The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

JohnnyCashFan said:
Asking for friend (no, really). Anyone have a recommendation for music player app for Windows ?

Something simple as he is recently retired, he has converted much of his cd's to mps3 already, but something on the "Simple side", free is a bonus, that can play, organize, show nice album art, auto tag ?, rip and burn cd's , and Spotify would be things he would like.

He just got himself a new windows 10 mini laptop with external monitor, SSD, and optical drive.
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Basic foobar (it is simple, free, and can do all of it, especially if you download the columns UI, but then again I downloaded a pack with a ton of components from red)

Musicbee is a fantastic alternative, and I hear nothing but good about jriver but I never really tried it... Nothing can do the Spotify integration though
 
duke86fan said:
Basic foobar (it is simple, free, and can do all of it, especially if you download the columns UI, but then again I downloaded a pack with a ton of components from red)

Musicbee is a fantastic alternative, and I hear nothing but good about jriver but I never really tried it... Nothing can do the Spotify integration though
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I was gonna tag you in this post and then got sidetracked. Figured you would have some good recs since you have done a lot of research on it! I think what's throwing me off is wanting something free that does everything @JohnnyCashFan mentioned. But if you remove spotify and potentially do a standalone CD ripper, then things would get easier.
 
MikeH said:
I was gonna tag you in this post and then got sidetracked. Figured you would have some good recs since you have done a lot of research on it! I think what's throwing me off is wanting something free that does everything @JohnnyCashFan mentioned. But if you remove spotify and potentially do a standalone CD ripper, then things would get easier.
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Yeah there's plenty of free media library managers/players out there, it's the Spotify integration that's hard. You only really see that on the the proprietary apps for gear like Sonos/HEOS/Bluesound etc
 
I maintain multiple digital libraries and I realize this might be a bit of overkill but it works for me.

I use iTunes for music I want on my devices. I have only Apple devices so it works the best. It's free.

I use Media Monkey Gold for my main music library. I don't know how much it costs now but I paid $25 for it 10 years ago and I still get updates. With Gold you get more options. I really like splitting my files out into separate libraries (FLAC, MP3, Classical, Holiday).

The Spotify desktop app will scan your hard drive for files and show them to you in the library, but it's not an exact science. The tags would have to be the same as Spotify or you'd have tons of duplicates. I stopped using it to scan my local files and just download everything. It's not a full featured tag editor either.

Edit: Media Monkey 5 is in beta and it says that it will integrate with cloud services so if you're willing to try a beta that might be the way to go.
 
auto tagging seems a bit difficult (i know foobar has things for discogs and musicbrainz but i dunno if he would wanna mess with all of those details, MP3tag is a great app that makes it fairly easier but it still might be difficult to tag some of these since there is all the stuff involving different versions), organizing and showing album art is INCREDIBLY easy, any application from musicbee to jriver to mediamonkey.. CD ripping i personally use EAC but i understand its pretty dang slow and not meant for the casual user so any built in ripper will work for that (i am pretty sure most apps even itunes has one).. same with burning CDs but i use imgburn, aka my setup for setting up music is probably not one to be emulated.. and all of this when most of my stuff i just listen to on tidal because MQA legit sounds better to me

Kris said:
Media Monkey 5 is in beta and it says that it will integrate with cloud services so if you're willing to try a beta that might be the way to go.
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it seems like even then it wont have spotify integration mostly due to licensing issues

MM5 and Spotify [#16521] - MediaMonkey forum

forum.mediamonkey.com forum.mediamonkey.com

basically a ton of legal paperwork
 
anybody having issues with the new Roon connecting to devices? It seems I can't connect Roon on my computer to my receiver using USB anymore...it just doesn't show up in audio zone for some reason!
 
MikeH said:
anybody having issues with the new Roon connecting to devices? It seems I can't connect Roon on my computer to my receiver using USB anymore...it just doesn't show up in audio zone for some reason!
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Have you gone to settings and tried to add the zone again.
 
i sucked it up and decided to try a one PC only roon setup on my laptop and...

it sounds great and i like the bios and lyric sheet..... i have 14 days to figure out if id actually pay for yearly (fittingly only a couple days after my birthday)... but so far looking pretty alright unless audirvana also has lyric sheet and bio and (sadly probably wont) have recommendations
NEVERMIND because apparently you cant even pause the music or even stop the song to make sure that i can pause and watch the video.. on tidal (not foobar but still) i can do that no problem so its frustrating and audirvana it is because i can at least stop
 
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Do I even want to dip my toe in the SACD pool??

Might be able to pick this up for $100 locally, just needs a power cord, the rest is like new 😖😖😖
www.crutchfield.com

Denon DVD-3910 (Black)

Universal DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player with HDMI and DVI output
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com
 
AnthonyI said:
Do I even want to dip my toe in the SACD pool??

Might be able to pick this up for $100 locally, just needs a power cord, the rest is like new 😖😖😖
www.crutchfield.com

Denon DVD-3910 (Black)

Universal DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player with HDMI and DVI output
www.crutchfield.com www.crutchfield.com
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Nah. You’re good. And this is from someone who has had one for almost 17 years now. To be honest is a murky old world and whilst a genuine DSD recording/transfer can sound magnificent the majority are upsampled hi-res or just lossless 16/44 PCM converted to a different file container. Plus if it comes to springing for audiophile you’re just going to buy the vinyl at that price point anyway.

I think with the rise of hi res streaming that it’s the way to go for better quality digital and in that ecosystem you can still pretty readily get hold of DSD downloads to put in a library.
 
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Joe Mac said:
Nah. You’re good. And this is from someone who had one for almost 17 years now. To be honest is a murky old world and whilst a genuine DSD recording/transfer can sound magnificent the majority are upsampled hi-res or just lossless PCM converted to a different file container. Plus if it comes to springing for audiophile you’re just going to buy the vinyl at that price point anyway.

I think with the rise of hi res streaming to and the way to go for better quality digital and in that ecosystem you can still pretty readily get hold of DSD downloads to put in a library.
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That's why I need you hear @Joe Mac, to talk me off these crazy ledges, lol
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah if I didn’t still have a sizeable CD collection I’d be down to just Roon with tidal/qobuz and vinyl as the mix. That really is the sensible dual approach IMO.
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Agreed..........I have enough CDs to support the more than adequate CD player I have and the streaming setup is working just fine.
 
Has anybody any experience ordering open box or refurbished from Safe and Sound? I’m not familiar with them.
I’m probably going to buy a Bluesound Node 2i but just so I understand, all my digital music is currently on my laptop, does my laptop have to be on for the Node to read from it?
 
Englishbob said:
Has anybody any experience ordering open box or refurbished from Safe and Sound? I’m not familiar with them.
I’m probably going to buy a Bluesound Node 2i but just so I understand, all my digital music is currently on my laptop, does my laptop have to be on for the Node to read from it?
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I think a fair few people on here have bought NAD amps off them. I’ve not heard a any negatives. And yes, If it’s stored on the laptop the laptop needs to be on.
 
Joe Mac said:
I think a fair few people on here have bought NAD amps off them. I’ve not heard a any negatives. And yes, If it’s stored on the laptop the laptop needs to be on.
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Hmmm..so there isn’t a huge advantage over the laptop then other than control via the app. Is there a way to access my collection from a phone or tablet perhaps? Just to select/play etc.
 
Englishbob said:
Hmmm..so there isn’t a huge advantage over the laptop then other than control via the app. Is there a way to access my collection from a phone or tablet perhaps? Just to select/play etc.
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Yeah the blueos app will do that. They’re also Roon ready if you want to go down that route. The issue is that if the music is on the laptop itself it has to be turned on for the blue sound to access the music from its hard drive via the network!.
 
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