Great thread. Thanks. I wanted to know how I can add my CD collection to your server/streamer. What ripper is recommended? Would one of the bulk Blu Ray rippers work as good as a single and if a single one, which one do you recommend with this unit.
Any ripper will work, but dbPoweramp is the best ripper bar none. It does error checking in a totally unique way. Checksum strategies on CD's are not the same as with computer programs on optical disks. The error-correction protocols on a CD are much more rudimentary as they were developed before computers started using optical discs and a one-bit error in a music file was not as critical as a one-bit error transferring a computer program (which could be critical).
When you rip with dbPoweramp, it compares your rip to the rips of everyone else who has ever ripped that same track. If the overwhelming majority of rips end up with the same checksum, it is assumed the rip is good. If your's differs from the majority, it is assumed your rip is defective and you have the option of ripping again. Simple but effective. Kind of ingenious if you ask me.
Can you rip directly to the unit using an app?
Yes. The StreamPlayer shows up as a network device on your computer just like any other device. So you can see the StreamPlayer's music folder (directory) and write to it just like any other disk on your computer. So you can move files back and forth by simply copying them to the music folder.
With dbPoweramp, you can set the program to save to a specific directory in a specific way. So, for example, you can decide you want all your files set up in a folder of each individual artist, inside of which you want a folder for each individual cd, inside of which you want all the music and album art files. You can also tell dbPoweramp what drive (StreamPlayer) and folder (music) you want it save to.
So when you insert a cd into your computer, all you have to do it hit "rip" and it will automatically be ripped to the StreamPlayer in the exact place and format you requested. It doesn't get much easier.
Sorry, very new to all of this still. Looking at Melco N1ZH or Aurender N100H. I'm using the Empirical Audio OSDE/SE with their short block USB device that cuts the 5V on the USB line. Would this be compatible? Thanks.
The specifications on Steve's DAC say it is USB Class 2.0 Audio compliant. There is no reason it should not work.
I hope this answers your questions.
- Jim