Arno Klee

I use both dBpoweramp and JRiver for editing but I find JRiver much more convenient. Arno.

You are right. This the logical thing to do when short of disk space. For backup strategy i suggest you read: http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f7-disk-storage-music-library-storage/storage-backup-primer-10062/ if not done yet. Regards, Arno.

Hello Haniger, The recommendation by the others are fine. It gets you up and running quickly. You need to think about the ripping software, how to curate your music and back-up. I do know how many CD's you wish to rip but it will be a considerable effort which you need to get right from the start. I have chosen to use dbPoweramp for ease of use, metadata availability and it allows ripping to FLAC. I use FLAC loss less. I devised my own file system as I can understand that. I was never able to understand the logic behind iTunes. I sometimes ended up with 1 CD stored in 3 different folders. Classical by composer, pop music by performing artist and a compilations section for multiple composer and pop artists. iTunes does not support all file types i.e. not FLAC. I certainly would go for a lossless format. I use JRiver to manage my library and adding/modifying metadata as required. Once I am happy with the metadata, I copy the music files to the NAS using synchronization software (Allway sync.). That way I have now 2 copies (one on the PC and one on the NAS). I make a third copy that I keep at a safe place. I update this copy on a bi-weekly basis. I hope this helps. Regards Arno.

I Got into computer audio in 2005. I was traveling a lot and I got fed up carrying around a portable Sony CD-player and a bunch of CD’s. I waited until there was an iPod with a decent and affordable storage amount. I used iTunes as the music management system The following are the significant steps to my present system: 2010 Squeezebox Touch (+ Musical Fidelity DAC) fed from Windows PC wireless 2010 NAS Synology DS 211J (using the Logitech Media Server on the NAS) 2011 Ethernet Gigabit Network 2011 Replaced NAS with a Synology DS 710+ (using the Logitech Media Server on the NAS) 2012 DB Poweramp as ripping software replacing iTunes and Exact Audiocopy 2013 JRiver MC 18 replacing iTunes as the music management system Regards, Arno

Hi khaos_dj I would not bother with Perfecttunes. If dbpoweramp does not produce the artwork that matches the CD cover in the resolution you want (happens when it is an old CD with many releases), I google and find it that way. For my iPad 600x600 pixels is perfect. I have some rare CD's and I needed to scan the cover as there was no art available. It is easy to substitute the artwork in dbpoweramp. Regards, Arno

Hi khaos_dj, There was nothing wrong with the EAC rips. At that time I assumed that all lossless music would sound the same as they are the same bits. That’s not the case in my set-up. Comparison between ALAC and AIFF gave a clear edge to AIFF in detail and resolution. Unfortunately I did not add FLAC to the equation as I was still using iTunes as the management system. There is also an important step to consider and that is having proper back-up. I keep one copy on my PC (2x 1Tb in RAID 0), The NAS (2 x 2 Tb in RAID 1) and I keep a separate copy on a USB3 HDD at a safe place. This copy is manually updated on a fortnightly basis. Regards Arno

I did my first steps on the Digital Audio stairs in 2005 when I bought my first iPod. I ripped my CD’s to ALAC in iTunes and the world was fine. It made my music available at Hifi quality when travelling. When the iPod Touch 64 came available I Bought and the “old” iPod was assigned to “in car” entertainment. In 2010 I decided that I wanted to have all my CD’s digitally available on a NAS. I discovered that most people used either EAC or DBpoweramp. As EAC is free, I used it for some time but then the need arose the convert already ripped CD’s to another format I decided to purchase DBpoweramp. Having used both I prefer DBpoweramp because of the possibility to rip to FLAC lossless, for the excellent batch converter and for the Accurate Rip Database. I re-ripped my CD collection to AIFF (WAV was not considered because of Tagging (in)capability). I was happy with that until I started comparing the sounds of AIFF with FLAC uncompressed. FLAC sounded superior in my system for which I do not have an explanation. Uncompressed formats should sound the same. For above reason I decided to ditch iTunes as the music management system and I obtained JRiver18 as iTunes cannot handle FLAC files. It gave me the opportunity to ditch also the iTunes filing system. The underlying logic I could never understand and I replaced it with my own (Classical music on composer and pop music on performer). I consider DBpoweramp superior to EAC in performance and it is easy to use. Before ripping I would do careful tests to make sure you rip to the format that sound best in your system. Regards, Arno

Cello is certainly one of my favorite instruments. For Bach, I would explore the Janos Starker performance. But also Pieter Wispelwey is among my favorites. The Haydn Cello Concertos are also very worthwhile listening to. The performance of Wendy Warner is top. You get as a bonus a very nice recording of cello concerto from a fairly unknown composer Mysliveček. For Dvorak, I enjoy listening to Pieter Wispelwey and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. It comes with a number of other lesser known works on Cello. Regards, Arno.

Hello Barry, I just read your article: Vibration control for better performance. I could not agree more with your words, thanks. Best Regards, Arno.

Ray, I manage my music collection on my PC using JRiver. I then transfer the music to my NAS using Allway Sync. There is a free version available of this software. It is reliable, fast and does incremental back-up. I use the same software to make a spare copy (to keep in a safe place) on a 2TB WD My Passport using USB3. Regards, Arno

Have you tried to manually import the folder or the files? Regards, Arno

I don’t know if bolting some “heavy” piece of steel/aluminum is the answer. Metal does not dissipate energy and you only shift the vibration to a higher frequency. At that frequency the noise may not be audible but the lower level harmonics may. The better way is to dissipate the energy. I am not aware of a commercial product that will do this for you. Regards, Arno

Years ago, when I had a Conrad Johnson tube pre-amplifier, I stumbled on a vibration problem. Tubes need to be changed and after a change one of the tubes appeared to be micro phonic and picked-up vibrations from the room. Thumping the amplifier was clearly audible trough the speakers. That when I started researching vibration. I finally equipped all my electronics with vibration control platforms and feet. Each addition was clearly audible as adding detail to the system. The equipment was supplied by Symposium Acoustics in the US. Isolation platforms/ racks are quite a worthwhile addition to HiFi equipment. The biggest change was to exchange the spikes under my speakers with Cera pucks together with a Symposium Acoustics Svelte platform. My NAS (2 x HDD) is positioned in the basement so I do not have acoustically induced vibration problems. Also the mechanical vibration from the NAS does not find its way to the rest of the system. Noise from the HDD are also not audible in the listening room. It’s my opinion that the vibration of the spinning HDD’s has a detrimental effect on the sound of the system. Easiest solution is to keep it away from the rest of the system. If you cannot do this then proper isolation is a must. Regards, Arno

Hi Jeff, I use the s/pdif output with a Chord Signature Digitalplus cable (More expensive than the SBT itself) into the MF M1DAC. I am very pleased with the Chord (should be at this price). I have re-ripped my CD's but I had additional reason to do so. I would do a test to listen for a difference between a converted file or a re-ripped CD. It then follows from there. Good luck to you if you have to re-rip. Regards, Arno

Hi Jeff, EDO has no drawbacks. I found that it improves the sound (PRAT, detail) from the SBT at all speeds 16/44.1 as well. That is at least in my system. If you did not yet find out the link: Enhanced Digital Output applet for Squeezebox Touch | Digital Audio Review by John Darko Streaming 24/192 files demands a top class WiFi connection and network. I tested this om mine and on all 24/192 input material the connection buffering timed out. I installed a gigabit Ethernet network in the end and that solved the problem. There are 9 levels of flac compression: "Uncompressed" and level 1 to 8. Each time the compression is increased and the file size decreased requiring more processor power to decode the file on playback. The "Uncompressed" flac file size is almost identical to the same AIFF file. I use "Uncompressed" flac for CD ripping. The reason for changing from AIFF to flac is that flac sounds superior to AIFF (again in my set up). As iTunes is not capable of handling HD files and also not flac files, I decided also to dispense with iTunes and replace it JRiver Media Center software (purchased). iTunes works well but uses a source filing method that I have failed to fathom. I used the re-ripping project to streamline the source filing system i.e. classical music on composer and pop (& blues and jazz) music on performer. This way I can find back the source files if need to be. For ripping I use DBpoweramp (purchased) which rips very accurately (Accurate Rip system) and compares the result with the rips in their data base. It chooses the Meta data according to a "smart" protocol from a number on-line databases but you can change the metadata as you like and it adds also cover art. It rips in all common formats including AIFF and flac uncompressed. More importantly it contains a batch converter that works very fast and converts also to flac uncompressed.(JRiver 18 cannot convert to flac uncompressed) It leaves the cover art intact when changing format. I have a library of some 800 Cd's which are managed on my PC. I transfer them to my NAS using synchronization software. That way I have 2 copies. A third copy is kept on an external HDD at a safe place. I would test all steps to make sure that they do for you what they did for me. I would have loved to have all this knowledge 2 years ago. Would have saved a lot of work and frustration. Hope this helps. Arno