For your purposes, there are really 5 main concerns:
1) What type of compression? You want a lossless system (like FLAC or Windows Media Lossless "WMA lossless") which preserves all the data on your CDs - any of the lossy compression schemes (MP3, etc) drop some data to save disc space. There is probably more music "out there on line" in FLAC than any other lossless format, but WMA lossless seems to be closing the gap, a bit. There is no perfect call here. Some server software will read both FLAC and WMA lossless (like the latest QSonix) and this obviously allows more flexibility.
2) The user interface. i-tunes is the defacto standard. It is a text-based interface which allows you to access music alphabetically by track, artist, or album name. Some systems, including the very expensive stand alone servers from QSonix or Soolooos use a graphic interface. You can choose music by browsing through album covers, for example. Find one you like.
3) Storage capacity. Calculate the maximum # of CDs you expect to put on the system in the future as best you can. Once you know which compression scheme you've chose, you can calculate the hard drive space you will need. Your dealer will help if you need him to. Remember that you need 2 drives, each with this storage capacity - a main drive and a back-up.
4) Price. A computer with server software will offer a lot of capability for a moderate outlay. Dedicated servers can be less expensive (Squeezebox) or more expensive (QSonix) or much more expensive (Sooloos) depending mostly on the user interface. Graphic touch screen systems are great - but pricey.
5) Choice of DAC. IMHO, this will have the biggest impact on playback quality.
Good Luck
Marty
PS - Some systems are noisier than others. Although not a major issue like those above - just bear in mind that a noisy drive system must be isolated or covered during use.
1) What type of compression? You want a lossless system (like FLAC or Windows Media Lossless "WMA lossless") which preserves all the data on your CDs - any of the lossy compression schemes (MP3, etc) drop some data to save disc space. There is probably more music "out there on line" in FLAC than any other lossless format, but WMA lossless seems to be closing the gap, a bit. There is no perfect call here. Some server software will read both FLAC and WMA lossless (like the latest QSonix) and this obviously allows more flexibility.
2) The user interface. i-tunes is the defacto standard. It is a text-based interface which allows you to access music alphabetically by track, artist, or album name. Some systems, including the very expensive stand alone servers from QSonix or Soolooos use a graphic interface. You can choose music by browsing through album covers, for example. Find one you like.
3) Storage capacity. Calculate the maximum # of CDs you expect to put on the system in the future as best you can. Once you know which compression scheme you've chose, you can calculate the hard drive space you will need. Your dealer will help if you need him to. Remember that you need 2 drives, each with this storage capacity - a main drive and a back-up.
4) Price. A computer with server software will offer a lot of capability for a moderate outlay. Dedicated servers can be less expensive (Squeezebox) or more expensive (QSonix) or much more expensive (Sooloos) depending mostly on the user interface. Graphic touch screen systems are great - but pricey.
5) Choice of DAC. IMHO, this will have the biggest impact on playback quality.
Good Luck
Marty
PS - Some systems are noisier than others. Although not a major issue like those above - just bear in mind that a noisy drive system must be isolated or covered during use.