Okay, a completely new discovery for me - Music Server - Questions...

Emlyn

I tried Plex and found it to be intrusive so deleted it from my NAS altogether. I've had no issues accessing files directly and streaming whether they're music, DVD, or Blu Ray original sources.

newbie308

@ChrisD06 Does the CD drive matter? Is one brand better than another? If building a PC is recommended as you say, then I would like to know this up front.

ChrisD06

Emlyn wrote: »

I tried Plex and found it to be intrusive so deleted it from my NAS altogether. I've had no issues accessing files directly and streaming whether they're music, DVD, or Blu Ray original sources.

It's certainly not for everyone. I found it was easier for me to simply open an app and have a pretty well-made UI show me my artists, songs, and albums right there. It does have benefits like lyrics and such but it's not mandatory for a good experience, just more user friendly. It also lets you stream your media from literally anywhere in the world as long as your server is running and it's connected to a public IP (which if you have internet, it will be).

ChrisD06

newbie308 wrote: »

@ChrisD06 Does the CD drive matter? Is one brand better than another? If building a PC is recommended as you say, then I would like to know this up front.

Not really, no. CD drives are just hardware. Your software is the most important. I use a Blu-Ray drive so I can rip any disc I want no matter the format, don't recall what the model is though. Find which software suits you best. I do have an LG if that helps, I find they make the most feature-packed drives for the money.

The biggest difference for your audio quality will be your ability to encode/decode the audio, so you'll want a good processor to do this quickly and good internet bandwidth to get the best bitrate possible. So long as you don't cheap out really hard on the gear, you'll be fine.

SCompRacer

newbie308 wrote: »

@ChrisD06 Does the CD drive matter? Is one brand better than another? If building a PC is recommended as you say, then I would like to know this up front.

While hardware does matter, I have used dBpoweramp with their AccurateRip for many years. It compares my rip to others and lets me know if any errors are found.

billbillw

Plex is good for video/movie playback but I would absolutely not recommend it for what Tom is trying to do. I have been running Plex for more than 5 years and it has never cataloged my music library correctly. I also, would not recommend running a Windows server. TrueNAS or Ubuntu server are both quite simple to install and configure and they are infinitely more stable than any Windows server. Plus, there is no need to purchase a license.

All this discussion about building a server is probably putting the cart before the horse for Tom. He needs to start creating a digital music library first. That is the starting point and it is definitely the most time consuming.

msg

Chris, please do not make blanket authoritative statements like this. It can be misleading to people who do not have any experience. Everything you say here should be prefaced with 'in my experience' and further encouragement for members to do their own continuing research.

First, the ISP matters. Some services do not allow port forwarding. Read up on it. Just had a discussion recently with a friend about this. May be possible to opt out of the service limitation, but in at least one case it is not. This could also be a non-starter for some people who wish to have access to the library outside of the home.

Second, after the discussion on cables and your opposing perspectives there, the drive may matter to others, as well as the entire ripping process. I also use an LG BD. Works great for my use. Some drives will error on extraction with some discs, for example. This one does not. That's one factor to consider. Tom is all about refining every step of the audio process, though, and stated concerns for the best possible digital file. There may be some additional considerations unknown to you or me in this area with respect to discernable quality differences. First search, for instance, turns up this discussion. A contributor on this thread discusses power supply considerations for the extraction drive.
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/21919-best-cd-drive-to-rip

Third, it is not necessarily a good idea to make your storage appliance publicly accessible. There are security implications in doing so.

Emlyn

Great points. I found that it was invaluable long term to get my ripping and library management process down early on in JRiver. Naming files with artist and album title consistently in the computer folder/subfolder/file names is critical for how I manage things. For example, I might have three different versions of an album on CD issued at different times with different mastering so I needed to figure out how to differentiate between them in a digital library. Same thing with two CD albums. Does it make more sense to treat the album as a single one and renumber the tracks on the second disc or to have it in two separate folders as -Disc 1 and -Disc 2? Consistency is key. Figure out at the start whether the best archiving strategy for you is to put rips into FLAC or WAV format, for example. FLAC files can be unpacked to WAV or converted to some other format if desired, but in my view the archive should be in the best possible format from the beginning.

SCompRacer

Just my two cents.

Good point by Bill about how much media you have to rip. I'm old school and love the physical media. There are many, many crates of records and banker boxes with CD/SACD that the wife complains about when they have to be moved.

Good point from Tony about hearing. My wife has profound hearing loss. (Her Phonak hearing aids, the only ones that work for her, retail at $8,000). Several years ago, the female tech there gave me a free hearing test. Afterwards she shared the results with the wife first. "He should have no trouble hearing the frequency of your voice." Since then, when the wife's aids need a tuneup (adjustment), I may get a free test and she says I have amazing hearing for an old guy.

Regarding flac, dBpoweramp allows one to select from zero (no compression) to a level of 8 (most compression) of the flac lossless file. Your processor works harder unpacking higher levels of compression. I recall purchasing some newly recorded wav from OTR Studios and Blue Coast Records (Cookie Marenco). They had samplers for you to try.

I have multiple copies of the same recordings that have been remastered. I rely on Hoffman forums to find the best recordings/mastering. Not for all albums, just my select favorites.

For the wife I set up her own music server using a Volumio Primo with an old NAS.

I purchased lifetime Roon at low cost when they were desperate for cash. I use Roon Rock (linux) on my old Sonore music server. (Rock recommends Intel NUC's and while it may work on your unsupported hardware, you could be one upgrade away from no joy). CPU's were cheap for that old Intel mini-ATX so I upgraded it with the best CPU it could use. It sports two external clean power supplies for the motherboard and SOtM USB card. I added an SSD card for the Roon Rock op system and a 6TB spinner for the music. (I still have music on it I've never listened to).

I convert everything to DSD512 with Roon DSP. Roon shows a processor level that must be maintained above 1.3 for reliable conversion. My DAC has a one-bit to decode direct DSD. If I use the R2R ladder in the DAC, it converts DSD to PCM. Most DAC's do convert DSD to PCM so sometimes best to experiment with sending any DSD converted to upsampled PCM instead, so no conversion occurs in the DAC. IMO it's all dependent on the quality of the devices. YMMV

I sold my Xbox Series X and built a gaming PC. I want to try HQPlayer with Roon. HQPlayer has high processing requirements to use the high quality upsampling and downsampling algorithms, filters.

treitz3

I will most likely go with JRiver. According to some, Roon imparts a slight detriment to the end result, and that is something that I definitely do not want to have. Even those with lifetime memberships have informed me that they don't even use it anymore.

I can't comment on the sound, as I haven't heard it yet compared to JRiver.

I appreciate everyone's input thus far. There will definitely be more questions. Probably hundreds by the time I am done.

One further point, unless the signal is as pure as it can be? I am not interested. IMO, if I am to do this, I want to extract as much fidelity out of it as possible. Any compromise to the sound is something I am not interested in. I am all about the quality of the end result as to what hits these ears.

Tom

SCompRacer

Well, my hearing must be bad then... I haven't experienced any detrimental issues using Roon. One does have to check all the settings after an update though. While settings probably shouldn't change, some do and they can be noticeable.

However, some do claim that HQPlayer does a much better job SQ wise.

Emlyn

treitz3 wrote: »

One further point, unless the signal is as pure as it can be? I am not interested. IMO, if I am to do this, I want to extract as much fidelity out of it as possible. Any compromise to the sound is something I am not interested in. I am all about the quality of the end result as to what hits these ears.

Tom

As with analog audio the shortest signal path is best. For that purpose music streamed directly from a high quality audio device as a local player with a solid state drive might be the best option. DSD files and other high resolution files are supported this way with no loss of fidelity other than what the player's output devices are up to.

ChrisD06

msg wrote: »

Chris, please do not make blanket authoritative statements like this. It can be misleading to people who do not have any experience. Everything you say here should be prefaced with 'in my experience' and further encouragement for members to do their own continuing research.

First, the ISP matters. Some services do not allow port forwarding. Read up on it. Just had a discussion recently with a friend about this. May be possible to opt out of the service limitation, but in at least one case it is not. This could also be a non-starter for some people who wish to have access to the library outside of the home.

Second, after the discussion on cables and your opposing perspectives there, the drive may matter to others, as well as the entire ripping process. I also use an LG BD. Works great for my use. Some drives will error on extraction with some discs, for example. This one does not. That's one factor to consider. Tom is all about refining every step of the audio process, though, and stated concerns for the best possible digital file. There may be some additional considerations unknown to you or me in this area with respect to discernable quality differences. First search, for instance, turns up this discussion. A contributor on this thread discusses power supply considerations for the extraction drive.
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/21919-best-cd-drive-to-rip

Third, it is not necessarily a good idea to make your storage appliance publicly accessible. There are security implications in doing so.

I was not aware of port forwarding not being allowed by ISPs. From my understanding, and from the many friends and family I've helped with Plex servers, all Canadian ISPs do allow it (Bell, Eastlink, Citywide, Xplorenet, Koodo, Roger's, Shaw, etc etc). This sounds like a US only thing and it's the first time of hearing about it, so my apologies.

The point you made about drives is one of the reasons I mentioned the software is more important. I've yet to come across a drive which errors out or fails to extract the data perfectly but good software will tell you when this occurs. I forgot to put that in my original comment and went right to encode/decode concerns.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree port forwarding is very risky, infact I never recommend it. The reason I recommended Plex is it does not require port forwarding (most of the time, depending on the router), whereas Jellyfin does, making it much more secure.

Mind you Plex uses auto-NAT and UPNP which are insecure in their own rights, but it's much preferred over having an always open port.

ChrisD06

billbillw wrote: »

Plex is good for video/movie playback but I would absolutely not recommend it for what Tom is trying to do. I have been running Plex for more than 5 years and it has never cataloged my music library correctly. I also, would not recommend running a Windows server. TrueNAS or Ubuntu server are both quite simple to install and configure and they are infinitely more stable than any Windows server. Plus, there is no need to purchase a license.

All this discussion about building a server is probably putting the cart before the horse for Tom. He needs to start creating a digital music library first. That is the starting point and it is definitely the most time consuming.

Excellent point about the license. I got an enterprise one from a friend so that slipped my mind.

Linux is far better, like I said, it just requires some command line setup for Plex (even in Ubuntu) so I figured Windows would he much easier for Tom.

Interesting note about your music catalog. I've had a few hiccups usually related to songs that have two artists listed, but most of those problems have been sorted out. I'm surprised you're having troubles but as with anything there's gonna be problems. Have you tried to, as much of a PITA it is, reinstall and reset the server software?

billbillw

SCompRacer wrote: »

Just my two cents.

Good point by Bill about how much media you have to rip. I'm old school and love the physical media. There are many, many crates of records and banker boxes with CD/SACD that the wife complains about when they have to be moved.

Good point from Tony about hearing. My wife has profound hearing loss. (Her Phonak hearing aids, the only ones that work for her, retail at $8,000). Several years ago, the female tech there gave me a free hearing test. Afterwards she shared the results with the wife first. "He should have no trouble hearing the frequency of your voice." Since then, when the wife's aids need a tuneup (adjustment), I may get a free test and she says I have amazing hearing for an old guy.

Regarding flac, dBpoweramp allows one to select from zero (no compression) to a level of 8 (most compression) of the flac lossless file. Your processor works harder unpacking higher levels of compression. I recall purchasing some newly recorded wav from OTR Studios and Blue Coast Records (Cookie Marenco). They had samplers for you to try.

I have multiple copies of the same recordings that have been remastered. I rely on Hoffman forums to find the best recordings/mastering. Not for all albums, just my select favorites.

For the wife I set up her own music server using a Volumio Primo with an old NAS.

I purchased lifetime Roon at low cost when they were desperate for cash. I use Roon Rock (linux) on my old Sonore music server. (Rock recommends Intel NUC's and while it may work on your unsupported hardware, you could be one upgrade away from no joy). CPU's were cheap for that old Intel mini-ATX so I upgraded it with the best CPU it could use. It sports two external clean power supplies for the motherboard and SOtM USB card. I added an SSD card for the Roon Rock op system and a 6TB spinner for the music. (I still have music on it I've never listened to).

I convert everything to DSD512 with Roon DSP. Roon shows a processor level that must be maintained above 1.3 for reliable conversion. My DAC has a one-bit to decode direct DSD. If I use the R2R ladder in the DAC, it converts DSD to PCM. Most DAC's do convert DSD to PCM so sometimes best to experiment with sending any DSD converted to upsampled PCM instead, so no conversion occurs in the DAC. IMO it's all dependent on the quality of the devices. YMMV

I sold my Xbox Series X and built a gaming PC. I want to try HQPlayer with Roon. HQPlayer has high processing requirements to use the high quality upsampling and downsampling algorithms, filters.

That's a whole lot of information that our "virgin" Tom doesn't even need to think about. I would recommend anyone starting out to keep it simple at first. Start with a good DAC (don't cheap out here), create a well organized and cleanly ripped Library, then the choices are to have the library on a central file server, or on a specific music server that only feeds the DAC. There are so many different ways to do this, much will end up being decided by the individual's technical background and ability to load software, build PCs, etc.

I prefer to not make any changes to my source files. I want them played bit for bit accurately to my DAC. Is that the best sound? Maybe not, but it is simple and it sounds pretty darn good to me.

Clipdat

Tom I'm pretty sure this is what you need: https://www.iodata.jp/fidata/en/product/index.htm

nooshinjohn

billbillw wrote: »

That's a whole lot of information that our "virgin" Tom doesn't even need to think about. I would recommend anyone starting out to keep it simple at first. Start with a good DAC (don't cheap out here), create a well organized and cleanly ripped Library, then the choices are to have the library on a central file server, or on a specific music server that only feeds the DAC. There are so many different ways to do this, much will end up being decided by the individual's technical background and ability to load software, build PCs, etc.

I prefer to not make any changes to my source files. I want them played bit for bit accurately to my DAC. Is that the best sound? Maybe not, but it is simple and it sounds pretty darn good to me.

A DAC has been found to be the audiophile version of crack... after hearing a decent one, your mind starts to seek out how much better can it get.

jdjohn

Tom,

Before you embark on this journey, there are a few things to consider and evaluate (IMHO), just from a practical perspective.

Do you want a standalone music server, or would an all-in-one streamer/server (with built-in storage) make more sense? A standalone PC-type server will have (potentially) a spinning HDD (SSD is obviously an option), a CPU with a fan blowing on it, a power supply with a fan, and some type of cable connection to your DAC. An all-in-one streamer/server eliminates some of those things, and can really simplify the overall setup. They often have a CD burner incorporated, so you just put a disc in, and let it...well, rip.

Are you prepared to maintain and index a digital music library? It sounds rather benign, but it can actually become frustrating. Genres can be especially maddening. Is the album rock, alternative rock, progressive rock, classic rock, hard rock, soft rock, metal, pop rock, yacht rock? Compilations, greatest hits, and classical music can also be challenging to index. As someone mentioned earlier, album artwork can also be a pain, if that is important to you. The indexing just comes with the territory for a digital music library, so be prepared.

Lastly, if you decide you want to rip SACDs to DSD files, that process is VERY different than ripping CDs. A blu-ray player that supports SACD playback is needed (I think there are about 30 such models), which has to be networked to a computer, a USB jump-drive with a certain script program is inserted into the USB port on the BDP, and a certain Java program must be installed on the computer. It's very much a 'hack' process with several steps. I have not tried it yet myself, but I'm sure some here have.

Anyway, those are just a few things that come to mind, right off the bat.

billbillw

jdjohn wrote: »

Tom,

Before you embark on this journey, there are a few things to consider and evaluate (IMHO), just from a practical perspective.

Do you want a standalone music server, or would an all-in-one streamer/server (with built-in storage) make more sense? A standalone PC-type server will have (potentially) a spinning HDD (SSD is obviously an option), a CPU with a fan blowing on it, a power supply with a fan, and some type of cable connection to your DAC. An all-in-one streamer/server eliminates some of those things, and can really simplify the overall setup. They often have a CD burner incorporated, so you just put a disc in, and let it...well, rip.

Are you prepared to maintain and index a digital music library? It sounds rather benign, but it can actually become frustrating. Genres can be especially maddening. Is the album rock, alternative rock, progressive rock, classic rock, hard rock, soft rock, metal, pop rock, yacht rock? Compilations, greatest hits, and classical music can also be challenging to index. As someone mentioned earlier, album artwork can also be a pain, if that is important to you. The indexing just comes with the territory for a digital music library, so be prepared.

Ideally, if one builds a PC type server, they would not have that running in the same room as their music system, so fan/disc noise isn't a concern. The idea of a "server" is to connect to the home network and then the files are available for playback anywhere on the network. Some may argue that doing this may corrupt the purity of the playback, but I don't agree with any of that.

Genres are a headache and because of that, I rarely use them. Example of ridiculous genres:


That's a screenshot from my Daphile. I suppose I could take the time to make them all Electronic Music, but I have never bothered.

billbillw

ChrisD06 wrote: »

Excellent point about the license. I got an enterprise one from a friend so that slipped my mind.

Linux is far better, like I said, it just requires some command line setup for Plex (even in Ubuntu) so I figured Windows would he much easier for Tom.

Interesting note about your music catalog. I've had a few hiccups usually related to songs that have two artists listed, but most of those problems have been sorted out. I'm surprised you're having troubles but as with anything there's gonna be problems. Have you tried to, as much of a PITA it is, reinstall and reset the server software?

I haven't bothered because, for the most part, I do not use Plex for Music. I added my music folder just to see what it would do. I thought it might be nice to play over the Roku for background music. It gets a lot of my music, but not all of it. My collection is quite large at this point and it would be a lot of work to get Plex to see everything.

My main music listening comes from my 2-ch system which is not connected to any device that would see or run Plex. I use a small fanless PC running Daphile for that system and it always sees every music file and organizes it correctly (Genres not withstanding).

ChrisD06

billbillw wrote: »

ChrisD06 wrote: »

Excellent point about the license. I got an enterprise one from a friend so that slipped my mind.

Linux is far better, like I said, it just requires some command line setup for Plex (even in Ubuntu) so I figured Windows would he much easier for Tom.

Interesting note about your music catalog. I've had a few hiccups usually related to songs that have two artists listed, but most of those problems have been sorted out. I'm surprised you're having troubles but as with anything there's gonna be problems. Have you tried to, as much of a PITA it is, reinstall and reset the server software?

I haven't bothered because, for the most part, I do not use Plex for Music. I added my music folder just to see what it would do. I thought it might be nice to play over the Roku for background music. It gets a lot of my music, but not all of it. My collection is quite large at this point and it would be a lot of work to get Plex to see everything.

My main music listening comes from my 2-ch system which is not connected to any device that would see or run Plex. I use a small fanless PC running Daphile for that system and it always sees every music file and organizes it correctly (Genres not withstanding).

I've not heard of Daphile, I just gave it a look and it actually looks extremely cool. I might see how it performs with ~4TB of 16/44.1 FLACs. Not had an issue with Plex not recognizing songs since an update a while ago, but I have encountered it on older versions. Something to do with the metadata format.

billbillw

ChrisD06 wrote: »

I've not heard of Daphile, I just gave it a look and it actually looks extremely cool. I might see how it performs with ~4TB of 16/44.1 FLACs. Not had an issue with Plex not recognizing songs since an update a while ago, but I have encountered it on older versions. Something to do with the metadata format.

Check my thread in the Going Digital sub. I've been using Daphile for something like 6 or 7 years now. Shoot me a PM if you have any questions on configuration.

mhardy6647

Strictly FWIW (which may be nothing):

I am old, lazy, and ignorant of post-1998 or so digital technology -
I have a Synology NAS with 6 TB drives in it and I (just) do this:





Upstairs, I have an ancient IBM laptop with Ubuntu on it. I essentially use it as a terminal, with output to a Topping USB DAC kindly karma'd by our own @Clipdat and then to the big boy hifi (or whatever's hooked up and plugged in upstairs at any given moment). Lowbrow but functional, and it sounds fine.



Dat IBM



Ripping a Bloody Moos I mean Moody Blues CD using a Ubuntu app called Sound Juicer on a cold midwinter afternoon in the COVID days.


Anywhere else in the house -- 'streaming' gets a little cumbersome. Not impossible, just cumbersome.

On the bright side, Synology's O/S includes an internet access application that will work from anywhere, which comes in handy sometimes, too.

treitz3

SCompRacer wrote: »

Well, my hearing must be bad then... I haven't experienced any detrimental issues using Roon. One does have to check all the settings after an update though. While settings probably shouldn't change, some do and they can be noticeable.

Hey man, I am in NO way saying that your hearing is bad. I have read up on this for quite some time now but only got really interested in it as of late. It still all seems like I am learning a French language, or something like that.

Some of the guys I talk too have more in their rig than I do my house. Seriously, one of them, flew in an acoustician.....not one but THREE acousticians and spent $380K just so they all could "advise" him on how to make his rig sound the best. These are the types of guys that have told me this. They have systems that (monetarily) make mine look like a 1/2 off K-Mart, "Blue light Special".

SCompRacer wrote: »

However, some do claim that HQPlayer does a much better job SQ wise.

Do you have any knowledge of HQPlayer versus JRiver? Please, keep in mind that I am following everyone's lead here. I have absolutely ZERO experience. Please advise and thanks.

Tom

treitz3

ChrisD06 wrote: »

I do genuinely have about 3 years experience with media servers and I can help you out here.

No offense but given your stance on cables/metallurgies? Please do not offer any more information about this to me. If you don't know by now what a basic thing in this hobby can offer a system? You can't help me with my inquiry here.

Stay humble, my friend. Maybe down the road when you experience more, I can carry on a conversation with you to where I would actually respect what you have to say. Until then? Please don't bother.

Tom

billbillw

Tom,
I have said a few times...start simple! HQ Player should not be in your vocabulary.

Think: Library/server/playback device and DAC. Once you have all that clean and want more, then you can go to AudiophileStyle and expand the horizon. I haven't found the need.

If you try to adopt too much new technology at once, could end up being an extremely frustrating experience it could turn you off of the whole concept...which would be a shame because it does offer better sound quality and convenience.

SCompRacer

I see posts every now and then that something sounds better or different than Roon. I always wonder if they are using Roon with or without the DSP (Digital Signal Processing) and if they know what the settings are and do. Does the competing software do any tone control that they may like better, etc. I do have JRiver and Media Monkey licenses. I also built a music server for a guy with Daphile a couple years ago and it's still going.

I tried HQPlayer on my old PC, but it didn't have the horsepower to run the filters I wanted to try. Since I built the new PC ( i9 13900K with 4090 video), I've become lazy. HQPlayer has a 30-minute timer so one can try it out before purchasing ($291 for the software). If I understand it correctly, restarting it after it times out gets you another 30 minutes.

When Norm was alive, we heard a rich guy's system with huge Magico's. Six amps, speaker wires on stands in perfect formation. Professionally built room with its own 100 amp breaker box. Nice stuff but I'm just a poor boy!

treitz3

billbillw wrote: »

Tom,
I have said a few times...start simple! HQ Player should not be in your vocabulary.

Think: DAC, Library, playback device. <snip>

Thank you. Like I said, all of this is like learning French to me. I'll get there but work has me slammed at the moment. I don't even have the time to respond to other posts at this moment in time.

That said, I do have a very nice DAC (Pro Series ANK 5.1 Signature DAC with Quad C cores and USB board) and a Lumin UX1 for the playback device. I am assuming that the Lumin will act as the playback mechanism.

If I am correct on these assumptions, the only thing I need is a library. Am I correct on this?

Tom

nooshinjohn

treitz3 wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Tom,
I have said a few times...start simple! HQ Player should not be in your vocabulary.

Think: DAC, Library, playback device. <snip>

Thank you. Like I said, all of this is like learning French to me. I'll get there but work has me slammed at the moment. I don't even have the time to respond to other posts at this moment in time.

That said, I do have a very nice DAC (Pro Series ANK 5.1 Signature DAC with Quad C cores and USB board) and a Lumin UX1 for the playback device. I am assuming that the Lumin will act as the playback mechanism.

If I am correct on these assumptions, the only thing I need is a library. Am I correct on this?

Tom

That would be correct.

treitz3

jdjohn wrote: »

Before you embark on this journey, there are a few things to consider and evaluate (IMHO), just from a practical perspective.

Thank you, sir. You are actually the one that started this whole rabbit hole, so I only have YOU to blame. 😀

jdjohn wrote: »

Are you prepared to maintain and index a digital music library?

Yes. I do understand that maintenance is key and that it does soak up some considerable time.

As for genres and cataloging? (is that even a word?) I'm not worried about that. Set it all up the correct way at the beginning and I should be golden. Regrets concerning that should come down the road, but I'm not too picky about genre's. I would, however, simply like to look up what it is I am looking for and find it. Fast.

Any pointers on that or is it really that simple?

jdjohn wrote: »

album artwork can also be a pain, if that is important to you. The indexing just comes with the territory for a digital music library, so be prepared.

Hmmmm, I can't see the album cover on the Lumin now....but I would appreciate seeing it on the i-Pad or whatever device I am trying to look something up on.

jdjohn wrote: »

Lastly, if you decide you want to rip SACDs to DSD files

The DAC I have does not currently decode or offer SACD. From what I understand, I can only playback the Redbook layer of the disc. I am okay with this and I have made peace with it because of the other things the DAC brings to the table (which is a lot!). I'll figure out what I can do with strictly SACD's later on down the road but that segment is an estimated 1/95th of my collection. It is what it is.

Tom