   
|
||
 August 1, 2008 What’s Next: Computer-Based Music Systems Grow by Leaps and Bounds Have you stored your music collection on your computer yet? If not, I bet you soon will. In February 2007, I went to the trouble of ripping my entire CD collection to my computer’s hard drive in order to review the Sonos Digital Music System, which connects to your computer’s hard drive through a wireless router. With the slick little Sonos Controller, I could easily scroll through all of my CDs via an interface similar to an Apple iPod’s. The Controller displayed album art and other useful information that made the experience very enjoyable, even addictive. I listened to music more often, and over time began to rediscover recordings that I’d long ago filed away, perhaps never to hear again. Looking back, perhaps I should have bought the Sonos system, but at the time it was a bit too expensive for me, and its sound quality wasn’t on a par with a CD player playing a CD. I’ve also owned a Slim Devices/Logitech Squeezebox. Its user interface isn’t as sexy as the Sonos Controller’s, but it really did the job. I lived with it for a couple of years, but never used it or thought of it as my reference source player. Early last year, a buddy made the jump from his reference $8500 universal audio/video player to a Mac-based music system. This new source consisted of a small MacBook with a 200GB hard drive connected to a Stello DA220 Mk.II DAC via a USB cable. To save space on his hard drive, my friend uploaded his CD collection into iTunes using Apple Lossless Compression. We then did several blind listening tests to determine what, if anything, he’d sacrificed by doing so. After an hour or so of switching back and forth between these sources, the result was a tie: We could not consistently tell one source from the other, and if we did identify them correctly, it seemed more a matter of chance. That was when I began to seriously consider moving to a computer-based source player. So, just under a month ago, after stints with the Sonos Digital Music System, the Slim Devices Squeezebox, and the Apple TV, I finally bit the bullet and bought a small MacBook. Since then I’ve been hell-bent to get my hands on every bit of information available about computer audio. For reasons I wasn’t entirely sure of, issues such as digital jitter and sample rates suddenly took on greater importance to me. I now had the options of mini-TosLink, USB, and FireWire for outputting digital signals from my Mac, but which was the best? Which DAC should I get? Would it upsample to 24-bit/192kHz? Did it really matter? I imagine that many recent adopters of computer-based audio systems are currently finding their ways through these details, but if they’re looking for answers in the same places I am, they’re finding many conflicting opinions and lots of bogus information.
But I didn’t learn much. I already had a better understanding of computer audio than did 90% of those attending "Digital Night." Heck, I think I knew one product better than did the manufacturer’s rep who conducted the demo. The reason for the lack of solid information is that computer audio is still new, and many high-end companies are only now embracing it. What I did get to see were many great new products. Audio Research’s DAC7 D/A converter sounded wonderful and is now high on my audition list, as is Wavelength Audio’s Cosecant USB DAC. The Cosecant’s designer, Gordon Rankin, is widely considered one of the innovators of computer-based audio.
If you’ve been waiting for the next big thing in home audio, computer audio is it. Access to your entire music collection can now be at your fingertips, and higher bit counts and sample rates promise to deliver a listening experience that truly replicates the master tape. In time, I hope to understand these technical issues in greater detail; for now, I’m excited just to read and learn about them. My thanks to Audio Advice for a lovely evening. I’ve visited their establishment several times in the last few years, and although I’ve never bought anything, each time I’ve been treated with care and respect. I hope that other good audio stores around the country will put on "Digital Nights" of their own to help their customers learn the ropes. Computer audio is something you must experience. . . . Randall Smith
|
||
|
To further investigate, on July 17 I
drove more than two hours to Audio Advice, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Perhaps the best
audio store in the Mid-Atlantic region, Audio Advice sells products from many of the big
names in the industry, including Wilson Audio Specialties, Aerial Acoustics, Audio
Research, and B&W, to name a few. This particular demo date, called "Digital
Night," focused on computer-based audio systems. The products on display included
some of the new USB DACs carried by AA, and an Apple representative was on hand to answer
questions about iTunes. It was a great opportunity to see and hear these new products, and
pick the brains of the manufacturers to find out what’s really important.
There’s no doubt that
computer-based audio is a trend that is gathering steam each day. As it does, more and
more valid technical information will be released that will help point the consumer in the
proper direction. I imagine that some of the SoundStage! Network’s coverage of next
year’s Consumer Electronics Show will focus heavily on the USB and FireWire DACs
introduced there. I know that Ultra Audio’s Jeff Fritz is in the process of
listening to the Weiss Minerva FireWire DAC, so keep your eyes peeled for his review in
"The World’s Best Audio System." I’ve heard the Minerva, and it sounds
excellent.