Im going to go with the notion that some tongue in cheek thoughts were jotted down here to generate a lengthy controversy.
Cabling cost? Now thats funny. Been pricing CAT 5 & USB cables lately? For less than a tank full of gas, you could wire up your whole house and maybe your neighbors too.
$4K for a decent DAC? I suppose that depends on ones idea of decent.
A preference to pick out and choose a CD or album does have its fanciful, and intriguing moments for some though. Loitering aobut the wall unit thumbing through one after another, trying to decide which one to enjoy yes yes I can see how much fun that could be!
Then of course theres that incumbent return trip to re-file it away, safe and sound once again.
Yes sir! Those were the days! Man oh, man, how glad I am they are gone now! Perhaps if I were into filing, or clerical work while at home during one of my fav past times well, then, maybe.
Somehow I perceive a purist tennat here, a traditionalist approach to the enjoyment and appreciatation of music for the sake of music sort of like the way a traditional oriental tea is done.
Wow. Its near a spiritual experience!
The charm of distance is lost to us these days as well. So hang in there and keep the faith!
or move along with the times.
Ease of access does not detract from my appreciation of an artists efforts, nor does it conflict with my enjoyment of the end product.
For isnt that truly the ticket here? The end result? What does it really matter how the music comes to me from vinyl? from ones and zeros? Tape?
The end product is the key for me not its form, fashion, or tradition . And in fact one can have both their cake and eat it too if one chooses to do so, now, cant they?
Speaking of costs what does one of those Esoteric CDPs go for new these days??
and its power cable?
and its interconnects?
and its cost apportionment for the shelf space on the rack?
what about those isolation footers too?
and its going to be replaced with better technology when? Next fall or sooner?
I think we might be able to discount your ideas on startup costs. Dependingh upon what your time is worth, for that is the Traditional woe of the magnetic media club.
Most if not all of the software you will need is free and there are lots to choose from so the OS platform being used isnt to much of an issue.
Adding a USB 500 Gig HD costs about 150.00. Throwing in the back up notion isnt fair either as I doubt you will back up the discs you have on hand already, but lets say that is valid To be fair here,
So, you will need to copy and burn ALL of your cd library to be on the same page as the bennies of the PC now crowd.
Being the duplication process usually isnt done of course, were you into a PC based musical affair of sorts, you would have been even better off! As all the music would then be on a HD and a dupe would also be available in the event of one of those pesky closet fires breaking out when you least expect it.
Another plus is the drives are getting less expensive, and thats good because Ive gone through a few over the last five or six years. So get a couple nice CDR RW burners from Plextor, Sony, NEC, etc, and add another $100.00.
Now weve got a ripping and burning, software laden PC with one TB of space.. hope youve a very large collection as Ive under 800 CDs in my music closet, and still have room on my 500 Gig USB HD, for lots more. BTW all of the musical files are done in a lossless codec in my house.
Wait a mo Did I hear someone say,No one knows just how long will those hard drives keep spinning?
Ive one machine which I got in August of 2001 . And its still spinning! Lately, its spinning around the clock! 24/7. Out of a dozen or better, Ive lost one hard drive in seven years due to some physical interior failure of the drive itself, and I lost one to lightening.
So far the tab is about $400.00 for the CD burners, and USB hard drives which are no brainers to use, and another $0.15 per duped CD for say 1000 CDs thats another $150, and were at $550.00.
No DAC on hand? Well thats not needed either really, you can go with just a sound card. You can also make it USB to keep some of the nastiness from the PC out of the process altogether. Now add $300 for it and itll be about as good as they come. Less for less, of course more for more and sure less for less.
thats $850.00, and not all at once, so far.
$850.00 wont pay for very good cabling on many CDPs around here.
Want to go with a DAC instead? Dont want to come out of a sound card either then its USB for you. USB DACs do have a widely priced entry fee. Ive seen some from $300! Again, here, more does usually provide more this, that, and the other thing (s), but lets not skimp here too much, and pick a popular one with lots of POSITIVE press, say the Benchmark DAC1 w/USB, or perhaps the Apogee. New? $1K +/-. Save some with a preowned model? Then about $750 +/- or so.
Go all in on a Wavelength or Bel Canto, or other top flight unit remember, musical confuser or stereo analog system . Get in where you fit in and spend as much or as little as you wish!
There is only one caveat . If you are waiting for the level of performance to stop evolving youll be waiting a very, very, long time . For it wont stop. It will continue to morph into one form or another, and technology will as well. So waiting for the just right spot to enter the fray will prevent you from ever being a entrant.
But I digress .
Were almost ready and we are up to $1600.00 +/-, and all is brand new stuff.
Some folks stop right about here, personally, I did too.
For a while. Thats another plus about the musical confuser path its not an all at once sort of affair. Add this or that, stop for a while then later on, go get some more etc. As you wish. Its not an all in at one time event like in a CDP purchase.
In fact as was said, there are sufficient peripherals available today that allow whole house audio without anything more than a single database/server and wireless network.
Moving on We just gotta have remote control, right? Ive seen some CD player makers, and some others who charge $500 for a remote control!!
Ask BAT what they are getting for a remote now.
It just so happens that Ive also seen laptops go for the same amount, brand new!
Try making phone calls, checking emails, carrying your work home, taking notes, scheduling, buying tickets for the next concert you want to attend, make a person to person call where you can actually see your family or friends, and of course theres the awfully popular viewing of DVDs during those long trips,
So lets not skimp once again, and go off for a 17 inch wide screen laptop with DVD burner, 200 Gig HD, wireless connectiomn, dual monitor support, 3 gigs of RAM, a dual core processor, and built in camera, and the in flight movie will be one we actually want to see!
That price tag is $750.00, for a Toshiba L350, brand new.
Oops forgot the USB cable to the DAC from the laptop, and a wireless router too! Routers are not much and $150.00 will surely work there The USB cable? I spent $6 for a fifteen footer at Wally Mart. It works fine.
Theres the Squeeze box sector too, which takes the notebook out of the equation.
Lastly, still pursuing the pc path to organized musical bliss, for $70 US dollars or so, you can avoid any issues with Windows sound mixer and buy a driver which is very very, good. If you get a Vista loaded notebook, the driver is not an absolute.
As I understand it Macs dont have that issue but are usually more costly laptops than their PC cousins.
.
So looking back Im seeing around $2650.00 for a simple one off PC system, and along the way weve made dupes of the entire CD library which we will keep in a separate place from the originals, right?
Now weve attained remarkably greater ease of use, an immense variety of music in an on demand setting, and weve likely included video file playback, and we top it off by now possessing a remote control that simply out runs any CD players remote ever made.
Later on, IF the upgrade bug drops down the back of your shirt (which weve not had to give away yet), another DAC, or a server can be added on or in. Were keeping up with technology too via usually free firmware & software updates too.
The backing up process is also done automatically once setup, and we dont have to worry about a friend or relative not returning a borrowed album, or scratching one up, and the hidden big bonus here is we can now sell on Audiogone the once played CD collection we have exact copies of for the remarkably generous price of $5 a pop!
So the overall costs of ones and zeeros tunes? Might even add to your bank account as 1000 CDs at $5 per is uh, more than the costs of a musical confuser system.
The profits even allow for a treadmill to keep off those excess pounds from all the sitting youll be doing as you wont be getting up and down every 40 min or so to swap out another disc or album!
Gee getting fit too? Whats the price tag on that?
and what is it worth to have every track of your collection at your fingertips?
Now thats priceless for me!
Either way, though, its about having fun. I do think HDD one way or another, is the deal, and cheaper too in the end.
Personally, Im waiting for hologram TV & movies in house, with the audio info being played in my head, negating the need for loudspeakers altogether! Marble sized media which contain significantly higher resolution info than ones imagination can conceive . And they wont wear out , scratch, or dissolve but in the mean time, Im going to go with whats available as its extremely good right now.
I do wish you the best, which ever way you proceed.
Cabling cost? Now thats funny. Been pricing CAT 5 & USB cables lately? For less than a tank full of gas, you could wire up your whole house and maybe your neighbors too.
$4K for a decent DAC? I suppose that depends on ones idea of decent.
A preference to pick out and choose a CD or album does have its fanciful, and intriguing moments for some though. Loitering aobut the wall unit thumbing through one after another, trying to decide which one to enjoy yes yes I can see how much fun that could be!
Then of course theres that incumbent return trip to re-file it away, safe and sound once again.
Yes sir! Those were the days! Man oh, man, how glad I am they are gone now! Perhaps if I were into filing, or clerical work while at home during one of my fav past times well, then, maybe.
Somehow I perceive a purist tennat here, a traditionalist approach to the enjoyment and appreciatation of music for the sake of music sort of like the way a traditional oriental tea is done.
Wow. Its near a spiritual experience!
The charm of distance is lost to us these days as well. So hang in there and keep the faith!
or move along with the times.
Ease of access does not detract from my appreciation of an artists efforts, nor does it conflict with my enjoyment of the end product.
For isnt that truly the ticket here? The end result? What does it really matter how the music comes to me from vinyl? from ones and zeros? Tape?
The end product is the key for me not its form, fashion, or tradition . And in fact one can have both their cake and eat it too if one chooses to do so, now, cant they?
Speaking of costs what does one of those Esoteric CDPs go for new these days??
and its power cable?
and its interconnects?
and its cost apportionment for the shelf space on the rack?
what about those isolation footers too?
and its going to be replaced with better technology when? Next fall or sooner?
I think we might be able to discount your ideas on startup costs. Dependingh upon what your time is worth, for that is the Traditional woe of the magnetic media club.
Most if not all of the software you will need is free and there are lots to choose from so the OS platform being used isnt to much of an issue.
Adding a USB 500 Gig HD costs about 150.00. Throwing in the back up notion isnt fair either as I doubt you will back up the discs you have on hand already, but lets say that is valid To be fair here,
So, you will need to copy and burn ALL of your cd library to be on the same page as the bennies of the PC now crowd.
Being the duplication process usually isnt done of course, were you into a PC based musical affair of sorts, you would have been even better off! As all the music would then be on a HD and a dupe would also be available in the event of one of those pesky closet fires breaking out when you least expect it.
Another plus is the drives are getting less expensive, and thats good because Ive gone through a few over the last five or six years. So get a couple nice CDR RW burners from Plextor, Sony, NEC, etc, and add another $100.00.
Now weve got a ripping and burning, software laden PC with one TB of space.. hope youve a very large collection as Ive under 800 CDs in my music closet, and still have room on my 500 Gig USB HD, for lots more. BTW all of the musical files are done in a lossless codec in my house.
Wait a mo Did I hear someone say,No one knows just how long will those hard drives keep spinning?
Ive one machine which I got in August of 2001 . And its still spinning! Lately, its spinning around the clock! 24/7. Out of a dozen or better, Ive lost one hard drive in seven years due to some physical interior failure of the drive itself, and I lost one to lightening.
So far the tab is about $400.00 for the CD burners, and USB hard drives which are no brainers to use, and another $0.15 per duped CD for say 1000 CDs thats another $150, and were at $550.00.
No DAC on hand? Well thats not needed either really, you can go with just a sound card. You can also make it USB to keep some of the nastiness from the PC out of the process altogether. Now add $300 for it and itll be about as good as they come. Less for less, of course more for more and sure less for less.
thats $850.00, and not all at once, so far.
$850.00 wont pay for very good cabling on many CDPs around here.
Want to go with a DAC instead? Dont want to come out of a sound card either then its USB for you. USB DACs do have a widely priced entry fee. Ive seen some from $300! Again, here, more does usually provide more this, that, and the other thing (s), but lets not skimp here too much, and pick a popular one with lots of POSITIVE press, say the Benchmark DAC1 w/USB, or perhaps the Apogee. New? $1K +/-. Save some with a preowned model? Then about $750 +/- or so.
Go all in on a Wavelength or Bel Canto, or other top flight unit remember, musical confuser or stereo analog system . Get in where you fit in and spend as much or as little as you wish!
There is only one caveat . If you are waiting for the level of performance to stop evolving youll be waiting a very, very, long time . For it wont stop. It will continue to morph into one form or another, and technology will as well. So waiting for the just right spot to enter the fray will prevent you from ever being a entrant.
But I digress .
Were almost ready and we are up to $1600.00 +/-, and all is brand new stuff.
Some folks stop right about here, personally, I did too.
For a while. Thats another plus about the musical confuser path its not an all at once sort of affair. Add this or that, stop for a while then later on, go get some more etc. As you wish. Its not an all in at one time event like in a CDP purchase.
In fact as was said, there are sufficient peripherals available today that allow whole house audio without anything more than a single database/server and wireless network.
Moving on We just gotta have remote control, right? Ive seen some CD player makers, and some others who charge $500 for a remote control!!
Ask BAT what they are getting for a remote now.
It just so happens that Ive also seen laptops go for the same amount, brand new!
Try making phone calls, checking emails, carrying your work home, taking notes, scheduling, buying tickets for the next concert you want to attend, make a person to person call where you can actually see your family or friends, and of course theres the awfully popular viewing of DVDs during those long trips,
So lets not skimp once again, and go off for a 17 inch wide screen laptop with DVD burner, 200 Gig HD, wireless connectiomn, dual monitor support, 3 gigs of RAM, a dual core processor, and built in camera, and the in flight movie will be one we actually want to see!
That price tag is $750.00, for a Toshiba L350, brand new.
Oops forgot the USB cable to the DAC from the laptop, and a wireless router too! Routers are not much and $150.00 will surely work there The USB cable? I spent $6 for a fifteen footer at Wally Mart. It works fine.
Theres the Squeeze box sector too, which takes the notebook out of the equation.
Lastly, still pursuing the pc path to organized musical bliss, for $70 US dollars or so, you can avoid any issues with Windows sound mixer and buy a driver which is very very, good. If you get a Vista loaded notebook, the driver is not an absolute.
As I understand it Macs dont have that issue but are usually more costly laptops than their PC cousins.
.
So looking back Im seeing around $2650.00 for a simple one off PC system, and along the way weve made dupes of the entire CD library which we will keep in a separate place from the originals, right?
Now weve attained remarkably greater ease of use, an immense variety of music in an on demand setting, and weve likely included video file playback, and we top it off by now possessing a remote control that simply out runs any CD players remote ever made.
Later on, IF the upgrade bug drops down the back of your shirt (which weve not had to give away yet), another DAC, or a server can be added on or in. Were keeping up with technology too via usually free firmware & software updates too.
The backing up process is also done automatically once setup, and we dont have to worry about a friend or relative not returning a borrowed album, or scratching one up, and the hidden big bonus here is we can now sell on Audiogone the once played CD collection we have exact copies of for the remarkably generous price of $5 a pop!
So the overall costs of ones and zeeros tunes? Might even add to your bank account as 1000 CDs at $5 per is uh, more than the costs of a musical confuser system.
The profits even allow for a treadmill to keep off those excess pounds from all the sitting youll be doing as you wont be getting up and down every 40 min or so to swap out another disc or album!
Gee getting fit too? Whats the price tag on that?
and what is it worth to have every track of your collection at your fingertips?
Now thats priceless for me!
Either way, though, its about having fun. I do think HDD one way or another, is the deal, and cheaper too in the end.
Personally, Im waiting for hologram TV & movies in house, with the audio info being played in my head, negating the need for loudspeakers altogether! Marble sized media which contain significantly higher resolution info than ones imagination can conceive . And they wont wear out , scratch, or dissolve but in the mean time, Im going to go with whats available as its extremely good right now.
I do wish you the best, which ever way you proceed.