Music Server

[Otto]

Hi there,

There was a question posted in the 2-ch forum about music servers. I thought I'd answer here in an effort to keep the "Do I Need a DAC" thread on-topic.

I recently built a server that I keep in the basement, and which feeds the four other PCs in my home. On the server I keep all types of data, including music.

I chose to use the FLAC format for storing my audio. In case you're not familiar with it, FLAC stands for "Free Lossless Audio Compression". I like the "free" and "lossless" parts. It also supports MP3-style tagging (I think it's call ID3 tagging). I really wanted this so that I would be able to search and organize everything nicely.

To actually decode the data from the CD to the server, I use a program called "Exact Audio Copy" (EAC). EAC rereads sectors (or packets, or frames, or whatever they're called in the CD format). It takes somewhat longer than other rippers that aren't so interested in getting the data perfectly off the disc. But it does a good job in doing lots and lots of retries to get each piece of data. You can relax the rules for the rip so that you will allow some errors if you have a disc that can't be read perfectly. I also have EAC set up to talk to the free CD database. This allows it to get all the names and organize my directory structure automatically. Since EAC is actually ripping to wav, and not FLAC, it needs to spawn the external FLAC encoder, and I have it set up for that. EAC is also free.

After writing this, it starts to sound like the EAC to FLAC setup is kind of complicated. It is a little complicated at first, but once you get it set up and play with it for a while, it's not so bad. I don't think about it much anymore when a new CD comes in my mailbox-- I just stick it in, hit "go", and in 20 minutes, that CD is in FLAC format on my server.

IIRC, FLAC is giving me files that are about 65% the size of the original file. It looks like I have almost 5,200 tracks, which are taking up about 141 GB.

My HTPC, which sits behind my TV, can access the server and play any of my CDs through my main system. The HTPC is connected to my Outlaw 990 pre/pro by an optical cable. The HTPC uses Winamp to actually access and play the audio tracks. You will need a FLAC plug-in for Winamp to handle the FLAC files, but that's easy to find on Google or Winamp's site. I normally "remote desktop" from a laptop to my HTPC to play music so that I don't have to turn on the TV to talk to the HTPC.

For me and my wife, this system works great. We can play whatever we want for days and days.

I might also add that I'm using a 200 GB RAID 1 for some data. I especially set it up for photos, as I can't tolerate to lose that data. I put the music there as well, if only because I don't want to have to rip it again. I have 1.25 TB non-RAID for other stuff.

I also converted all the FLAC files to MP3s that I keep on a portable 100 GB 2.5" USB drive. I can then easily transport all my music to work, and I'm able to keep my wife's 60 GB iPod up-to-date.

Anyway, I'm sure I left some stuff out, and I might have skipped over some other things, so let me know if you have any questions or comments.

[bobgpsr]

Otto,
I also use EAC with FLAC to rip my CDs to hard disk. Then use foobar2000 for playback. Good stuff.
Bob

[khellandros66]

Me use FLAC for my iPOD :-D

~Bob

[GreggP]

I use WMA Lossless and J. River Media Center 11. I could also use FLAC, but chose WMA Pro because all lossless codecs are basically the same and my portable MP3 player supports WMA and not FLAC. J.River Media Center also has a 'secure' ripping mode that works just like EAC. BTW - EAC doesn't necessarily make an "exact copy". If it runs into a CRC error it just drops to a slower DAE spead and re-reads the sector. If the CRC error repeats, it slows down again and re-reads the sector. If it continues to get the CRC error, which it will with scratched CDs, it will interpolate the data, just like it is suppose to based on Red-Book spec. EAC gives you a better chance of extracting the correct data, but it doesn't always succeed. This is the same way J. River Media Center works with their secure mode. Many other rippers just interpolate when they get an error. The other things I like about Media Center are the music library function for organizing albums, cover art, etc. and the ability to make smart playlists. There are a lot of other cool features. It does cost about $40., but I think it is worth the money, which goes to pay programmers, etc., etc...

Anyhow, I think the whole process of ripping CDs, getting tags (metadata), cover art, organizing into folders and a music library and playing on your computer is a lot simpler and faster than the EAC/Winamp combo.

[Otto]

You're right in that EAC will interpolate if you tell it to. It can also be set to fail if it cannot get an exact copy.

There was some initial setup to get EAC directory structures and FLAC spawning right, but now that it's done, it's pretty seamless.

Never messed with too many other products. How much compression do you get from WMA?

[GreggP]

Otto wrote:

You're right in that EAC will interpolate if you tell it to. It can also be set to fail if it cannot get an exact copy.

There was some initial setup to get EAC directory structures and FLAC spawning right, but now that it's done, it's pretty seamless.

Never messed with too many other products. How much compression do you get from WMA?

It's probably about the same as FLAC. If you read about the difference in Hydrogen audio you will see that there really isn't much difference in the efficiency between WMA lossless and FLAC. Most of the discussion centers on the "open" nature of FLAC versus the perception of evil of anything from Microsoft and their DRM. I don't get too worked up over those issues because I can turn off the DRM and... in a previous job, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Microsoft employess from the Windows Media group and I learned that they are not evil.