Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2013 23:18:00 GMT
The Situation - Using a Shanling CDT-100C (3D-Audio UK-tuned), into a Shanling STP-80 Integrated, into my big B&W bad boys - B & W CDM 7-NT For headphone use, its CDT-100c into Cambridge Audio Dacmagic into M.F. X-10 D into M.F. X-can V2 (both R.G. Modded).
The Sound - Absolutely gorgeous. I'm genuinely completely happy with it. It's taken me around ten years to get exactly the sound I want. It seems to me that the two components which have the greatest effect on the sound of your system are the amp and, especially, the speakers. The synergy between my Shanling STP-80 – a 32 watt EL-34 push-pull valve amp – and my B&W's is perfect. I can, and very often do, listen for hours at a stretch.
The Problem - I now have around 1800 CD's. When I first got rid of vinyl and started collecting CD's, I never imagined I would have 1800 and counting, so I never bothered sorting them alphabetically. Even though I know where most of them are, I have regularly spent a good ten minutes or so, getting gradually more annoyed , and losing that cool, chilled, mellow, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, or Yello – Touch Yello mood, looking for a particular CD . Add to that the fact that I'm gradually running out of space for my CD's and something had to be done.
The Solution - Go completely digital!! Change my front end from a CDP to a media streamer, keeping my amp and speakers, but losing all my physical media. Now this may seem a bit extreme to other old farts like me, but to someone born in the nineties (the i-pod generation?), the idea of actually storing your 1's and 0's on hundreds and hundreds of separate pieces of poly-carbonate seems utterly bizarre. They're completely comfortable with computer-based hard-drive music.
Now I have to hold my hands up here and plead guilty to an un-warranted bias against computer-based audio. To me, computers were things I used at work (Excel, Word, Power-Point,) or things I bought things with (Amazon, E-Bay), or surfed with, but listen to music? Oh no, that's what high-end CD players were for, surely??
However . . . .
After many A-B sessions, I've realised that I can get at least the same sound quality from ordinary 16/44 flac rips, as I currently get from my up-sampling Shanling, so the vast majority of my rips should sound superb. And the 80 or 90, 24/96 and 24/192 albums I have, should sound outstanding. By the way, I'm not blind to the fact that HDD's can and do fail, so that's why I'll use two in a RAID 1 configuration, and keep my CD's in the loft
The Plan - Later this month I'll buy - 2 x Western Digital 3Tb Red, fill them with all my CD's ripped to Flac (and tagged properly – Thanks Frans , put them in a Synology DS 213J Nas Drive (in Raid 1), feeding a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6, controlled by a Google Nexus 7, and enjoy!!
I figure this way I will have instant access and control over all my CD's. The Stream Magic's dac is pretty good (Anagram Technologies of Switzerland) and can accept and decode asynchronously up to 24/192 through the USB (with the CA driver), and will up-sample any lesser codec up to to 24/192. The Stream Magic has two outputs, balanced and un-balanced. That means I can use the un-balanced straight into my Shanling integrated and use the balanced (with an XLR-to-RCA adapter) to feed my head rig. That's why I've been ripping like crazy. I've even set up a little-used PC at work with EAC and MP3-Tag, and I'm taking in 30 or so CD's on a night-shift to rip. At the moment I've just about filled a spare 110 Gb HDD with the initial batch of rips, and I'm about 15% or so into the total. I'm just waiting till funds permit, to buy the 3 Tb HDD's (and the rest of the gear) and I can transfer them over and start listening.
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades! Remember that one??
I realise this is something that a few people who are thinking about going digital might be interested in, so I'll regularly up-date this thread with my progress. Two things I can say for sure, I will get rid of my CD's and I will need loads of help, so stand by!
Meanwhile . . . . . . .
Ripping . . . and Ripping . . . and Ripping . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Sound - Absolutely gorgeous. I'm genuinely completely happy with it. It's taken me around ten years to get exactly the sound I want. It seems to me that the two components which have the greatest effect on the sound of your system are the amp and, especially, the speakers. The synergy between my Shanling STP-80 – a 32 watt EL-34 push-pull valve amp – and my B&W's is perfect. I can, and very often do, listen for hours at a stretch.
The Problem - I now have around 1800 CD's. When I first got rid of vinyl and started collecting CD's, I never imagined I would have 1800 and counting, so I never bothered sorting them alphabetically. Even though I know where most of them are, I have regularly spent a good ten minutes or so, getting gradually more annoyed , and losing that cool, chilled, mellow, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, or Yello – Touch Yello mood, looking for a particular CD . Add to that the fact that I'm gradually running out of space for my CD's and something had to be done.
The Solution - Go completely digital!! Change my front end from a CDP to a media streamer, keeping my amp and speakers, but losing all my physical media. Now this may seem a bit extreme to other old farts like me, but to someone born in the nineties (the i-pod generation?), the idea of actually storing your 1's and 0's on hundreds and hundreds of separate pieces of poly-carbonate seems utterly bizarre. They're completely comfortable with computer-based hard-drive music.
Now I have to hold my hands up here and plead guilty to an un-warranted bias against computer-based audio. To me, computers were things I used at work (Excel, Word, Power-Point,) or things I bought things with (Amazon, E-Bay), or surfed with, but listen to music? Oh no, that's what high-end CD players were for, surely??
However . . . .
After many A-B sessions, I've realised that I can get at least the same sound quality from ordinary 16/44 flac rips, as I currently get from my up-sampling Shanling, so the vast majority of my rips should sound superb. And the 80 or 90, 24/96 and 24/192 albums I have, should sound outstanding. By the way, I'm not blind to the fact that HDD's can and do fail, so that's why I'll use two in a RAID 1 configuration, and keep my CD's in the loft
The Plan - Later this month I'll buy - 2 x Western Digital 3Tb Red, fill them with all my CD's ripped to Flac (and tagged properly – Thanks Frans , put them in a Synology DS 213J Nas Drive (in Raid 1), feeding a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6, controlled by a Google Nexus 7, and enjoy!!
I figure this way I will have instant access and control over all my CD's. The Stream Magic's dac is pretty good (Anagram Technologies of Switzerland) and can accept and decode asynchronously up to 24/192 through the USB (with the CA driver), and will up-sample any lesser codec up to to 24/192. The Stream Magic has two outputs, balanced and un-balanced. That means I can use the un-balanced straight into my Shanling integrated and use the balanced (with an XLR-to-RCA adapter) to feed my head rig. That's why I've been ripping like crazy. I've even set up a little-used PC at work with EAC and MP3-Tag, and I'm taking in 30 or so CD's on a night-shift to rip. At the moment I've just about filled a spare 110 Gb HDD with the initial batch of rips, and I'm about 15% or so into the total. I'm just waiting till funds permit, to buy the 3 Tb HDD's (and the rest of the gear) and I can transfer them over and start listening.
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades! Remember that one??
I realise this is something that a few people who are thinking about going digital might be interested in, so I'll regularly up-date this thread with my progress. Two things I can say for sure, I will get rid of my CD's and I will need loads of help, so stand by!
Meanwhile . . . . . . .
Ripping . . . and Ripping . . . and Ripping . . . . . . . . . . . .