[Les Strat]

When I sold my records, I made enough for the Yggy in 5 days. Many of my “audiophile” albums sold for more than I paid (cashing in before the inevitable vinyl crash). The prices are insane. Now I can just invest money instead of buying way too many expensive albums.

Trading ( some of) your vinyl for the Yggy was a brilliant strategy!
A turntable expert here in the UK told me that whilst he loves vinyl, many of the expensive, new releases sound terrible, and he buys used, mint originals instead, as they are far superior to the new pressings.
I really don't want to go down that path! Far too much hassle.
If you have ripped all your CDs, maybe, like me, you don't 'need' a CD transport. I don't currently play physical CDs, and have probably passed the point where I can justify even Mike Moffat's new transport when it does eventually become available
Many on this forum are big fans of Roon and from what I have read, it is excellent for managing libraries.
I have used LMS for over 12 years to manage my ripped CDs, and now, with the addition of the brilliant iPeng app and a Qobuz plug-in, I have instant access to all my ripped CDs and Qobuz library from my iPad.
It works brilliantly and although I was tempted with Roon, I now have no need for its additional complexity and ongoing expense thanks to the ingenuity of the iPeng and Qobuz app developers, which mean that LMS, has kept up with developments in streaming technology.
The thought of having to trawl through 1500 CDs, and get out of my chair, is less and less appealing!

 

[macdonjh]

There are many people that whole-heartedly agree with you. My MacMini runs in the background running nothing but Roon and is reliable as a coffee pot.

Don't get me wrong, by beef isn't with Apple per-se, it's just the operating system is different and I'm not "bi-lingual", so it's frustrating to me. If I used Apple at work, I would have a completely different attitude. There other issue is the library program I picked, MediaCenter, has better support for PC than for Apple. There are a couple members of their team, though, who have been VERY helpful to me in the couple of years I've been ripping and tagging and...

One thing to note: if you're starting out ripping your library understand it's a BIG commitment. I spent a couple of months ripping CDs all weekend. I didn't manage my files well the first time, so a year later I spent weeks moving, copying and renaming almost everything so my library is organized enough for me to find things "manually" if I have to. Ripping DVDs took just as long (even though I had 1/6 as many discs). Start with reasonable expectations about how much work you're setting yourself up for (I was expecting my DVD-ROM drive to actually read at the 20x it said it could on the box; not so much, 10x was a fast rip), and have a plan for how you want your files organized.

The good news is once you're done, new music only takes a few minutes to add to your library, and you'll know your system so you'll get the locations, naming and tags right the first time.

My .02 on this, but streaming doesn't necessarily equate to listening to your CDs even if you have a lossless streaming subscription. Granted, it largely depends on what music/records you listen to: If you're into the "classic" audiophile genres (e.g. classical and jazz), it might not make much of a difference—but with other genres, it does. For example, I could stream Iron Maiden from Tidal, but that would be strictly limited to recent, brickwalled remasters that sound nothing like the original first pressings from the 80s and early 90s. I am purposefully acquiring those first pressings on CD and ripping them to FLAC and, if I lost my FLACs, I would rip them again and keep going back to them over Tidal's remasters.

The same holds true for many other modern records that are only available for streaming in a brickwalled version, whereas a more dynamic mastering exists—and it's not limited to just the pre-Loudness War era records either. Omnium Gatherum's 2018 album "The Burning Cold", for example, released on CD with DR6—which is the version you can stream from Tidal as well—but the HDTracks version measures DR14.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for that. It's been so long since I payed any attention to remasters/ re-releases... I do remember a controversy with Ozzy's catalog. I sought the (I think) first re-releases because Sharon supposedly was at war with somebody in the organization and the second and subsequent re-releases were not the same as Gen 0 and Gen 1.

I am not persuaded about the benefits of 'Hi Res' anyway, but that's a different debate altogether.

+1, but I am not sure if I don't hear the difference because I don't have an environment which allows critical listening, or if a can't hear the difference under any circumstances. That will be something to explore in a couple of years when the kids are grown.

 

[mks100]

As Yogi Berra once famously said, “when you come to a fork in the road, take it”

In anticipation of retirement, I have been working down the path of planning a two-channel speaker system, based mostly on Schiit products. I have reached the stage where I think I am settled on Maggie 1.7i, freya+ and Vidar monos, and this is where I hit the fork.

I have a moderate collection of CDs, about 500, mostly classical and a good Cambridge Audio transport, along with a Bifrost Multibit and a Valhalla 2. I have nothing left of my vinyl collection but fond memories.

Working to a budget cap I have worked out I could:

1. stick with CDs and upgrade my DAC to an Yggdrasil (probably drop from mono to stereo amp),
2. stay with my Bifrost, the CDs, and add a Sol/Mani to rekindle those old memories, or
3. retire all physical media and go digital with a streamer, like a Bluesound Node or better, and qobuz/tidal. Here I could squeeze in an Yggdrasil if I can sell my transport (truly burning my bridges!) as well as the Bifrost to help stay within budget.

If I had the resources, I would happily do all three and take pride in the sheer diversity of sources I would have managed to accrue—that truly would be doing a Yogi Berra!

But alas, I must and will choose, I’m curious as to what you would do?

I vote for #2. Cons are it's a money pit and caring for records is a huge investment in time. These are far outweighed for me with the pride of ownership and experience of listening to an entire album vs. shuffling through songs (if a song doesn't resonate with me right away, I tend to skip it). I won't argue sound quality as the majority of folks answering your post have much better systems than mine. I think for modest systems like mine vinyl sounds significantly better than Hi Res. Final point. Since I've gotten back into vinyl, I spend far more time listening to music. To each their own.

 

[433521]

I think for modest systems like mine vinyl sounds significantly better than Hi Res. Final point. Since I've gotten back into vinyl, I spend far more time listening to music. To each their own.

I'd love to get a sol, mani and the Grado high output mc. But the expense is not worth the upgrade in sq seeing how expensive the LPs are these days ... $5.99 no more. Remember when cds came out at $15.99 but they promised they'd be cheaper than lps since they were cheaper to make? Well finally, with streaming, the savings is here. Frankly I'd love to build a collection of lps but it'd look like 'best of what I like and already have and already know inside out'. It'd be unlikely I'd hear much NEW music on lps.

That said, the EXPERIENCE of taking an lp off the shelf, placing it on the tt, lining up the stylus and letting her rip while I use the cover to do some cleaning is a much more intimate muscial experience. I LISTEN better to the music more than when I click on a link or even toss a cd into the slot and move onto something else. LPs are worth it for the discipline it imposes on my listening. Good luck.

 

[433521]

That was informative and interesting but it still comes down to opinion. He admits there is no scientific evidence that wire type, insulation, etc make any difference in home audio applications, but some people will have opinions that there is a difference and it comes down to belief and faith. That is also how one describes religion.

It does for me. I was stunned when I did a simple test. Five feet, 16 ga vs 10 ga generic copper cable. Into a subwoofer from a monoblock. Bass was more extended and louder with the 10 ga, it was not subtle this was clear as day. This was el cheapo generic 10 ga similar to Monster Cable but bulk, about 10 cents a foot 25 years ago. YMMV.

 

[GearMe]

There should be an option to download all of the songs in a zipped TAR file on the top of the download page

Yeah...was a pain to download each song individually...figured the price justified the work. Hope to uncover some great listens in these downloads!

 

[Roy G. Biv]

Don't get me wrong, by beef isn't with Apple per-se, it's just the operating system is different and I'm not "bi-lingual", so it's frustrating to me. If I used Apple at work, I would have a completely different attitude. There other issue is the library program I picked, MediaCenter, has better support for PC than for Apple. There are a couple members of their team, though, who have been VERY helpful to me in the couple of years I've been ripping and tagging and...

I completely see your point. My wife works from home and her work PC is a Windoze machine. Every once in awhile she needs my help with computer issues and I'm 90% lost when I start clicking around on her machine. I also used MediaCenter for a few years and you're right, the Mac version isn't (or at least wasn't) very well supported in my opinion.

One thing to note: if you're starting out ripping your library understand it's a BIG commitment. I spent a couple of months ripping CDs all weekend. I didn't manage my files well the first time, so a year later I spent weeks moving, copying and renaming almost everything so my library is organized enough for me to find things "manually" if I have to.

Like a lot of people I started my CD ripping hobby using iTunes, unfortunately to MP3 because I didn't know any better. After a few years I got increasingly frustrated with iTunes and ended moving to MediaCenter and spent a fair amount of time testing others as well before landing on Roon. I also re-ripped my CDs to FLAC using XLD initially and then switching to DBPoweramp which really streamlines the process.

 

[A Jedi]

I was stunned when I did a simple test. Five feet, 16 ga vs 10 ga generic copper cable. Into a subwoofer from a monoblock. Bass was more extended and louder with the 10 ga, it was not subtle this was clear as day. This was el cheapo generic 10 ga similar to Monster Cable but bulk, about 10 cents a foot 25 years ago. YMMV.

The gauge of wire DOES matter. No one will argue that fact - it's well know by both sides of the cable debate. There is a reason why different wire sizes exist.

 

[renault4]

I'd love to get a sol, mani and the Grado high output mc. But the expense is not worth the upgrade in sq seeing how expensive the LPs are these days ... $5.99 no more. Remember when cds came out at $15.99 but they promised they'd be cheaper than lps since they were cheaper to make? Well finally, with streaming, the savings is here. Frankly I'd love to build a collection of lps but it'd look like 'best of what I like and already have and already know inside out'. It'd be unlikely I'd hear much NEW music on lps.

That said, the EXPERIENCE of taking an lp off the shelf, placing it on the tt, lining up the stylus and letting her rip while I use the cover to do some cleaning is a much more intimate muscial experience. I LISTEN better to the music more than when I click on a link or even toss a cd into the slot and move onto something else. LPs are worth it for the discipline it imposes on my listening. Good luck.

My earlier sense of getting back into vinyl was in no small part driven by a visit to the Boise Record Store a while back where a whole lifetime of memories came flooding back from my more youthful days. That, and the general notion that it would be just a cool experience to introduce my young grandchildren, who have only known Spotify, to the strange discs that you have to take out of a sleeve and put them on a machine that spins them around....

Of course, I won't deny the seductive draw of the equipment itself, especially the Sol, but I can see it is the prospect of starting out from zero that has become the kicker here, which while in no way represents a rejection of the value of vinyl, simply succumbs to practicality. I'll be retired for God's sake, and I still have to pay the yacht crew!

this has been a fun conversation!

 

[macdonjh]

Like a lot of people I started my CD ripping hobby using iTunes, unfortunately to MP3 because I didn't know any better. After a few years I got increasingly frustrated with iTunes and ended moving to MediaCenter and spent a fair amount of time testing others as well before landing on Roon. I also re-ripped my CDs to FLAC using XLD initially and then switching to DBPoweramp which really streamlines the process.

That's funny: I was so long to the world of ripping because of I-Tunes. My wife bought me an I-Pod Nano (strangely much larger than the later I-Pod Shuffle), and I HATED trying to get I-Tunes to do what I wanted it to do with my music. I stayed away from media servers for years because of that.

Of course, I won't deny the seductive draw of the equipment itself, especially the Sol, but I can see it is the prospect of starting out from zero that has become the kicker here, which while in no way represents a rejection of the value of vinyl, simply succumbs to practicality. I'll be retired for God's sake, and I still have to pay the yacht crew!

this has been a fun conversation!

I too like the idea of vinyl. It must be the engineer in me. As you say, there's something in considering all the moving parts working exactly right, and the finely balanced circuitry in the phono preamp, all coming together to bring you your music. Sure, the digital experience is sterile in comparison, but there is fun to be had in its simplicity. I listen to more music when it's simple to play. Unlike some, the muss and fuss of keeping an LP clean and getting to the turn table (and off again) was a deterrent for me rather than the incentive I thought it would be.

 

[valiant66]

As Yogi Berra once famously said, “when you come to a fork in the road, take it”

In anticipation of retirement, I have been working down the path of planning a two-channel speaker system, based mostly on Schiit products. I have reached the stage where I think I am settled on Maggie 1.7i, freya+ and Vidar monos, and this is where I hit the fork.

I have a moderate collection of CDs, about 500, mostly classical and a good Cambridge Audio transport, along with a Bifrost Multibit and a Valhalla 2. I have nothing left of my vinyl collection but fond memories.

Working to a budget cap I have worked out I could:

1. stick with CDs and upgrade my DAC to an Yggdrasil (probably drop from mono to stereo amp),
2. stay with my Bifrost, the CDs, and add a Sol/Mani to rekindle those old memories, or
3. retire all physical media and go digital with a streamer, like a Bluesound Node or better, and qobuz/tidal. Here I could squeeze in an Yggdrasil if I can sell my transport (truly burning my bridges!) as well as the Bifrost to help stay within budget.

If I had the resources, I would happily do all three and take pride in the sheer diversity of sources I would have managed to accrue—that truly would be doing a Yogi Berra!

But alas, I must and will choose, I’m curious as to what you would do?

Personally I am suspicious of streaming services as a sole source of music. You don't know what going to happen to them, or how long they'll stay in business, or what will happen to the subscription fees. Yes, there's multiple choices out there, but if yours goes under its not as easy as switching to another - whatever time you've spent meticulously curating your playlists is gone, and not all services have the same music.

And if you retire somewhere with poor internet, you have a whole other set of problems.

Physical music you have on hand won't vanish into the cloud. CDs on the shelf will just sit there waiting for you to play them. Same with LPs. Same with music you've ripped to a local hard drive - provided you are meticulous and paranoid about backups.

Getting back into vinyl seems attractive, but none of the downsides have changed. They take up a lot of room, they're sensitive to proper storage, they wear out, and so does the player tech. Worse, they are now MORE expensive than CDs.

I would go for a blended approach. CDs are now where albums used to be - a sunset technology available for pennies on the dollar. They provide the joy of discovery when browsing through flea markets etc. the same way albums used to. Add to it a streaming service of your choice for new music discovery and convenience, Spotify is best for that or pick a lossless service if your nervosa or classical preferences demands. And rip what you like to a hard drive for good measure

Then get the Yggdrasil. It works with all of those.

It's good to have choices.

Good luck!
.

 

[golfbravobravo]

so far:

I'll keep the CDs (wasn't going to sell them) and the CA transport
I'll rip the CDs to FLAC
I have zero vinyl, so I don't believe I will start out at this stage
I'll stick with the Bifrost Multibit DAC and hold off on a DAC upgrade
I'll invest in Roon and Qobuz, use my MacBook Pro as a Roon Core and go with a Bluesound or raspberry solution as an endpoint.
I stay with something like Blue Jeans for any cables.

thanks!

For a Roon server, I tried existing Macs and Windows systems and was dissatisfied. I ended up with an Intel NUC, loaded ROCK onto it (not as trivial a task as it should be) and have been happy ever since. Less than the cost of a Mac mini and a really solid server.

On ripping to Flac, I used EAC and MP3tag to get to where I wanted to be, stored them on a NAS and these are backup up systematically to Backblaze's cloud storage.

 

[golfbravobravo]

There should be an option to download all of the songs in a zipped TAR file on the top of the download page

a tape archive? Really?

 

[golfbravobravo]

Trading ( some of) your vinyl for the Yggy was a brilliant strategy!
A turntable expert here in the UK told me that whilst he loves vinyl, many of the expensive, new releases sound terrible, and he buys used, mint originals instead, as they are far superior to the new pressings.
I really don't want to go down that path! Far too much hassle.
If you have ripped all your CDs, maybe, like me, you don't 'need' a CD transport. I don't currently play physical CDs, and have probably passed the point where I can justify even Mike Moffat's new transport when it does eventually become available
Many on this forum are big fans of Roon and from what I have read, it is excellent for managing libraries.
I have used LMS for over 12 years to manage my ripped CDs, and now, with the addition of the brilliant iPeng app and a Qobuz plug-in, I have instant access to all my ripped CDs and Qobuz library from my iPad.
It works brilliantly and although I was tempted with Roon, I now have no need for its additional complexity and ongoing expense thanks to the ingenuity of the iPeng and Qobuz app developers, which mean that LMS, has kept up with developments in streaming technology.
The thought of having to trawl through 1500 CDs, and get out of my chair, is less and less appealing!

I ripped all of my CDs to Flac using EAC on a reliable, bog standard DVD drive.
You may WANT an expensive transport, but you don't NEED one

 

[438555]

As Yogi Berra once famously said, “when you come to a fork in the road, take it”

In anticipation of retirement, I have been working down the path of planning a two-channel speaker system, based mostly on Schiit products. I have reached the stage where I think I am settled on Maggie 1.7i, freya+ and Vidar monos, and this is where I hit the fork.

I have a moderate collection of CDs, about 500, mostly classical and a good Cambridge Audio transport, along with a Bifrost Multibit and a Valhalla 2. I have nothing left of my vinyl collection but fond memories.

Working to a budget cap I have worked out I could:

1. stick with CDs and upgrade my DAC to an Yggdrasil (probably drop from mono to stereo amp),
2. stay with my Bifrost, the CDs, and add a Sol/Mani to rekindle those old memories, or
3. retire all physical media and go digital with a streamer, like a Bluesound Node or better, and qobuz/tidal. Here I could squeeze in an Yggdrasil if I can sell my transport (truly burning my bridges!) as well as the Bifrost to help stay within budget.

If I had the resources, I would happily do all three and take pride in the sheer diversity of sources I would have managed to accrue—that truly would be doing a Yogi Berra!

But alas, I must and will choose, I’m curious as to what you would do?

I'd go with 2 Vidars for the 1.7i, that's what I have. 1x Vidar works, but it really depends on the room size and the desired volume level. With a Freya+ in active mode, you could stick with your Bifrost Multibit as a source, and still run 2 Vidar.
If you want to upgrade to the Yggdrasil, the GS is a steal (save $850), and would probably be indistinguishable from the analog 2 in that setup. Could also save $300 if you get the FreyaS, if you don't care about the tubes.
A Mac mini with Roon is also pretty inexpensive as you can run it headless after configuration, and you could run the mini as a core, and an endpoint right into your DAC, and/or stream on your LAN to any number of endpoints. You wouldn't need to have Roon to do this, but it's been pretty reliable for me.
When I want to play discs directly, my BluRay player suffices. It has a coax out to the DAC, is reliable.
I eventually want to get a new turntable, maybe Sol, to replace my old JVC, but that's a lower priority. I still have kids in the house, and not that much time for tinkering with vinyl.