Hi-
I think it is probably a good unit as far as sound, but overpriced and under-featured. SSD drives are still very expensive. The "interface" is clunky and inconvenient. One of the most important features when putting your CD's on a server is having a convenient method for access. Otherwise you can't enjoy your
The site makes a few unfounded claims:
1. That USB audio can't sound good and be audiophile quality.
2. That normal HD's also don't sound good
3. Wireless can't sound really good.
4. That PC audio can't sound good.
It's been well established that HD's sound better than CD's if the rip is done properly and a high quality transfer to the audio system is available.
In addition, USB can be of extremely high quality if it is set up properly. Pacific Valve refers to an "Absolute Sound" article, panning USB as not up to par; but if you actually go to the site, look at the comments after the article. They basically rip the methodology in the article to shreds, and show that the guy who wrote the article didn't understand even the basics about setting up a PC or USB for audio.
Same for wi-fi transfer. It can sound fantastic if you set it up properly.
At this stage, I think you can get a lot more bang for your buck by buying a dedicated music server PC. You can get a new PC with a TB or more of HD storage starting at about $300. You can also make it silent( fanless), but that will cost about another $200. Or use just about any old PC. If it is only used for music serving, it doesn't need to be powerful.
Adding good quality wi-fi or USB transfer will also cost several hundred dollars, but the total package can be done for less money than the Pacific Valve units, and with more storage.
In a year or two when SSD prices come down, you can replace the HD's with SSD's if you want.
The idea that PC's can't do high quality sound because "they're computational units" is inane. If you're decoding FLAC (which the CyberServer does), you're also running a "computational unit". One of the things you do when setting up a music server PC is make sure that all it does is transfer bits, and doesn't alter the files. You can get close to "bit perfect" transfer to your audio system with a bit of effort.
With a PC based unit you also have many more options for user interface and any software you might want to use on the PC, as well as updates and upgrades of the hardware in the future.
I've no doubt the CyberSever sounds good, but I think it is overpriced. I also find their sales pitch offensive - they basically claim that their unit is the only possible audiophile solution for a digital music server. Simply not true, and it gives me doubts about their credibility.
