How do you store music?

[GeorgeO]

My ReadyNas Duo can be programmed to start up and shut down. It boots up at 6AM and shuts down at 11PM.

 

[shershah]

all your precious data should be backed-up on a remote location.

what if "an act of god" destroys your data/back-up

what if fire destroys your abode?

how can your data survive disaster?

the easiest way would be to pay a small sum to locate your data remotely, because that is convenient and accountable in event of failure

never attempt to be self-sufficient where back-up of critical data is critical

http://www.carbonite.com/

 

[NetFreak]

This does not apply to given situation.

In case of Fire/Quake/Short Circuit and other acts of God, Digital Music would be last of someone's worries.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

:lol:

I was going to say, phew, I'm an atheist.

But I do believe in fire and flood. Yes, they would be the least of one's worries, but wouldn't it be nice, hoping that one was able to re-settle, not to have to include one's music, photos, documents, and so much more of our lives that we digitise these days, in the loss?

I haven't thought about off-site backups since it was a commercial necessity. Now I'm thinking I should!

 

[shershah]

This does not apply to given situation.

In case of Fire/Quake/Short Circuit and other acts of God, Digital Music would be last of someone's worries.

during the crisis man will act to save life of self and those who matter to him/her.

yes, during these crucial moments all attention is directed towards matters more important than saving favourite music and data.

but wait anon!

what if your insurance company pays you an enormous compensation, and you can then buy that isolated house on the hill and make it your home?

what if, after you have settled in, there is a good fire burning, and you have a fine wine to quaff?

what if, you also have a young, fine and loyal dog at your feet?

and what if, at that point of time, you might not want to not be able to listen to a favourite piece of music?

might you then regret not having saved your music and data remotely?

 

[NetFreak]

what if your insurance company pays you an enormous compensation, and you can then buy that isolated house on the hill and make it your home?...
...
...
and what if, at that point of time, you might not want to not be able to listen to a favourite piece of music?

If I get that much money, I would buy whole catalog of Amazon MP3 store (or Audio CDs if that what someone prefers)

"Data" is a different thing. And fortunately, with Google docs et. el. sticking it in cloud is easy for reasonable amounts.

I use Amazon S3 for offsite storage of personal data. But for things like Music it does not add any value since you can buy it again for 99 cents per song.

 

[anm]

Sorry for being repetitive.
Though NAS is a good thing to do, after much ado I decided against it due to money/ time involved, complexity etc.
I have one copy of my music [1TB hdd] attached to appletv, and another 1TB portable usb disk attached to laptop.
I am assuming that these two should be backup of each other.

Assuming since I didn't try to recover music from appletv. I am able to ssh to it, I am hoping I shall be able to scp as well.

Maybe I will build a NAS over time to serve music to everyone in the house, and maybe over internet to all devices [laptops, phones etc] when away from home. Let 3G wave hit us. As of now I feel direct connected hdd gives me most reliable music delivery.

Best way out is to:

1. Invest in a NAS. Basically a device that stores data in HDDs (optionally multiple HDDs to guard against data loss). It usually has USB out too.
2. Invest in a Media Player that has good user interface for Browsing music + can fetch album cover / artist info etc from net

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Maybe I will build a NAS over time to serve music to everyone in the house, and maybe over internet to all devices [laptops, phones etc] when away from home

Don't forget: any computer can be a network server. Have the purveyors of independent NAS boxes persuaded people otherwise?

My music is on an internal hard disk. It is either played to monitor speakers in front of me, via a sound card, or streamed to the hifi via Squeezebox. Actually, I don't use the latter very much, even though it is a neat device, and brings all kinds of internet music and broadcasting into the picture. I use an external disk only for backup.

If I had several computers around the house, it might cause me to re-assess that. I suspect that heavy file sharing would impact on Windows performance, but that Linux would be much more capable. In my case, that isn't going to get tested out, as both computers are in the same room. My wife and I may not always agree on everything, but we have never yet reached the point of trying to listen to two different pieces of music at the same time :lol:

I am assuming that these two should be backup of each other.

How do you synchronise them? For Windows, I used to use software called Allway Sync Although it is supposedly free for personal use, it soon decides you have so many files you must be commercial, so I guess it is nagware. Even so, I liked it so much I paid for it!

 

[anm]

^^^^
itunes syncs them.
Also, the stereo system seldom gets used now. There are so many limitations - neighbors, limited time spent at home after office, TV shows running in two different rooms.

 

[denzong]

Sorry for being repetitive.
Though NAS is a good thing to do, after much ado I decided against it due to money/ time involved, complexity etc.
I have one copy of my music [1TB hdd] attached to appletv, and another 1TB portable usb disk attached to laptop.
I am assuming that these two should be backup of each other.

Assuming since I didn't try to recover music from appletv. I am able to ssh to it, I am hoping I shall be able to scp as well.

Maybe I will build a NAS over time to serve music to everyone in the house, and maybe over internet to all devices [laptops, phones etc] when away from home. Let 3G wave hit us. As of now I feel direct connected hdd gives me most reliable music delivery.

can i use apple tv as a replacement to the playon hd mini media player. does it recognise the external hdd through the USB, cause the apple website says it will not recognise

i am in the process of buying a media player and then build a nas. so if the apple tv can perform all the functions that a playon mini hd can, then i would go for it (as i can sync with me and my wifes iphones) and then build the nas.

please suggest

 

[anm]

No! After installing atv from firecore, it can do a lot of things. Like it can play more formats, from network etc. However, 720p limitation, no audio over hdmi (afaik) and stuttering badly on hidef content. This is for old version of apple tv. For latest appletv, there are more limitations - not yet available USB hack, all audio resampled at 48k etc.

I use 160gb version of appletv for music only [and youtube videos at times]. And the only hack useful for me is external hdd via usb.
If you are inclined towards movies and hires audio, look elsewhere.
I may go for a mac mini as a transport going forward, when I would get into very hi-fi.
For music it is a highly convenient transport - I can control via iphone/ ipod touch, easily search for songs/ genres/ artists via such remote. It outputs bitperfect for lossless audio over optical, so I can use a dac. I can play radio stations/ streams, or wirelessly stream songs from my laptop. I have heard the rumor that airplay may also come to the old appletv.

can i use apple tv as a replacement to the playon hd mini media player. does it recognise the external hdd through the USB, cause the apple website says it will not recognise

i am in the process of buying a media player and then build a nas. so if the apple tv can perform all the functions that a playon mini hd can, then i would go for it (as i can sync with me and my wifes iphones) and then build the nas.

please suggest

 

[anm]

I am thinking of selling off my xtreamer (original version) and latest version appletv. I would rather invest in a good br player, or br player+media player in one. My samsung tv plays youtube directly so don't need any device for tv. BR player for projector primarily, and for tv once in a while.

 

[denzong]

No! After installing atv from firecore, it can do a lot of things. Like it can play more formats, from network etc. However, 720p limitation, no audio over hdmi (afaik) and stuttering badly on hidef content. This is for old version of apple tv. For latest appletv, there are more limitations - not yet available USB hack, all audio resampled at 48k etc.

I use 160gb version of appletv for music only [and youtube videos at times]. And the only hack useful for me is external hdd via usb.
If you are inclined towards movies and hires audio, look elsewhere.
I may go for a mac mini as a transport going forward, when I would get into very hi-fi.
For music it is a highly convenient transport - I can control via iphone/ ipod touch, easily search for songs/ genres/ artists via such remote. It outputs bitperfect for lossless audio over optical, so I can use a dac. I can play radio stations/ streams, or wirelessly stream songs from my laptop. I have heard the rumor that airplay may also come to the old appletv.

i have mostly got flac musics. some 1080p movies. but mostly will be used for music and music videos. so would this be a good option or should i stick to a media player.
not into hiring movies, etc.

when you talk about it being highly convenient for music, does it give you the desired SQ. can i connect it to my avr (and in future a 2 channel setup)

 

[denzong]

My ReadyNas Duo can be programmed to start up and shut down. It boots up at 6AM and shuts down at 11PM.

how much did it cost you to build your NAS. can you share the details about hardware/software and how to build it?
whats your configuration

 

[anm]

Flac is not natively supported by apple. you can batch convert all your existing flacs to alac by using dbpoweramp trial version. If you like you can buy the s/w for future conversions. Some people here have recommended it even for ripping.
Not sure about music videos - what format/ resolution etc they are in? Not very sure about high resolution music - I can check if it plays, but won't be able to check if it is downsampling or not.

You shall be able to connect to avr's optical input. Though it has analog outs too, people online do not think it has a great inbuilt dac.
Therefore for 2 channel, a dac may be needed.

Another option can be build a comp, and use open source s/w. It may have better SQ as well as usability but it might keep you busy for some time before you optimize it for music. I didn't go that route as there were too many variables to be fine tuned before you can call your PC a music server

i have mostly got flac musics. some 1080p movies. but mostly will be used for music and music videos. so would this be a good option or should i stick to a media player.
not into hiring movies, etc.

when you talk about it being highly convenient for music, does it give you the desired SQ. can i connect it to my avr (and in future a 2 channel setup)