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Music Servers - Baetis vs. Music Vault

I, like many, are looking to add a music/media server to my system.

Aside from fabulous sound and performance, I really want ease of use, with minimal involvement from a computer.

My preference would be a unit that has the hardware to rip/store my cd's, download high-rez files from the internet, set up playlists and then kick back and enjoy the music.

As I explore the options in the under $5K price range, both Baetis and Music Vault are floating to the top.

Ripping and playing Bluray is a nice bonus, but not critical.

I'm looking for feedback from anyone who has compared these two brands, in your own system or demo'd at a recent audio show.

Which unit sounds best?
Which unit is easiest to use??
Which unit has the most features???
Which unit is the best value????

Thank you.
barrelchief

Showing 2 responses by erndog

erndog's avatar
erndog
261 posts
 
Yoby,
No, I'm not using the off ramp anymore. I sold it to fund the Salk stream player. I would love to hear how it sounds with the Salk, maybe in the future.

I'm using a modded MHDT Stockholm dac. Other dacs I've had are: Nuforce Dac-9, Empirical Audio Oversrive SE, and the Chord Qutehd. All were great sounding dacs, but the MHDT sounds the least digital and the best match for my rig.
erndog's avatar
erndog
261 posts
 
I'm late to this thread, but wanted to throw another option into the mix. I used to use my MacBook Pro/Amarra/off ramp 4/dac combo as my source and felt this combo was excellent sounding. About 5 months ago I got a Salk Stream Player which is a Linux based music server. It play any high resolution files and DSD. It is takes the approach of being streamlined to only play music files and nothing else. There are no buttons, no display, no remote, no disk drive and no fans. There is a 2 TB hard drive built in to store all the files. It is controlled by an ipad using the Mpad app. It's output is USB only. It retails for $1295. I have no affiliations other than being a satisfied customer.

The Salk Stream player sounds better in every way from my previous source listed above. Music sounds natural and realistic with a huge sound stage. It is definitely worth looking into. The designer Jim Salk delivers the best customer service in the industry in my opinion.
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