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

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jezclayton:
So now your server sounds better than a dedicated Meridian transport..... sure?

Yes indeed. Audio in my system is served via a Squeezebox - it's the best sound I've ever heard by some margin. I also own a Meridian 800 and a Mark Levinson CD 31.5 for comparison... Perhaps I need better CD players?

Cheers,

Mark

Hi Mark,

Intersting statement! I guess I should give a squeezebox a try!

Ron

Huzzah!

Contrary to some opinion here, I haven't been making this up as I go along

I have been an audiophile for around 20 years, and in that time have put together a number of very capable system. In the past few years there have been a number of quantum leaps in sound quality - firstly digital-room correction and more recently audio servers. And the most exciting thing is that not only are these leaps large in terms of sound quality they are always, compared to high-end audio, significantly cheaper.

Now... I have to be honest. My Squeezebox is modified with an external linear power supply and an external word clock input. Prior to this mod I used an Apogee Big Ben to make sure the Squeezebox's output with jitter-free. This however, does not undermine the concept of serving lossless rips, it just shows there is still a little room to improve the serving devices [edit]and was what I was getting at earlier in the thread - if CD reading is perfect, where are the sound quality issues coming from[/edit]. That said, a bog-standard Squeezebox, serving lossless rips digitally, is still going to give all but the most capable (read very expensive) transports a run for their money.

Cheers,

Mark

"Intersting statement! I guess I should give a squeezebox a try!"

Thought the same myself, so I've just ordered one!

Cliff

Getting the best from the Squeezebox:

Install Exact Audio Copy

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Configure EAC

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_Drive_Configuration

Install the AccurateRip plugin for EAC

http://www.accuraterip.com/

Install FLAC

http://FLAC.sourceforge.net/download.html

Configure EAC to rip directly to FLAC

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=EAC_and_Flac

OK that's the hard bit sorted - but you only need to do this once It will allow you to rip accurately rip CDs directly to lossless FLAC and will use the Accuraterip plugin to verify your rip accuracy with other users.

Next you install and set up the Squeezebox.

http://www.slimdevices.com/su_downloads.html

Notes:

Set the SB to use maximum volume on the digital output - you don't want to chuck resolution away.

Set the SB to send FLAC/WAV and *NOT* MP3! (This is actually a default setting I think).

After some experimentation it seems that better sound is available if the FLAC is decoded to WAV on the PC and then streamed, rather than using the SB's internal FLAC decoder. No idea why.

Under server settings -> file types

Uncheck FLAC FLAC (built-in)

This will force the SB server to decode the FLAC on the PC and stream the WAV file.

You can verify this by popping up task manager and playing a file - you should see the FLAC decoder appear in the tasks.

If your wireless network cannot stream WAVs then you should check the option above and stream FLACs instead.

Connect the Squeezebox to your processor and away you go!

Welcome to the future

Mark

Thanks Mark, that's extremely useful. I have some knowledge of EAC, but not used the AccurateRip plugin before. If I like the SB, I hope, eventually, to use a NAS with Slimserver ruuning on it so transcoding might not be an option for me.

My CD ripping has just been slowed as my fast DVD rom drive has just died on me. Typical!

Cliff

Thanks Mark, that's extremely useful.


You're welcome.

I have some knowledge of EAC, but not used the AccurateRip plugin before. If I like the SB, I hope, eventually, to use a NAS with Slimserver ruuning on it so transcoding might not be an option for me.

If the NAS can run Slimserver it will be able to run other software?


My CD ripping has just been slowed as my fast DVD rom drive has just died on me. Typical!


Oof!

At least it'll be cheaper to replace/repair than a high-end transport

Mark

Hi Mark

You're winning me over ( 1) I always feel a need to try something new 2) I'm running out of space 3) You sound kind of convincing).

Your note above will no doubt be a massive help in setting up the Squeezebox however, never having seen one, how do you physically transfer the original recording onto the Squeezebox hard-drive? Do you link up one of your expensive transports and link the output to the Squeezebox, or do you use some other drive to play the original source material?

If I try the Squeezebox and like it will I be able to sell my Transport (Why have you kept your 800 and CD31.5)?

Jez

The squeezebox doesn't have any storage capability in itself. It's purely a high fidelity interface between you PC (or Nas) and your HiFi system. Read about it here:

http://www.slimdevices.com/

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_overview.html


I'm sure Mark can add a more detailed description should you need it.

Cliff

Thanks Cliff - I've got that now.

The suggestion from your previous post is that you're using your DVD rom drive presumably to read the redbook CD and hence transfer the data to another storage medium.

If my presumption is right, would you envisage the requirement for a separate transport for CD playback (assuming no requirement for DVDs and hence no DVD transport).

To rephrase the question, assuming possession of a high end processor and downstream equipment (amps speakers etc.) what hardware would be required to transfer data from a redbook CD and ultimately play the data back via a Squeezebox or similar, whilst maintaining the best possible quality.

Hi Jez

That's the upside, all you need is a computer with a standard DVD or CD ROM drive. The software (e.g. Exact Audio copy) ensures the copying is accurate, reading sectors 80x if required. In addition, as Mark points out above, there are plugins (Accuraterip)which compare your copy with that obtained by other users to give further confidence of copy integrity.

I should point out that you would need your PC ruuning to use the SB, which is not acceptable to me. I therefore intend to get a Network Attached Storage (NAS) capable of running Slimserver, the software required to run the SB.

Just got my SB running. My first impressions are very favourable. To my ears, no different to the playback from my G98 which is extremely good. Never did trust my ears though, it usually takes me a couple of months to come to any conclusion.

Cliff

Jez,

I keep my 800 for DVD and my Mark Levinson because it looks so nice They are also excellent benchmarks against which I can test devices such as the Squeezebox.

Cliff,

Are you able to set things up so that you can switch directly between the SB and CD? This is something I always try to do so as to remove any ambiguities during testing.

Enjoy,

Mark