Grit, thanks for the suggestion - I will give that a try. I'm trying to read as many posts as I can in order to solve some of my issues. I've got the system up and running a bit more smoothly now. For example I plugged in a 16G thumb drive in the BDP2 as a scratch disk for the album art. The MM interface recognized it but didn't seem to want to set it as the scratch disk. Do I need to "Mount" it first? I attempted this but got error feedback and then I just clicked "scratch" and the feedback was "setting as scratch disk" but it seemed to stall right there with no further feedback. Overall I had a few crashes and had to reboot the BDP once or twice. In the end it seemed to be working. I'm using MPaD as the interface as well and the album artwork is extremely slow although it does seem to be populating.
I'm still contemplating installing an SSD in the BDP2 despite reading a few posts about 'noise'. I doubt I would notice the difference. Is there a particular protocol to follow for the installation? (James?)
So, I've read so far that I should format the SSD as Fat32 or NTFS before installing and also populate with music before I install. That might be a bit tricky (not to mention a fair bit of work). I've also read that some folks use their internal SSD as a regular network drive and simply 'move over' their tunes after its been installed. Is this possible?
Lastly, I'm in a dilemma about whether to use an AES cable between the BDP2 and BDA2, or whether USB is the way to go. I've read posts where USB is great but also that Bryston recommends the AES. Good AES cables are expensive and not that easy to come by whereas i'm finding USB may be a good option in terms of cost and availability Any feedback on this point would be great.
thanks for the comments.
Peter
From bottom to top:
Try both cables in your system at the same time. You can switch inputs and see what you like. I only tried optical, coax, and AES, and preferred the AES. Though in my case, the AES was substantially a better cable, so that may have had some impact. If I was in your shoes, I'd buy one each from Monoprice.com (very inexpensive) and see which you prefer. After that, consider spending more money on a nicer cable. That way, you're putting money in the format you most prefer.
I also installed an internal drive. Mine's an SSD, so there are no mechanical moving parts. I also have my BDP connected via CAT 6 to a switch and then to my server (Windows Server 2012 R2). I copied all my music files from there to the SSD in by BDP. I also can't remember if I formatted it before or which format I used. As I tear computers apart for fun, it wasn't really a difficulty or concern for me. I do remember that I followed the YouTube video Chris Rice from Bryston put out on how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmafbFKnWWwIn the end, I can't hear any difference between whats on the SSD inside the BDP and what's on my server 25' away. That being said, I have had to take my server down at times. Having a local copy on the BDP means I never have to worry about being able to access my music. If I have power to my BDP, I can listen to all my music. Also, there are PLENTY of good/fast USB drives these days. You could just as easily plug one into the back of the BDP and skip the internal drive.
Also, I added the worlds smallest (in physical size) USB drive I could for my scratch drive. Plugged it into the back of the BDP, followed those directions linked above, and never looked back. I think it's just 32GB, and my library is about 2000-3000 songs (probably 200-300 CDs).
For the interface, I used to use MPDroid (Android OS app), but with Manic Moose, i usually now just use the Bryston built-in "Max" interface. I can't really comment on MPOD or other Apple stuff. Sorry.
I'm sure this already came up (and I've forgotten or missed it). Are you up to date with the most recent Manic Moose release?
- Garrett
