Stone & Harley - new comedy team?
-- Wed, 12/31/2008 - 12:13
Or just incompetent hacks? Tasked with covering the expanding audiophile music server sector, they each reveal an alarming cluelessness. These old dogs can't seem to learn a new trick, except for the one being pulled on the readers of their columns.
Apple fanboy Steven Stone can't get his mind around the idea that RIPPING a CD is not the same as BURNING a CD: "The Music Vault allows you to burn CDs directly into a music library." No, that wasn't a typo, because he repeats the gaffe a few sentences later: "...the Music Vault offers a clever way to burn, store, and access your entire digital music library." He seems oblivious to the fact that such devices have been around for at least 9 years and there's nothing especially "clever" about ripping a CD. Nor does he pick up on the idea that this $1500 Music Vault is nothing but a $500 PC in a different case.
(Note to Steven: the term "burn" refers to the use of a (insert Dr Evil voice) "la-ser". A small "la-ser" burns tiny pits into a blank disc. Hard drives are magnetic recording devices and no "burning" is involved in storage or retrieval.)
Stone reveals his Apple bias in another piece about Channel D Software: "The limitations to the software are that it only works on a Mac (grin)..." Why does he think software unusable on 90% of computer systems is something to grin about? Idiot.
Robert Harley then shows that mastery of 2nd grade math continues to elude him. In a discussion of the PS Audio Perfect Wave transport he says, "The transport has 64GB of RAM on-board, enough to store 4 minutes of music. Very close, Robert. You only missed by a factor of 1000. The correct number was 64MB - another typo? The $2000 Perfect Wave seems to be little more than an ordinary DVD-ROM drive, plus a small LCD touchscreen interface. It has no storage of its own, requiring a NAS for local storage. You will also need to connect the Perfect Wave to the internet if you want your files to include any meta-data. Still, PS Audio will offer a ripping service in which you can mail them your CD collection and they will mail you back a hard drive full of ripped files...essentially making the Perfect Wave transport obsolete. Nice.
I'm still waiting for one of these nifty new music servers to offer something that a $300 PC can't do. I guess it'll be a long wait. Slim Devices' philosophy of separating the audio playback hardware from the cheap commodity PC hardware continues to be the more elegant, practical, and economical solution. Meanwhile, the "audio industry" plods into the computer age, continually repackaging variations on the 1999 ARQ1 while Famous Audio Journalists steadfastly fail to notice the scam.
That was indeed a typo in identifying the amount of RAM in the PS Audio Perfect Wave—see my discussion in my review in the January issue of the HRx format of how much audio 64GB will store.
Aw shucks come on give these guys and their colleagues a break they all still believe they hear just as well as they did 5, 10 and 20 years ago. They believe there hearing is just as good now in their fifties and sixties as it was when they were 16yo. and they don't need any stinking tests to prove it.
Have no need for a music server and have never ripped or burned a DVD or CD.
Now I did stoke a fire last week to help a friend in Bath county with his production of fine untaxed VA corn liquor.
Sheepherder
Shenandoah Valley, VA
And a happy new year to you, too.
It's nice to read such a flattering fan letter so early in the new year.
I look forward to your comments about my full review of the Music Vault
Best wishes...and BTW most music lovers don't want to mess with $300 PCs to make home-brew music servers. They want to listen to music, not fight with PC's. I've noticed that folks who do make their own home-brew systems seem to develop some alarming anti-social attitudes.
Once again, thank you for your thoughts...
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Has TAS ever had a adiscussion or article relating to how the Microsoft and Apple kernels handle digital music files? I am specifically talking about sample rate conversion and other nasties that damage the fidelity of even so-called "lossless" files in the digital domain during the playback process. Without an understanding of this and related issues, reviews of music servers and software areat least very elementary, and arguably worthless. Who would trust a phono preamp review from someone who doesn't even know what RIAA equalization is?
I've also seen no discussion of LAME encoding, which is widely used by people who are more interested in sound than in glossy technology. Does anyone on the staff know what LAME is, how variable bit-rate encoding works, or how the different levels of resolution can be set within the software? We see endless reviews about pnono equipment, which is a very simple implementation of sixty year old technology, yet nothing on the many issues involved in getting the best sound out of digital music files. Focusing on the UIs of big-buck servers like the SooLoos is akin to blathering on about how nice the knobs look on a Boulder preamp.
Instead of giving glowing reviews to multi-kilobuck PCs with touch screens, your staff might want to learn something about the underlying technology involved before ventuiring opinions on this stuff. The readers who say a high-quality music server can be built from a $300 PC are exaggerating, buut only slightly because the cost of a high-quality external DAC has to be factored in. I know because there are entire forimes like Hydrogen audio devoted to understanding and implementing the technology. And because I've built two servers for less than $1K each that work flawlessly.
Steven, it's not that a $300 PC is a great music server, though it certainly can be if you know what you're doing.
The real issue is these 4-figure servers really ARE just $300 PCs with a dumbed-down OS.
I think it's a mistake to condemn high-end music servers simply because they rely on inexpensive PC technology. You're paying for their functionality and user interface, not for the collection of parts. Once you've experienced a Sooloos or Qsonix to access your music library, it's hard to use anything else.
So the Sooloos software makes a $500 PC worth $5000? Maybe they should just sell the software.
I've been gobsmacked by the functionality of a Sooloos (not seen Qsonix). However, I'm also not happy at being charged for a 1Tb drive about 15-20x what it would cost in a computer store. My guess is that it'll only be a matter of time before someone makes a functionally equivalent software and sells it at a reasonable cost.
Yes, one will still have to put together a PC and all the bits, wire them and connect them, which is not as convenient as buying the whole thing lot, stock and barrel from Sooloos (say). There again, most audiophiles' audio system is made up of various boxes, that they have connected together with carefully chosen bits of cables and most would do their own turntable/cartridge setup. Many people would prefer a B&O type system, I'll wait for the software to arrive separately and do the fiddling. The present price premium for the convenience is not worth it in my eyes but there is no denying the superbly intuitive interface.
There's no question that the high-end music servers are aimed at audiophiles who want an elegant, turnkey solution without messing around inside a computer chassis, and who have the means to afford the best.
But to dismiss such products as a rip-off is like saying that a book costing, say $30, is a ripoff because it is merely two pounds of paper.
I also hope that the functionality and user interface of today's best products trickles down into inexpensive units that anyone can afford. I loved having the Sooloos in my system, but can't afford one myself.
Zeb
I totally agree. I find it astonishing that 'audiophiles' who have spent 10, 20, 30+ years building a system and fine tuning every aspect of it will suddenly trade it in for a "turnkey" solution that is in reality a PC in an expensive case.
Apple, Microsoft and many open source software programs rival all of the functionality available from these supposedly high end servers and where they are short they will catch up. They are also not as proprietary as these high end servers and allow audiophiles to use the digital components of their choice.
What happens if you want to move from Sooloos to QSonix....Not as easy as switching out your CD player I can guarantee
The product category is in its infancy, and I expect radical developments and dramatic price reductions over the next three years. It's an area in which we intend to focus our coverage.
Music servers are not really in their infancy. It's just that the High End only noticed them a few years ago. But audiophiles seem doomed to continue down the wrong path, paying $2000 for a $100 hard drive because it is installed in a box that says Linn or Krell. Putting up with flaky or missing meta-data because of the choices made by the company the user has wedded themselves to. Believing the process of inserting a CD and getting music files is magic, or novel, or even interesting.
In the next few years, many audio and video components will be networked. When your TV can play audio, video, and graphics files from anywhere on the internet, as well as anywhere on your local network, how many people will spring for an $8000 box that only plays audio files from its built-in drive?
Is there a music server in the world that does what you do on the touch screen in the planes now from a remote. Which means saving ur music, ripping cds, making playlists, queueing up music etc? ANything cheaper than a sooloos?
There are music servers that do all these functions. At a lower price point than the Sooloos look at Olive. It has a dedicated touchscreen option.
Or try using a Mac mini with a iPhone or a touch screen.
Actually any portable Mac or PC coupled to an iPhone will accomplish all the functions you mention. Some solutions will require more work to set up and may not integrate as smoothly as the Sooloos, but many will deliver high-quality music.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Then there are completely ridiculous components like the $6995 Black Box from Blue Smoke. Robert Harley, whose cognitive abilities are deteriorating at an alarming rate, called the Black Box a "turnkey server". That would indicate that the Black Box is fully equipped and ready to go into operation. Unfortunately for Bob and his readers, that's not the case at all. It is certainly not a server, because a server would have some kind of file storage from which to serve. The Black Box has none. It requires a networked hard drive for storage (and therefore it requires a network). The Black Box also requires a separate DAC - plan on spending as much for the DAC as the Black Box . Oh, and it doesn't have any kind of display screen - you'll have to provide that, too if you want to see what you're doing. So your music-only room sudenly grew a video screen while you weren't looking. Hmm. This "turnkey" system is getting a little complicated - and expensive. Yet, when you examine the Black Box's function, it is essentially just a switching station. It takes data from inserted CDs and passes it to a networked drive for longterm storage. It takes data from the networked drive and passes it to an external DAC for playback. It takes metadata from the file being played and passes it to a display screen. For $7,000. Oh, but it has a thick face plate and big heat sinks (heat sinks? for what?) so I guess it's worth it.
Steven Stone mentioned the Black Box in his CES coverage under "Network And Music Server Products". Steven gets a gold star for his first-ever proper use of the term "rip", which I strongly suspect he learned earlier in this thread. But he is still clueless about computers. What does this mean, Steven? - "[the Black Box] is an "open system" so it will work with both iTunes or Windows-based music systems." Are you talking about operating systems or file formats? Or playback software? iTunes works on both Windows and Macs, so your reference to iTunes has zero relevance. But the most puzzling thing is, why mention computers at all? Does the Black Box ALSO need a Mac or PC in order to play music? If so, WHY? The Blue Smoke website says the only supported audio formats are WMA lossless and WavPack. That sure seems limited. I guess Apple owners who use AAC or Apple Lossless files can look elsewhere. Same goes for anybody who uses FLAC, MP3, AIFF, or WAV files. It's clear that the Black Box is designed for wealthy but ignorant audiophiles who don't have a clue what they're getting into or why.
The Black Box from Blue Smoke is very aptly named. It's a simple black box which routes data and if you purchase one you're getting blue smoke blown up your lower orifice.
Mr Baker,
Did somebody pee on your Wheaties this morning? Your points aren't completely invalid but your method of presenting them is, in the words of my 14-year-old niece, "so, I just got fired..."
Perhaps you should take up your complaints about the Black Boxes' pricing and lack of what you deem to be pertinent features with its manufacturer? We merely report on what we see and hear. Also the show reports, by their very nature, are not detailed analysis of all the salient features of a new product. Space considerations precludes this.
And thank you for the gold star, I'll treasure it always....
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
All journalists rely on manufacturer-supplied press releases and information furnished by manufacturers' representatives at the show for their reports.
Show reports are done on a VERY short deadline so readers may get the latest information. This precludes the kind of rigorous fact-checking you require.
If you feel that show reports need a higher level of journalistic rigor than is humanly possible I humbly suggest you avoid reading them so as to eliminate any possibility of disappointment.
And if you want to engage in civil discourse references to "lower orifices" would best be left out.
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Well, I have actually spoken with the Blue Smoke people, and I will say that Mr. Baker's characterisation of the Black Box is very much mistaken. The Black Box, unlike the Sooloos, QSonix, or pretty much any other media server, has been designed ground-up for audio quality - to the point of designing their own sound card and drivers, with extensive jitter reduction measures, onboard DSP, and advanced upsampling with customizable software and hardware digital filtering algorithms tweaked through many months of listening tests. You can't duplicate what they're doing in a DIY project; whether the differences matter to you, and whether they're worth the money, are obviously an individual question.
Having invested a great deal of my own time, and a not insignificant amount of cash, in building my own music server, with numerous little surprises along the way, I can appreciate the appeal of something like the Black Box or the Sonic Solutions Amarra. In both cases, the hardware and DSP engineering side of things has been done for you, while the media management software side of things remains open. Most of my collection is classical music, and I find none of the current music server software offerings - not even the Sooloos - address classical music all that well. So I'm rolling my own interface, somewhat along the lines of the now (sadly) defunct Fortuna classical server.
ScottB, what DSP are you referring to? I thought the simple job of a server was to output a data stream to a DAC that was identical to the CD the file was ripped from. There are potential pitfalls in the process depending on the encoding format used and whether the OS kernel upsamples, interpolates and then downsamples the file, but those can be avoided at the kernel level. Is the DSP you are referring to taking place in the DAC? And if so, why is that necessary when a buffered resistor is essentially all that is needed for the conversion?
I also question the logic of a "custom-engineered sound card". Given your experience with servers, I assume ata soome point you may have stuck a scope probe inside a server cabinet and looked at the noise levels near the CPU and video processor boards. It seems logical that any high-end server would use an external DAC, or at least one in an entirely separate, RFI-shielded subchassis. I'm just not getting where the $6K goes in one of these things. If it is the UI, that's just software, entirely unrelated to sound quality. And portable, and hardly worth the apparent asking price for some of these servers.
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