Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Wed, Sep 1 2010, 4:18PM
It'll take a while to get over the loss of the covermount CD. However, I've been thinking about needing a means of (wirelessly - they're on different floors of the house) connecting my PC to my hi-fi for a while. I don't need a multiroom solution, I don't need a storage solution. I don't need or want to convert all my CDs to a hard drive based system. I do want good quality sound from downloads. Andrew, the only thing I can find is Cambridge Audio's Network Music Player NP30, which doesn't actually exist yet as a buyable product. What other solutions can you suggest?
Thu, Sep 2 2010, 1:18PM
#2
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Thanks for the response, Andrew, but actually I find it a little frustrating. The imminent Gramophone Player is really only a catalyst for getting me to connect my hifi to my PC. Yes, I have a wireless network, but I'm frustrated by the shortage of appropriate hifi quality products to enable the connection. Some years ago I was tempted by the Slim Devices (now Logitech) Transporter. That was quie expensive and is now pretty ancient, and the forthcoming Camridge Audio product I mentioned in my OP may well be of interest. But I would have thought this was quite a wide need - where are all the competitive products?!?
As far as the Gramophone Player itself is concerned, it'll be a pain (though maybe inevitable) if one needs to control it online as one goes, but I do have a laptop I could use for this. My DAC, however is too old to have a USB input so that still leaves me with a connection problem. (And I'm not that keen to have a laptop fan running while I'm trying to listen to music.)
I'm amazed at how long all this is taking to sort itself out in the marketplace. Must be a common requirement. But thanks again for your help.
Thu, Sep 2 2010, 8:44PM
#3
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Buy yourself a Cambridge Audio Dacmagic.
USB from computer to DAC and analog to System.
Very good results-I have one.
Fri, Sep 3 2010, 7:51AM
#4
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
That might solve the specific problem of getting audio from a laptop to my hifi for the new Gramophone Player, providing I was willing to run a five or six metre cable between the two (most inelegant) - but what I really want is something (a wireless solution) I can use more generally for playing downloads etc. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Fri, Sep 3 2010, 8:57AM
#5
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
The simplest way was, until a couple of days ago, an Apple Airport Express, which, when used with $25 Airfoil software, would allow you to stream any audio from your PC to your hifi. It has both a 3.5mm audio out and an optical out to connect to a suitable Digital to Audio Converter or AV amp.
However, if your hifi is close to your telly, the new Apple TV might be more suitable, acting as it does more or less like an Airport Express, but without the 3.5mm headphone socket (so you need an HDMI- or Optical-capable receiver or DAC). It does however provide a gorgeous user interface for music, podcasts and video stored in iTunes when it's plugged into an HD TV.
Agree that we need more standalone solutions like the Cambridge (which they keep promising me for beta testing, but no sign yet) which are more affordable than the upcoming Marantz NA7004 and something like a Naim UnitiQute or Uniti, or Linn's DS range of players (great though those all are). Squeezebox and Sonos are terrific as well but don't necessarily always achieve what you want...
Fri, Sep 3 2010, 6:47PM
#6
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Thanks for the reply, John. I must admit to being a bit reluctant to get tied into an Apple based iTunes solution (though I guess this may well prove the best way forward). I remain very surprised at the relative lack of solutions (and Andrew's gone quiet!), and suspect I'll just have to wait until the Cambridge Audio product materialises (or someone else does something similar).
Fri, Sep 3 2010, 8:43PM
#7
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
(and Andrew's gone quiet!)
Andrew far from quiet: see my reply in this thread...
Fri, Sep 3 2010, 9:58PM
#8
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
The replies all seem to suggest spending moderate quantities of money. I might well have been more tempted to get some decent computer speakers - or to hook an old amp and speakers up to the line out socket of the computer,
P
Sat, Sep 4 2010, 4:12PM
#9
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
I guess it depends how your house is set up. My main PC is on a different floor to my hifi. I have no wish to listen seriously in my PC room, thus fixing up a better amp and speakers to my PC is not an appealing option. In these wireless days, it shouldn't be necessary, either. For the specific job of using the Gramophone Player and other streaming services, I can see I'll need to put up my laptop at my listening position simply to control things. But I would still far rather it was connected wirelessly to the hifi since I don't see a 6 metre USB cable as a particularly attractive option. As far as cost is concerned, I'm willing to blow the £400-odd that the Cambridge Audio is expected to cost for the sheer flexibility it will offer. I'd just hoped there were a few other products to choose from, too. But the range seems very limited.
Sat, Sep 4 2010, 6:26PM
#10
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
But as the GramoPlayer is going to be based on a web page, I'm not terribly sure how a Cambridge NP30 would allow you to access and control it...
Sun, Sep 5 2010, 6:38AM
#11
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
I think I've said in my last posting that I accept I'll need a laptop to access the Gramophone Player and choose what to listen to. But are you saying that I would be unable to listen wirelessly to it? In other words, only a physical connection via USB will do? Is this because it's streamed rather than a downloaded file?
Sun, Sep 5 2010, 8:24AM
#12
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
No, I'm saying you'd be able to listen to it wirelessly, but I'm not sure the NP30 will have the wherewithal to access the files, which as far as I can ascertain have to accessed via a web browser.
Yes, it's to do with being streamed rather than downloaded, and the manner of the streaming.
Sun, Sep 5 2010, 5:37PM
#13
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
The Marantz product that John Duncan mentions above looks interesting too - perhaps at a higher quality level than the Cambridge Audio? Neither exists yet, so I'm only going by their prices. They seem to have pretty similar functionality. I guess as this seems to be a new product category and rate of progress will probably be high, there might well be a case for going for the cheaper option now, as there's bound to be a good reason to upgrade in a couple of years...
If I'm stuck with the physical connection via laptop to use the Gramophone Player, it seems like 5m is the maximum acceptable length of a USB cable. I can't be the only one that will struggle with this in my domestic hifi environment.
Mon, Sep 6 2010, 8:27AM
#14
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Both the Marnatz and Cambridge are UPnP clients (Universal Plug and Play, but that doesn't tell you much). In very simplest terms, they will seek out music collections around the network which are readable and will play them. However, this kind of assumes that the physical files are on your PC and are playable, which is not the case with the Gramophone Player.
There are therefore two options - use Airport Express (or Apple TV), together with the aforementioned Airfoil software, to 'push' music from your PC to your stereo. Both the AE and ATV have digital outputs to connect to better quality DACs. This is the method I use (with a NaimUniti acting as DAC), and quality is absolutely top notch.
Another option is to use a UPnP server on your PC which can 'fake' the existence of files on your PC. Jamcast, for example, has a 'virtual soundcard' mode, which means that anything playing on your PC can be played by one of the Media Players mentioned above (or others like the NaimUniti, PS3, other games consoles and even televisions). Sadly, this is Windows so doesn't work on my main desktop Mac, and I couldn't get it to work on my Vaio laptop for research purposes.
The latter is, I think, an attractive option, certainly for Windows users, and would allow all manner of Network players to access the player without recourse to go-between hardware like the Airport Express, but I haven't been able to prove it works yet!
Mon, Sep 6 2010, 2:55PM
#15
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Jamcast sounds interesting, and potentially an appealing part-solution. I'd like to know it works though - any idea why you couldn't get it going on your Vaio?
Been out of the office all day, and still to find out full details of how GramoPlayer will work. When I know, should be able to advise better on a solution...
EDIT: Given that the new player is a simple matter of clicking a link on a web-page, which then plays an embedded music clip, your best bet will be a computer connected close to the hi-fi for streaming purposes.
Do you have a wireless network? Or a broadband connection you could make wireless with a router? If so, the best choice will probably be a budget netbook – you can now buy them for £200 or less – connected into your hi-fi either with a simple analogue cable, or perhaps via a digital-to-analogue converter with a USB input.
Audio Editor, Gramophone