What is new with the Memory Player?

The head-to-head at RMAF would be great for customers. It would be nice if Empirical Audio and others would participate. Steve?...

The Memory Player uses proprietary software and processing which extracts a pure bit perfect copy of the disc on to a hard drive, then the data is processed, then played back from solid state ram.

The only other player that does this is a $100k Sonic Solutions work station, also Exact Copy does not do this either!

I've never heard the MP, so I can't comment on its sound quality. It must sound great, because there's less jitter when you don't have to read from a spinning disk. But bit-perfect ripping, loading a song into RAM, and playing from RAM isn't novel. Exact Audio Copy (EAC) alone doesn't do this, but EAC (free) + a RAM disk (Superspeed RAM disk $35) does. Is there some other processing in the MP that differentiates it?

Audiooracle:

Anyway there is more to the Memory Player than what you surmise: for one: the software is quite different than EAC and a ram disc is still ram setup as a virtual space on the hard drive, which means you will still have timing errors.

Actually, a ramdisk is the opposite of what you describe. A ramdisk is a virtual hard drive IN RAM. It's a chunk of RAM that appears as a hard disk to the computer. They're fast, because they're RAM and there's no disk access (and no timing errors). And since the ramdisk RAM is reserved and contiguous, no other data is mixed in with the music data.

I believe MTU has been using ramdisks to play songs since the late 1970s. And I believe they offered Apple II software/hardware that allowed manipulation and playback of songs from ramdisks in the early 1980s.

I'm not trying to knock the MP. If it sounds great, then great. It's definitely a step in the right direction for audiophiles who don't want to mess with PCs.

The Memory Player has great potential if given the right direction, although the trickle-down theory will begin to take effect for lesser cost.

Agreed. As I mentioned, if you already have a PC, you can add bit-perfect ripping and a ramdisk for ~$40-80. Add an Empirical Audio Pace-Car reclocker for ~$1000 and you're down to negligible jitter between PC and DAC. My guess is the MP includes a more accurate clock and better grounding and shielding than a typical PC, but who knows perhaps it doesn't.

I would be curious to hear the MP (used as a transport $10K) head-to-head against another PC-based transport (say PC with JRiver and ramdisk + Empirical Audio Pace-Car reclocker ~$2700 total) into the same DAC.

I'm not trying to kick up dirt and have no agenda. Just trying to get some information, because I think the MP concept is the way to go.

I think this answers other questions that have been asked in the past on the theory the MP isn't anything more than an over-glorified computer. Well, if that was true then why hasn't anyone come up with a likely alternative as of yet?

I believe they have, sort of. Perhaps not in a commercially-available turnkey package, however.

JRiver (~$40) and EAC (free) have provided bit-perfect ripping for years. Like the MP, I believe JRiver and EAC make bit-perfect copies to hard disk by reading and re-reading until every bit on the CD is recorded to hard disk as an exact copy of the CD original--this can take hours for heavily-scratched CDs. Perhaps the laser doesn't wobble, but in the end you end up with a bit-perfect copy. Ramdisks (Superspeed RAMdisk ~$40) have been around for decades, and people have been playing music files from ramdisks (i.e., RAM.)

Many, like myself, have loaded bit-perfect music files into a ramdisk and played them from there. Until the MP, however, I have not seen a turnkey solution that comes with both bit-perfect ripping software and ramdisk software (or whatever the equivalent is in the MP, if not a ramdisk) already installed. Instead, owners would have to buy and install the 2 pieces of software individually (~$40-80 total).

So, aside from the MP being a convenient turnkey package, I ask what's new here? Posters in this thread have appeared to dismiss that it's merely a PC-based transport with a wave of the hand, but provide no information as to whether the MP does anything different than 1) make a bit-perfect rip, 2) load music into RAM, and 3) play it from there.

I believe that's a reason the MP has taken some heat, particularly from people who've been doing PC-based transports using ramdisks who may see this as nothing new. It appears the MP is being marketed as revolutionary because it plays from memory. Not that this matters, but if I sold something like the MP, I would market it as a way to get the benefits of a PC-based transport without having to deal with PCs - less jitter when you don't read from a spinning disk, software is already installed, playing from RAM is already set up, don't have to understand PCs, etc.

In any event, I think it's a step in the right direction and I wish it much success.

"Also Mr. Perry and his staff have tested EAC copies vs the Memory Player and again there is no contest."

Audiooracle-

What PC playback set-up(s) did they use?

Kana813 - Good point. If the Kmixer isn't bypassed or there's a lousy driver, the sound won't be great. And IMHO EAC playback isn't as good as JRiver or Foobar with a good DirectSound driver. With the right software setup and output via, e.g., USB to a decent USB converter or via S/PDIF to a decent reclocker, the playing field should be leveled.

Audiooracle - Thanks. Interesting to know they made the comparison. Are there any dealers in the Chicago area?

If RUR is NP's "ace in the hole," maybe they should be in the software business.

Not trying to sound like a broken record, but still waiting to hear how RUR is any different than bit-perfect ripping, which is already done by EAC and JRiver. Bit-perfect ripping reads and re-reads until all the bits are right; sounds familiar...

the fact that the revolutionary software is installed in reportedly substandard medium-quality hardware

Still waiting to hear what's revolutionary. They state on their web site that re-reading is not new. We also know it's not new since EAC and JRiver have been doing it for years. If they do things like adjust the laser during re-reads, who cares? In the end, you still get a bit-perfect copy with EAC or JRiver. Is memory playback new? I don't believe so--you can play a song from a RAM disk.

In my opinion, they would have more credibility if they changed their marketing approach from what appears to be "this is rocket science" to "hey, if you're not PC savvy and want to get the benefits of PC-based audio, like memory playback and bit-perfect ripping, our box does it all for $10K. Sure you can do it yourself for under $2K, but you're not PC savvy."

I take it the shootout never happened at RMAF...