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Today I've started considering a Linn DS..

AdamWysokinski

AdamWysokinski

Mmm... music...
Today my cabinet-maker have sent me an estimated pricing for CD racks I was going to order (high quality, real wood veneer, large racks that should hold approx. 3000 CDs). I have already ~2000 CDs and my two racks are already full, thus lots of CDs are stacked all over the room.

I really like his work, but this time he's very expensive - for somewhat more I can get a NAS with 2x4TB (which should be enough for some time) plus e.g. a s/h Sekrit DSI. Thus, I started to think about moving to a NAS/DS based system. In the future I will need two systems - one for a living room (Harbeths SHL5) for casual listening and another for my dedicated listening and working room (Harbeths 40.1).

My plan is to replace my current system with a Sekrit plus Harbeths, move all the music to a NAS (that't the worst part, very time consuming) and get another DS (Akurate? Renew?) based system for the second rig. While I can accept technical aspects of this idea, I'm not sure if I like very smooth and somewhat too relaxed Linn sound. Do DS players sound similarly to older Linn CD players (I know Ikemi best)?

I have also considered two DACs, but I would need two separate computers for them, making it probably more expensive and more troublesome. Besides, my wife thinks that Linn approach is easier for her causal listening.

What do you think about the idea? Any better solutions?
 
Buy a few 2nd hand Squeezeboxes that use your router to send the digital signal to them from the puter/serverwirelessly , no cables required
Run logitech media server (the interface) on any old puter anywhere on the network , go with a 3-4 tb external drives , use a decent dac for each system hanging off the Squeezebox spdif outputs .. you dont need a separate dac for a lesser system , the dac in a squeezebox touch is not too bad.
(logitech no longer make the squeezebox , so you have to get 2nd hand)

1 computer for all.. a 3 Tb Drive will hold 6000+ cds in flac format - even if you have a fair amount of high res stuff
Perhaps 600-700 quid for the Sb's and drive and a puter at the most , dac at whatever price you comfortable with
You can use an iwhatever or a droid device as a remote as well.. from anywhere..simple enough to set up and simple enough for non techies to use too.
Top notch sound , you wont get much better....
 
I would describe linn as smooth but not too relaxed, The ikemi was a great player but the DSs are on another level. I'd suggest getting down to a linn dealer and having a listen.
 
I found Squeezeboxes a bit irritating, though good in some ways. I realise others have had a much easier time. I've just got a pair of Sonos after borrowing one and finding it very easy to use. It sounds ok in my second system with an Audio Synthesis DAX. I'm going to trying one in my main system now and will report back. The user interface is very good - nicer than the Squeezebox, and what I've seen of the Linn interface. The Spotify integration was much easier. The only thing that annoys me is the lack of iPlayer support.
 
For the living room I'd recommend the Naim Unitiqute fantastic little player and very easy to use and setup.

To rip all your CDs look at the vortexbox software, I installed it on an old pc and spent the weekend just feeding it with CD's. It'll go off and get the cd info from freedb and then update the album cover art using bliss.

Don't know about the dedicated music room as I'm only using streaming for fun with a sonos and don't intend to go high end anytime soon.

Have been looking at the simple audio streamer which looks very good but haven't bothered going any further.
 
Totally biased but yes I'd say yes go the Linn route, it really is the most complete solution in my view.... I've been DS'ing for 5 years now.... I have two, they sync together, do radio, do Spotify, Airplay, 24/192, worked over home plug when I need to, multiple control Apps to choose from, I use ChorusDS mostly. Just add a QNAP NAS and your away.
Plus wife friendly, neat hassle free, plus great sound......

They sound very smooth, and clean, hash free, but next minute can reveal the grit and power of heavy rock track.... For me seem very neutral and transparent just letting the music sound as it was meant.

Negatives ? ...Not cheap, but the whole experience for me makes it worth it.
 
Uncle Nigel - a 3 TB hd is around the price of 4 cds these days , I keep one as backup of my music on site and another one off site...

What I did to rip my 4000+ cds is buy 3 external cd rom readers - were real cheap and used DB poweramp to rip on them all concurrently - 5 mins a CD on average, so 40 in an hour (internal cd rom and 3 externals) , easily do 100 a day or more.
I paid my kid a few pence a cd to do it when I wasn't around as well..
 
9designs said:
Totally biased but yes I'd say yes go the Linn route, it really is the most complete solution in my view.... I've been DS'ing for 5 years now.... I have two, they sync together, do radio, do Spotify, Airplay, 24/192, worked over home plug when I need to, multiple control Apps to choose from, I use ChorusDS mostly. Just add a QNAP NAS and your away.
Plus wife friendly, neat hassle free, plus great sound......

They sound very smooth, and clean, hash free, but next minute can reveal the grit and power of heavy rock track.... For me seem very neutral and transparent just letting the music sound as it was meant.

Negatives ? ...Not cheap, but the whole experience for me makes it worth it.
Click to expand...

Couldn't have put it better myself!
 
Thanks for all sugestion, keep them comming.

As uncl_nigel, I would prefer using physical media, but as the collection grows it becomes more and more troublesome to maintain it.

I was thinking about Linn over Squeezebox for several reasons (no longer being produced/supported, no hi-res, requires additional dac(s), I didn't like its software when tried it some time ago).

Unitiqute looks good, but is less powerfull than Sekrit. However, will check it too.
 
You could try a couple of Sonos connects. Your wife (and you!) will like the interface on iOS and Android (etc) phones/pads, and the way it just "works".

Cheap too, compared to Linn or Naim.

Plenty s/h on eBay.
 
Yeh , I suppose if you have Cd's that are made by siberian turk outer mongolian monk artists and are tilted in Cyrillic .. they might be difficult to rip :)
Keep those ones for the CDP used as a transport..

Another alternative to this all is to buy a Devialet and use its AIR to stream , replaces ALL boxes - including amps etc ... listened to one the other day streaming off an ipad . GUI looked very good and it sounded bloody marvellous...(vivid audio Giya G1 speakers)
 
Saw this advice posted on a well known manufacturer's website.

I would not bother with buying another CD player. The Majik DS is better than a CD 12
Click to expand...

..and asked myself, 'can this really be true?'
 
I would expect both to sound pretty similar, it would depend on the design and implementation , there is no reason why the 'streamer' should sound worse unles it has been deliberately hobbled in some form of marketing hierarchy .
Keith.
 
I think you are a perfect candidate for a Yamaha CD-N500, currently discounted to £250 from £500.

It's a CD Player with full functionality 24/192 streaming capabilities. A high quality unit with superb built in DAC already.

Higher quality than a Squeezebox yet currently cheaper than a squeezebox - and if you wanted to you could pop a CD into it too.

Also Yamaha have a great Apple App to control it with, and the streaming works smoothly and seamlessly (has a large buffer on-board).
 
That Yamaha looks like a great unit. Where is it discounted to 250 quid , it currently sells for 500 quid here in south africa , would be worth my while importing one..
Ive read the manual , a few points you may know about? .. I assume there is no wireless?
Can you attach an external powered USB drive to its usb input? Can you attach a PC directly to its USB and use the PC as a source - using the PC's own player?
.. does its Toslink and SPDIF coax also output the signal from when it plays via the network or usb , or does it only output CD
info? Will it support FLAC files via the USB input? (oops , I see it does..)
 
Rodney gold said:
That Yamaha looks like a great unit. Where is it discounted to 250 quid , it currently sells for 500 quid here in south africa , would be worth my while importing one..
Ive read the manual , a few points you may know about? .. I assume there is no wireless?
Can you attach an external powered USB drive to its usb input? Can you attach a PC directly to its USB and use the PC as a source - using the PC's own player?
.. does its Toslink and SPDIF coax also output the signal from when it plays via the network or usb , or does it only output CD
info? Will it support FLAC files via the USB input? (oops , I see it does..)
Click to expand...

Let me answer those question for you:

Richer Sounds
No wireless but easily rectified by using a Wireless Adapter such as a Netgear WNCE2001.
You can certainly plug in an external HD or NAS device into the USB port, as well as using a simple USB stick and the USB port doubles up as a 'digital input' for an Apple device (the latter I personally benefit from the most by running Spotify from my iPhone).
I don't believe you can plug a PC directly into the USB port - but DLNA from the PC on the network works flawlessly.
The files it supports is quite impressive for a unit like this.
And yes - the S/PDIF out works fine with anything plugged into it or streamed to it - even the iPhone using the digital input function can work its way out of the S/PDIF too! The S/PDIF out is bypassed when you put the Yamaha in PURE mode.

So yes - this overlooked device is very versatile indeed. And the Apple App to control it with is more than acceptable!
 
Ta , seems like an ideal alternative squeezebox solution for me , especially since I have DSP active speakers and a DSP room correction device.... I will ask richer sounds if they export - GBP250 is a VERY good price for unit like this - even just as a source for my headphone amps..
I downloaded the app on my droid phone , not too sure of what the interface is like on my ipad .. can you do searches etc? Same sort of useability as lets say Jriver , or Media monkey or Logitech media server?
Does it appear as an output device on a computer? IE could I route the playback from media monkey to it?
 
I use the Weiss MAN301 music server. It is user friendly and the sound quality is great running through Shahinian Obelisk 2 speakers.
 
tomek said:
SBT with EDO plugin plays everything up to 24/192.

...

Do you need more ?
Click to expand...

Probably not - but if you wanted the convenience of using a streamer with a CD player built in for simplicity then yes, you might want more.

And many 'audiophiles' with SBT's like to buy extras such as linear power supplies, whereas a Yam is already audiophile optimised with a linear supply built in - I'm not saying the Yam is perfect - but for £250 - it's a pre-optimised audiophile product with useful streaming capabilities built around SQ first and foremost.

The Yam also plays 24/192 don't forget.
 
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