Media servers can put a large music collection at your fingertips, wherever that might be.
Almost 25 years after the first music CDs appeared, our music collections are still growing, changing, and mixing media. Likewise, our PCs are filling up with music and videos, which are fed to our iPods and other portables in specialized compression formats. Amid this unruly digital audio mix, media servers are becoming useful tools to organize and consolidate our music, putting a new face on our collections.
If you said "media server" a few years ago, most people would think it was something your office tech guy had to install -- and granted, with some media servers tech support may come into play. Depending on whom you ask, a media server can be anything from a glorified hard drive to a Windows Media Center PC to a stereo component that distributes music around the house via Wi-Fi.
Deciding which type of server to buy in this wide-ranging market is something akin to choosing the right computer; in both cases, there are many different designs, with varying operating systems, processors, interfaces, and storage capacities. Above all, you want a server that sounds good, is easy to use, and can accommodate your entire music collection. Also consider how important a multiroom server is for your needs, and whether you want to set it up wired or wireless.
Note: Since video servers are still caught up in the rigamarole surrounding copyrights, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the legality of ripping movies to hard drives, we avoided them for this review. Here, we've selected audio-only servers that are fairly straightforward to set up and manage, don't hinge on Windows Media Center, and are more in step with traditional home stereo components.
Audio servers have three primary functions: ripping music into digital audio formats; tagging and organizing the music into a searchable, customizable catalog; and, playing the music in one or many locations. That said, almost all audio servers differ in some way, from the encoding formats they support to the style of networking they employ. There are myriad features, such as XM radio support, direct recording to the hard drive, and burning compilation CDs. Looking at the different styles and ranges of servers already on the market, you can get enticed and/or confused pretty fast.
Be aware that this is a young market that is still testing the waters. Herein you will find reviews of five servers and their features, and a chart to compare specifications and price points on many music server products. The companies we chose for our survey by no means comprise a complete list, but they do represent a good cross-section of the market.
Media servers are music hubs that play everything from CDs and MP3s to Internet and satellite radio. They are a mixed bag of technologies, which is apparent once you look at the inputs/outputs on the back, where Ethernet and USB mingle with RCA and digital coax ports. Although the interface and features will vary between servers, they all perform the basic functions of compressing, storing, and organizing your music collection. Some servers are designed to be easy to set up and manage while others require more patience and savvy. Networking capabilities vary from single to mega-zone servers, so if you need music distributed to different rooms in a house, there are plenty of options. You can even configure some networked servers yourself, using Ethernet, WiFi, or RCA cables.
A media server's CD player and hard drive will be primary music sources, so you want to be sure the sound quality meets your expectations. If you can, test drive a few at a stereo or electronics shop with some familiar CDs, which will give you an idea of their sound characteristics.
One important consideration in sound quality is the compression and file format you choose. There are a number of lossy and lossless encoding formats -- MP3, WMA, AIFF, PCM, OGG, FLAC, and AAC are the usual suspects. Lossless files, such as FLAC, compress audio files but reproduce a bit-for-bit copy when decoded and played. Lossy files, such as MP3, occupy much less space in storage but won't sound as good when played because of information lost during compression. Finding the right archiving format and sound quality is a subjective decision, up to you and your ears.
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