Audiophile digital music setup

Hi, my hope for this thread is to collect thoughts on how to set up the ideal audiophile digital music setup.

Currently I use a tower PC (Vadim) with 4 internal hard discs to store my music. This is in FLAC (lossless) format with some MP3 also. Around 1TB (1000 GB) of music data. The software I use to organise/tag/play the files is Media Monkey 3.0, which allows extensive organising via ID3 (version 1 and 2) tags. It also allows use of multiple album artworks (e.g. album cover, booklet, media label etc), in high resolution rather than the standard resolution that many programs will automatically grab from the internet. I have an internal soundcard (Creative 7.1 X-FI Elite Pro) with the line out on the rear of the card connected via a cable (3.5mm stereo jack to 2 phono) to my amplifier (Marantz PM-66SE KI signature). Output from the amp is via a pair of B&W 601 (S2) loudspeakers.

Apart from the quality of the components, my main problems with the existing system are that the PC makes a bit of noise, and also that it uses too much electricity to justify having it on just to stream the music.

I'm planning to upgrade the system, and would welcome thoughts on the best way to get the FLAC files to the speakers. Budget no more than £10,000. I'm considering things like an external DAC connected to the PC, a standalone system like the Linn digital stream player, or any other alternatives. Obviously I'll be upgrading the amp and speakers. Ability to browse the album artwork is important.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

Non really.....10,000 quid is an awful lot of moey to spend on hifi.

You're well out of my league.

Wecome anyway!

Someone will be along in a moment to point you in the right direction.

 

MY system for audio streaming is perhaps a bit modest for you but anyway you might consider it and spend the savings on music or going to concerts etc..

I use a squeezebox duet and a Paradisea (modded) DAC to my pre. Data is kept on a QNAP network additional storage system that integrates well with squeezebox. This is plugged into my wireless network. The qnap is silent (no fan etc) and I keep it in the hall anyway. The music is stored on the qnap 1 tetra bit hard drive. I also have a back up on my laptop's external HD (just in case). The system is very convenient, easy to use and set up but for listening to music my LP12 and vinyl is much better. My consonance CP Player offers a better listening experience too. At the moment I am investigating how to improve on Squeezebox.

BTW the music is streamed from the QNAP no need to have the computer on!

 

Here's my 2p's FWIW :

1. Start at the computer. If it's going to be used solely for delivering the music then you don't need a lot of power. My little Samsung NC10 netbook will deliver 24/192 no problem. The lower the power, the lower the noise. Any quiet laptop will do the job fine.

2. Music storage. Your choice here is either a NAS box or external drives – either Firewire or USB. External drives are cheap, quiet and easily replaceable but will require you to do your own backups. A NAS box can be positioned away from the listening room and can be set up as a mirrored RAID array for automatic backup. That one boils down to ease of use and expense. NAS is easier to maintain and more expensive. Ultimately either will do.

3. The DAC. You must have a DAC. Here it gets a bit more complicated, I'm afraid. Bearing in mind your stated budget though, I would be inclined to think big! The thing that will inform your choice will be the file resolutions you envisage playing. There are four ways of getting the digital signal out of the computer :

USB – limited by generic drivers to 24/96. Some manufacturers are looking at writing their own to allow higher resolution files to be played but it is early days unless you look at some of the pro audio external soundcards. Good sound is available at the supported resolutions, but a bit limited.

Firewire – full resolution.

Spdif – If one is fitted it will normally be doubled up onto the headphone output, Limited to 24/96, requires a special adaptor. Not ideal but does isolate the DAC from the computer's electrical noise.

AES/EBU – either via a USB converter or internal soundcard. (Empirical Audio, Lynx, Juli@ etc) Internal soundcard is generally regarded as the best possible sound but does require a more powerful computer and the additional cost of the soundcard.

If it was me and bearing in mind your budget, I'd be looking at Weiss, for firewire, and the Berkely for aes, for starters.

So, Laptop with firewire outputs; NAS or external drives; Weiss Minerva or DAC2.

You may also like to have a little look around this site, starting at the Reference Server set-ups here : http://www.computeraudiophile.com/taxonomy_menu/2/11

The site does tend to be a tad Mac-centric, which would not suit your preference for Flac's. which brings me to my last point, namely lossless vs uncompressed. It is a whole rats nest of an argument so I'll restrict myself to saying that, IMHO, uncompressed files sound better than their lossless equivalents. I am not alone in this opinion, but there are plenty of people who would say I'm talking rubbish! Best to try it out for yourself and see what you think. Going uncompressed would open up the doors to Mac computers, iTunes and aiff/wav files. The advantage of iTunes is the availability of the 'Remote' software for the iPhone/iTouch, which will give you an extremely elegant remote control, should you deem one necessary.

Hope this helps.

Bob

 

Mac mini ,Itouch as remote control into a Weiss firewire dac,elegant and extremely goodsound quality.

 

A few thoughts...
My starting point would be an Atom powered netbook. The use bugger all power, are quiet and for use other than games and video encoding, they'll meet most normal uses. Get one with SSD and then add a decent external HD. That will sort out your storage and hosting.
For playback, I'd go for a Linn DS unit. I've heard a few streaming units and believe that the DS range really do have the best audio solution right now. A DS Accurate is around £4k.
Amp and speakers are then a personal choice. Chose your speakers first, then get an amp that will work with them. With nearly £6k to play with, there's a LOT of options.

 

£4k for a linn DS to play back some digital files? you must be kidding really!!!

squeezebox for £200 and spend the rest on a decent DAC... the LINN is massively overpriced for what it does.

 

According to yout budget, there is a very simple solution to your "problem". The very best DAC ever:
http://www.weiss-highend.ch/medea/index.html

Simple, right

 

In a £10k total budget, the computer should not take a huge chunk (say £500 give or take).

My personal opinion is that over £1 or 2k, differences in DACs are largely presentational. Buying something like a Weiss or Berkeley would be a mistake as both of those are going to take a huge chunk of your budget, leaving little for amps, speakers and foo*. I would recommend sticking to no more than £2k for the DAC, leaving around £7.5k for amp, speakers and foo.

No one here is going to be able to recommend speakers for you, particularly in that price bracket, as they are such a personal choice. I would recommend getting to some hifi dealers and/or hifi shows and listening to a broad range of speakers to see what floats your boat. Before taking the final plunge, arrange to audition at least 2 or 3 alternatives in your own room. Once you've settled on speakers the choice of amp will follow.

Most of all have fun spending your wedge

* equipment tables, speaker cables, mains cables, mains treatments etc - spend something or nothing on these depending on your preference

 

At this end of the market check out Zanash's plat alloy cables.....see what they do for you.

I would look into all these aspects and have a listen to different stuff.

 

Which DACs did you use in your comparison with the Linn DS?

 

Bel Canto Dac3, Cyrus DacX, Accuphase Dac20, Transcend Dax Decade, All were at least as competent (if with varying signatures), and cost considerably less. It would be naive to believe that the DAC in the LINN is anything special. Its priced to appeal to those looking for a neat, simple to use one box solution. But if your willing to put up with even a little more inconvenience, you can save money.

Its a niche product. Much like the transporter in that vain, in that you can equal it for less.

 

Wow, thanks for the advice so far!

A question about the Linn digital stream players - what exactly do they do? I mean they're more than just a DAC, aren't they?

 

I use a 7 year old mac pro with a lynx aes16ound card. Total value about £1600.
I the use it through my Msb DAC III and use my iPhone as a remote.

 

Hi

1) Buy a cheap NOS dac like Moodlab or Lite-AH
2) Buy a pair of active ATC SCM 100's

cheers

 

Quite agree.

I have about £6k of speakers, 5k of amps... and in front of it - a £150 squeezebox.

I use this to wirelessly stream music from the pc - which is another room, and can be as noisy as it likes.

It streams flac, mp3 whatever.

I'm sitting right now typing on a laptop, and in another window I have the squeezecenter software up as a webpage, giving me remote access to the music on the pc downstairs.

Squeezecenter the software you use with the squeezebox allows you to do everything you would want - playlists, view album art etc.

This kind of setup gives me complete control - cd's seem like some kind of eccentric antique to me now.

The Squeezebox has a good DAC in it, and I've been more than happy with it.

To max things out, some use an external DAC with the Squeezebox.


Stream the music, it makes the most sense ... IMO.

 

Much the same here Chris, except using iTunes instead of Squeezecenter and an Airport Express in place of the Squeezebox.
Sounds lovely into ESL57s

Oh, of course there is some hideously unmusical old amplifier designed by the white coat brigade stuck in the middle.

 

Yes, I think if I'd had a Mac and used Itunes extensively then I could have gone that way.

Squeezecenter and Itunes just dont get on well together unfortunately.