I am thinking of getting an Audiophile only server

[JerryDelColliano]

Perhaps a Logitech Trasporter ONLY for audiophile sources and MusicGiants downloads.


With a request in my rack - am I crazy...?

j

[kennyt]

I for one think it's a great idea! I'll even take your Request off your hands and ease the pain of buying the Transporter! As far as an Audiophile only server?? Not clear what you mean, you should be fine with any computer you have lying around. I use my MAC Pro and keep all the music on it's own HD with an external backup just in case.

The interface on the Logitech devices works pretty well, but with huge music libraries like you have you will want something more to browse. This is one of the reasons I keep Airport Expresses in my systems, the iTunes interface is so damn easy to browse so I can be cooking with the laptop on the counter and hear anything I want and find it easily, but alas this system wouldn't work for MusicGiants.

BTW Have you downloaded any music from them or iTrax yet? I need to look into iTrax more, I love all the AIX discs I have, they sound so amazingly good!

[JerryDelColliano]

I am not sure how I would do multi-zone audio without the request thus I am likely to keep it..

I heard about iTrax but AIX stuff is also sold on Music Giants. The problem is the ReQuest can't play MG's files for some reason. Frustrating....

My idea for the Logitech is to never have to reach for ANY of my best CDs, DVD-A or SACD titles and to have a BUNCH of the best sounding stuff from Music Giants on there.

j

[Lotus]

Arcam has a music server that's supposedly audiophile quality.

[CharlyD]

Originally Posted by JerryDelColliano

I heard about iTrax but AIX stuff is also sold on Music Giants. The problem is the ReQuest can't play MG's files for some reason. Frustrating....

Music Giant downloads are in WMA format. A quick look at the ReQuest site showed that WMA is not a supported format. Also, while MusicGiants does offer some hi-rez content, I could not find any AIX content on their site.

My idea for the Logitech is to never have to reach for ANY of my best CDs, DVD-A or SACD titles and to have a BUNCH of the best sounding stuff from Music Giants on there.

Great goal! But... First off, the Slim Devices (Logitech) devices don't support DRM. The majority of the content at Music Giants is DRM wrapped.

Next, there is no easy (or legal) way to extract DVD-A or SACD content to a hard drive. The equivalent content available from iTrax (24-bit/96kHz) is available in 2 or 5.1 channel formats in WMA Lossless files. The 2-channel format can be played wonderfully by the Transporter, but the only device I know of for playback of hi-rez content in 5.1 channels is a Media Center computer with a good sound card.

I share your goal, but really don't want to rely on an expensive, complex and difficult to integrate Media Center PC as the hub of my entertainment system. But today that seems to be the only choice to support networked, multichannel, DRM wrapped, hi-resolution content.

[JerryDelColliano]

I spoke with MG yesterday and you seem to be right.

This is a VERY COMPLICATED world.

If you want to buy the "reserve" bottle of wine to enjoy the ABSOLUTE BEST a winemaker has to offer all it takes is money and a corkscrew. With music its an outright pain in the ass.