Newbie with Questions for the Experts

[tmauceri]

I would like to set up a music server using SqueezeBox Touch and a powered USB hardrive (1TB x 2 RAID or a 2TB x 2 Raid). Please excuse my lack of proper terminology, I'm at the bottom of the learning curve as far as music servers go. I will output to my Denon AVR via digital connection. Everything will be hard wired. I will not be streaming. I read a review in Absolute Sound which stated this could be done. My questions are; #1 What is a good USB drive for this application? I have a very large CD collection that I would like to rip to FLAC. #2 The dBpoweramp software was recommended but do I need the CD Ripper and Music Converter or will the CD Ripper rip to FLAC? #3 How much storage space would a 45 min CD ripped to FLAC with no compression and with compression need? I'm sure there will be more questions, but these will get me moving. Thanks tmauceri

[Kal Rubinson]

I would like to set up a music server using SqueezeBox Touch and a powered USB hardrive (1TB x 2 RAID or a 2TB x 2 Raid). Please excuse my lack of proper terminology, I'm at the bottom of the learning curve as far as music servers go. I will output to my Denon AVR via digital connection. Everything will be hard wired. I will not be streaming. I read a review in Absolute Sound which stated this could be done. My questions are; #1 What is a good USB drive for this application? I have a very large CD collection that I would like to rip to FLAC. #2 The dBpoweramp software was recommended but do I need the CD Ripper and Music Converter or will the CD Ripper rip to FLAC? #3 How much storage space would a 45 min CD ripped to FLAC with no compression and with compression need? I'm sure there will be more questions, but these will get me moving. Thanks tmauceri

I think you will be disappointed using a large drive with the Touch. First, I doubt that the Touch will power such a large drive. Second, the local tiny SBS in the Touch will take forever to catalog the contents and it will be sluggish in accessing them.

Consider a computer or NAS.

[tmauceri]

If I use a NAS can that be hardwired or will I need to stream. Does it require connection to a computer to work or will it talk directly to the SqeezeBox.

[rgro]

I would like to set up a music server using SqueezeBox Touch and a powered USB hardrive (1TB x 2 RAID or a 2TB x 2 Raid). Please excuse my lack of proper terminology, I'm at the bottom of the learning curve as far as music servers go. I will output to my Denon AVR via digital connection. Everything will be hard wired. I will not be streaming. I read a review in Absolute Sound which stated this could be done. My questions are; #1 What is a good USB drive for this application? I have a very large CD collection that I would like to rip to FLAC. #2 The dBpoweramp software was recommended but do I need the CD Ripper and Music Converter or will the CD Ripper rip to FLAC? #3 How much storage space would a 45 min CD ripped to FLAC with no compression and with compression need? I'm sure there will be more questions, but these will get me moving. Thanks tmauceri

I think Kal's right. You also might want to consider the Vortexbox appliance, if you don't want to go the DIY server route or use your existing computer. I just received my VBA and set it up today----it's excellent. Plus, it'll automatically rip your CD's to flac and file them and comes pre-loaded with the Squeezebox Server software. They have several versions in terms of capacity---the smallest will store (according to them) 3000 CD's ripped to flac.

[tmauceri]

I think Kal's right. You also might want to consider the Vortexbox appliance, if you don't want to go the DIY server route or use your existing computer. I just received my VBA and set it up today----it's excellent. Plus, it'll automatically rip your CD's to flac and file them and comes pre-loaded with the Squeezebox Server software. They have several versions in terms of capacity---the smallest will store (according to them) 3000 CD's ripped to flac.

Can you connect direct to the SqueezeBox via USB.

[tcutting]

The Squeezebox Touch has an internal music server which allows you to connect a USB disk to the touch and then stream from that.
You say you have a large collection, and the concern is that the server capability of the Touch is somewhat limited, and the performance with a "very large CD collection" may not be that great. That prompted the suggestions to run an external server. The Vortexbox Appliance is a pre-built Linux computer with the Squeezebox server software pre-installed, as well as pre-configured ripping engine. It also works like a NAS in that it sits on your network and is available as a file server.
Many NAS solutions are able to run Squeezeboxserver, but are rather underpowered for this application. A full-fledged computer setup as a file server generally works better. The Vortexbox is relatively low power consumption. The reviews of many users on this forum is very positive. I run a "DIY" server, but it has similar hardware to the Vortexbox, and it works excellent.
As far as storage requirements for FLAC files, I don't have actual numbers handy, but FLAC compression should be about 30-40%, so for a 45 minute CD that should result in about 400 Mbytes (if my math is correct). You say "compressed" vs. "uncompressed", but FLAC IS compressed. There are different compression levels available, but -5 compression is the normal and is suggested. The benefit with FLAC is it is LOSSLESS compression- that is, when uncompressed you end up with IDENTICAL information. That is not the case with MP3 for example, where there is some information loss involved in the compression.

[SuperQ]

dbPoweramp is a fine FLAC ripper/encoder. The default FLAC settings will provide bit-perfect playback. You don't need to mess with them.

Based on my music collection I find that albums range between 200MB and 600MB. Here are some examples

195     Kraftwerk/Computer_World
203     The_Beatles/A_Hard_Day's_Night
204     The_Beatles/Help!
208     They_Might_Be_Giants/No!
369     Depeche_Mode/Sounds_of_the_Universe
433     VNV_Nation/Futureperfect
447     Psykosonik/Unlearn
497     The_Beatles/1
551     Icon_of_Coil/Uploaded_and_Remixed
554     Daft_Punk/Homework

There are some larger 2-disc albums that are about a gigabyte. Based on 66 albums the average is about 360MB. A 1T disk storage setup would allow for a couple thousand albums.

[Ocean56]

This is what I want to do when I get a Squeezebox...

1. Use an old PC to run the Squeezebox server.
2. Buy a large external HD to rip CDs to.
3. Also be able to stream Internet radio stations (I have wireless).
4. Play all of the above through my receiver.

Can I do that?

[tmauceri]

I think Kal's right. You also might want to consider the Vortexbox appliance, if you don't want to go the DIY server route or use your existing computer. I just received my VBA and set it up today----it's excellent. Plus, it'll automatically rip your CD's to flac and file them and comes pre-loaded with the Squeezebox Server software. They have several versions in terms of capacity---the smallest will store (according to them) 3000 CD's ripped to flac.

I believe the VBA is the way I want to go. I don't want to have another computer running etc. I am not interested in streaming to other areas of my home. The VBA and SqueezeBox will be in my equipment cabinet with all my other components including my wireless router. Can I connect the SB to the VBA via USB or will I have to stream? What type of display does the VBA have? Can I output the display to my plasma?

[aubuti]

I believe the VBA is the way I want to go. I don't want to have another computer running etc. I am not interested in streaming to other areas of my home. The VBA and SqueezeBox will be in my equipment cabinet with all my other components including my wireless router. Can I connect the SB to the VBA via USB or will I have to stream? What type of display does the VBA have? Can I output the display to my plasma?

First, do you realize that the VBA is "another computer"? It happens to be less power hungry than a lot of computers, but it's a computer nontheless.

The SB connects to the VBA through your router. If they are all in the same cabinet then it's best to use ethernet (wired) connections for router<-->VBA and router<-->SB.

The VBA has no display of its own. It has a VGA video output. I'm not sure of the specs on the video card, but I assume it is pretty basic. That is partly how they keep the power consumption down. My server uses the same basic hardware as a VBA, and when I need to attach a monitor my 19" LCD TV works fine with the VGA connection. But if your plasma is very big or you're looking for HD video, then VBA's video probably cannot deliver.

Also, if your Touch is in a cabinet, how do you plan to control it? There are good options that don't require physical access to the Touch (eg, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phones, SB Controller, another pc). But just wanted to make sure you had thought of that.