Time to ditch the stereo? « Singletrack Forum

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Time to ditch the stereo?

64 posts & 36 voices | Started 6 months ago by TandemJeremy | Latest reply from cinnamon_girl

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TandemJeremy - Member

I have a decent stereo and have my computer playing thru it. I realise I have only used the computer for a source for ages - either tunes I have loaded on it or spotify.

At the moment I have output from 'puter into one amp playing a pair of speakers at the computer and the line out from that amp into the main amp playing 4 pairs of speakers around the house

So - should I ditch the CD player turntable and cassette deck I no longer use and just use the computer as a source. Its disc player will play audio cds should I want to.

What do I lose? I gain not needing so many boxes and wires. Is the CD in the computer really any less than a cambridge audio CDplayer?

Posted 6 months ago #
philconsequence - Member

cambridge audio eh.... sounds like a brand to me you kinky beast!

Posted 6 months ago #
Zedsdead - Member

What turntable do you have? dibbs if it's any good.

Cheers

Posted 6 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

Technics with a decent ortofon cartridge.

Nowt fancy. Turntable ain't been touched in decades

Posted 6 months ago #
Zedsdead - Member

Give ye a bag of jelly babies for it.

Posted 6 months ago #
ericemel - Member

I ditched my cd player with no regrets at all. CD's for me is now an archive format.

I still buy cd's - they get ripped to HDD and archived. I eventually moved to a Sonos system as I found it preferable to a PC.

Posted 6 months ago #
mugsys_m8 - Member

I'm interested in this. Ish.
I have all my cd's as MP3's and am looking for a mp3 player woth hard disc that I can connect up to the stereo rather than using a computer. I would like a screen and a remote. We don't have a tv, but reguarly use a projector with a built in DVD player and also accept input from a computer etc.
I've seen the Brennan,b ut not sure it does exactly what I want.

People say just use an ipod with a docking station, but to me it doesn't seem the best way.

I'd like a separates style MP3 player, with screen that I can play via an amp/ receiver.

Not intersedted in the likes of squeezebox etc as that still needs a computer.

Posted 6 months ago #
vorlich - Member

Everyone needs a Sonos

Posted 6 months ago #
Cougar - Member

Can't remember the last time I played a CD. Most of the music I listen to these days is broadcast (DAB / Sky / Spotify). I'd rip them all and put 'em in a box if I could decide how best to rip / name / tag / store etc.

Posted 6 months ago #
cynic-al - Member

Yes but flog it for a decent sound card.

Posted 6 months ago #
BoardinBob - Member

Sold all my CDs. Everything on Spotify now. No regrets.

Posted 6 months ago #
AndyRT - Member

I would use itunes.

Rip your CDs to AAC format in iTunes, and then you can say goodbye to skipping and disc scratches etc.

Do you use itunes? Do you need to know how to change settings for importing your own disc library?

Posted 6 months ago #
frogstomp - Member

+1 for Sonos (or similar) and a NAS..

Posted 6 months ago #
vorlich - Member

+1 for Sonos (or similar) and a NAS..

Oh, and a DAC too if you really want to maximise sound quality

Posted 6 months ago #
AndyRT - Member

or itunes, apple TV (optical output to stereo) and a TV

Posted 6 months ago #
Cougar - Member

The Sonos looks a nice system but, HOW MUCH?

TBH, I think what I need is just a large hard disk with a USB connection (to plug into the BD player as an external storage device) and a network card (to populate it from the PC).

I've been streaming media from the PC for a while now, but a) that means the noisy PC needs to be on all the time, and b) with HD getting more prevalent I'm losing video quality and surround sound due to transcoding.

Hm.

Posted 6 months ago #
AndyRT - Member

Have you got a PS3? It does quite well if you put the mp4s on its HD or thought its USB. My NAS is old and rubbish, and keeps buffering, so just use it as a back up, well I did until Apple stopped supporting smb protocols....

Posted 6 months ago #
theyEye - Member

iPhone/iPod/Android "docked" to the stereo or TV wirelessly with airport express or Apple TV sounds like what you're after mugsys_m8. I've always been an Apple hater, but their stuff is slowly taking over my house. Too many times when I have a 'need', they have the best piece of hardware to address it...

Posted 6 months ago #
theyEye - Member

double post

Posted 6 months ago #
Cougar - Member

Have you got a PS3?

Me? Xbox rather than PS3.

As I said though, the BD player gives me that functionality. I tested it with a USB key the other day, it works very well.

Posted 6 months ago #
frogstomp - Member

Cougar » The Sonos looks a nice system but, HOW MUCH?

Yes, and no.. I didn't have a stereo at the time so a ZP120 (built-in amplifier) and a pair of speakers, linked to my existing NAS, for less than £350 seemed a good buy - was on a stonking deal at the time though!

Posted 6 months ago #
ericemel - Member

And once you have you're first sonos setup you can add more around the house, I have a ZP90 (digitally into a decent hifi) in my living room and S5 in my bedroom - bloody love the way it all syncs the music.

Will wire one into the bathroom at some point!

Posted 6 months ago #
BigButSlimmerBloke - Member

The Sonos looks a nice system but, HOW MUCH?

leading on to what about the Logitech equivelant. cheaper and using a NAS means having to hack a Buffalo Linkstation or somthing similar. Anyone know anything about them?

Posted 6 months ago #
ericemel - Member

The Sonos looks a nice system but, HOW MUCH?

Haha look at the Naim streaming series for a shock!

BigButSlimmerBloke - the logitech stuff is good, but you do need software on your music server (be it nas, pc, mac, etc) to push music to your player. TO me this is un-needed hassle - I am a simple kinda guy(ish). But the big seller on the Sonos is the multiroom ability.

Posted 6 months ago #
AnalogueAndy - Member

As always, it depends

Are you sitting down to listen to music in a decent room or is Sonos style 'on in the background'

I've a couple of CD players, an Arcam and a really nice Marantz CD63SE KI Sig (that I swapped with a mate for said 'packet of jelly beans' as he said he didn't need CDs anymore - I've about 3,000 of them BTW)

Sit down and listen to either CD player in direct comparison to the ipod or 'puter and yes I can hear the difference. Small degrees maybe and perhaps I am listening for the difference but I can hear it*

Still have all my vinyl and regularly play that too including through a pair of 1210s that I still DJ with. Well, I'm not 'analogue' andy for nothing

*with my knackered middle aged ears!

Posted 6 months ago #
Cougar - Member

Haha look at the Naim streaming series for a shock!

I can about imagine...!

I think TBH if I was setting up a house rather than a room, the modular Sonos would be a good way of doing it. For my purposes though, it's probably overkill.

Posted 6 months ago #
TurnerGuy - Member

cassette deck

what are you going to play your tapes on???

Posted 6 months ago #
muppetWrangler - Member

Our CD's are all ripped as .wav file, stored on an external drive and played back through a computer attached to the hifi and TV. I've boxed up all the CD's and stuck them up in the loft. Although I've backed up the files, I'd still rather hang on to the original source if at all possible.

Posted 6 months ago #
Paper Lawyer - Member

I have the Logitech equivalent of the Sonos system - Squeezebox which is much cheaper and I find user friendly. There are regular Squeezebox deals on HotUKDeals to make the cost even lower. Supports FLAC files stored on my NAS (you run Squeezeserver on the NAS).
I have the Squeezebox Classic (connected to speaker set up), a squeezebox controller (connected to amp) and two squeezebox radios which have a single speaker (sat in the kitchen and bedroom). Absolutely great!

Example HUK deal:

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/logitech-squeezebox-radio-white-logitch-online-store-89-00-1038363

Posted 6 months ago #
Stoatsbrother - Member

Thanks for starting this thread... Reminded me to stop listening just to the computer and fire up the hifi... Infinitely better...

Might have to explore airport and FLAC options but I'm not sure I CBA to burn 700 CDs again...

Posted 6 months ago #
RichPenny - Member

How is your music ripped TJ? If it's all as 128k mp3 I probably wouldn't bother with a decent soundcard or external dac. At decent quality though and that would be my advice if you like the convenience of the pc interface.

Currently have about 800gb of wavs on the NAS, but still using a cd player because it sounds better than the hard disc player. Though it would clear plenty of space, not sure if I'm ready to put them in the loft. Encoding the vinyl is the worrying part

Posted 6 months ago #
frogstomp - Member

muppetWrangler » I've boxed up all the CD's and stuck them up in the loft.

I did that when I got my Sonos.. ditched the plastic cases too so now 400+ CDs fit in one small(ish) flight case.

Posted 6 months ago #
CountZero - Member

I'd like a separates style MP3 player, with screen that I can play via an amp/ receiver.
Not intersedted in the likes of squeezebox etc as that still needs a computer.

Just get an older model Mac Mini. Take out the optical drive and get an outboard Samsung one, and install an extra HDD in its place. A small monitor and you're away. Mine has 1.1Tb of internal storage, and the dealer found an extra 2Gb of RAM for free when I bought it for £430. The extra HDD, a BT keyboard and a Trackpad took it to £630.

Posted 6 months ago #
emsz - Member

I've got a jbl 3 piece thingy that I plugged into my laptop, it was fine until I started reading all the hi fi threads on here...

Posted 6 months ago #
dobo - Member

i use a nas and serviio to stream all my media to sony bdp370 tv and amp, its all really overkill but its just really convieniant to have all your music and video played at the push of a button.
check out hp microserver as the basis for a custom nas

oh and wth has happened to hdd prices recently!

Posted 6 months ago #