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Watchyourspeed

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  1. I like them very much. It took a couple weeks for them to break in. They have warmed up and sound rich and full. The bass is a bit deep but the mids and highs are crisp and bright but warm. I play mostly large .aiff files of live performances from trade friendly artists where the mixes can vary. The AE 5s are extremely high quality for speakers that cost $350......I am happy with my purchase. Do you like yours?
  2. Ok, so I wanted to report back that I am finally all set up and wanted to thank Chris and others who patiently offered their assistance and suggestions. To recap, I hooked my IMAC 20" to a Benchmark DAC1 USB, Audioengine 5s and a 5 TB Thecus 5200B Pro NAS. I have a large and growing collection of lossless audio (mostly live performances from trade friendly artists) that I convert from Flac & Shn to .AIFF. I needed a storage solution that would accommodate 1 TB + of music and allow room for expansion. First things first. I ordered everything online. Benchmark and AE delivered almost immediately and there were no problems with delivery at all. Both components popped out of their boxes and hooked up with no problem. I ordered the Thecus from Eaegis.Com. They require a week for configuration, pre-ship burn-in and testing. When I hooked up the Thecus before putting any data on it, I got a warning on the Fifth 1 TB Seagate ST31000340NS drive indicating a Reallocated Sector error. This is a sign that the drive is failing and needs to be replaced (so much for pre-ship burn-in). I contacted Eaegis US in Florida and they were immediately responsive and a delight to deal with -- they took my credit card as a deposit on the return of the defective disk and promptly shipped a new disk (no charge if they get the defective drive back within ten days). One complaint with Thecus is that the owner's manual is severely lacking and does not, for example, indicate whether the NAS should be turned on or off when you swap the disks. A Hot Swap will rebuild automatically. I did a cold swap and turned off the NAS to pop the faulty drive out. I put the new drive in and turned the power on. The machine emitted a loud, piercing and constant chirp when I turned it back on (which, according to Thecus, is normal) Using the Thecus startup wizard, when you perform cold swap you have to manually designate the drive as a "spare" and it will rebuild the array, incorporating and redesignating the "spare" disk as "used" when the rebuild is complete. Thecus says that the User's Manual is intended only to provide basic information. I would think an instruction as to whether the NAS needs to be on or off would fit within the definition of "basic" and I was disappointed in their somewhat cavalier response to me. But I digress. Once connected, I then faced the challenge of moving roughly a 350 GB of audio files from my external HD to my NAS. Although I connect to my Thecus (which is in another room outside my listening area) through my wireless router, I bought a 50' ethernet cable and connected my router directly to my IMAC. I then moved the Itunes folder from my external HD to the Thecus. I had Itunes rescan the folder on the Thecus and Itunes recognized the new folder location immediately (I did have to turn off the external HD before rescanning because Itunes kept going back to the old location on the external HD). It took 11 hours to do the transfer at 1 MBS. There has to be a faster way and I must be doing something wrong. One mention on automounting (which Chris has discussed extensively). Using the AutomountMaker application suggested by Chris last week, I could not get the IMAC and the Thecus to synchronize on the same username and password. I kept getting an error message that login failed and that my username and password were not recognized. So I went into User Accounts under System Preferences and selected the Thecus as a "Login Item" that will open automatically when I login to my IMAC. As long as the Thecus is powered on when I login to my user account and open Itunes, Itunes will recognize the volume. I am guessing Chris will tell me I am missing something :-) because this solution seemed too easy but so far I have had no difficulty. As for the DAC and the speakers, they are fantastic and well worth the $$$. I configured my Audio Midi Setup for use with the DAC according to Benchmark's suggested settings. Speakers took about 48 hours of play time to loosen up. Sound is warm and full, a bit deep in the base, but the mids and highs are crisp and bright. They are very happy speakers and the overall setup is solid and impressive. My biggest issue at the moment is the read and write rate on the Thecus, particularly when I am synching my IPod 160 GB Classic while I am listening to Itunes. Even with the built in Celeron processor, the Thecus does seem to have some difficulty with reading and writing at the same time -- i get periodic stops in my music while synching. Because I use Azureus for my BT client, I also get stops in my Itunes when Azureus is writing to the Thecus. Overall, I am thrilled with both the Benchmark and AE 5s. The Thecus got off to a rough start (though the drive problem was a Seagate issue) but it is gaining my confidence with each day of problem-free use. I especially like the power management feature on the Thecus which allows me to turn it off at night. Next up for me are headphones...... So thanks everyone for your help and I look forward to learning more from you as I continue to delve into this hobby..... Dan
  3. I should have mentioned that I have my Thecus hooked up to my router in another room (to avoid noise in my listening area) and that I connect to it from my IMAC wirelessly using the network connection. I think Option #2 is probably what I am going to use because my expectation is that I will have other machines in the house through which I will want to connect to the NAS (my NAS was preformatted as a RAID 5 and no space was allocated to iSCSI) . But I understand that copying data via a wireless network is the slowest and that a direct Gigabit ethernet connection is fastest. With that said, I have a follow-up question regarding how to migrate my Itunes library: Recall that all my music is stored on my 1TB OWC Mercury Elilte Pro external hard drive which is connected to my IMAC via USB. So my migration will be from my existing external harddrive to my new NAS. Do I understand correctly that I should connect my Thecus directly to the ethernet port on my MAC, create a music folder on the NAS and then use ITUNES to copy my library to the NAS using the consolidate library function or is it a drag and drop situation where I drag the music folder from my external and drop it into the NAS and then recsan and rearrange like you said above. After the data is on the NAS, would I then reconnect it to my router or would Itunes lose track of it because it is now a network device and not a direct connect to the back of my MAC? I apologize for sounding like such an ignorant noob but the transfer is the most important and delicate part of the operation and I want to get it right. I have many hundreds of hours invested in collecting the music (it is also backed up on individual DVD-R disks) I also want the transfer to be fast and I don't want to confuse ITunes having to search for the music (the dreaded exclamation points). Any further advice you can give would be appreciated. Thanks Chris. Dan
  4. Hi Chris. I received my Benchmark DAC1 USB, AudioEngine 5s and Thecus 5200B Pro and am in the middle of getting everything set up for use with my 20" IMAC. Before I give a complete report on my impressions on the various components, I have a quick question about migrating my substantial Itunes library to the Thecus. I have roughly 342 GBs of music in ITunes -- roughly 6400 tracks -- on an existing external 1 TB external harddrive. I want to migrate my Itunes from the external harddrive to the Thecus. My question concerns which protocol to use on the Thecus to achieve the fastest migration. To test the speed of a direct copy, I tried manually copying a couple hundred megabytes directly to a Thecus folder mounted on my desktop and, while it worked perfectly, it took like 10 minutes. The USBCopy seems convenient but all my files would be in the USBCopy folder on the NAS and would then need to be copied a second time over to the "Music" folder that I set up on the Thecus. Granted, that would be a transfer within the NAS itself but would be two steps. I also worry that if use USBCopy Itunes would get screwed up trying to find the library on the NAS. With respect to FTP, I am not sure I understand the FTP transfer approach but it seems like it might be fastest. What is your suggestion for the fastest and most reliable means of copying such a large amount of data to the Thecus from my external harddrive? Once I am set up, I will report on my impressions of each component. As always, thanks for your tireless advice. Dan
  5. I thought I would quickly update my purchase. It is Friday morning. Late on Wednesday evening, I ordered online the Benchmark DAC1 USB and the Audioengine 5s -- both directly from each company's own website. I designated regular ground shipping (least expensive). By yesterday morning, both Benchmark and Audioengine had shipped -- less than 12 hours after placing my orders. Based on tracking information, I expect to receive both shipments in a day or two. The turnaround time of my online orders by both companies is impressive and inspires confidence in their quality and attention to customer service. I also ordered the Thecus 5200B Pro NAS on Wednesday evening from Aegis.com. They make clear upfront that they need 4 to 5 business for burn-in and testing, so I do not expect them to ship until sometime next week. Because satisfaction with a product is in part derived from the confidence you have in the entity that sold it to you, I would say so far have a high degree of confidence -- satisfaction to follow. I will update further as my set up evolves. P.S. CA is really taking off.....It seems like lots of new and throughtful posts and the site is hitting its demographic..... Dan
  6. Chris: I knew I would get thoughtful and clear answers here. One question about the Benchmark DAC1 USB. I read the review of this DAC on Stereophile and then saw the follow-up Benchmark manufacturer comments submitted by Elias Gwinn http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/108bench/index5.html in response to the review (I know Mr. Gwinn has submitted helpful comments on Computer Audiophile in the past). There seemed to be a big dustup over ITunes 7.5 and its compatibility with the DAC1 USB. I thought Benchmark addressed the issue very well but there was a lot of engineering language used and it was not clear to me the significance of the discussion on how well iTunes will work with the Benchmark DAC1 USB. Can you explain the issue in layman's terms? Has the issue been resolved to your knowledge with subsequent releases of iTunes or Benchmark firmware and does it affect me if I run iTunes 7.6.2? I understand that with the Benchmark DAC1 USB, I will need to turn off all iTunes sound enhancements and turn my Itunes volume to 100% to ensure bit perfect playback. I will post again to report back on my thoughts and impressions when I am all set up. Thanks for everything. Dan
  7. Still very new to this but am becoming obsessed. After months of consideration and reading up on various computer audio and storage configurations, I am about to take the plunge on a number of different pieces of equipment and need some advice. I have a 20" IMAC and use Azureus as my BT client. I convert flacs/shns to .AIFF using xAct and import into Itunes. I currently have 850 GBs of lossless audio stored on a 1 TB external OWC dual array RAID ) harddrive. Based on my budget, I am planning to purchase the following components: Storage Solution = Thecus 5200B Pro with 5 Seagate ST31000340NS - 1TB Enterprise Drives. DAC = Benchmark DAC1 USB. Speakers = Audioengine 5 speakers. Questions: 1. I have read Chris's recent review of the Thecus and it seems like the way to go but I have a concern about having to login using the AFP configuration each time I want to access the server through ITunes. In his review, Chris mentions that he runs a script to do this automatically but doesn't say what the script that he uses is. Can Chris or anyone else speak to this or provide guidance on how to do this? 2. Do I need an amplifier with the Benchmark DAC1 USB? The Audioengines have a built in power supply. Will the Benchmark work without an amplifier? Is there an advantage to having an amplifier even with powered speakers? Any guidance on this topic would be appreciated. 3. I have read a lot about usb cables and connections. Why is this important and how much of difference can one really hear? Does it relate to signal loss or interference? Are there preferred USB cables or other connection issues that I should be aware of? Any recommendations? 4. The Audioengine 5's have an AUX AC connect and can stream wirelessly with Airport Express. Is it possible to configure Itunes to simultaneously play one set of monitors through Airport Express and a second set of speakers through the DAC? I apologize for so many questions but there is about $4000 on the line with this set up and of all the audiophile sites on the internet, Computer Audiophile seems the perfect place to get clear answers to these basic questions. Dan
  8. I can't tell you when it dawned on me that I am a "computer audiophile" but at the very latest it occurred when I found this site and saw how the topics discussed here relate so closely to my interests. There is so much noise out there and this site is an oasis of clarity, simplicity, civility and expertise. On top of a very demanding job, family responsibilities and other obligations, I try to spend as many hours as I can at my computer listening to my music. It is my catharsis. One of my friends asked me "where are you going with this [interest in computer audio]?" I replied, "I sure as heck don't know but there is a lot to learn and explore and I know there are others out there who share the interest. The future of high quality digital music and sound is broader and deeper than perhaps at any time in history. I want to see where it leads." This site and the new audiophile wiki have helped focus me on the direction I need to go in terms of hardware, DAC, speakers, storage, acoustics and other long term strategies for enjoying music and anticipating future needs. Its terrific. Regards, WYS
  9. Chris: Your expertise is very helpful. On the .AIFF, I have followed the debate over ALAC and other lossless formats and chose .AIFF because it is indisputably lossless and allows the greatest flexibility for the future, is ITunes compatible and allows for transport of metadata and artwork etc.. Who knows what formats will emerge and I may be wrong but I understand that .AIFF allows for the greatest flexibility -- the only drawback is file size and I am willing to pay for storage. You have given me some good ideas, particularly the Thecus 5200 B Pro. It has the capacity and expandability I am interested in. I will post again as I learn the fate of my OWC and as I begin to implement my new approach. This is the best site I have found for these issues. Thanks very much. Dan
  10. Here's the story. I have a 20" IMAC with OS X 10.4.11 and recently lost 650 GBs of .AIFF files that were stored on my OWC 1TB external hard drive. I convert bittorrent files (all legal from trade friendly artists) from FLAC/SHN to .AIFF and import into ITunes. My Itunes library (as well as my pre-conversion torrent files) were mapped to my external hard drive and I stupidly had no backup solution in place (lesson learned on not backing up). My OWC crashed when it would not mount on my desktop or showup in DiskUtility. The company thinks its the bridge board but because it is a dual drive RAID 0 configuration, data recovery will be difficult and expensive if its the hard drives themselves. On the assumption that the datarecovery service will not be able to recover any of my music, I am starting over and would like a solution that ensures large enough capacity to continue accumulating large amounts of .AIFF files for use with Itunes while ensuring a backup and storage solution that will see me well into the future and ensure no data loss in the event of future drive failure. I am exploring the LaCie 4TB Biggest Quadra as a possible solution and selecting the RAID 5 setting (which will allow for 3TB of actual storage space). I have a couple questions: 1. Is ITunes the best digital music management interface out there or are there higher end more professional applications available for managing large numbers of tracks and large amounts of audio data? I can find nothing useful on the internet that addresses this question in simple terms. 2. I like the LaCie but am worried that it is not expandable and that 4TB may not be enough -- the .AIFF files consume hugh amounts of space. On a RAID 5 setting, the available storage is only 3TB. Does anyone have any thoughts as to other large capacity backup solutions? 3. I am thinking I need to segregate the drive on which my ITunes library is stored from the drive that contains my pre-conversion torrent files. This may entail 2 Lacie 2TB Biggest Quadra drives. Any views about that? 4. Any other thoughts about organizing, storing and backing up large amounts of lossless audio files? Thanks in advance and I am really glad I found this site. Dan
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