content is best used for either convenience or budgetary reasons. This is a site for audiophiles and music lovers, I don't see how preferring a more musical format would be considered out of the ordinary. Hey, I work in electronics (semiconductors) so you won't find anyone more interested in advancing the state of the art. That being said I'm not interested in going backwards, I love music.

Sammie, there is a good thread under digital.