Music Servers-Why so few?

Maybe a Music Server whose Media Player Software/ Ripping
Software can be updated or replaced? Still concerned about
what Tomcy6 claims about the Record Companies and MP3. It
seems that mostly Classical, and Jazz are being made available on High Res. Downloads- general assumption that
Music Selection for other fields will soon follow. Pop,
Rock, and Country ( 70% of Music ) are going in the opposite direction. Mostly being killed off in the CD
Market, and availability being painted into the corner of
MP3 Download ONLY availability. Not holding my breath for
High Res. Downloads of the Carpenters, Heart, Enya, ABBA,
Bangles, John Barry, Howard Hanson, Jerry Goldsmith, Peter-
Paul-Mary, Mamas and Papas, Gerry Rafferty, Wilson Phillips, Gustav Holst, Juice Newton, Nancy Sinatra, Henri
Mancini, Kate Bush, Alanis Morissette, Bernard Herrmann,
and Ennio Morricone. No accounting for taste, but to pull
the 16/44.1 CD version of this Music only to replace it
with- agast lower Res. MP3 Downloads???? Guess that Record Company Profits/ Greed have no boundaries. Great idea
giving absolute control over our Music back to the Record
Companies thru MP3 Downloading, and removing CD as last
Stumbling block. Can't wait for the High Res. Downloads to
become available for this Music- how long do I wait???

Koestner- Glad to hear the PK90 is working out. Its the one I have the most interest in. I did hear back from Auraliti, a very nice reply about 7 business days later. I asked some followup questions and am still waiting....

I think about $800 is the max a server should cost without the ripper which I do on my pc using DB Poweramp. I guess the most recent alternative to this server is using my laptop with Jplay which has emerged as a front runner in the PC software arena.

I dont really want the PC in my rack and like the simplicity and purpose of a dedicated server.

Kenneythekey- How much can be saved building yourself? The turnkey version is certainly no bargain cost wise. The downside is running windows IMO. I would rather have a rudimentary interface and have linux do the work in the background knowing that I dont have to optimize settings or check to see nothing has changed.

I have been very pleased with my VortexBox appliance, a dedicated Linux computer that rips, stores and plays FLAC files. It costs about $400, but if you have an old computer, and you know what you're doing, the software is free. There is excellent support via the VortexBox on line forums, which I have gone to for help and gotten it many times. I have mine networked onto my home router, and playback is through a Squeezebox Touch, and coaxial DAC. No USB issues to worry about. The biggest PITA is editing the tags, which are a problem on my many home-made CD-Rs. But I use MP3tag on a laptop, and type away while I listen to music. Not so bad. Perhaps formats will change again, but I will live only so long.

Stl114_nj - I think the built price is competitive with DIY costs. Some opt for DIY for the experience and later have no trouble with doing upgrades.

I also use a Squeezebox Touch as a player, and I'm in the process of adding a 2-bay NAS to store my audio files. I will then use any one of my existing computers to download and/or rip my files to the NAS for playback by SBT.

Down the road, I may add an external HDD that the NAS will backup to, and play the files from the HDD that's directly connected to a new music server. However, I'm liking the Touch and I use coax to my DAC.