I’ve been playing around with PC audio for awhile now and need to stop wasting time and get serious before my collection gets any more out of control. I know this has come up before but I’m having no luck with the search function.

I’m looking for recommendations on software to rip, manage and playback audio files on my VISTA PC. No desire to put anything on a portable player other than perhaps a laptop.

Originally I was just using the built-in WMP ability to rip CDs to WMA files but recently I’ve been using Exact Audio Copy (EAC) to rip them to FLAC on my network server. For playback and management I just started playing with Media Monkey (MM) which seems pretty cool but before I invest a bunch of time in re-ripping everything to FLAC and using Media Monkey to organize everything I wanted to know what people are using and any advantages it may have over the above. I’m Generally of the Unix Philosophy of using simple discrete utilities that do one thing really well and then stringing them together to do complex jobs, but I’m willing to bite the bullet this time if it’s worth it, Media Monkey, for example.

A couple specific questions. Is there really any advantage to using EAC over MM to Rip or am I just wasting a little time switching between them? Also both MM and EAC use the Free db which seems to have many holes in it for the things I listen to any other options?

Also, presently I’m using the onboard SoundBlaster audio from the MSI Diamond P7N motherboard. Will I likely see much improvement if I get a dedicated soundcard and if so any recommendations?

Additionally, is there any advantage to getting dedicated media server other than my network server?

Thanks again for advice already given elsewhere and in advance for the help here. I’ve already saved lots of money and time by listening to the advice around these parts.

Cheers,
Dean

As far as a dedicated soundcard goes, I have a Turtle Beach Montego 7.1 Dolby Digital soundcard in my other computer and absolutely love it. I also have experience with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi and I had to return it because it broke down and replaced it with the aforementioned. Right now I'm currently using my onboard sound on my new computer but that's only because I use a Tritton AX360 5.1 surround sound headset with its own digital decoding box. I wouldn't touch any soundcard without DDL (Dolby Digital Live).

I'm going to tag along on this one as I am in a similar situation.

The last time I researched this, I was under the impression that you got the biggest quality gain from going to an outboard soundcard because the pc is a noisy place to do DAC conversion.

Hmmm, I too have heard that, but if that was really the case, you couldn't trust any any computations from your CPU or GPU either. I've never thought that deeply about it but the DAC is just another kind of CPU (in a sense) and why should it be more susceptible to interference than other PUs.

Or are we talking about after it gets converted to analogue? I'm still doubtful but that would at least start to make more sense.

I have to second the vote for the Turtle Beach Card. I picked one up a while back (though I think I paid closer to $60+tax), and it has been great. Of course it replaced a crappy realtek onboard sound source, so the upgrade to the optical out was a night and day change. You can probably pay a lot more for a higher quality card, but I'm quite happy with it.

Can't help you on the latest and greatest file manager. I still use Winamp!

Yes Fred it is true that you can experience noise created from the moving parts inside a computer when using a soundcard, I've experienced that "tingling" noise but it was caused from an extremely noisy CPU fan. It's generally recommended to install a soundcard in the lowest possible slot on your motherboard so it's furthest away from everything else.

Yeah, my asstastic Creative soundcard has some of those issues. When the GPU starts up, I start hearing it in the headphones.

Ferget it, I'm getting an ASUS.

So external cards sound like the way to go. Got it. As I often do, I over analyzed and focused on the risk to the computational ability of the DAC itself, but my afterthought about the analogue side picking up noise makes more sense after hearing from you folks.

This board should enter a world record for the number of technical issues covered by a single board.

Most of us just make fart noises with our hands under our armpits...

Well, that's yet another issue ticked off. Guinness, her we come!!!

Due to my disability I can't make fart noises with my armpits so I just do it the way it was meant to be done . Funny thing that makes my friends laugh their head off, is that whenever I do, I scare myself because I don't know it's coming

I can imagine so.

LOL... truth be told, I've had so many shoulder problems of late, I think if I tried to do that right now I'd end up with rotator cuff surgery...

Looks like others covered it nicely, but yep I was talking about interference with the analog side.

Mark I think you've found the perfect sig!

Thanks for the feedback on the soundcard. Looks like a separate card may be in order. Now if I get one I’m going to be twice as pissed off about the time it took me to get the onboard audio working on both PCs.

I just spotted this article linked over on the Audioholics forum.

http://www.stereophile.com/features/308mp3cd/index.html

Unless I can find a compelling reason not to I think I’m going to stick with using FLAC for storing the files.

Now I just need to settle on management software. Media Monkey is looking pretty good for both management and playback. Does anyone have any other recommendations or know of any reasons not to use Media Monkey?

Yes, Andrew; it's after the digital to analog conversion would happen inside the computer that the noisy computer environment could affect the signal. So, one idea would be to take the digital output from the USB port to an external converter and then feed the analog into a receiver(which didn't have a USB input to take the digital output directly from the computer). I've used a Xitel hi-fi link to do this for several years for the purpose of listening to streaming classical music stations from all over the world.

I also use a Xitel hi-fi link and have been for many years and have never had a problem with it, even at a 60 ft. run from upstairs to the basement; they are great units.

I assume you want to connect your PC soundcard to your HiFi? I suggest an alternative - try a network music player such as a Squeezebox. You can connect it to your PC or server via wired or wireless ethernet, and to your amp via analogue (RCA) or digital (optical or co-ax)

The DAC in the Squeezebox is better than most (if not all) soundcards, and you don't have to worry about interference from the computer. You can also put the computer elsewhere in the house, so any noise it makes won't be a problem either.

You would also need to install their Squeezcenter software, which controls the Squeezebox, indexes your music, and provides a web front end for browsing your music, and setting up playlists etc. It's written in Perl, but is simple to install. The Squeezebox also has a remote.

http://www.slimdevices.com/

As for ripping software, I also use Exact Audio copy to create lossless FLAC files, and it does a great job. I have never used MM but others on the Slimdevices forums do. I use MP3Tag to edit the tag information in the FLAC files, that is used by Squeezecenter for indexing.

It also supports internet radio

Shane

Having said that, I just checked out the the Xitel website and their stuff looks really cool too

Thanks Cam and Shane for the info on Xitel and Squeezebox. Presently I do have my music on a network server and am just using the onboard Sound Blaster audio. However, I’m liking the idea less and less of tying up one of my computers for playing music.

@ Shane - are you saying that Squeezecenter supports internet radio. That’s one thing I presently like about Media Monkey is that it also supports Shoutcast which I use all the time.

Yes, it supports Shoutcast, Live365 and radioio, and subscribed services from Pandora and Rhapsody. Check their wiki at http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/InternetRadio

Dean, you could also look into a NAS(network attached storage)to free up a PC. I use the linksys NAS200.

It also supports adding your own stations by simply adding the URL into your favorites list.

The only drawback is that a Squeezebox is expensive. $450 plus for the new model with the color LCD screen built right into the remote so you don't have to try and stare across the room to choose your music.

Still, I have the old version and if speakers are not toys, then the Squeezebox is my favorite toy purchase ever.

The Squeezebox "Classic" is still $299 US

Shane