I'm looking for some opinions here on PC /laptop/IP based audio.
My feeling is that laser based audio (CD, DVD, BD) is if not quite dead, then at least on its last legs.
Saving your whole music collection stored losslessly on hard drives (with hopefully a secure back up) just makes sense to me.
When record companies realise that they can make more money and protect local interests , buying on line will eventually become the norm (even here).
Who really needs players with moving parts that can break?
There are however a few issues that need to be resolved, and the main one in my eyes is format.
What formats (and I use FLAC for the music on my PC and even little media player) is currently widely supported, and more importantly will be supported into the future?
What is the best way to get your music data of your hard drive?
Where should the decoding be done?
As an aside AVSA took quite a lot of flack when we started featuring Media type devices. This as these weren't seen as real Hi-FI.
As it turns out we were correct to trust our judgement that this was a segment worth looking at.
My feeling is that laser based audio (CD, DVD, BD) is if not quite dead, then at least on its last legs.
Saving your whole music collection stored losslessly on hard drives (with hopefully a secure back up) just makes sense to me.
When record companies realise that they can make more money and protect local interests , buying on line will eventually become the norm (even here).
Who really needs players with moving parts that can break?
There are however a few issues that need to be resolved, and the main one in my eyes is format.
What formats (and I use FLAC for the music on my PC and even little media player) is currently widely supported, and more importantly will be supported into the future?
What is the best way to get your music data of your hard drive?
Where should the decoding be done?
As an aside AVSA took quite a lot of flack when we started featuring Media type devices. This as these weren't seen as real Hi-FI.
As it turns out we were correct to trust our judgement that this was a segment worth looking at.