apple ipod music on your ML system - Wadia dock or Airport extreme???

[JonFo]

Anyone else as astonished and irritated that, in an era of cheap and efficient hard drive data storage, decades after the conversion to digital music sources ...

... that easy to use and install, and inexpensive, digital media servers are virtually non-existent?

Every music message board has threads about "how can I do something that SHOULD be simple"

As Tim notes, the Sonos is pretty simple.

the other system that has very high ease of use is the Meridian Sooloos system.

the downside: expensive.

For cheaper solutions, Linksys is releasing various components that allow distributed audio:
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/products/WirelessHomeAudio


Over the next year, I expect to see a lot of DLNA-compliant solutions (like the Linksys, Denon gear, DirecTV DVR's, etc.)

If someone makes a really nice DLNA-compliant remote, please let me know, I'm on the lookout for one.

 

[gordonmenninger]

Gordon, that's great, and I agree, too many 'surround' modes are not as good as good old Stereo (Meridian TriField is the only exception IMHO).

However, even in Stereo, both the theta and the Emotiva will be doing bass management for your subs (unless the preamps have bypass modes), so feeding a straight digital signal is usually best.

So even if you get a separate DAC, unless there is bypass of bass management and time alignment, your will go through unnecessary D/A - A/D cycles.

And, if it does have bypass, then you lose the subs.

Jon,

thanks for the clarification... so what exactly should I do in that case to avoid all that??? I do need bass management with my Fathoms...
thanks! gordon

 

[amey01]

Amey, even with a good DAC, the problem is that often that just adds another layer of D/A/D to the equation.

The reason is that some preamps (like the Theta) might be doing the bass management, in which case there will be a round of A/D to apply the crossovers (and other EQ) in the digital domain.

So a if your preamp is doing any form of signal processing (room correction, bass management, etc.), then you are forced to listen to the preamps DAC's.

In those cases, a direct digital feed is the cleanest.

I see what you mean......if your system is as complex as yours!! Personally there is no extra A/D conversion, except at the DSP1124P, but that's less than one octave.

 

[gordonmenninger]

Personally, I think any good DAC is great, but if you want to do it inside the preamp, there's always the EMM DCC2!!

Great suggestion, however I was not looking at spending quite this much at this point! My wife would find alot of other things to spend $13k on than a d/a converter/ preamp...

 

[RichTeer]

Great suggestion, however I was not looking at spending quite this much at this point! My wife would find alot of other things to spend $13k on than a d/a converter/ preamp...

Not if you spend it first! :devil:

 

[JonFo]

Jon,

thanks for the clarification... so what exactly should I do in that case to avoid all that??? I do need bass management with my Fathoms...
thanks! gordon

Hi Gordon, I would guess your pre-amp is where the decision to inject bass-management happens.

Many high-end preamps have options to use bass-management on stereo or not, often calling the no-sub options things like 'direct' Pure' etc.

In which case, you lose the low-end support from the subs and depend on the abilities of your mains.

Personally, I'd rather have a well integrated sub and the low-frequencies they provide.
This also helps clean up the mid-bass in the mains. A worthy benefit that usually far outweighs differences between DAC's.


Now, if you want to spend some money and get absolutely stunning DAC quality, full surround system support and outstanding room correction, then pick up a Denon AVP-A1HDci.

Forget that Denon also makes nice receivers, this piece is world-class not only in build quality but in results. I considered all brands for months, and this even beat out Meridian (my biased favorite).

Now that I've lived with it for almost a year, its bullet-proof, sounds excellent and has enough features to make even a crazy-complexity loving nutjob like me happy.

At $7,500 MSRP, it’s not cheap, but considering the build, the audio quality, the features and the robustness, it’s the best deal on an AV preamp in quite a while.

If you are thinking of spending $10K or more on a pre, you'd be crazy not to look at this unit.

If you are looking to spend $3K on a pre, you'd be well advised to save a bit more and stretch (and find a good deal) and get this unit instead of all the buggy crap everyone else seems to be slinging these days.
The Feature lists don't tell the whole story, and we see two or three folks a week now join the AVP owners thread on AVSForum, having given up on the mid-priced nightmares.

Add a cheap Denon universal player (just saw a DVD-2930 go for $250 on A’gon) and using DenonLink, you now have near-perfect physical media playback. Only a $15K Meridian 808.2 might beat this setup, and even then, I’d question if there’s a diff. Oh, and the Meridian can’t do SACD.


But back to the topic of this thread, the built-in audio streaming solution is brilliant. I listened to hours worth of redbook rips yesterday on one of my favorite playlists. Just stunning audio quality. :music: