Vortex Box Server or Stand Alone Input Wanted

[Jsmith]

Today I have an Auraliti PK90 as my music server. I am already in the process of building a Vortex Box server to act as a ripper / NAS / streamer.

 

For about $600 more dollars I can add a dedicated SSD OS drive, SOtM USB Card, and SOtM filters to the Vortex Box. In this case the Vortex Box could probably do a good job of taking over the work the Auraliti is doing.

 

The biggest hold up I have from this right now is that for me the Vortex Box will not just be dedicated to audio listening. I plan to use it for other topics which I have outlined in my blog here if you want more details:

New HTPC and Audio Data Store Solution - Blogs - Computer Audiophile

 

Most of the other functions such as ripping / supporting iTunes streaming would not be going on while I am listening to music. I would even potentially schedule the Crash Plan online backups to run at night.

 

The pros of switching to the Vortex for everything is that I could consolidate one more box, and don't have to mess around with the Auraliti trying to pull from it.

 

Does anyone have any experiencing using a Vortex Box as an audio source where it is also pulling other duties, or has more than just audiophile services running on it?

[Paul R]

Just my $0.02- but I would probably not use a Vortexbox server as a main audio machine if I wanted to do anything else on it but play music. I have a few reasons:

 

(1) To avoid gap filled playback, you have to use the native MPD player built in (like your Auraliti), and that works well. But what you give up is the gorgeous, fast, and simple interface you get from Squeezepad or even the Logitech Squeezebox Controller software on an iPad, iPhone, or Android device. It sounds like a little thing, but it isn't.

 

(2) Alternatively, you can run a squeezeslave player instead of the vortexbox-player, which avoids the gapless playback issue and lets you use the gorgeous remote interface, but won't handle hi-res playback. Annoying, ain't it?

 

(3) You can run the vortexbox-player, which gives you hi-res playback and the gorgeous interface, but you have to live with gaps between your tracks. That may or not be an issue for you. It is a royal PITA for me.

 

(4) If you use a really beefy machine as the server, you can do a lot of other things with it, but a beefy machine is most likely going to be noisy and big, and that means it doesn't make a great player.

 

(5) If you use it for streaming, then you can stream to any Logitech device, any iPad, iPhone, most Android devices, any PC or Mac, and you can stream over the internet. The remote devices can handle datastreams up to 24/192K depending upon your network.

 

(6) You can also use it as a NFS server for your Auraliti, gaining the best of both worlds. You have to install Bonjour and name things in a very particular way, but it does work. (Alternatively, you can run a small Mac, like a Mini, and the setup for supporting your Auraliti is much simpler. The Mini can also handle HTPC duties well.)

 

(7) Most importantly to me, if you stream to Logitech devices, and you have a beefy enough server and network, you can transcode FLAC, ALAC, or whatever to pure LPCM which the remote devices seem to love, and which produces a very noticeable improvement in the sound.

 

(8) Ripping on a Vortexbox is - problematic. By that I mean, I much prefer a better interface to find, fill in, and edit metadata. You can, easily, mount the music directory from a Vortexbox server on a Mac or PC, then use the software of your choice to RIP directly to the data store. That works great with both XLD on a Mac, and dbPowerAmp on an Windows PC. You can also do things like control the directory structure with precision, and RIP in comfort from a laptop anywhere on the network.

 

That's just my thinking. Obviously, it is tilted towards what I experimented with and found I liked or did not like. You might note from my signature that I do have a Vortexbox running here with a copy of the library. I enjoy that software a lot. -Paul

 

 

Today I have an Auraliti PK90 as my music server. I am already in the process of building a Vortex Box server to act as a ripper / NAS / streamer.For about $600 more dollars I can add a dedicated SSD OS drive, SOtM USB Card, and SOtM filters to the Vortex Box. In this case the Vortex Box could probably do a good job of taking over the work the Auraliti is doing.The biggest hold up I have from this right now is that for me the Vortex Box will not just be dedicated to audio listening. I plan to use it for other topics which I have outlined in my blog here if you want more details:New HTPC and Audio Data Store Solution - Blogs - Computer AudiophileMost of the other functions such as ripping / supporting iTunes streaming would not be going on while I am listening to music. I would even potentially schedule the Crash Plan online backups to run at night.The pros of switching to the Vortex for everything is that I could consolidate one more box, and don't have to mess around with the Auraliti trying to pull from it. Does anyone have any experiencing using a Vortex Box as an audio source where it is also pulling other duties, or has more than just audiophile services running on it?

[Jsmith]

(8) Ripping on a Vortexbox is - problematic. By that I mean, I much prefer a better interface to find, fill in, and edit metadata. You can, easily, mount the music directory from a Vortexbox server on a Mac or PC, then use the software of your choice to RIP directly to the data store. That works great with both XLD on a Mac, and dbPowerAmp on an Windows PC. You can also do things like control the directory structure with precision, and RIP in comfort from a laptop anywhere on the network.

 

Paul - The .02 is greatly appreciated. A couple follow up questions on point 8. My MacBook is over 5 years old and on it's last leg. Since my wife and I both have iPads I was going to replace it with a MacMini when it dies as a headless computer for iTunes server, as well as running desktop apps (turbo tax) since the iPads will support 99% of daily use. The MacMini does not have a disk drive. I know I can buy a USB disk drive as well as external hard drive or NAS, but I really liked the idea of the Vortex Box doing the auto ripping of both movies and music and providing the NAS features.

 

With that said, it seems like many people are not happy with the ripping of the Vortex Box. In another post Jesus said he uses DBPowerAmp. If I have to continue to use XLD on MacBook, and get USB drive for future MacMini for good rips it seems like the value of the Vortex is somewhat lessened.

 

All of that leads me to, is the real issue with the Vortex the ripping, or the tagging and folder structure? If it is the later, then in theory I could address this remote from the MacBook and future Mini pretty easy. If it is the former, then that is a different issue.

[Paul R]

Paul - The .02 is greatly appreciated. A couple follow up questions on point 8. My MacBook is over 5 years old and on it's last leg. Since my wife and I both have iPads I was going to replace it with a MacMini when it dies as a headless computer for iTunes server, as well as running desktop apps (turbo tax) since the iPads will support 99% of daily use. The MacMini does not have a disk drive. I know I can buy a USB disk drive as well as external hard drive or NAS, but I really liked the idea of the Vortex Box doing the auto ripping of both movies and music and providing the NAS features.

 

With that said, it seems like many people are not happy with the ripping of the Vortex Box. In another post Jesus said he uses DBPowerAmp. If I have to continue to use XLD on MacBook, and get USB drive for future MacMini for good rips it seems like the value of the Vortex is somewhat lessened.

 

All of that leads me to, is the real issue with the Vortex the ripping, or the tagging and folder structure? If it is the later, then in theory I could address this remote from the MacBook and future Mini pretty easy. If it is the former, then that is a different issue.

 

The VB does seem to RIP movies to MKV format pretty well, but I just don't use it for music because of the tagging. SongsAlbums wind up with no information and so forth. Of course, you could always open it with XLD or something and fix it, but that is rather like ripping it twice.

 

Now, you bring up an interesting thought - you know of course a Mini can do all that? Play the music nicely, stream, has a great remote interface, supports screen control over an iPad, plays movies and TV shows, etc.?

 

Ideally, you have a Mac Mini as the music player and server, use an Apple TV to play the movies and TV shows on. The only problem there is that the ATV (or iTunes) won't support MKV or VOB files, you have to transcode the video into something iTunes will natively handle. Then that works like a dream.

 

There are other workarounds, but that might be something worth considering.

 

-Paul

[Jsmith]

The VB does seem to RIP movies to MKV format pretty well, but I just don't use it for music because of the tagging. SongsAlbums wind up with no information and so forth. Of course, you could always open it with XLD or something and fix it, but that is rather like ripping it twice.

 

I use XLD today, and find that it's tagging is only so-so with the Auraliti and MPaD. I find I have to use Music PiCard to re-tag everything to get a good consistency and quality. So if this is the issues with the Vortex Box, I will just look to see if I can mount the music directory on the Apple, and then have Music PiCard pull in the folder for re-tagging. I am fine with this as it still adds some convenience on the rip, and no extra step on the tagging compared to today

 

As a side note I believe the movie ripping and iTunes is covered by this:

 

DVD/BD Ripping: In addition to CD ripping, VortexBox will also automatically rip DVD's and BluRay's thanks to the wonderful software MakeMKV(external link). The files generated during a DVD rip are in Matroska Video(external link) and maintain the original quality of the DVD/BD, but you can mirror them to MP4(external link) if you like at http://vortexbox/ripstatus.php.(external link) If you choose to mirror, both the MKV and MP4 will remain on your system; you can delete the MKV's after the transcoding process to free up space (see File Management below). If you have a PlayStation 3, you can choose the option to remux(external link) the MKV's to M2TS on the rip page without losing the original quality of the DVD.

[Paul R]

I usually edit the metadata in XLD before I RIP, so that the results are exactly what I expect, but I can see using PiCard. Not a bad solution to be honest. And you can certainly mount the music directory on a Mac.

 

MakeMKV is not free on a Vortexbox - be aware you will still need to buy a license for it. But it works pretty darn well.

 

-Paul

 

 

I use XLD today, and find that it's tagging is only so-so with the Auraliti and MPaD. I find I have to use Music PiCard to re-tag everything to get a good consistency and quality. So if this is the issues with the Vortex Box, I will just look to see if I can mount the music directory on the Apple, and then have Music PiCard pull in the folder for re-tagging. I am fine with this as it still adds some convenience on the rip, and no extra step on the tagging compared to today

 

As a side note I believe the movie ripping and iTunes is covered by this:

 

DVD/BD Ripping: In addition to CD ripping, VortexBox will also automatically rip DVD's and BluRay's thanks to the wonderful software MakeMKV(external link). The files generated during a DVD rip are in Matroska Video(external link) and maintain the original quality of the DVD/BD, but you can mirror them to MP4(external link) if you like at http://vortexbox/ripstatus.php.(external link) If you choose to mirror, both the MKV and MP4 will remain on your system; you can delete the MKV's after the transcoding process to free up space (see File Management below). If you have a PlayStation 3, you can choose the option to remux(external link) the MKV's to M2TS on the rip page without losing the original quality of the DVD.

[Jsmith]

MakeMKV is not free on a Vortexbox - be aware you will still need to buy a license for it. But it works pretty darn well.

 

If it works well I am OK paying for a license as long as it is not astronomical. I did a quick search on the MakeMKV website and could not see anywhere to purchase or get a key for Windows, Mac OS, and there is a link to download the Linux version.

 

If you have to pay, where?

[Jsmith]

Never mind. Found on the site where it states beta is free and pay for full as of September.

[agillis]

Hey quick question for you guys. VortexBox uses MusicBrainz for tagging and so does Picard so wouldn't the tags be the same?

[Jsmith]

Hey quick question for you guys. VortexBox uses MusicBrainz for tagging and so does Picard so wouldn't the tags be the same?

 

I am still waiting for the hardware to build and test. If this is the case, that is great and I may not have any more work after the rip.

[Audio_ELF]

Personally I find the tagging more than adequate. The point it falls down tends to be (IMO) multi-disk albums and genre.