Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Help me build a music server!

Wow, I feel like such a noob!

So how are the music files on the server converted from zeros and ones into the land of analog signal?

This is the reason I've been putting off building a computer based music "system" for playback!

I work with the most complex music production software in the world for a living and yet I'm a bit lost here.

Is there proprietary hardware that does the conversion to analog from the files that are streaming from the server? I'm assuming that the server just stores the files and that the software plays and organizes the files. So what is hooked up to the stereo amp if not a DAC of some sort??

I would definitely like to have multi-room server capabilities.

My main concerns are that the audio playback be high quality (cd quality and higher) and that the music is easily backed up on removable hard drives for safety and storage.

Thanks! This is really a lot harder than turntables and cd/dvd players and shelves of records and cds/dvds!

I just need to grok with the whole idea of music media that has shed it's tactile, physical form and is now just zeros and ones to be streamed from a remote hard drive.

Makes my head hurt!

A receiver of some sort. The only place where I think it gets complicated is when you have multiple places you may want to stream to that have their own receivers. With receivers becoming network aware, this issue should go away long term. All you would need is a streaming app that you can put on a networked computer somewhere.

My biggest beef is the fact that iTunes does not automatically rip an album as a disc image so that it plays with the right amount of space between tracks.

Also, if an album has segues (like almost all of Frank Zappa's albums) it puts a gap between songs where there should be none.

Of course, I can manually do it but, that would take forever!

I want the ability to play an entire album or just tracks from them.

I've finally come around to the way iTunes stores and organizes tracks. At first I hated it because it forces you to work like it wants you to work... a very unMac like way of working.

That and the fact that it is primarily set up for crappy mp3's and Apples iTune store (worthless garbage).

I'm sure there're gotta be 3rd party software that will run on a Mac for just music playback/organization though.

A Mac Mini with a couple of large hard drives should be perfect for music only server applications.

But I'm open to using a Windoze machine to do the work if it is reliable and easy.

And just typing that is blasphemy in my household!

So, I prefer to stay with Mac, but since they piss me off so much with the whole iTunes monopoly and syncing up everything to force me into they're way of operating that I'm willing to try other options.

I bought the top of the line iTouch (talk about an impulse buy!) when I was at the Apple store buying a new Mac and I have yet to use it for music, mainly because I want to use uncompressed files only and I'm too lazy to rip and convert yet.

That and I'm pretty sure that the conversion from the iTouch is horrid compared to some other, better way of docking to the hi-fi.

I will never, ever use earbuds...

Okay. So the receiver is getting the files via wi-fi and then converts to analog at the stereo amp? That makes sense.

I just want to use the best DACs possible.

I'm assuming that most "receiver" devices have analog and digital outs.

I have some very high end DACs that work as stand alone hardware, so that's probably the best bet...

I'm learning a lot here!

If the DAC is o for output (which it is), then you use the DAC between the computer and the stereo amp, as you thought. Where you don't use it is getting the record, say, onto the computer. That would be an ADC. Since it's already digital as a CD, well, then, there's no DAC (or ADC) involved at all.

As for iTunes, by definition, there IS no space between tracks on a CD. There is a way to join tracks together in iTunes to avoid the gap, too.

Also, there ain't no reason you can't use iTunes to rip as Apple lossless, which gets you where you want to go.

Now, if you want to complain about how slow iTunes is, I'm with you right there.

More data on the join tracks command:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA27612?viewlocale=en_US

Have you considered a VortexBox?
http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/

I am thinking of getting one.

But albums (that dying art form) do have very specific pacing between tracks. When you master a project the space between is crucial for the feel and flow of a recording. Sometime it's just two seconds other times more... but it's very important to the rhythm and pacing of the tracks.




Yeah, just select 0 seconds I think. That might work with tracks that segue but, I've had weird pops and anomalies show up after burning a cd from tracks in iTunes like that.

I use Toast for all my cd burning because iTunes is just too flaky and amateur for my needs.




There's a lot of debate about whether Apple lossless really is lossless! I'm thinking that any compressed format is compromised... but on the other hand, I'm very intrigued by Flac files.




It sure has gotten clunky and uglier with each update!

It's a double edge sword. I'm happy that Apple is doing so well with it's consumer products, I just think most of them suck (iTunes store, iPod etc.) and only use the pro level gear they make.

That's why I'm open to Windows 7, especially if I can customize the software to work the way I want it to without compromising the fidelity of the audio.

I am blessed/cursed with ears that can easily tell the difference between compressed/lossy formats and uncompressed files. Even 16 bit sounds better than any mp5/acc file that I've heard.

And now that storage space is really not such a concern, I would rather not convert cds to compressed files just to save space since sound quality is way more important to me than convenience.

Cool Henry, those look like they're pretty much plug n play.

Terry - I am also with Dean (Grunt) on using EAC to rip to FLAC as accurately as possible. Downside - I don't believe it is available on Mac. Someone please correct me if I am wrong on that one.

The reason I went down the though road that I did, is because you said USB/FireWire. DACs that interface that way will only work when directly connected to a computer. These little stand-only clients mostly have analog outs. If they have digital it's going to be S/PDIF. So the DAC would have to support that too.