D
Deleted member 15865
Guest
Dear friends,
I am a music lover in my late 30's. Till now I have been enjoying music on my desktop speakers Artis S700 (2004 vintage... good value) and creative Zen mp3 player with Brainwavz M3 (nice IEMs at 4K). I have an evergrowing personal collection of around 5000 tracks (FLAC or 320 kbps), ripped, meticulously tagged and categorised (using mp3tag) that I play on foobar2000 (fast and does best justice to my tagging effort). I like my music transparent, and avoid coloring it with equalisers, DSP etc.
My choice of music content is dominated by Hindustani Classical & Light classical, Hindi film classics (old and new), Indo-Western Fusion, World music, New-age/spiritual music, Folk and Country (western). Though there are times when I enjoy music purely for entertainment, most of the times it is a spiritual experience, to become one with it.
Now I plan to build an integrated home audio system. I want to build a composite solution that integrates my home listening, desktop listening and portable listening experiences. This also needs to be integrated with audio from my videos and TV.
I see the need for a few decisions to be made in this regard. And none of these can be made in isolation... the whole has to be considered as a single decision:
1. A capable digital music server: My current PC or another dedicated Media PC or just a Mp3 player such as Ipod or Hi-fiman?
2. A capable Wi-fi router for media streaming to have wireless streaming. I also need to understand whether that would impact the quality.
3. If there is a need for something like an Apple TV (or an alternate) which can be connected to my future audio system and LCD and can receive streaming from any server.
4. Choice of amplifier and speakers for the home system. I am not into 5.1 type home theater experiences (prefer movies for their subtler directional nuances and not for special effects). I want a solid 2.1 system which can produce exactly what has been recorded, with enough power for a small living room. I have been considering Audioengine A5, which inspite of being bookshelf speakers, have been reviewed to be capable enough. I am open for other configurations within an budget of 40K for speakers and amp together.
5. Is there a need for CD player, or the media server with our without wi-fi streaming can take care of it. I don't like to change CDs, and more importantly, I want to make use of my categorisation and tagging of my music to listen to a genre/artist/composer/raga depending on the occasion or mood.
6. Is there a need for a DVD player for video? Or can the PC take care of it?
7. Choice of LCD screen, esp the media type options to be future-enabled.
OVERALL:
I need to decide which of the above components, and any other, would I need to have. Then decide on their specifications and choices that can all integrate well with each other to create a seamless system.
I hope I am not asking for too much. I am a sucker for quality, detail integration. Also, I'd like to take personal interest so that I can enjoy the learning process as well as get best value given my needs.
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU FRIENDS:
1. Best: If I can speak to some of you experts who can help me think on the lines above? If you can PM me, I'd love to call you up (promise not to take too much of your time, unless you allow it) and where possible (I am in Mumbai), meet you.
2. Second best: If you can leave some choices, and ideas for me on the above questions. Tell me where I may be wrong as well. I am technically not a novice, but only a sophomore.
Thanks in advance. :clapping:
I am a music lover in my late 30's. Till now I have been enjoying music on my desktop speakers Artis S700 (2004 vintage... good value) and creative Zen mp3 player with Brainwavz M3 (nice IEMs at 4K). I have an evergrowing personal collection of around 5000 tracks (FLAC or 320 kbps), ripped, meticulously tagged and categorised (using mp3tag) that I play on foobar2000 (fast and does best justice to my tagging effort). I like my music transparent, and avoid coloring it with equalisers, DSP etc.
My choice of music content is dominated by Hindustani Classical & Light classical, Hindi film classics (old and new), Indo-Western Fusion, World music, New-age/spiritual music, Folk and Country (western). Though there are times when I enjoy music purely for entertainment, most of the times it is a spiritual experience, to become one with it.
Now I plan to build an integrated home audio system. I want to build a composite solution that integrates my home listening, desktop listening and portable listening experiences. This also needs to be integrated with audio from my videos and TV.
I see the need for a few decisions to be made in this regard. And none of these can be made in isolation... the whole has to be considered as a single decision:
1. A capable digital music server: My current PC or another dedicated Media PC or just a Mp3 player such as Ipod or Hi-fiman?
2. A capable Wi-fi router for media streaming to have wireless streaming. I also need to understand whether that would impact the quality.
3. If there is a need for something like an Apple TV (or an alternate) which can be connected to my future audio system and LCD and can receive streaming from any server.
4. Choice of amplifier and speakers for the home system. I am not into 5.1 type home theater experiences (prefer movies for their subtler directional nuances and not for special effects). I want a solid 2.1 system which can produce exactly what has been recorded, with enough power for a small living room. I have been considering Audioengine A5, which inspite of being bookshelf speakers, have been reviewed to be capable enough. I am open for other configurations within an budget of 40K for speakers and amp together.
5. Is there a need for CD player, or the media server with our without wi-fi streaming can take care of it. I don't like to change CDs, and more importantly, I want to make use of my categorisation and tagging of my music to listen to a genre/artist/composer/raga depending on the occasion or mood.
6. Is there a need for a DVD player for video? Or can the PC take care of it?
7. Choice of LCD screen, esp the media type options to be future-enabled.
OVERALL:
I need to decide which of the above components, and any other, would I need to have. Then decide on their specifications and choices that can all integrate well with each other to create a seamless system.
I hope I am not asking for too much. I am a sucker for quality, detail integration. Also, I'd like to take personal interest so that I can enjoy the learning process as well as get best value given my needs.
WHAT I NEED FROM YOU FRIENDS:
1. Best: If I can speak to some of you experts who can help me think on the lines above? If you can PM me, I'd love to call you up (promise not to take too much of your time, unless you allow it) and where possible (I am in Mumbai), meet you.
2. Second best: If you can leave some choices, and ideas for me on the above questions. Tell me where I may be wrong as well. I am technically not a novice, but only a sophomore.
Thanks in advance. :clapping:
