mike11

I am seriously thinking of getting either the pro or the II+. I run my system totally unbalanced and if I had the Pro, I would need Cardas mini xlr to rca adapters. Would this in any way be a compromised solution or would it be better to just get the streamer II+? Some of the reviews I have come across indicate that the Pro is a notch up in performance from the II+ just as the II+ is an advance over the II - therefore my interest in the Pro but I am wondering if I would be undoing all that the Pro has to offer if I stuck an adapter and used regular rca interconnects. Thank you

from the trauma of hearing a cd being demolished - not a pretty sound i must tell you and having finally opened up the Plextor - yes it was beyond repair - I could see the lens had been impacted, I just had to laugh when I saw the millenium cd mat intact - the damn thing is a survivor!! The good news? Ive got a brand new Plextor 880u on its way to me and a new copy of the Christian McBride recording - Thank you Amazon. And, Ive got a Millenium CD mat in fair condition, for sale

it would work fine with dvd drives where you can actually mount the cd on the spindle - like the drives that come with laptops - these I reckon would be more secure. But if its a drive with a tray, like the Plextor I had, it may pose a problem.

yeah....pretty much. Dont think I will have much of a recourse with the manufacturer although I am planning on letting them know about this. It appears to be a known problem the more I read on the net.

If you've heard that ripping cds with a millenium cd mat improves the quality of the rip, be very very careful.I had read this and was advised by the distributor that using the mat on a standard dvd drive was perfectly fine. I was using the mat and into my 140th rip, my beloved plextor makes the most horrendous sound ever heard from a dvd player - stopped the player - drawer is stuck - pick it up and I hear what could be my cd in a million pieces in the plextor. Im trying to open up the unit but it isnt going to be easy and even if I do, I dont know if the lens has been damaged by the cd breaking up into tiny bits. So Ive lost a brand new plextor, a brand new cd mat which I am now quite glad to get rid of if not already blown to smithereens and ive lost a part 2 of a 3 cd set of a Christian Mcbride recording that I love and which is not going to be easy to find where I am. After this happens, I google the mat and I find a reviewer who reported having problems using his mat in his dvd drive. too late.

current model. Couldn't have been discontinued so fast. I only received mine last week. The Amazon reseller is Computer Brain and the link to the Amazon page is http://www.amazon.com/Plextor-PX-880U-DVD-Writer-External-Double-layer/dp/B003OGNHYS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1288453685&sr=8-4 Best of luck

indeed is attractive in its features and I've been looking at the ultra 4 as well - great product but not available yet where I am. It will be another month to two before it gets here. Thanks again for your thoughts

Ive just purchased flat cat6 cables - http://www.atake.com.tw/html/products/cable.html at real world prices. To those who sought to help and inform, thank you so much. Have a great weekend

look at Plextor 880u, which I recently purchased from an Amazon reseller. I'm using dbpoweramp with accuraterip and it works beautifully. Looks good too.

ZZ and Doug for your comments. The Synology looks tempting with its features.Yes, the usb and esata ports will be very useful for quick backups. The Readynas NV+ is just as appealing as I think it comes close to matching the features that Drobo is known for. Doug, what would you replace the NV+ with if you did decide to sell it and move to another netgear product? It boils down to Synology and Readynas now.

What, in your estimation, would be a decent, branded CAT 5E or 6 cable?

for your thoughts. As with anything audio, it is only a matter of time before savvy manufacturers come up with products to try to satiate the somewhat insatiable need for audiophiles to feed their obsession with getting 'perfect reproduction' of their music. I was curious as to whether anyone had tried these items and whether they made a difference, as some analog cables do. Clearly then, not. thanks!

and thank you very much for your reply ZZ. That is info I can use and remember. I cross my analogue cables with power cords at right angles when necessary so that makes sense.Thanks again and excuse me whilst I have to get back to frying

that was very entertaining, I think. Really guys, a simple "No, because.............." would have been effective and more importantly, enlightening to me and others like me who want to get deeper into 'computer audio' and are bewildered by 'NAS' 'DAS','Raid', 'hot swappable', etc etc etc..... terms which barely 3 weeks ago, I was totally unacquainted with.

I read somewhere of Denon's offering which is going for an insane $500+ and Audioquest's which goes for $29 for 1m length. Anyone tried these and would they really make a difference?? I do believe cables have some bearing on the sound quality but do also believe that some claims by companies charging stratospheric prices for their cables may be overhyped. I diy my own cables using what I think are quality parts/materials - cardas/homegrown plugs, ohno/belden cables etc but thats about as far as I would go. Now that I am thinking of a NAS, I am also thinking if the quality of ethernet cables matter or as long as they're up to spec. Thanks for any thoughts on this. Mike