[James Tanner]

Thanks James!

But I never really got a reply to my question regarding the eSATA connection and why it was chosen over USB. Was it necessary to do that because the BD drive is inherently eSATA or because of some other reason?

Also, would it be prudent to say that discs played directly will sound equally good as BOT-1 -ripped versions? Would the BDP be able to do all the error-correction on-the-fly?

I guess what I am asking is this - would the BDP / BOT combination work as something of a "memory player" where the disc is read much faster than normal read speed, loaded into memory onboard and then read from that memory?

I will ask Chris.

james

[unincognito]

Thanks James!

But I never really got a reply to my question regarding the eSATA connection and why it was chosen over USB. Was it necessary to do that because the BD drive is inherently eSATA or because of some other reason?

Also, would it be prudent to say that discs played directly will sound equally good as BOT-1 -ripped versions? Would the BDP be able to do all the error-correction on-the-fly?

I guess what I am asking is this - would the BDP / BOT combination work as something of a "memory player" where the disc is read much faster than normal read speed, loaded into memory onboard and then read from that memory?

Hi

We are trying to keep the first generation of the product as simple as possible and using esata is the best way of doing this.  The playback and ripping features should sonically be identical, the difference being rather then being ripped to system memory (playback) vs ripped to a drive for permanent storage.  The CD isn't actually read on the fly but gets ripped into system memory and then played back from there.  The down side is you can't just start playing say the third track right away, but you can start playing the songs as they are ripped to memory.  The end result should be lower jitter then a traditional cd player, plus the benefits of the BDP.  We are currently looking in open source projects like cdparanoia and the various options that these projects provide for error correction.

Cheers,
Chris

[R. Daneel]

Hi

We are trying to keep the first generation of the product as simple as possible and using esata is the best way of doing this.  The playback and ripping features should sonically be identical, the difference being rather then being ripped to system memory (playback) vs ripped to a drive for permanent storage.  The CD isn't actually read on the fly but gets ripped into system memory and then played back from there.  The down side is you can't just start playing say the third track right away, but you can start playing the songs as they are ripped to memory.  The end result should be lower jitter then a traditional cd player, plus the benefits of the BDP.  We are currently looking in open source projects like cdparanoia and the various options that these projects provide for error correction.

Cheers,
Chris

Excellent information!

But tell me, a computer drive reading discs at full speed of 48x the normal speed would be quite noisy, correct?

Also, is the amount of available memory in the BDP enough to store an entire CD?

[unincognito]

fair enough, but it only takes a few minutes to read in the contents; onces the disc has been read in then there is no noise as the drive will spin down to regular speed and eventually stop all together a few minutes later.  Its another pro/con to our idea and what we wish to do, sure its going to make more noise then a standard cd player at first, but within minutes its going to make less noise then a standard cd player.  A BDP-2 contains 2048MB of system memory, the firmware as it stands only needs as much as 200MB to function leaving 1848MB available for temporary storage such as the contents of an audio cd.  An audio cd which can only contain 700MB worth of data, well below out 1800+MB limit of the existing hardware configuration.

Cheers,
Chris

[R. Daneel]

fair enough, but it only takes a few minutes to read in the contents; onces the disc has been read in then there is no noise as the drive will spin down to regular speed and eventually stop all together a few minutes later.  Its another pro/con to our idea and what we wish to do, sure its going to make more noise then a standard cd player at first, but within minutes its going to make less noise then a standard cd player.  A BDP-2 contains 2048MB of system memory, the firmware as it stands only needs as much as 200MB to function leaving 1848MB available for temporary storage such as the contents of an audio cd.  An audio cd which can only contain 700MB worth of data, well below out 1800+MB limit of the existing hardware configuration.

Cheers,
Chris

Thank you for your time Chris!

Cheers!
Antun

[R. Daneel]

Hi Chris and James!

I do have one suggestion for the future BOT-1 unit. Perhaps it would be possible to have a slot on the back panel for an HDD. This is usually found on cheaper NAS solutions like the ones from D-Link. You simply open the cover and slide the HDD along the guiding rails with the SATA connector facing towards the unit until the HDD clicks into place. You could then have a cover with two screws. This could also be implemented into your BDP series I think and it would eliminate the need for the removal of top cover to access the HDD.

Cheers!
Antun

[PETE6737]

Hello All,
I am looking at purchasing the BDP2 and BDA 2 combo in the next couple of months. I then get word of the BOT 1. I am curious if the BOT-1 will rip SACD , Bluray Audio and DVD-A audio, either right away or in the furture...otherwise I'll have to keep my Oppo
BDP-105...Just askin.....  Pete

[klao]

FYI, rumour has it that Weiss MAN301 will be able to rip SACD.

[JBLMVBC]

Question perhaps already asked but here it is: can I use the BOT1 as a transport for CDs connected to the BDA1? Thank you.

[unincognito]

Question perhaps already asked but here it is: can I use the BOT1 as a transport for CDs connected to the BDA1? Thank you.

correction

If there is a BDP-2 in between the two, then yes

[JBLMVBC]

If there is a BDP in between the two, then yes

Even a BDP1? Thank you.

[R. Daneel]

Even a BDP1? Thank you.

Aooarently not. The BOT-1 will have an eSATA connection and will connect to the BDP-2 that way. The BDP-1 does not have this connection and so the BOT-1 will not be able to work with it.

I asked Chris why that was and he replied their intention was to keep the device as simple as possible and one way to do is was to use eSATA interface which is native to the optical drive used in the BOT-1.

Cheers!
Antun

[JBLMVBC]

Aooarently not. The BOT-1 will have an eSATA connection and will connect to the BDP-2 that way. The BDP-1 does not have this connection and so the BOT-1 will not be able to work with it.

I asked Chris why that was and he replied their intention was to keep the device as simple as possible and one way to do is was to use eSATA interface which is native to the optical drive used in the BOT-1.

Cheers!
Antun

Thank you for the info...   

[shpritz]

Been pretty quiet on this thread for a while.... Any updates on where you are at with the BOT-1 and a possible release date. I want one!!!!!!!!

[James Tanner]

Been pretty quiet on this thread for a while.... Any updates on where you are at with the BOT-1 and a possible release date. I want one!!!!!!!!

Hi

On hold till the new BDP software is ready for prime time.

james

[shpritz]

HumBug......   lol

[R. Daneel]

Hi

On hold till the new BDP software is ready for prime time.

james

Hi James!

I thought the Manic Moose firmware supported BOT-1. When is the new firmware due to be released?

Also, can we expect the BOT-1 to be capable of more than playing and ripping CDs? Would it be possible to listen to and rip DVDs burned with high resolution WAV like the ones from Reference recordings? For me that would be the ultimate "expression" of the BOT-1 - a dedicated high quality disc player and ripper.

In one of your earlier posts, you mentioned the retail price would be somewhere around 1300 dollars. Is it still the margin you're aiming at?

What about the guarantee? Will you be able to apply a 5-year guarantee on BOT-1 as well?

I suspect BOT-1 will be a rare product because of it's specific application. But I take it will be available in Europe as well, right?

One final thing. Chris mentioned that once the disc is loaded into BOT-1, it will immediately start reading it and buffering it into the BDP-2 during which you won't be able to use any of the controls - such as skip to the next song. Some of us still record CDs the old analogue way and I can see how this could be a problem for some. More of an annoyance than a problem really but perhaps it would be possible to allow for user how the disc will be buffered - all-at-once or play-from-disc. BOT-1 has most likely been designed from the start to buffer the data into the BDP-2 like computers do but I think play-from-disc should be possible.

This is probably a lame analogy but portable CD players with anti-shock buffer allow for skipping to the next track even while the data is being buffered. Once you press skip, it stops buffering and accepts the command. It then starts to buffer the song you are listening too. The memory in CD players was small though, a few Megabytes. Minidisc machines used the same system.

Cheers!
Antun

[unincognito]

Hi James!

I thought the Manic Moose firmware supported BOT-1. When is the new firmware due to be released?

Also, can we expect the BOT-1 to be capable of more than playing and ripping CDs? Would it be possible to listen to and rip DVDs burned with high resolution WAV like the ones from Reference recordings? For me that would be the ultimate "expression" of the BOT-1 - a dedicated high quality disc player and ripper.

In one of your earlier posts, you mentioned the retail price would be somewhere around 1300 dollars. Is it still the margin you're aiming at?

What about the guarantee? Will you be able to apply a 5-year guarantee on BOT-1 as well?

I suspect BOT-1 will be a rare product because of it's specific application. But I take it will be available in Europe as well, right?

One final thing. Chris mentioned that once the disc is loaded into BOT-1, it will immediately start reading it and buffering it into the BDP-2 during which you won't be able to use any of the controls - such as skip to the next song. Some of us still record CDs the old analogue way and I can see how this could be a problem for some. More of an annoyance than a problem really but perhaps it would be possible to allow for user how the disc will be buffered - all-at-once or play-from-disc. BOT-1 has most likely been designed from the start to buffer the data into the BDP-2 like computers do but I think play-from-disc should be possible.

This is probably a lame analogy but portable CD players with anti-shock buffer allow for skipping to the next track even while the data is being buffered. Once you press skip, it stops buffering and accepts the command. It then starts to buffer the song you are listening too. The memory in CD players was small though, a few Megabytes. Minidisc machines used the same system.

Cheers!
Antun

Hi Antun,

OUr initial version of the BOT-1 that we have planned will be BDP-2 only compatible, but should be south of a thousand dollars; infact it should cost roughly the same as a BUC-1.  Manic Moose is being developed from the start with the expectation of the additional features that we have toyed with in Loony Loon (the current stable firmware) and should integrate with fewer issues. 

Initially the BOT-1 will do cd's, but with help of end users we have to add additional support for as many types of media as possible.  Due to keeping cost down and unable to find a sata drive that will read SACD we likely won't support the format.  With that said, audio from DVD's and other formats should be possible as there are many open source programs to take advantage of ripping audio from these forms of media.

Buffering the audio cd into system memory allows us to remove any jitter caused by playing back directly from the optical drive and thus allowing us to use off the shelf hardware for the drive and thus bringing the final cost down.  We did come to the same conclusion that the 60-120 seconds would be annoying, however the sonic results and additional benefits; one of which was pointed out to me during a demo, that being able to go straight from say track 2 to track 9 without pushing the next track button seven times.  Also not the focus of the BOT-1.

The BOT-1 will be a unique product for sure and is mainly to introduce end users that aren't comfortable with digital audio into using a BDP to store there digital library.  The idea is with a BDP-2 and a BOT-1 you'll have a "traditional" cd player like system and slowly become acquainted with the additional features and hopefully eventually use the BDP as a BDP along with as a method for ripping there music library to a hard drive.

Finally the warranty will likely be the same as the BCD-1 which I believe was three year warranty, and will be available where ever the BDP-2 is sold.

I hope this clears things up

Cheers,
Chris

[alexone]

Chris,

3 years warranty was on moving parts, 5 years for digital circuits and 20 years for analog circuits.

correct?

al.

[unincognito]

Chris,

3 years warranty was on moving parts, 5 years for digital circuits and 20 years for analog circuits.

correct?

al.

Hi Al,

I do believe you are correct and ten years on the speakers.  Keep in mind the bot-1 will essentially be a drive inside one of our enclosures, all the magic takes place in a BDP.  We are going this hours to try and keep cost down and customers options open.

Cheers
Chris