steve dixon

just for those who are thinking of spending loads of cash on two box sets, one i stereo and one in mono.<br /> <br /> <br /> if you go into itunes preferences>import settings>select aiff custom. you can select to import in MONO, so save yourself a few quid and just buy the stereo box set.<br /> <br /> i suppose if you really wanted you could burn mono discs straight from itunes if you really needed a mono disc, perhaps in the car? <br /> <br /> cheers steve

i use the go>connect to server>browse>sellect mac mini>screen sharing method of controlling the mac mini via an ibook g4, is it possible to 'auto connect' and run screen sharing when i open the ibook? assuming of course the mac mini is switched on. or how do i add the mac mini to favourites in the server box thereby cutting out the browse step. thanks steve

so let me get this straight, there's an opportunity to sell a back catalogue all over again and the record companies can't get themselves organised to make even more money? as suspected the older stuff can be/has been re-mixed/remastered into a hi res format e.g. DSOTM but record companies don't want to cash in. is it any wonder operations like pirate bay/limewire etc etc flourish, perhaps i should set myself up as a recording studio the same as Bruce then i could get my hands on the stuff i want. thanks Bruce very informative. steve

perhaps if we get more proactive and start badgering hd trax etc with our want's maybe people power will out. what do you think? should we start a petition for say the top 100 albums of all time to be made available as hi res downloads, and yes i know that there are many top 100 lists but i bet there's not a huge difference between individual list's maybe we could agree to use say the Q list or the NME/rolling stone or whatever and go from there. afterall they are the top 100 for a reason, they're good!! not only that people like/buy them so they already have a proven market thus cutting down the risk for the companies. cheers steve

so it seems to me there are two main thrust's in the reply's that argue against the availability of popular music so far 1. a technical issue with regard to the original quality of the recording. 2. the record company's don't/won't release the material. please allow me to address both, i have some cd's which sound awful because of the recording and or mix, afterall the beatles have just been remastered to improve? on the originals, so the quality can be 'adjusted' hopefully to an acceptable level. secondly i'm sure there would be a much larger market for more popular music than obscure celtic folk/blues/opera which is at best a niche market to say the least. so what we are really saying is that audiophile's don't or won't listen to pop music errrrrrr i think they might occasionally at least and that record companies don't want to make money, again i beg to differ, i'm sure we've all gone through the format wars and ended up with multiple copies of our favourite albums, isn't hi res download just another format? cheers steve

i wouldn't criticise your taste's but you obviously understand the point i'm trying to make, it seems (to me at any rate) that there may be an element of snobbery in the hi res audiophile fraternity, e.g. we can't publish maria carey in hi res because the oik's may start buying it, just imagine a hi res chart, at three dvorak's something or other, at two blind willy do dah's whatever and in at no 1 mariah carey with, well you get the idea. personally i'd like to see floyd, genesis, air, kings of convenience and a few others that don't qualify as celtic folk. it just seems so elitist. thanks steve

can someone please tell me what's the point of hi res downloads? surely there's only a small nich market for obscure jazz artists and rehashed classical stuff. furthermore how can you tell if it's any good? unless of course you have several copies of the same music on different formats. when are these companys going to produce more popular music in hi res, i for one would love to try DSOTM in hi res, or tubular bells, maybe sgt peppers? and no the remaster's don't count!!! i've no doubt that some people listen to and appreciate obscure jazz/blues/scottish folk etc etc but come on, if you really want to provide a service and make some money lets have something a bit more populist. rant over thanks steve

i bow to your superior knowledge gents, you are right .wav won't support artwork, fortunately i'd only ripped about a dozen albums, so i erased the external hdd, changed itunes import setting to AIFF and now all is well again, yes i know i could convert formats, but i want to start as i mean to go on. strange that amarra suggest using wav then? i've followed their advice so far, i.e. ssd internal, hdd external for storage, to produce a quieter music server. it seems though that they got that wav thing a bit wrong, unless they don't use itunes but prefer something else? i'm just glad i didn't get to 300 ripped albums before this 'glitch' manifested itself. thanks steve

not sure where to put this one exactly, but here goes. i've installed a 32gb ssd in the mac mini, managed to install all the osx plus upgrades etc, got itunes running and i'm using it 'headless' via screen sharing on my ibook. all is well sounds great works beautifully, but, and isn't there always a 'but'? i've started ripping disc's into wav format on an external hdd but when i select advanced>get album artwork itunes 9 selectively picks up one or two album covers then notifies that some are unavailable, ok then. go to amazon.com download album cover to desktop, highlight the album in itunes then command I to add artwork manually, double click the little artwork box, select desktop, select artwork and it appears in the little box, click ok, back to itunes, and guess what, no artwork. any ideas anyone??? and yes i'm using the correct screen and downloading the artwork to the correct desktop. my system is the 'headless' mac mini 1.66 duo/2gb ram, toslink out to beresford 7510 dac, analogue out to linn classik, then diy commonsense audio speakers. i also use a yamaha external cd reader/writer for the amqr function and ripping. thanks steve

i've had several optical drives in my ibook and although they rip and write perfectly adequately sooner or later they start to play silly buggers. it usually happens that they won't accept a cd blank or otherwise and sometimes won't accept dvd's either, occasionally they won't eject a disc no matter what. i've found the ultimate disc reader writer is an external yamaha with amqr facility (goodle it), the disc's it writes are far and away the best quality sound available (with amqr switched on) and i've had mine for about 7yrs without a single failure to read or write, and it's never 'locked' a disc in. you can get the amqr on the yamaha 1300 and 1500 hard disc music server's but there are a few computer drives out there as well, check ebay. good luck steve

can anyone recommend a silent reliable hard drive. i fancy an iomega minimax (1tb), obviously to sit under or next to my mac mini, in my hifi system, does anybody else use one? i know i could go for an nas but would prefer the old fashioned wired connection. all help much appreciated. thanks in advance steve

i was hoping that if it was released as a stereo version, someone, somewhere in apple/emi would have had the foresight to throw away the original 'ping pong' version and remix/re-master an acceptable stereo version. surely if you have access to multi-track master tapes it's possible to use modern technology to produce a version with decent, consistent stereo imagery? instead of instruments and voices appearing all over the place and bouncing from left to right mid riff/solo. <br /> it seems to me the original mix engineer was high or pissed and probably thought it was all very funny indeed. i've read somewhere that the 'fab' four weren't even present when this version was mixed, perhaps they left early to get high or pissed?<br /> steve

one of the guys in my local shop let me listen to sgt peppers in stereo last wednesday, it's just as awful as the previous version on cd. all that 'ping pong' stereo, i'd go as far as to say it's unlistenable, and this is supposed to be a remaster? i think someone somewhere has really missed a trick, authenticity is fine but why keep regurgitating the same crap for the sake of 'authenticity'.<br /> i've got a mono rip from a reel to reel tape on cd, and whilst it's a bit 'flat' the image is far, far better.<br /> perhaps it's a master plan, if a decent stereo version were to be released, maybe nobody would buy the mono version, instantly cutting sales by 50%?<br /> i for one wont be buying any of these discs, i'll wait until they release a mono version i can buy individually. or maybe someone lets me rip their version?<br /> <br /> it's just so, so, so disappointing.<br /> anyway good luck.<br /> steve

ok so i've bought a mac mini with an optical out socket, i've got a 24/96 capable dac, and next week i'm due a mobile phone upgrade and intend to go for the iphone and download 'remote' to control the mac mini,now it's time to start ripping, so which ripper and what settings should i use. i'm starting from scratch so can go with whatever ripping format gives the ultimate playback quality which is the object of the exercise. i've heard of max (eac) and of course itunes, so i suppose i should be using max ripping to wav for itunes compatibility but i'm guessing you chaps would know better? i'm intending to buy an iomega minimax for storage so space won't be a problem. i'd also like to be able to use the music on my ipod and of course burn discs for the car. sorry if it's a tall order but if it helps my primary mission is top quality hifi in the lounge. thanks steve

well that was quick, thanks for that i'm all over it like a rash. thanks steve