I'm going to leap on this thread for a moment.
I'd like to, if possible either dual purpose my desktop or build a separate music server.
Hoping to have ability to rip cds lossless with metadata. Somewhat intuitively? (Easy menu, logically sorting?)
In a perfect world would like to be able to control by way of wireless device.
I see commercially available pieces, for what seem to me absurd money.
Maybe I'm wrong . It's a pc and some software.
I have or will have DAC covered.
I'm not against buying a little more hardware or going for a better software package. While to a degree this has been asked before , because the software (and the hardware) has been evolving, I imagine better solutions are available than even a few months ago.
Please point me in the right direction and I'll do my own research.
Thanks in advance!
Server. heh heh....The following snip is not directed solely at you per se but indiscriminately at the AK community at large . I know it just semantics to most folks here but this "server" term gets bandied about here alot; for why I can only imagine. Me thinks a goodly portion of why is because it just
sounds more upper crust fancy and overly complicated/sophisticated than it is really. Erm
...audiophilistic if you will. /snipe
As you remark about the "commercially available" pieces, yes they are indeed pricey
(mainly for aesthetics) and considering the personal audio only uses around here...whatever you choose it is simply just a run-of-the-mill PC... on a run-of-the-mill personal network. S'not like you're gonna have to set up and configure a data center for multitudes of connections ala Amazon. Again, just semantics but it tweaks a part of my IT persona reffering to it as a
[straightens tie] "server" > LOL
$oftware runs the gamut. There are several roll yer own completely free options and/or paid upgrades like
Media Monkey,
($25) etc..
JRiver is a universally popular choice here
($70). Top of the heap in this sphere is
Roon ($120/yr./$500/lifetime). Bar none, Roon overall is ballz out best of class.
Probably overkill for the average user but if you're a music junkie on a network there is no present substitute.
Free trial on all, give em a spin & enjoy.