Which of these two please?
Discussion
Morning HiFi beards, wonder if you can help please?
The scenario is that I have lots of CDs, like many (c1500 at an estimate) which we don't play very much, and when we do, can't find what we want.
What I'd like is a very simple way to play them, on demand, through my existing system. I should explain that the current system is a Levinson 39 (playing through a NAD Silverline power amp, and via Zingali Overture.2S speakers) which can act as a DAC via a Toslink connection.
My criteria are, probably in order, sound quality, user interface/searchability, and I want a neat single box to do it all, so I really don't want to be ripping CDs via the Mac and then transferring to a HDD, for instance. Multi-room future capability would be a bonus, but not in any way essential.
For reference, here's a rather messy shot of the system as is:
After wandering around I think the two front-runners are the Brennan B2 http://www.brennan.co.uk/ and the Novafidelity X12 http://www.novafidelity.co.uk/x12features/ with a 2tb disk.
Have I missed any obvious candidates, and does anyone have a view on the respective merits of these two units (and will both do what I anticipate I need them to do?!)
Thanks in advance
The scenario is that I have lots of CDs, like many (c1500 at an estimate) which we don't play very much, and when we do, can't find what we want.
What I'd like is a very simple way to play them, on demand, through my existing system. I should explain that the current system is a Levinson 39 (playing through a NAD Silverline power amp, and via Zingali Overture.2S speakers) which can act as a DAC via a Toslink connection.
My criteria are, probably in order, sound quality, user interface/searchability, and I want a neat single box to do it all, so I really don't want to be ripping CDs via the Mac and then transferring to a HDD, for instance. Multi-room future capability would be a bonus, but not in any way essential.
For reference, here's a rather messy shot of the system as is:
After wandering around I think the two front-runners are the Brennan B2 http://www.brennan.co.uk/ and the Novafidelity X12 http://www.novafidelity.co.uk/x12features/ with a 2tb disk.
Have I missed any obvious candidates, and does anyone have a view on the respective merits of these two units (and will both do what I anticipate I need them to do?!)
Thanks in advance
gizlaroc said:
Are you going to replace the NAD and Levinson?
Not sure I would do it with those, I think you may be disappointed with the results.
Also, join Tidal!
No, as I said I want to play through the existing system via Toslink using the 39 as a DAC. I hope, using a lossless format, that the fidelity won't offend. If it does, then it's not a runner.Not sure I would do it with those, I think you may be disappointed with the results.
Also, join Tidal!
Edited by gizlaroc on Monday 30th May 10:26
I don't want to stream, I've got lots of content, and I also want to retain some favourite CDs to play the ole fashioned way!
Edited by Bonefish Blues on Monday 30th May 12:00
But you seem to be buying a £500 unit that has drive for ripping, dac, pre amp, power amp and not the best of software for browsing your collection, and sticking it onto £8000 worth of pre amp and speakers.
I get your thought, I was the same, I had around 2000 cds, wasn't interested in streaming, and definitely wasn't interested in subscription services.
Two years ago I did the Spotify thing for the family and the Tidal trial for me, 3 months later my CD player and Dac was sold.
I am finding more new music than I ever did with discs and started to listening to my music again more than ever.
I get your thought, I was the same, I had around 2000 cds, wasn't interested in streaming, and definitely wasn't interested in subscription services.
Two years ago I did the Spotify thing for the family and the Tidal trial for me, 3 months later my CD player and Dac was sold.
I am finding more new music than I ever did with discs and started to listening to my music again more than ever.
Bonefish Blues said:
But (serious question) what will give me similar fidelity?
I use a 2TB X12 as a hub for my system and love it. The hard drive feeds a MiniDSP 4x10 active crossover via Toslink. Sound quality is superb used this way; I use WAVs rather than FLACs and to my ears it sounds better than my Wadia 301 sounds when used as source/preamp.The X12 has analogue in so its easy to rip and archive vinyl, it has Reciva, Spotify and various other streaming services built in so you have access to 45000 digital radio stations. It has a decent analogue pre amp which I use to feed a Cambridge A70 power amp for the conservatory. It will hook up with Sonos gear to do multi-room. Its easy to stream from phones and control from apps and its easy to sort a web interface for it.
The only minor issue I have with it are that it doesn't come with its own Wi-Fi dongle; you have to purchase separately ??? Annoying but no reason not to get one.
Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 31st May 06:54
Crackie said:
Bonefish Blues said:
But (serious question) what will give me similar fidelity?
I use a 2TB X12 as a hub for my system and love it. The hard drive feeds a MiniDSP 4x10 active crossover via Toslink. Sound quality is superb used this way; I use WAVs rather than FLACs and to my ears it sounds better than my Wadia 301 sounds when used as source/preamp.The X12 has analogue in so its easy to rip and archive vinyl, it has Reciva, Spotify and various other streaming services built in so you have access to 45000 digital radio stations. It has a decent analogue pre amp which I use to feed a Cambridge A70 power amp for the conservatory. It will hook up with Sonos gear to do multi-room. Its easy to stream from phones and control from apps and its easy to sort a web interface for it.
The only minor issue I have with it are that it doesn't come with its own Wi-Fi dongle; you have to purchase separately ??? Annoying but not reason not to get one.
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible, and then you can do what you want with the files (they aren't tied up in some soon to become obsolete piece of hardware).
This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
benz0 said:
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible, and then you can do what you want with the files. Technology is moving so fast that it would be unwise to tie your files up in some soon to become obsolete piece of hardware. If you are going to go to the bother of ripping all of your CD's then you will want to ensure that you can stream them over your network onto your other devices.
This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
benz0 said:
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible, and then you can do what you want with the files (they aren't tied up in some soon to become obsolete piece of hardware).
This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
I don't have a pc, I have a Mac, with all its limitations. I'm keen to have a one-box solution, as I mentioned, that's why these boxes are attractive. Upgradeability doesn't fuss me, tbh.This is what I would do..
1) Get a large nas, mirrored in RAID 1, so if one disc dies you don't lose your music.
2) If you already have a PC, stick as many CD drives in it as you can. Maybe get some extra USB ones.
3) Install and configure a program to auto-rip CD's when inserted. Whack in 3-5 CD's at a time and let rip.
4) Then think about what device you want to use as the browser for your media. As a starting point you could try chromecast audio, with a UPNP app on your smartphone. That would cost you less than 20 quid as a starting point. If you don't like it, then there's a plethora of other devices out there to try. But whatever you get, make sure it can be controlled by smartphone. You really don't want to be navigating your music collection from a tiny LED display on a box several feet away.
Bonefish Blues said:
I don't have a pc, I have a Mac, with all its limitations. I'm keen to have a one-box solution, as I mentioned, that's why these boxes are attractive. Upgradeability doesn't fuss me, tbh.
I ripped all my cds with my Mac Pro a few years ago. Two cd/dvd drives in the tower and just inserted and auto-ripped from both into iTunes (lossless AAC) whilst working on other stuff.The music sits on a Synology 5-bay NAS together with around 2000 movies and a few dozen TV series, all accessible from phones, tablets, TVs, SONOS, Arcam amp (via Airport Express), Denon A/V Amp (which also does Spotify etc) and pretty much anything. I can also get to it all over the 'net when away from home (Plex, direct log-in etc). I love my Synology
Bonefish Blues said:
I don't have a pc, I have a Mac, with all its limitations. I'm keen to have a one-box solution, as I mentioned, that's why these boxes are attractive. Upgradeability doesn't fuss me, tbh.
I use Macs too, you simply rip to the NAS. I promise you, you only want to rip your collection once. By disc 100 you will have had enough. Look at Roon and see what you think.
benz0 said:
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible,
I don't understand that statement, more flexible than what ? A NAS is network attached storage nothing more. An X12 is a plug and play NAS / server + streamer + digital pre amp + analogue pre amp + power amp + multiroom controller + ADC + DAC + a fair few other features I can't recall.Crackie said:
benz0 said:
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible,
I don't understand that statement, more flexible than what ? A NAS is network attached storage nothing more. An X12 is a plug and play NAS / server + streamer + digital pre amp + analogue pre amp + power amp + multiroom controller + ADC + DAC + a fair few other features I can't recall.
Bonefish Blues said:
Crackie said:
benz0 said:
A NAS is definitely a better way to go as it is more flexible,
I don't understand that statement, more flexible than what ? A NAS is network attached storage nothing more. An X12 is a plug and play NAS / server + streamer + digital pre amp + analogue pre amp + power amp + multiroom controller + ADC + DAC + a fair few other features I can't recall.Hi-Fi World have measured the quality of the digital outputs of Novafidelity's X10, X30 and X40 using their Rhode and Schwartz test gear, they found that clock / jitter performance was exemplary and close to the limit of the test equipment. I'm pretty sure they've tested the X12 too but can't find any links. The X12's looks are nothing special, a bit Fisher Price tbh but performance is incredible.
X40 is built into a more conventional case and has 'high end' DACs and is DSD capable; big step up in price though.
There are plenty of online tutorials which show the user GUI and run through various functions; Richer sell them too if you want to see one for yourself. Here's one of the tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp2fyptravA
Edited by Crackie on Tuesday 31st May 07:00
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