Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HTPC vs. the need for DVD (or HD-DVD / Blu-Ray)

I use an Apple laptop to keep all my music on. It is stored in a lossless codec (mostly .WAV) and I use an Airport Express to connect directly into my G68. I also have a Toshiba DVD player connected and to me, I can't hear the difference between the actual CD and lossless music kept on my MAC.

So this got me thinking, I believe storing lossless on a computer probably removes the need for a high end CD player, such as the G08, or 808. If this is the case, then doesn't the humble DVD (and soon to be had HD-DVD / Blu-Ray) player already have its fate sealed? If I am able to rip hi-def DVD's onto my computer and provided I have a reasonable video and audio card, doesn't this remove the need for a high end DVD player, such as a G98, 800, etc?

Am I missing something obvious?

As always, thanks in advance for any comments.

Cheers,

Chris

Chris,

I am an advocate of ripped music - I've replaced my Mark Levinson Reference transport with a Squeezebox III and FLAC rips. No turning back for me.

The same scenario basically holds true for movies, assuming a digital delivery of sound/vision, however to a lesser degree due to the way that digital video and soundtracks are delivered. The formats are more robust than PCM audio and so there is less (no) degradation in the delivery from the player and therefore less to be gained, in terms of quality, from ripping.

Where the ripped versions will benefit is as the physical DVD ages and perhaps gets scratched etc forcing the player to error correct and degrade the image whereas the rip remains perfect until it isn't (and which poses the question of what to do about that).

And of course you also gain the flexibility of having your collection accessible from the hard drive.

So yes, assuming you can rip accurately and deliver those rips digitally, there is no need for 800 or any other high-end DVD player IMO.

Mark

"If I am able to rip hi-def DVD's onto my computer"

I think that's the question, whether you will be able to or not (legally) with all the protection that's likely to come with the format.

Cliff

PS: Slightly OT, can any one recommend a high quality music server with an integral hard drive

Forget music servers too expensive and too restrictive - grab a NAS like the Buffalo Terastation and a Squeezebox and you're ready to roll and free to do whatever you like with your hardware. Including, and staying on topic, ripping DVDs onto your NAS.

Mark

Thanks, Mark. I'll due some research.

Cliff

Let me add my 2 cents here - also check out the Sonos system - the control panel (remote) is awesome. (www.sonos.com)

Cliff

I really like my Imerge, but one of my purchase criteria was (wired) multi-room support, which may not apply to you. If I was starting with a clean slate I would still strongly consider the Imerge but I would take a careful look at the Sonos too.

Regards

Mark

Do these servers give perfect [edit]rips[/edit] like Exact Audio Copy does? If I were switching from CD to primarily served audio, I'd want to know the rip was perfect otherwise the exercise becomes one in lowering the sound quality of the entire collecton.

Mark

If you want to have distributed digital audio, and use an Imerge, Request or Escient audio server, then you might like to consider a system such as NetStreams ( www.netstreams.com ). It distributes audio (and video) through tcp/IP and remains digital up to the speaker (Polk Audio have just released the first powered tcp/IP ceiling mounted speakers - www.polkaudio.com). Another nicety is that you can use an audio server (one of the three mentioned above - not PC) and stream up to six locations from a single zone output. This in itself, in some systems, almost pays for itself.

Just something else to consider...

Personally, I am waiting for the MAC media server (the real one, not Mac Mini), hooked into a NAS, feeding back to a Sonos for audio. The Sonos is an analogue system, and sure, there is better out there, but this is for background music in general and bang for buck, I don't think you can look past it. Oh and the remote definitely has the WAF.

Cheers,

Chris
<edit> Yes, Mark. You can rip to FLAC and .WAV for perfect lossless. In fact, NetStreams will only accept .WAV from one of these servers. </edit>

Never realised there were quite so many permutations for getting sound out of speakers! I like the Sonus and Imerge systems but the latter is a tad expensive for my pocket at present. I`m strongly tempted by a flexible NAS in conjunction with a Squeezebox or equivalent. I quite like the look of the Infrant ReadyNAS which meets my criteria of flexibility, low power consumption and PC independence.

Cliff

Chris, Sonos have recently released the ZP80 which lacks the analogue amplication, but does have SPDIF and Toslink output. Combined with the new software which supports Apple Lossless and FLAC, you can go lossless digital all the way to your DAC.

David.

Chris, there is a big difference between a "lossless" rip and a *perfect* lossless rip...

Do these servers guarantee perfect rips of the quality provided by software like Exact Audio Copy? I'm almost certain this is a rhetorical question

Cheers,

Mark