Music player vs server; Auraliti vs Sonore vs W4S

Well, Tom, for a Noob, you seem to know what you're doing! FWIW, I purchased a Vortexbox Appliance, a dedicated pc music server which runs Linux. Although it has a built-in ripper, I have been much happier using dBPoweramp on a wirelessly networked laptop. What I like best is the ability to edit the metadata and cover art prior to the rip, which saves time, especially if, like me, you have a lot of home-made CDs of vinyl or compilations. The Vortexbox is in another room from my system (it is quiet but not silent). It's connected to my wifi router via ethernet cable. For a player, I use a Squeezebox Touch (sadly discontinued), which feeds my DAC via S/PDIF coax cable. I rip to FLAC, using the default compression (dBPoweramp lets you pick whichever FLAC compression algorythm you want) and apply smart gain while ripping (does not affect file). I also have a USB hard drive for back up - a must. IME, I have not noticed any reduction in soundstage dimensions when playing back these files. Although Logitech continues to support the discontinued Squeezebox, I am not sure what I'll do if my Touch ever craps out. I am not a "smart phone" or "i-whatever" kinda guy.

I have had the W4Sound Music Server 1 for about six months. It outputs to a Wyred4Sound DAC via coax. Other components include a Pass Labs XA 30.5 amplifier, Wyred4Sound STP-SE preamplifier and Dynaudio Confidence 2 mk II speakers. DAC is connected to preamp using balanced connection. The server was easy to set up and operate. The manual is excellent and Wyred's support has been excellent. I use IPaD and IPhone to access and play my music using MPaD and MPoD apps (the latter is free and other is only $2.95). I ripped all my CDs to FLAC. I backed up all of the files on server to a separate portable hard drive. I can only compare to prior system, which had a CD player outputting to the same DAC and the server sounds much better to me. The server has been very reliable. Only a couple of minor inconveniences: Occasionally, after you rip a CD, the cover art does not automatically load and you have to search for it on the web, copy it, and paste it in the file (this has to be done on a computer connected to the network). I find this usually happens with less commercial music (I listen to a lot of jazz). Once you have done it once, this is very easy and takes about five minutes. Second, very occasionally when I hit play on my IPAD, there will be a faint/short popping sound before the music plays. Third, it takes a couple of minutes for network to recognize the server when you initially turn it on (it is supposed to be in standby when not in use). Sometimes when I turn server on there will be a couple second drop out on the first song (this only occurs right after I turn it on). I don't consider any of these big issues, but some might. Overall I have been very pleased with my server. I find myself listening to music a lot more. Having everything at your fingertips on the IPaD is great. You end up listening to stuff you forgot you had.