Music server file format management/conversion.

[chrispy35]

I have just installed an HP MSS on my network and would like to start ripping my CD library to it. My dilemma is the following...

I would like to rip the music in a lossless format _but_ I would also like to have an easy (read automated) way of converting the music to a lossy format for upload to an MP3 player.

Ideally, the conversion would happen behind the scenes. I would browse the library, chooses the albums to sync and some s/w would do the rest (convert the music, upload to player, delete converted music on local drive).

I figure I'm not the first person that has encountered this. Has anyone found any tools/software that can be used to accomplish the above?

Cheers,

Chris P.

[chrispy35]

After a bit more searching, I found that Media Monkey (gold edition, not the free version) has an auto-conversion/leveling feature.

The next obvious question is: Has anyone used this s/w?

Chris P.

[gross30]

chrispy35, I am in the same boat, I purchased a new Olive 4 w/Melody 2 and Benchmark DAC1 usb, and have yet to load anything on it. Probably won't find the time until the end of March. I have read a lot of reviews about the Media Monkey etc. and it looks like an excellent music transfer program. I just don't know anything about it, and am somewhat leery. Hopefully someone who has, and is using it will chime in with more info......

[David Meek]

Gross, you're going to love your Opus4! I'm feeding mine through a Musical Fidelity A3.2CR DAC and am still surprised at the sound quality I'm getting. FWIW, I'm using FLAC and the CD drive in the unit.

Chrispy, some other Opus owners (PM me for details) are using Media Monkey and are extremely happy with it.

[gross30]

David, I am looking forward to playing with the Opus 4. I won't be able to get to it until mid March. (work obligations) I should have all the info I need to do it once and right the first time. Have to load about 2500 cd's so it will be time consuming. But if the end result is what I am looking for, then it is well worth it. I am going to research the media monkey some more before I decide which route to take.

[gross30]

Nice looking piece also I might add..... :T

[chrispy35]

Thanks guys. I think I'll try the MM gold edition. I've played around with the free version before and, if the gold version auto-convert feature works as advertised, it should be a good solution.

Chris P.

[gross30]

David Meek; sent you a pm.....

[Blindamood]

Gross, you're going to love your Opus4! I'm feeding mine through a Musical Fidelity A3.2CR DAC and am still surprised at the sound quality I'm getting. FWIW, I'm using FLAC and the CD drive in the unit.

Chrispy, some other Opus owners (PM me for details) are using Media Monkey and are extremely happy with it.

David, would you mind expanding a bit on how you're using the Olive in combination with Media Monkey? I just ordered a NAS (QNAP TS-209 with 2x1TB HDD), and just installed Media Monkey on my laptop. What I'm wondering is what is gained by using the Olive over something cheaper, such as a Squeezebox to feed your DAC?

I've got the Olive Musica, and so far have just been using it as a standalone for ripping, etc. However, I now have full Ethernet capability, and my Denon AVR-3808CI is DLNA-compliant and will play audio (including FLAC) over my home network. I'm thinking that the Musica will no longer have any value once I get all my music converted over to the NAS and can play it through the Denon from there.

My thought is that once I get this set up, it will also be easier to feed other rooms. For example, the QNAP supports the SqueezeCenter (formerly SlimServer) software to feed a Squeezebox, which I could use to feed my bedroom system.

[David Meek]

Brad, I wanted a component that would give me the benefits of a music server without having to use my laptop as an integral part of the system. The Opus is a complete stand-alone system that doesn't require a PC to be involved in the loop at all. Now, I DO use my laptop to control the playback operations (but it's not necessary) as I like the user interface available with it over the supplied remote and the touch-screen on the unit. We've got my wife's iTouch (3G) set up to act as a controller also. It uses a version of the touch-screen application that while not as easy to use as the one on my laptop is quite powerful.

I'm not using MediaMonkey so I can't help you there. I ripped my library using the Opus4's internal hard drive.

From what you are describing with the Denon, you won't need the Opus. But before you go that route check carefully into the user interface available for operating the Denon. Some I've seen are so cumbersome it's not worth using them.

Best of luck.... :T

[Blindamood]

I'm not using MediaMonkey so I can't help you there. I ripped my library using the Opus4's internal hard drive.

Sorry, misunderstood from your post above.

From what you are describing with the Denon, you won't need the Opus. But before you go that route check carefully into the user interface available for operating the Denon. Some I've seen are so cumbersome it's not worth using them.

Yes, it remains to be seen whether or not the Denon's UI will be useful. One issue I've read about is the lack of a Shuffle/Random mode of play. This is one thing I use a LOT on my Musica. If necessary, I've considered using a Squeezebox or Transporter for the UI, to feed the Denon. The Logitech devices play FLAC, which is the format I store my music in.

[impala454]

I can throw in another :T for Media Monkey. I don't use it as a player currently but I used it for a few months on end to meticulously retag like 30,000 songs. The mass retag/rename/move file functions are very handy.

[Blindamood]

What sounds interesting to me is that you can convert on the fly as you synch to a portable device (i.e., ipod). I like to store in FLAC, but it would be nice to synch using MP3 or whatever to save space. Have you tried this?

[impala454]

I have not. I don't really use portable music devices. Sorry!

[chrispy35]

The on-the-fly conversion is fantastic. I've been slowly ripping my CDs in FLAC format to my WHS and it's completely painless to sync up with my wife's Sansa e280 and automatically convert the FLAC files to whatever bitrate MP3 I want.

Chris P.

[Blindamood]

The on-the-fly conversion is fantastic. I've been slowly ripping my CDs in FLAC format to my WHS and it's completely painless to sync up with my wife's Sansa e280 and automatically convert the FLAC files to whatever bitrate MP3 I want.

Chris P.

Good to hear that it works well -- thanks.

[Blindamood]

Well, I just took the next step...ordered a Squeezebox Duet. This includes both the Receiver and the Controller. What really sold me on this option is the ability to add another receiver later (e.g., to the bedroom), and you can use the same controller for both. Seems like a very economical solution...and amazon had a very good price on the Duet package as well.

So, rather than using the Denon to interact with the music files, I'll be using the Squeezebox Controller, which has a nice little scroll wheel and window for viewing songs lists, cover art, etc. The Receiver can be hooked up via wi-fi or Ethernet, and the Controller interacts with the Receiver via wi-fi as well, so you don't have to be in the same room as the Receiver in order to operate it.

This should work great as I work from home, and I can turn down the music for conference calls from my office, which is next door to my system. Currently I have to walk out and turn it off using the sytem remote...boy am I getting lazy...

[Blindamood]

Almost forgot...the Squeezebox also allows you to play Sirius radio via their online service. I'm already a subscriber for my car, so unlike most home setups, I won't have to pay for a separate Sirius account to be able to listen at home. This is in addition to all of the other online sources it supports, such as Internet radio and Rhapsody.

Edit: Found out that you do have to upgrade your Sirius account to the 'premium' online service, which is an additional $2.99 a month. Not too bad, considering they charge an additional $6.99 for additional tuners.

[Blindamood]

Well, so far so good. Got the QNAP NAS yesterday, and installed the hard drives and got it set up on my network with no problems. Moved a couple of albums over to it for testing purposes ... MediaMonkey is proving to be extremely nice for reorganizing and tagging the music files.

The QNAP has TwonkyMedia Server preinstalled, which allows my (DLNA-compliant) Denon 3808 to access and play files from the QNAP. I'm playing tunes using the Denon with no issues at all ... sounds great!

Next step is the Sqeezebox Duet, which should be arriving today. This will require me to install SqeezeCenter on the QNAP, but the QNAP support site provides excellent instructions for this, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Can't wait to see if the Sqeezebox Controller works as well as I hope.

Once I get everything working, I'll import all of the FLAC files I have backed up on an external hard disk from my Olive Musica. I'm confident MediaMonkey will make this a simple process, so that I don't have to re-rip the 300 or so CDs I've already got in there.

[Blindamood]

Just wanted to report back that I got my Squeezebox Duet hooked up last night, and all is working well today! Was a bit of a struggle upgrading the NAS firmware, etc., but eventually got it worked out.

The Squeezebox Controller is very nice, and working just as I had hoped from around the condo. Since it operates over WiFi, you don't have to be in sight of the Receiver to operate it.

I really like the fact that I can listen to Internet radio, Sirius, and my entire CD collection all from one hand-held device. Pretty sweet.

[Blindamood]

Okay, lousy camera pics I know, but thought I'd share anyway. Included are the Squeezebox Controller, Receiver, and the QNAP NAS (next to my modem and Linksys router).

[Hammie]

I have all my stuff in ALAC. I use TVersity to transcode all files to my PS3, Denon 3808, or D-Link DSM-320. The funny thing is that only the D-Link recognizes my DTS 5.1 encoded WAV files which is probably pushing 5-7 years old. The PS3 and Denon play the horrible scratchy noise.

I like the PS3 best but only for the visualizer. I think the audio sounds the same whether it is coming from any of the 3 media devices I have on my network.

[Blindamood]

Well, I've got my entire collection ripped to FLAC now on the NAS, and the Duet is working quite well for playing tunes. In addition, my wife surprised me with an iPod Classic (120GB) on my birthday, so I'm in the process of syncing a bunch of my stuff back over to the iPod. I'm converting on-the-fly to MP3 using Media Monkey and it seems to work well. It does take a while though, since it's pulling from the NAS over WiFi and then converting. So, I just cue up a bunch of albums and let it do its work. Next time I head to the beach I'll have tons of music to listen to. :B

[Chris D]

Tell you what... like I wrote in a previous thread that we talked about for a while, maybe 3-6 months ago, I'm really liking my 120GB iPod I got. Was hesitant to get into get into compressed audio. When I learned you can do uncompressed lossless audio now, I went ahead and did it. Couldn't fit my entire audio collection (10,000 songs... iTunes says it would take something like 35 straight days to play my music without stop) onto the iPod, though, so I'm currently using 320Kbps MP3, and it's working great.

so far, I can't tell the difference between the audio files that I kept Apple Lossless, and the copies I made in 320Kbps MP3, played by the iPod. Even using reference-grade Etymotic headphones. Might be different when I get home next month and start trying to A/B the lossless vs. MP3 on my theater system. (just for testing comparison, not that it'll be the actual source when I'm using the theater)