CES 2008: Alan Taffel Takes a Look at Next-Gen Audio from CES
January 23rd, 2008 — By Alan TaffelMusic Servers Will Displace CD Players
Just how will everyone play all these better-than-CD music files? There is only one way: via a music server. TAS recently covered these devices in depth, and noted their groundbreaking flexibility, user interface, sound quality, and ability to engage listeners in musical discovery. Add to these benefits yet another: They are not limited to CD’s 44.1/16 standard. Indeed, their Internet connectivity and computer foundation allows them to download and play music in a variety of hi-res formats.
Naturally, music servers were a significant presence at this year’s show. Suppliers generally fell into two camps: those that believe PCs or Macs make perfectly good music servers, and those who chose instead to build stand-alone components. Among the former were Resolution Audio, which is upgrading the XS module of its Golden Ear Award-winning stack to the iXS. The iXS ($2500, 2Q availability) contains an iTunes client that communicates wirelessly with any Mac via the Apple Lossless format. In a slick move, the server can be remote-controlled by an iPhone or iPod Touch.
In contrast, Vincent Sanders of VRS Audio distrusts (rightly so, in my opinion) all consumer audio PC software. So he turned to the pro world, where he claims to have found software for Macs that is “the most transparent available.” We’ll have to wait three to six months, and pay between $800 and $1400 to test this claim. VRS will also offer a Firewire DAC and an external clock, each for $5–$10k. Obviously, this will be a serious music server.
The big boys were also jumping on the media/music server bandwagon. Microsoft was showing its new Home Server software, a completely clueless offering. In contrast, Hewlett-Packard displayed its impressive new MediaSmart Server software, which can operate on any PC or within one of HP’s dedicated servers ($599 for the 500G model, $749 for the 1T version).
Either way, the server works in conjunction with the company’s new Digital Media Receiver (approx. $400 in April), which fronts any of multiple hi-fi systems presumably scattered about the house. Everything communicates via the home Ethernet, and MediaSmart is able to see and to consolidate music from any PC on the network.
As for stand-alone, dedicated music servers, two ambitious new offerings stood out. Thiel is going the Meridian/Goldmund route of offering a system that is digital end-to-end. In Thiel’s case, a brand new offering called the db1 (price TBD, availability late ’08) will anchor a whole-house media system.
With resolution up to 192/24 per channel, the unit will be capable of streaming up to 7.1 channels into eight independent zones over Ethernet, power lines, or wirelessly. At the receiving end will be either a ds1-networked amp (for non-Thiel speakers), or Thiel’s own network-addressable SCS40 speaker with built in DAC and amp.
Similarly sophisticated, but here today, is Naim’s series of music servers, the NS01, NS02, and NS03, which range in price from $6200 to $9500, depending upon the number of zones supported and whether the user desires a touch-panel interface. All three models are self-discovering, plug-and-play units that can interface with any Netstreams-compliant device. Naim eschews wireless connectivity, feeling it cannot deliver consistent quality of service. The company prefers Ethernet with special clock synchronization. Inside the servers are mirrored 400G drives, for redundancy, but the NSes can access any network-attached storage for unlimited expansion.
While I heartily applaud just about all of your observations (especially the recognition that REAL High Definition audio has finally arrived and can be downloaded at iTrax.com), I would like to point out that multichannel audio is not dead at all. It’s true that there was very little surround being demonstrated at the Venetian this year…but I believe the reason is the lack of adequate space to pull of a great demo and the limited view of most manufacturers.
The future is high definition, surround audio playing back from a music server. It will take time and the tipping point is still some years away, but those that have heard great recordings in 5.1 surround wonder know it’s coming.
AIX Records has been creating true HD Audio in stereo and surround for 8 years (almost 58 recordings many with HD Video) and is glad that optical discs are diminishing in importance. We still produce and release DVD-Audio titles for those that appreciate the benefits of HD PCM encoding…but now those that are properly equipped can download HD into dedicated music servers. The show was a hint of things to come.
The most important technological innovation in the area of music servers was not being shown to the public but was tucked away in a suite at the Belaggio. The future is coming but I have to hold my thoughts until April or May.
Comment by Mark Waldrep January 26th, 2008 @ 8:33 pm