I am grudgingly doing the digital thing...

[Redboy]

...and you can't make me like it!! 😒


Fifteen months ago, I sold my Bel Canto CD2 because I knew I needed a push to get started ripping my CDs... That didn't work!

I thought I'd try a streaming service, but I haven't gotten around to it. I listen to the radio, instead.

I have tried (honestly!) to read and learn and understand about setting up a music server but it's all so gosh darn awful to read -- my brain shuts down in mere minutes! Computer audio, yuck!! It's like an oxymoron...


But now I'm committed!

I just paid for an SGC sonicTransporter i5 CDR with a 1TB SSD drive. That should arrive soon. Now (as I understand it), I need to figure out an endpoint streamer and a DAC of some sort (don't laugh -- I don't own one!). I've done a little reading and am intrigued by the NOS dacs from Border Patrol and Audio Note, but I am sure there are zillions of other options that will hurt my brain. 🤕

Oh, and I need to choose a software solution to drive it all, too. Roon? 🙄

Crap. This is gonna be painful.


(help?)

 

[Thermionics]

...and you can't make me like it!! 😒


Fifteen months ago, I sold my Bel Canto CD2 because I knew I needed a push to get started ripping my CDs... That didn't work!

I thought I'd try a streaming service, but I haven't gotten around to it. I listen to the radio, instead.

I have tried (honestly!) to read and learn and understand about setting up a music server but it's all so gosh darn awful to read -- my brain shuts down in mere minutes! Computer audio, yuck!! It's like an oxymoron...


But now I'm committed!

I just paid for an SGC sonicTransporter i5 CDR with a 1TB SSD drive. That should arrive soon. Now (as I understand it), I need to figure out an endpoint streamer and a DAC of some sort (don't laugh -- I don't own one!). I've done a little reading and am intrigued by the NOS dacs from Border Patrol and Audio Note, but I am sure there are zillions of other options that will hurt my brain. 🤕

Oh, and I need to choose a software solution to drive it all, too. Roon? 🙄

Crap. This is gonna be painful.


(help?)

Whelp, if it makes any difference, I'm very happy with my old-skool Adcom GDA-600 NOS DAC, although I need to do a couple of surgeries to allow it to consume 24/96 digital content (currently limited to 16/48). The best part is I only spent $75 for the DAC and another $75 for the signal-path updates. Add the eventual CS8414 / DF1704 upgrades and I'm only out a total of $300 for a genuine PCM-63-based multibit DAC that supports modern digital formats.

(oh, and it works amazingly well with my Raspberry Pi / HiFiBerry DIGI / MoOde streamer)

-D

 

[Redboy]

Whelp, if it makes any difference, I'm very happy with my old-skool Adcom GDA-600 NOS DAC, although I need to do a couple of surgeries to allow it to consume 24/96 digital content (currently limited to 16/48). The best part is I only spent $75 for the DAC and another $75 for the signal-path updates. Add the eventual CS8414 / DF1704 upgrades and I'm only out a total of $300 for a genuine PCM-63-based multibit DAC that supports modern digital formats.

(oh, and it works amazingly well with my Raspberry Pi / HiFiBerry DIGI / M0ode streamer)

-D

See? It hurts to read and digest that, but I did it, whereas before I would have skipped a thread like this one. Thanks @Thermionics!

Drinking from the fire hose, here.

 

[airdronian]

Really ? This ? sonicTransporter i5

That's a pretty nice start IMO. Jumping in with both feet as they say. They give you a 60 day trial of Roon it looks like.

How do you plan on connecting to your endpoint ? Wired ? Wireless ?

 

[Redboy]

Actually, it’s this one, which is the same computer but with a CD drive for all the ripping ahead of me...

I haven’t settled on the endpoint configuration yet, but looking at one of the Rendus, maybe.

 

[Olson_jr]

Big fan of the SonicTransporter, Rendus and of Roon.

 

[Redboy]

Big fan of the SonicTransporter, Rendus and of Roon.

This is encouraging. In a crowded, complicated field I have a lot to learn yet, but the unit I bought was priced attractively and seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck. To be perfectly honest, I think the sonicTransporter is pretty ugly but I hope to tuck it away in a closet somewhere, and then hide the endpoint behind my tubes somewhere.

I am not opposed to spending a bit more on the outset to get high quality and solid performance, but I am leary of investing too heavily in "new" technology.

How do you plan on connecting to your endpoint ? Wired ? Wireless ?

Good question, and I don't want the (mostly tongue-in-cheek) tone of my first post to discourage good input from others, because I really would like some suggestions. I don't know what I don't know, at this point!

 

[MikeyFresh]

Good question, and I don't want the (mostly tongue-in-cheek) tone of my first post to discourage good input from others, because I really would like some suggestions. I don't know what I don't know, at this point!

I think the microRendu and ultraRendu both offer superb bang for the buck and flexibility too in that they offer several different operating modes, so you would not be obligated to jump fully in with an expensive option like Roon right off the bat.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you could get started with a different operating mode such as Squeezelite or DLNA/UPnP, and upgrade to the pricier Roon solution later on. The Sonore streamers are VERY easily configured for any of those modes with just a few clicks.

I'm glad you mentioned the opening statements as mostly tongue-in-cheek, because I've seen your work and it is so much more complex and difficult than what you are embarking on here, it ain't even funny. This will be a piece of cake by comparison.

 

[Redboy]

I think the microRendu and ultraRendu both offer superb bang for the buck and flexibility too in that they offer several different operating modes, so you would not be obligated to jump fully in with an expensive option like Roon right off the bat.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but you could get started with a different operating mode such as Squeezelite or UPnP, and upgrade to the pricier Roon solution later on. The Sonore streamers are VERY easily configured for any of those modes with just a few clicks.

I was hoping this might be the case. Thanks for confirming.

Here's a really rube question... Since the sonicTransporter will be the first thing to arrive, can I jump in and start ripping CDs to it even before getting the rest of my sh$t together? Given the onerous task ahead, I would like to get started but I would also very much like to do this right, so as to avoid doing it twice.

I'm glad you mentioned the opening statements as mostly tongue-in-cheek, because I've seen your work and it is so much more complex and difficult than what you are embarking on here, it ain't even funny. This will be a piece of cake by comparison.

Heh. It's all a bit overwhelming to me at the moment because it's kind of like learning a new language, and my preferred learning style is more "cultural immersion" over cracking open the classroom primer! I'll get there eventually, but it's not my favorite subject.

 

[airdronian]

I would think you could start ripping right away, that has nothing to do with playback. I've never used a Sonore product, but i'd assume there will be several choices for you... such as what format you will rip to. I suppose FLAC is most popular today. No MP3 !!!

Once you have experienced the joy of ripping your collection the first thing I would suggest to do is back it up. I imagine Sonore will have made the ripping process relatively painless, but you only want to have to do that once. And then just add to your collection as things arrive.

See what the Sonore documentation tells you.

 

[watt]

Just curious, Redboy, about what prompted the move from CDs to files. I'm curious about your perspective since you don't want to do it.

This isn't the opening move in an attempt to talk you out of it. I'm just curious.

 

[Redboy]

@dsnyder0cnn, thank you! I'm going to be reading the last several posts here very carefully, and digesting. I will most certainly have more questions!

 

[Redboy]

Just curious, Redboy, about what prompted the move from CDs to files. I'm curious about your perspective since you don't want to do it.

This isn't the opening move in an attempt to talk you out of it. I'm just curious.

One of my main motivators here is to get the CDs and their cases out of the way, but I would also like to start discovering more music again! My collection's gotten a little stale, and I think a streaming service coupled with a digital copy of my music library might get me back into the music. I don't love the idea of "the algorithms" tracking me when I am shopping online, but I do understand that there may be some benefit to me as well, if I play my cards right.

 

[Thermionics]

@MikeyFresh - you may want to weigh in on this thread...

 

[mhardy6647]

I got this far last week...

 

[MikeyFresh]

@MikeyFresh - you may want to weigh in on this thread...

I already did above before going out to dinner!

Since the sonicTransporter will be the first thing to arrive, can I jump in and start ripping CDs to it even before getting the rest of my sh$t together? Given the onerous task ahead, I would like to get started but I would also very much like to do this right, so as to avoid doing it twice.

Absolutely, no reason why not, especially if one of the overall goals is to get rid of those jewel cases. You will rip the CDs directly to the sonicTransporter and that's it, from then on in they will be accessible from the hard drive. I believe the sonicTransporter only rips CDs to the FLAC format, and that makes perfect sense as it's what you will want to use, it saves 40% of the storage space required with uncompressed formats like WAV, while being completely lossless/transparent to the original source... bit perfect reconstruction of the original CD on playback.

Get started on that job and eventually it will be done!

 

[watt]

One of my main motivators here is to get the CDs and their cases out of the way, but I would also like to start discovering more music again! My collection's gotten a little stale, and I think a streaming service coupled with a digital copy of my music library might get me back into the music. I don't love the idea of "the algorithms" tracking me when I am shopping online, but I do understand that there may be some benefit to me as well, if I play my cards right.

I hear you. I like my CDs and their cases, though! (Until I have to move all of them.)

 

[MikeyFresh]

I got this far last week...

View attachment 20728

You've installed MinimServer on that bad boy, right?

 

[UncleBingo]

...and you can't make me like it!! 😒


Fifteen months ago, I sold my Bel Canto CD2 because I knew I needed a push to get started ripping my CDs... That didn't work!

I thought I'd try a streaming service, but I haven't gotten around to it. I listen to the radio, instead.

I have tried (honestly!) to read and learn and understand about setting up a music server but it's all so gosh darn awful to read -- my brain shuts down in mere minutes! Computer audio, yuck!! It's like an oxymoron...


But now I'm committed!

I just paid for an SGC sonicTransporter i5 CDR with a 1TB SSD drive. That should arrive soon. Now (as I understand it), I need to figure out an endpoint streamer and a DAC of some sort (don't laugh -- I don't own one!). I've done a little reading and am intrigued by the NOS dacs from Border Patrol and Audio Note, but I am sure there are zillions of other options that will hurt my brain. 🤕

Oh, and I need to choose a software solution to drive it all, too. Roon? 🙄

Crap. This is gonna be painful.


(help?)

I’m ungrudingly not doing it 😂
As an aspiring songwriter I’m peeved to the gills that all of these streaming services don’t pay squat.

 

[MikeyFresh]

I’m ungrudingly not doing it 😂
As an aspiring songwriter I’m peeved to the gills that all of these streaming services don’t pay squat.

You are conflating cloud-based streaming services (i.e. Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Amazon HD, etc) with what is known as streaming from a local server. This thread at least at the onset is going to be about storing a CD collection on a local server hard drive, and use of server and playback software that allows the CDs themselves to then be stored away.

Thats a different thing than streaming using a cloud-based service such as those listed above.

While many people choose to do both, some do only one or the other. Owners of an existing disc collection (including myself) have been able to skip the cloud-based streaming if they so choose. I had done exactly that until somewhat recently, and though I am now a Qobuz subscriber, the jury is still out there and I currently prefer accessing my locally stored files that are disc rips, over streaming from the cloud.

I don't want to hi-jack this thread on that topic, however I have heard a few compelling numbers-based arguments for why the cloud streaming services can make money for an artist. It's not impossible, and the old model wasn't always kind to artists either, sometimes just pennies per record depending on how good the artist's representation was at contract time.

The blame for the cloud streaming payment model to artists doesn't seemingly lie with those services per se, not when you consider none of them are profitable and never were. They may cease to exist at some point due to that lack of profitability, but suffice it to say if you are looking for the party responsible for poor compensation to both the streaming services and artists, that would have to be the record labels.