ariberdy

Thank you iamimdoc for the psychologically and emotionally reassuring post. Thanks Eloise for the initial Sonos suggestion. Everyone has been so great. It's been cool to go to a forum where people don't just push what they like but really try to find what would be best for the poster. All of these posts should be compiled into an article entitled something like "Making Your First Move to a Computer-Based Sound System." The title needs to be punched up a little. Sometimes reading the posts on other threads I do feel like there is a single best way and I'd be missing out if I didn't find it, so iamimdoc's post was really, really great. It should be a preamble to the forum. Thanks again everyone!!!!

Thanks, Rascal. I don't know what it is with me and iPods. I've had one for years and never use it. I have had bad experiences synching. There are missing files that correspond to some of my music in iTunes (I haven't any idea why that is. The files are all on my computer but suddenly, I guess not where they used to be. Certainly something I did). As I recall, the synching function complains about this every time it happens. No problem, I thought, I'll manually synch. But I find this difficult only probably because I don't really know the intricacies of how it works. Everything about iTunes and iPods wants automatic synching it seems. Charging. My iPod constantly has a low battery. But I don't leave it plugged into my computer because, with an external hard drive, a midi keyboard, PC speakers, a digital recorder, camera and "video" camera -- well... I have to say that I just don't like my iPod. There. I've come out of the closet. Perhaps I'm the only one in the universe, but I'm not afraid any more. I am encouraged to hear that I won't need a DAC with Sonos.

This forum is incredible, by the way. To clarify: I do not want another CD Changer. (1) It takes up too much room, (2) you have to enter all the titles manually (well many of them), and (3) it's not easily scalable nor at all flexible. I did say my budget was $500, but that's a target budget. Since I had to pick a starting point, that was it. To address some of your wonderful suggestions: 1. I don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch -- only an iPod Nano. I've abandoned the idea of using an iPod interface due to the extra steps of synching and charging. 2. My goal is not to have anything resembling a PC in the living room where the stereo resides. Why not? you may say. I have no answer. 3. The dreaded DAC. I never even heard of one until this forum. To represent myself a tiny bit better: I am a classical musician. So, I need good quality, but probably not nearly as good as many of the visitors to this forum require. Which is where, I imagine, the DAC comes in. I'm pretty in love with the concept of the Sonos, but Audiophile forum author, iamimdoc, mentions that the quality is not that great. Can a DAC be used there, or is there no improving the sound I'll get from a Sonos? I may as well throw this into the mix. At one time when I had decided I could record demo CDs at home, I bought a Xenyx-S02 Preamp. Naive perhaps, but can this perform the DAC function? To my utterly simple way of thinking, since the preamp accepts a CD input then it's possible that it does a digital to analog conversion automatically? Thank you all so much. This is really fun and edifying!

Thanks Eloise! I looked at the Sonos and love it. Instead of getting the bundled set I will get a Bridge, Zone Player and Controller. That should bring me in at $800 rather than than the $1000 for the bundle. But it is pretty much exactly what I want.

Thanks for the replies so far. 1. My budget is $500 or so. 2. I have a PC with Vista. 3. I am looking for quality at least as good as that of my current system with a Denon receiver and decent bookshelf speakers. I do not want a PC sitting next to the stereo. Although perhaps, say an iPod sitting next to the stereo would be okay. Thanks again,

After reading the dizzying posts I feel more discouraged than ever. Here's the problem. My (I know, I know) CD changer has finally broken. I must move into the 21st century they tell me and digitize all my CDs. But how do I play music on my stereo if it's all digitized? Ideally there'd be a small box with a CD tray and enormous hard drive that would rip my CDs and provide a remote control with a perfectly logical (to my way of thinking) navigable display. Is there such a thing? So far, I'm thinking I should get a Logitech Squeezebox with my music on an external hard drive attached to my PC, software on my computer, signals sent over my wireless router to the squeezebox that must be wired to the stereo. It seems cumbersome, but it does provide that remote control I'm hoping for. Since I came up with this on my own, I'm doubtful it's the best solution. I guess the most important thing is to be able to sit in my living room and listen to music without having to go to the computer. What is the better solution? Thanks.