Need help chosing an audio device :-)

Florin

Florin

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Hi guys!

Well, I am tired of looking for CD's inside my house, I think I want to move to the next level - to record all my CD's in device that can store them, and play them.

I need good playback quality - that's the most important thing I guess.

Any ideas?
 
To me the device plays a role, but it's also very important to encode mp3's in high quality, 256kbs is a minimum...

I'm an Apple addict so i'd say iPod, but some purists say it sounds bad. It doesnt sound bad, but the stock earplugs do. I swapped them for better quality headphones.
 
If you really want the best quality, you must use lossless encoding... that means, NOT mp3.

:d

Maybe archive all of your CDs in flac format if quality is of the utmost importance.

If you're not THAT concerned about losing a little fidelity, I'd just grab an iPod touch or iPhone for the brilliant interface, and added features of all the apps and never look back. Rip your music in AAC or mp3 format in the highest quality setting.

;)
 
I'd also recommend FLAC if quality is most important.
 
I've gone down the ipod route. Obviously lossless would be better quality, but I got the impression that there wasn't any convenient device that could store a reasonable number of CDs at that quality. The Brennan JB7 gets some good press, but it's still only 500Gb at best (which, they say, will do up to 600 CDs, although I think that's assuming your CDs are quite short in length), and it's not as flexible as some other devices.
 
Yeah, something that looks like a 19" rack, not an usual MP3 player. Ideally to have it's own CD - DVD drive, do grab directly.
 
Florin said:
Yeah, something that looks like a 19" rack, not an usual MP3 player. Ideally to have it's own CD - DVD drive, do grab directly.
Click to expand...

you have a computer - I suppose? :-))
 
I haven't seen any 19" style device. I think Sascha may be right - a computer is probably your best bet.
 
I was afraid you will say that :-)

Well, I do have a computer, but it will never stay there connected, it will always be used for other things... I wanted something to be used especially for music/ movies. Well... more music.
 
Simple: you buy another computer and put a sticker on saying "do not touch!" :lol:
 
The problem with the stickers is that you get used with them, like they are there forever, and you stop reading them...
 
I'd have to agree with mart on this. Get another PC. Terabyte drives are cheap nowadays and you can rip all your discs to FLAC. You'll have quick access to manage and play your collection but also have the physical CD's should something happen. I have all of my music on a central network drive that all machines in the house can access. No having to dig through a CD rack to find that particular album anymore.
 
My partner and i have gone the Ipod route, The quality if you rip lossless is pretty damn good, AAC almost as good. We store our music on the computer, our CD's are sealed in a box in the garage. The pod is handy becayse they hold a fair bit o' music (i keep backup photos on mine)you can hook them up to phones, your car, and more cars now have specific ipod docks, or home theater systems. I recently got a good ipod dock as a stereo at home (Phillips) but the B&W zeppelin and the Bose docks are better but more expensive. I like having the same unit for everything (car/pocket/home). But you have to remember the golden rule of NEVER using the phones that come with an ipod. its like puttin dog feaces in your ears.
 
Augie said:
But you have to remember the golden rule of NEVER using the phones that come with an ipod. its like puttin dog feaces in your ears.
Click to expand...
Exactly. The ipod phones are horrible. I use Etymotic Research hf5's. Not cheap but do they ever sound good and keep noise out which leads to lower listening volumes. I swear to you, you will hear things in albums that you haven't before when compared to cheap phones.
 
JSmith said:
I'd have to agree with mart on this. Get another PC. Terabyte drives are cheap nowadays and you can rip all your discs to FLAC...
Click to expand...
+1 It does not need to be an expensive PC. A PC with foobar 2000 and the asio4all driver will sound great (any PC from this century can handle it).

JSmith said:
Exactly. The ipod phones are horrible. I use Etymotic Research hf5's. Not cheap but do they ever sound good and keep noise out which leads to lower listening volumes. I swear to you, you will hear things in albums that you haven't before when compared to cheap phones.
Click to expand...

+1 Etymotic phones are amazing.
 
I don't know, but I'd stay away from computer... I'd use a dedicated device, as a multimedia player with HDD.
 
Florin said:
I don't know, but I'd stay away from computer... I'd use a dedicated device, as a multimedia player with HDD.
Click to expand...

The options are many. :) I sometimes use my iPod Touch 64gb to play music on my stereo (Denon amp + Cerwin Vega 8"), but I also have an LG BD390 BluRay-player with wireless connection to my computer so I can stream music. Of course, FLAC, AAC and MP3 will never replace cd-quality, but you will have your entire collection at your fingertips.
 
Puh... I think the handiest solution would be: You buy a 46" LED TV and a PS3... and connect them to your soundsystem *cough cough*
That's what I would do! ;D
 
Charmand G said:
The options are many. :) I sometimes use my iPod Touch 64gb to play music on my stereo (Denon amp + Cerwin Vega 8"), but I also have an LG BD390 BluRay-player with wireless connection to my computer so I can stream music. Of course, FLAC, AAC and MP3 will never replace cd-quality, but you will have your entire collection at your fingertips.
Click to expand...
FLAC is losless so it will sound as good as the CD. Mp3 and AAC are lossy encoding methods so you will lose some quality but if you use a high bitrate like 256 it won't sound to bad. Just depends on what you want.
 
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