Hello,
After much pondering and for the reasons detailed in this other thread I've decided to take the digital route, that is to say, to rip my entire CD collection (>4000).
Basically for those who have not follow my quest for the best sound I can achieve in my living room, it all started because of improving the acoustics. For that purpose I will need to gain some space getting rid of some furniture where all my CD's are kept. So, it's a 2 in 1 situation as at the same time I will gain much easier accessibility to my music library.
For now my top priority is just music. I have an old Oppo BDP-83 that does the job well for viewing movies. That doesn't mean in the future I won't be interested in ripping those as well but I have my job cut out already and I will think of that when and if the time comes.
So, my requisites are:
- silent box.
- stylish box and not too big.
- enough capacity. Aiming for 3TB just to be on the safe side and allow room for grow.
- redundancy for safe data keeping (RAID 1).
- no wifi (I don't like radiations).
- remote via IR and using my TV screen as monitor and GUI (nice and appealing interface is a must).
- lean and quick OS.
I have already chosen a DAC so the final solution must not include this.
I've been reading and investigating this world and already found some things...
-OS-
a) OpenELEC is designed from scratch for HTPC purposes.
b) Windows Server 2012 R2 would also be a possibility if id didn't cost an arm and a leg. As such is out.
c) Windows 7 (latter versions are also out) is cluttered with a lot of stuff that is not needed for a HTPC and will just get in the way.
I'm inclined for OpenELEC.
-GUI-
I've learned that for OpenELEC the obvious choice is to use Kodi but I guess it supports other interfaces as well...
-Storage-
NAS or external HDD (2) in a box? I don't need multi access but a home NAS solution looks more elegant and powerful. My major concern is that it has to be silent.
I've also learned that Western Digital has SATA disks designed for NAS that are quieter as they rotate in slower speeds. Two of those with 3TB could suit me.
Than it remains the issue of backing up the NAS itself. I would need another external 3TB disk or could I store this data in some personal cloud free of charge? I'm only familiar with Google Drive but it has only 15GB.
I found this comparison between several NAS models.
-Ripping and organizing-
I'm thinking about dividing my music genders in three main categories (folders):
- classical music.
- medieval music.
- 'other' music (I lack the word for it but it basically encompasses all kind of music, from Pop to Rock, to Gothic to New Age, you name it. Or I could also create sub folders inside).
I'm using EAC to rip each CD in multiple FLAC tracks with this naming convention: '<track#> <song title>.flac'.
I'm also fetching the artwork and storing all the data in a folder named '<artist>' and sub folder '<CD title>'.
So, at this stage I already have several different '<artist>' folders, each with one or more '<CD title>' sub folders.
When I start ripping classical music it all will be much more complicated as here we have to consider the composer, the interpreter/soloist and/or conductor, orchestra and so on.
For all of you who have done this before, what is the best way to organize such a collection? Whatever interface I chose, whether is Kodi or another, it has to work flawlessly.
-Conclusion-
I'm talking here basically about building a custom 'box' or HTPC (with focus on the audio for now but keeping some flexibility for the future incorporation of movies) plus NAS or other storage solution as I think it is much more affordable than go for a music player already build.
What do you say, suggest, recommend?
After much pondering and for the reasons detailed in this other thread I've decided to take the digital route, that is to say, to rip my entire CD collection (>4000).
Basically for those who have not follow my quest for the best sound I can achieve in my living room, it all started because of improving the acoustics. For that purpose I will need to gain some space getting rid of some furniture where all my CD's are kept. So, it's a 2 in 1 situation as at the same time I will gain much easier accessibility to my music library.
For now my top priority is just music. I have an old Oppo BDP-83 that does the job well for viewing movies. That doesn't mean in the future I won't be interested in ripping those as well but I have my job cut out already and I will think of that when and if the time comes.
So, my requisites are:
- silent box.
- stylish box and not too big.
- enough capacity. Aiming for 3TB just to be on the safe side and allow room for grow.
- redundancy for safe data keeping (RAID 1).
- no wifi (I don't like radiations).
- remote via IR and using my TV screen as monitor and GUI (nice and appealing interface is a must).
- lean and quick OS.
I have already chosen a DAC so the final solution must not include this.
I've been reading and investigating this world and already found some things...
-OS-
a) OpenELEC is designed from scratch for HTPC purposes.
b) Windows Server 2012 R2 would also be a possibility if id didn't cost an arm and a leg. As such is out.
c) Windows 7 (latter versions are also out) is cluttered with a lot of stuff that is not needed for a HTPC and will just get in the way.
I'm inclined for OpenELEC.
-GUI-
I've learned that for OpenELEC the obvious choice is to use Kodi but I guess it supports other interfaces as well...
-Storage-
NAS or external HDD (2) in a box? I don't need multi access but a home NAS solution looks more elegant and powerful. My major concern is that it has to be silent.
I've also learned that Western Digital has SATA disks designed for NAS that are quieter as they rotate in slower speeds. Two of those with 3TB could suit me.
Than it remains the issue of backing up the NAS itself. I would need another external 3TB disk or could I store this data in some personal cloud free of charge? I'm only familiar with Google Drive but it has only 15GB.
I found this comparison between several NAS models.
-Ripping and organizing-
I'm thinking about dividing my music genders in three main categories (folders):
- classical music.
- medieval music.
- 'other' music (I lack the word for it but it basically encompasses all kind of music, from Pop to Rock, to Gothic to New Age, you name it. Or I could also create sub folders inside).
I'm using EAC to rip each CD in multiple FLAC tracks with this naming convention: '<track#> <song title>.flac'.
I'm also fetching the artwork and storing all the data in a folder named '<artist>' and sub folder '<CD title>'.
So, at this stage I already have several different '<artist>' folders, each with one or more '<CD title>' sub folders.
When I start ripping classical music it all will be much more complicated as here we have to consider the composer, the interpreter/soloist and/or conductor, orchestra and so on.
For all of you who have done this before, what is the best way to organize such a collection? Whatever interface I chose, whether is Kodi or another, it has to work flawlessly.
-Conclusion-
I'm talking here basically about building a custom 'box' or HTPC (with focus on the audio for now but keeping some flexibility for the future incorporation of movies) plus NAS or other storage solution as I think it is much more affordable than go for a music player already build.
What do you say, suggest, recommend?
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