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Hard Disk Playback Systems

Why are more audiophiles not using hard disk playback systems? The category includes full blown systems by Linn, Escient or Revox; stand alone machines from Yamaha or Harmon Kardon and computer based systems such as Apple/MacIntosh running iTunes software. I've been using an Apple system for about a year and while there are a few drawbacks, the positives are overwhelming.

First the negatives:
- it can be expensive. The Linn or Revox turnkey systems are over $15k. The Apple system I've assembled (including multiple hard disks) cost nearly $6,000.
- a computer is noisy. I've had to place the computer tower within a closed cabinet, but it still introduces 4dB of added background noise into the listening room. I don't believe any of the dedicated systems have this problem.
- the initial setup is tedious. If you have a medium to large CD collection (say 500+), then individually "ripping" each CD and typing in title and song info is quite tiresome. However, if your hard disk/computer is hooked up to the internet, then that info can be automatically downloaded.

The positives:
- assuming you stored the music at full redbook spec (16/44.1), then the sound quality is comparable to a high quality CD transport.
- you have virtually instant access to all of your music collection. Additionally, using "playlists" you can organize your music whichever way you like. THIS FEATURE CANNOT BE UNDERVALUED.
- burning compilation CDs is very quick and easy. Simply click and drag whatever songs you want to a new playlist and hit "burn".
- it's networkable. The computer based and high end Linn/Revox systems have the flexibility to distribute a digital signal throughout your house. This can even be done wirelessly. - it's transportable. Say you going to your vacation home, what would you rather drag along, 100 of your favortie CDs, or a couple of 120Gb firewire hard disks with ALL of your music. Apple based hard disk systems also offer the possibility of downloading playlists to their iPod unit for even greater portability.

I'm sure I've probably left out some aspect of using hard disk playback systems, but I think I've highlighted the major points. The bottom line is that since switching over to a hard disk system I'm listening to music more often and because of the easier access I'm listening to music that I would normally not have selected. As far as I can tell, hard disk systems are a major advance in the enjoyment of digital based music.
onhwy61

Showing 6 responses by onhwy61

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
Lugnut, regarding your comment about computer based systems not being good enough for most audiophiles, I think you're misinformed. The key to getting high quality sound is the interface between the computer and the rest of your audio system. If you rely upon the D/A conversion on your computer soundcard, then the sound quality is limited and I agree that most audiophile would not find it more than just satisfactory, but if your soundcard can output a stable, low jitter digital signal, the sound quality can match that of a high quality CD transport. I use an RME Pro96 card which outputs both an AES/EBU (24 bit) and S/Pdif (20 bit) digital signal.

You should also note that virtually every CD release in the past decade was edited on a computer based hard disk system. That includes all the horrid sounding overcompressed pop/rock releases as well as the great sounding minimalist recordings so loved by audiophiles. As such, I don't see how a computer based system is not good enough for most audiophiles.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
MOTU and Metric Halo both make Firewire based interfaces for Apple Macs. Each has a multitude of I/Os which most audiophiles will find superfluous, but they also sport digital ports which will allow you to connect an outboard D/A to the Mac Cube.

It's a shame that the playback software doesn't support higher resolution recordings. I've written to Apple, but there's been no reply.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
Mdoughty, drops, pops and clicks can be eliminated by turning off all other programs when you rip the CD to your hard disk.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
There's been alot of favorable comments about EAC (Exact). The link Is:
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
If you have a professionally oriented sound card it will have word clock I/O. Unfortunately, very few audiophile type DACs have such an input. If your DAC reclocks the input signal, then jitter shouldn't be a problem. The jitter situation with hard disk playback and external DACs is really no different than using a standard CD transport and a separate DAC.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61 OP
5,328 posts
 
Dmitrydr, what makes you think that a typical CD player is not highly polluted with RF? Believe it or not designers know how noisy the computer environment is and some have actually taken step to effectively deal with it. Also don't assume that everybody is using a $200 soundcard. That's no more logical than assuming digital playback is defined by the performance of a typical $500 CD player. I recommend you check out some of the products from RME or Lynx.
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