Music Servers - Baetis vs. Music Vault

It was a nice surprise - to log on this morning, and see your responses.

I will also take a look at the servers that were mentioned, which were not on my short list.

Keep the comments coming.

I will report back after I sort out everything and pull a trigger.

Wow, what a pleasant surprise to see others chiming in, in recent days.

Update... I did buy a Baetis Rev-2 and am enjoying it very much.

The sound is very good. I am very pleased.

I have not yet had a chance to get to all of the items on my punch list.

At this point, I've been ripping cd's and getting in some listening sessions.

John and his son Dan have been very responsive and helpful.

I use DBPoweramp in the Rev-2 for ripping, then playback via JRiver. I decided to rip in Wave, not FLAC.

One thing that I really like about using DBPoweramp for ripping is that it will take several passes of each cd, to ensure that it captured all of the data. And, during the process, it shows you these details and confirms when it's gotten a fully accurate rip.

Once you start using it (set up and ripping, etc.) you'll realize that this truly is a computer that has been engineered and dedicated to audio playback. Then, once you start playing back via JRiver, you forget that it really is a computer, and just enjoy the music. I'm not much of a computer guy, and I'm getting by just fine.

Other units may have a few less steps, in the ripping process. For example, in DBPoweramp, I have to click on "rip," when I insert a cd. Whereas, other servers may automatically rip the disc, upon insertion. However, I don't find this to be a major deal

I plan to get to the other features very shortly, and will report back, as I go...

Lastly, Icorem, I'm not sure about your "no dac needed" comment. That was not one of my goals. The Rev-2 feeds my DAC, via its BNC/SPDIF output.

I made other front end changes at about the same time that I brought in the Rev-2. Therefore, I did not get in a lot of "critical" listening, and comparing the Rev-2 to my transport.

With that being said, I am comfortable in saying that my perception is that the sound that the Rev-2 puts out is as good, if not better than when I was using a transport.

I also will tell you that my digital front end, with all of the recent changes, has never sounded better!

Ahhh...gotcha.

Correct, the Baetis Rev-2 has digital outputs, to connect to your DAC.

It does not have an onboard DAC.

If Cerrot is correct then it truly is a shame that this industry has been forced to (or has chosen to) focus on USB, simply because most computers don't have spdif outputs, etc.

While I am very happy with the sound that Baetis is sending to my DAC, I think the simple truth is that music server designs & options have come a long way, and we now are fortunate to have several viable choices.

I very likely may have been just as happy with the Vault, or Salk or Antipodes, etc.

I did not have the opportunity to compare. I pulled the trigger with Baetis and am very happy with how my system sounds.

I don't think that it's a case that only one is good and the others are bad. I suspect that many of the options are good. And, that's a good thing for us - the consumers, and the industry.

I joined a'gon almost 15 years ago. Back then, I had the time to chase my tail with every last detail. Today, I just want to push the power button, and enjoy the music.

With the server options that are out there today, and will continue to rise, I/we are one step closer to that.