VCDQuality Forums - best way to play music

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-- best way to play music (http://www.vcdhq.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=83593)

Posted by HoldDaSalad on 12-22-2008 06:03 AM:

best way to play music

Before the mp3 revolution we had tangible CD's that everyone purchased but it's becoming more and more obsolete with services such as itunes, Rhapsody, and Napster and a lot of people like myself download the better quality Flac releases.

With that out of the way the question comes into play, What's the best way to play music now?

Before when I bought CD's I had a nice home shelf stereo with a reciever, amp, CD player, and a cassette player with a 5.1 speaker set-up, with crappy headphones, lol.

Times have changed, now most of my listening is on my PC which can't be the best option. We all know or at least most of us know that the PC is a very noisy enviornment and therefore we get unwanted noise in our playback, even with the better soundcards this happens.

I also have an mp3 player that I don't think I can live without, Music on the go or in the car is essential and it limits the use of 100-200 cd's in my car which is a valuable option for on the go or in the car but not good enough for home use.

I'm currently looking into other options for my home audio wants. Only music, Not for video use. I'm not looking to replace my home stereo, but possibly adding to it? Maybe even a seperate devise.

Mainly headphones will be used as opposed to speakers.

Is ther like a media center HDD that plays just music that I can hook up to my home reciever?

Posted by K-FurY on 12-23-2008 11:02 PM:

i usually listen to music on the pc or my ipod, but my xbox is still kicking with xbmc and is my main media player. it's hooked up to my stereo setup. that's always a cheap option.

Posted by punzada on 12-24-2008 01:57 AM:

Like most things you can either do it cheap or you can do it right, you can get a small form factor pc that has totally passive cooling (no fans for those wearing helmets) and a small linux/bsd based distro designed around media (would not be hard at all with a lil research and tweaking, even a major one like base debian could rock it easy) with an SSD hard drive, you can even go for a cheaper end ssd since once you fill it up with music you wont be going write crazy on the disk and killing it's read/write cycles, then the only expensive piece you put on it is the best audio card(s) you can find depending how you want to output it -- if i was crazy audiophile style, this is how I would do it, it would give giant flexability and could be attached to anything that accepts audio (can then tailor it to the system you're hooking up to with either digital audio cables or matching ones for best sound quality, or spend the extra bucks for something 'port crazy' so that you'll be able to plug it into absolutely anything without sound distorting conversion cables).

As far as adding on to your system, not sure besides a small machine like that built around media playback, I believe there are things that will wirelessly send audio signal to a lil box from a pc that'll hook directly into your reciever to stream audio that way (some that you can even accept your remote inputs from to effect song changes, etc etc) but I can't for the life of me remember what the name of them are, I keep thinking slingbox but I think that's the tv-type version of it.

There are options out there but i'm more of a general purpose geek then an audiophile ;p

Posted by Bit_Confused on 12-24-2008 04:09 PM:

Smash both your hands on your big fat belly.

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Posted by Avenue_1 on 12-24-2008 04:25 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Bit_Confused
Smash both your hands on your big fat belly.

HAHA

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Posted by HoldDaSalad on 12-24-2008 04:40 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by punzada
Like most things you can either do it cheap or you can do it right, you can get a small form factor pc that has totally passive cooling (no fans for those wearing helmets) and a small linux/bsd based distro designed around media (would not be hard at all with a lil research and tweaking, even a major one like base debian could rock it easy) with an SSD hard drive, you can even go for a cheaper end ssd since once you fill it up with music you wont be going write crazy on the disk and killing it's read/write cycles, then the only expensive piece you put on it is the best audio card(s) you can find depending how you want to output it -- if i was crazy audiophile style, this is how I would do it, it would give giant flexability and could be attached to anything that accepts audio (can then tailor it to the system you're hooking up to with either digital audio cables or matching ones for best sound quality, or spend the extra bucks for something 'port crazy' so that you'll be able to plug it into absolutely anything without sound distorting conversion cables).

As far as adding on to your system, not sure besides a small machine like that built around media playback, I believe there are things that will wirelessly send audio signal to a lil box from a pc that'll hook directly into your reciever to stream audio that way (some that you can even accept your remote inputs from to effect song changes, etc etc) but I can't for the life of me remember what the name of them are, I keep thinking slingbox but I think that's the tv-type version of it.

There are options out there but i'm more of a general purpose geek then an audiophile ;p

Well I want the overall best sound quality I can get that my wallet will allow, lol. Don't get me wrong I get really good sound with my PC set up, but I know it can sound a lot better. I prefer quality over quantity.

I know I will have to get a decent headphone amp which I've already priced em, and I plan on getting a micro amp for around $300-400, I can't see spending anymore than that.

I guess the sudden change in hardware is due to the fact of the headphones because if the source, or anything beyond that is fucked you notice it.

Posted by The CandyMan on 12-25-2008 01:17 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by Bit_Confused
Smash both your hands on your big fat belly.

Just make sure Bit_Confused Mum's head is out of the way.

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Posted by Bit_Confused on 12-25-2008 01:42 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by The CandyMan
Just make sure Bit_Confused Mum's head is out of the way.

My mom doesn't have a head.

Thanks a lot asshole.

At Christmas too.

Only an American.

JK Merry Xmas fuckers.

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Posted by bartleby on 12-25-2008 02:13 AM:

The best way is proberly a PC. I still listen to alot of music on my stereo though.

BTW... Merry christmas to everyone.

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Posted by pHo on 12-25-2008 05:56 PM:

If I buy anything, it's on vinyl.. bigger artwork, often cheaper, coloured/picture discs. It's just a better package to own.

If I download, it's just in plain old MP3. Wouldn't pay for em tho. iTunes library on lounge PC hooked up to big screen and hifi separates takes care of playback.

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Posted by HoldDaSalad on 12-25-2008 06:11 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by pHo
If I buy anything, it's on vinyl.. bigger artwork, often cheaper, coloured/picture discs. It's just a better package to own.

If I download, it's just in plain old MP3. Wouldn't pay for em tho. iTunes library on lounge PC hooked up to big screen and hifi separates takes care of playback.

I don't have the room for vinyls, I do however get Vinyl rips and boy do those sound sexy, It just has a much different sound than CD.

I have some Eagles, and Pink Floyd, Metallica and some other bands from vinyl and it blows the CD's away, the sound is much fuller and richer.

I like the portability of an mp3 player, but most mp3 players don't support Flac. Flac is the only way to go.

Posted by gezzer on 01-10-2009 09:36 AM:

The best way is on vinyl on a decent 70's system(newer systems are too "clean") My preference would be a Pioneer deck,(Must have a sure cartridge) Leak amp and Cambridge speakers .You can still pick all this stuff up at bootsales.
Having said that I mainly listen to the cd player in the car (120 mile round trip to go to work).
I is mainly listening to the Eagles, Neil Young and Heaven and Hell (AKA Sabbath) at the Mo.Rust still rocks!!.
I have gotta agree about flac as well gotta be only a matter of time.

Posted by HoldDaSalad on 01-11-2009 11:41 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by gezzer
The best way is on vinyl on a decent 70's system(newer systems are too "clean") My preference would be a Pioneer deck,(Must have a sure cartridge) Leak amp and Cambridge speakers .You can still pick all this stuff up at bootsales.
Having said that I mainly listen to the cd player in the car (120 mile round trip to go to work).
I is mainly listening to the Eagles, Neil Young and Heaven and Hell (AKA Sabbath) at the Mo.Rust still rocks!!.
I have gotta agree about flac as well gotta be only a matter of time.

Have you downloaded any of the vinyl rips? Usually there in .Flac, and they have the vinyl sound which is really cool.

I have heard that if you use headphones and want good quality out of a receiver to use vintage equipment because the sound quality is superior than what's thrown into the receivers today.

My buddy has a Pioneer receiver that was produced in the 90's and he has a DTS copy of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. With my headphones AKG K 701's it did sound absolutely amazing. His Pioneer is about 12 years old produced great sound through the headphones.

Flac is the ONLY way to go or buy the CD.

I have The Eagles Hotel California CD rip, and Vinyl rip and they sound drastically different I do prefer the vinyl on a lot of older music.

I'm looking for a soundcard for the pc that's designed for headphone use that could properly power my heapdhones. With my current setup they sound great but I know they can sound better

I have a few sound cards in mind, I'm going to go this route cause I pretty much have the setup done, and it'll save a lot of money. Later on I will probably get a headroom micro amp for about $400

Posted by Avenue_1 on 01-11-2009 01:21 PM:

Your headphones are shite para. I read the reviews and they all say the sound is nowhere near as good as other headphones in that price range.
I also read that the hiss and crackle you think is coming from vinyl rips is actually coming from your crap headphones lol

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Posted by HoldDaSalad on 01-11-2009 02:01 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Gimp Mask
Your headphones are shite para. I read the reviews and they all say the sound is nowhere near as good as other headphones in that price range.
I also read that the hiss and crackle you think is coming from vinyl rips is actually coming from your crap headphones lol

I'm shocked you know how to read, seriously. You must be deslexic because you read the wrong reviews you dumb git

Posted by Avenue_1 on 01-11-2009 02:45 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by parasiticgannon
You must be deslexic

Yup.

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Posted by Avenue_1 on 01-11-2009 03:47 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by parasiticgannon
You must be deslexic

Yup.

So good i had to quote it twice lol

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Posted by The CandyMan on 01-11-2009 04:30 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Gimp Mask
Your headphones are shite para. I read the reviews and they all say the sound is nowhere near as good as other headphones in that price range.
I also read that the hiss and crackle you think is coming from vinyl rips is actually coming from your crap headphones lol

Hmm after a quick google search it seems overall that this headphones (which Para brought over a few weeks back and let me give a listen and they sounded fucking fantastic) have gotten great reviews.

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/...7-31649804.html

and

http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/806akg/

So either you did an incorrect search (akg k 701) or....

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Posted by Avenue_1 on 01-11-2009 07:07 PM:

quote:
http://reviews.cnet.com

These cans are a piece of shit, the quality of sound is completely off. They actually sound like you are listening to vinyl rips, when in reality it is the piss-poor workmanship of these headphones that is causing the vinyl like "hiss,crackle & pop"

LOL Para=Pwnd.

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I'M NEVER COMING BACK TO THESE FORUMS... BOOHOOHOO

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Posted by The CandyMan on 01-11-2009 09:23 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Gimp Mask
LOL Para=Pwnd.

Dumbass my first link above was to the Cnet reviews and after reading all 8 posted on there I don't see anything close to your above review. So again...

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