tulle Posted August 23, 2010 Posted August 23, 2010 I have a Sonos system listening to internet radio & rapsody finally getting around to wanting to load cds onto a server There are a few options around looked at MusicM8 by Imerge, seemed a bit pricey but now Imerge is no more I wondered how support/updates could be handled. The Imerge connection had me seriously considering the $1900 The latest option I'm considering is being listed on TradeMe, a Solidstate VortexSpinner audio appliance. Uses free? Vortex software. not pretty but a bit easier on the pocket. My questions are, Can these types of equipment sound as good as a decent CD player? Has anyone any experience of Vortex or this VortexSpinner? Thx
Electra Posted August 23, 2010 Posted August 23, 2010 Build a PC. Should not cost more than $1K. Simple and effective. Can it be as good as a good CD player = how large is your budget? My Squeezebox Duet and Spitfire DAC with a few mods are very good. But the total investment in them, plus the computer, would be in excess of $2.5K. Thats getting to very good CD player territory. No experience with the Vortex stuff sorry.
nixon76 Posted August 23, 2010 Posted August 23, 2010 Terry at AudioRef had a RipNAS in for a bit. Seems to do everything that VortexSpinner does, but has the added niceness of being 'built' for Sonos - as in the Sonos just sit on top in the special indent and looks 'proper', as the Sonos software can pick up all the music off it without issue. Don't know if he's still got it, or what the pricing was. [edit] Ah - he's got them listed - but no pricing: http://www.audioreference.co.nz/search.php?search[brandDesc]=RipNAS Building a PC is fine of course (as that's all a RipNAS or VortexSpinner is) but it's DIY, and some of us don't have the time or inclination....
Tedwin1553552753 Posted August 23, 2010 Posted August 23, 2010 A cheaper alternative, which I haven't heard any complaints about is to use the Wadia 170i dock with a decent DAC. Many advantages. You have a back up of all your music. The 'server' is portable, room to room, on the bus etc. Only real issue is the 44.1kHz limit, but if coming from cd's that's a little academic. Just a thought.
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