PC as a music server

About a year ago I started looking for a storage device for my CDs. I have about a thousand, and I became fed up with the whole sort, store, break the case, drop the CD, put them away, lost CD thing. I figured that there MUST be some device that would allow me to rip CDs in full (non loss) format. Basically, all I wanted was an iPod with massive storage to avoid compression. No dice. It was pointed out to me (on this forum, actually) that I could brew my own with a PC. So I did. I thought I'd share the experience for those who might be looking for a solution.

Hardware: HP Pavilion Media PC. I bought this model because it had 750gB of hard disc, a digital out, 24bit sound card, and wireless. I also put in an internal Terabyte hard disc. In addition, I picked up an external Terabyte drive for backup. I don't need a monitor because I have it hooked up to my TV via HDMI. Total cost, including backup, about $1300

I wanted the digital out because (not to start a holy war about digital vs. analog) I wanted to leverage my external adcom DAC.

Software: Vista, Windows Media Player. I took the easy way out.

Configuration: It took me a bit to figure out how to configure the sound card. I wanted to see if I could preserve the HDCD properties of my few HDCD albums. That is, would the DAC recognize HDCD off the hard disc? Once I got the card configured for 44.1 and 24 bit, it worked perfectly.

I ripped all of my CDs in WAV format over the course of several days. Now they're all put away and I have instant access to anything I own that I wish to hear.

Observations:
I was hoping to experience no loss in audio quality. My current CD player is a standard, consumer grade Sony. When, a few years back, I bypassed the Sony's internal DAC, I noticed an improved sound. Results? Strangely, it seems to sound better. This is based on limited, unscientific a/b listening with my wife, and actual 'wow I never heard that before' instances. Case in point, the audience on Loudon Wainwright's "Career Moves" sounds much more present. Why's it sound better? No idea. Placebo? Is pulling music off a hard drive somehow more reliable, smooth, something, than through an optical reader?

I'm not super thrilled with Windows Media Player. As a player, it works ok. But it has a couple of flukes. When I rip CDS that aren't in the freedb database, it doesn't, of course, have an cover art. I've resolved this by either scanning the CD covers or pulling art off the internet. However, it sometimes flips back to no art or pulls art in from other covers for these CDs. Not sure what I'm doing wrong here, but it can be frustrating.

I'm not an audio engineer, or a music professional of any sort. I'm just a guy who wants to feel he is listening to a reasonable reproduction of the artist's intention, in a much more convenient fashion.

If this is at all useful to you, good.

If not, let the flames begin.

.

Relevant Pages

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