Portable Music Server -thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

Dan G. · « **on:** 17 Jan 2004, 12:52 am »

I was wondering if anyone could review my plans here for a portable audio server and let me know any flaws in my thinking.

I recently picked up an Acoustic Energy Aego p5 and will be using it as my primary system beause it is small, portable, and unobtrusive, and I will be on the move for the next year. I have about 200 CD's that I would like to regularly listen to, and I have decided (if feasible) to try something using my PC rather than lugging the discs. Here is what I have in mind:

using my laptop, I intend to purchase an external firewire Seagate 160GB HD (about $200), and rip (using Exact Audio Copy) my CD's to the external drive as portable storage.

I intend to use an upgraded sound card to output either analogue or digital to the Aego. From my research it seems that hte Echo Audio Indigo ($130) is highly regarded - it has built in D/A and seems to be thought to be acceptable for line out to a higher end audio system. PCMCIA seem to be preferred to USB based options (I am using a laptop, so PCI is not an option). I wa also considering the M-Audio Transport or Sonica, which would output digital and feed the DA in the Aego processor, but I have not heard the best things about USB audio devices, seems PCMCIA is preferred. I think honestly I would prefer digital output because it gives me more flexibility all else being equal, but from what I have read all else is not equal and the Echo is a superior performer eve nwith the analogue only limitation as compared to USB based digital alternatives.

Anyway, I would use Exact Audio Copy to rip my CD's to the external firewire drive, use Foobar2k for playback, and from the Echo Indigo out to my aego system.

Does this sounds feasible for fairly high quality audio? I am open to other reasonably priced and sized options. Am I missing any particular reason why this would NOT work? I am thinking that if down the road a move to a larger home audio system I can migrate teh external drive to a music server that might have better playback hardware if necessary, and I am liking the idea of not having to lug 200 CD's or use a CD changer for playback.

Any comments, critiques, etc. would be much appreciated.
Thanks and happy new year everybody!

Hantra · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 01:17 am »

This is a great idea Dan. In fact, you aren't the only one who has thought of it. I heard from a little birdie that someone might be coming out with a DAC that uses USB! Sounds like just the thing you need for that system. . I can guarantee you it will be extremely portable too.

B

JohnR · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 02:35 am »

You can get USB DACs, um... what's the name of the company

M-Audio?

Hantra · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 03:00 am »

Nahh man. . . I am saying that a real high-end company might be introducing one. That's the buzz around these parts anyway.

eico1 · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 03:31 am »

oh great, a real hi-end company, that's who we need building pc sound devices...

steve

moltosolo · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 03:32 am »

It's all depends on your budget.
Here are some very nice computer based digital source solutions.

RME Hammerfall DSP System
http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/product.cfm?Product_ID=1117

M-Audio Firewire 410
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.focus&ID=5f35def5b4107998b11119907053a313

Dan G. · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 05:55 am »

The Firewire 410 sounds interesting, although I have read elsewhere that the drivers are not too mature and there are compatibility issues.

Also, portability wise, the size is a bit more daunting, as is the need for an additional power supply. The idea that it is firewire and may tie up less CPU is interesting, but I would love to see more reviews of this product before taking the leap.

The Echo Indigo on the other hand seems almost universally well regarded, perhaps not as cutting edge, but more established. I welcome any opinions on this matter.

Hantra · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Jan 2004, 04:27 pm »

Quote from: eico1

oh great, a real hi-end company, that's who we need building pc sound devices...

steve

Look man. . I'm talking about a product that's already been proven in the marketplace, and will be adapted for USB use. It uses the very latest DAC's. NONE of the current crop of pro soundcards can say that. And it's probably going to come in cheaper than $400. Although I am not sure yet of any details. Like I said, I just heard the rumor from a credible source.

You need to stop thinking in terms of "PC sound devices" OR high-end.

Phat Phreddy · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 Jan 2004, 03:20 am »

Well I know M Barnes of Norh mentioned the idea of a PC based item...

To be honest if dealing with a PCI equipped PC the hammerfall cards from RME have very highly speced DAC's and are getting to the kind of quality that would make me happy...

As to the main meat of this thread I would advice you to look at J rivers media centre which can do EAC like 'digital secure' ripping and conversion to APE lossless audio all built in... It will also be a databaser and tagger with a online DB lookup and cover art retrieval (not perfect matching though)... Also supports ASIO out of the box (make sure you get an ASIO compatible soundcard to avoid KMixer resampling..