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Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

I’m a hard core vinyl guy looking for guidance/advice to enter the digital world. (TNT, Lyra Skala, ARC PH5) My sole piece of digital gear is an Ayre C5xeMP (replaced my ARC CD2 that finally gave up the ghost).  

I acknowledge there is music I can’t hear/purchase unless its digital. (Have a sizable library of  CDs)  I also like the idea of streaming digital radio and having access of my CD’s from a server.  Finally, I get that digital puts out pretty good sound these days.

So what do I purchase? Looking at features, I really want something along the lines of some version of the  Naim Audio Unti Server. It rips, stores and broadcasts (server function in my lexicon), single box solution, and right price bracket. Only problem is it doesn’t have analog outputs so I can run directly from it to my preamp (ARC LS25).

What are your suggestions…help this old dog learn a few new tricks.


cmcdaniel5

Showing 1 response by lostbears

lostbears's avatar
lostbears
538 posts
 

  I have given a bit of thought to this and I think the way to go is a streamer with built in DAC and hard drive.  Most streamers just have a USB output. USB is not a great interface for music. And some streamers have problems with some DACs  The Aurender won't work with my ARC DAC 8. So having everything in one unit is the easiest way to go. And having a hard drive means you can use a wireless network connection.

 I would suggest using a computer to rip your CDs. Use a program that verifies the rip like Exact Audio Copy. You want to rip your CDs properly without errors. You also want to make a backup of your music files. I use a NAS for all my music as well as my computer. You don't want to have to do everything all over again if there is a problem.

 I have all my CDs ripped to my hard drive but I still use my ARC CD7 most of the time for digital. It is just easier to drop a CD in the player. The CD7 also sounds better than my computer with ARC DAC 8. When I get a streamer this may change.

 Don't expect digital to sound as good as vinyl. My vinyl rig, ClearAudio Innovation with Benz Wood cart and Ref Phono 2se. Sounds much better than my ARC CD7. 

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