Taking it with you

So let’s postulate that you have reached audio nirvana. Your computer and audio gear are playing together so well you would swear the Boston Symphony Orchestra is holding its summer season on your desk. Great, but you going to leave the office sooner or later, at least I hope you will.

Taking it with you is easy, grab an iPod or MP3 player and hit the pavement. However, getting good mobile sound is not. Those little stock earbuds don’t do much for Tympani fans, and no one wants to walk around looking like a geek Princess Leah by sporting full sized headphones. Fortunately there are several manufactures willing to help, for a price.

Most earbuds, the headphones that go in the ear, are one size sort of fits all. A tight fitting headphone helps improve the bass. Denon make a soft, pliable earbud that seals the aural canal and improves the sound. Others manufactures like Klipsch offer several form factors that give you a decent chance of achieving a snug fit. They all work to varying degrees. They all also share one irritating similarity: wires.

If you have ever cut the grass will wearing earbuds, you know how irritating it is accidentally yanking them out of your head when the cable gets caught on a handle bolt. But have faith brethren, there are options. I am talking about Bluetooth headphones. Wireless music can be yours with these little marvels. They come in either in or on-the-ear configurations. This site gives a nice description of the technology though they do seem to be on a mission. The upside is no more reins attached to your head. The downside is that you may need an adaptor as not all players are Bluetooth capable. Even if the player is Bluetooth enabled, it may not be stereo. What’s up with that Apple? Finally, most of these guys may not sound as glorious as some of their wired high-end siblings. The last doesn’t make me happy, but, heretical as this may sound, sometimes I might trade a little audio quality for freedom. So sue me.

Budget audiophile music server

If your jaw drops at the thought of a $10,000 music server, you are not alone. Most folks don’t have anywhere near that much in their whole audio system, let alone one component. There are less expensive options from companies like McIntosh (not the computer company), Olive and others. But, when I say cheap, we still have four digits left of the decimal, and we are still talking about just one piece of gear. 

So once again we turn our gaze to the computer, that complex beast with so much audio potential. A properly configured computer can do wonderful service as a music server. Unfortunately, unlike an off-the-shelf solution, there are many decisions to be made in designing a computer-based music server. Choices on sound cards, motherboards and connectivity all become important as you raise the bar.

Of course, you can keep the price even lower if you are happy with the quality of downloads from services like Rhapsody and iTunes, or keep your music in lossy compression schemes on your MP3 player or iPod. Many companies make iPod cradles that can be plugged into your receiver so that your can source your music right out of the player. This is convenient and portable, but unless you are keeping your files in .wav compression, the sound will be less than CD quality. If you do keep .wav files on your iPod, even the largest will only hold a few hundred songs. If your receiver is very new, it may be iPod ready. This allows you to access the songs on your iPod through the receiver remote. If a television is hooked up, you can get your library and playlists displayed on the monitor so that access is even easier. It won’t be Carnegie Hall, but it will be fast and easy.

Serve me, music server

Just because music is digital does not mean you must use a computer to play it back. Music servers are components designed to be part of your home entertainment system. There is no running back and forth to the computer.  You plug one of these boxes into your system, load your music by inserting your compact disc collection a disc at a time, then sit back and enjoy the new millennium. 

There are a few glitches. You must have an Internet connection so that the music server can go online to download all the metadata (song titles, artwork and recording information), you must have a display device to scan your options and music servers can be slow. Oh yes, and they can cost a bundle. They can run from north of $1,000 to well past $20,000. Still, for the well heeled, they can be a joy. Just think, no more CD cases all over the house, easy scanning of your entire music catalog and pristine sound quality if you use a lossless compression scheme. 

The make or break issue is the interface. If access is slow and clunky, the thrill is gone. A fast, graphically easy interface will keep you playing for hours. This has been a problem for many music servers but Sooloos has come out with a system that makes it all fun. If you get the system with the 17″ touch screen, you can whip through thousands of albums in seconds. When you see what you want, touch it and hit play and the music comes on right away. This is so much easier than scrolling with a remote control on a screen. The system is super fast thanks to a linux-based operating system that is designed solely for this system. The downside is that done right, the Sooloos is over $10,000. This drops it in the big-money toy list, but for those who can make the payments, meet the new standard.

The perfect sound?

Most of the people I talk to enjoy music and listen often. They have the tunes on while driving, when they are cooking or while reading on the porch. The thing is, the music always seems to be accompanying something else. Bach as a side dish to macaroni and cheese. So few seem to make listening the primary goal. This is what separates the music fan from the audiophile. Audiophiles drop into the chair, turn on the music and revel in it.

But do they? Many audiophiles get lost in the performance of their gear to the point of missing the music. They hear a sound and wonder if that is the way that the recording is supposed to be, or is it a nuance that their amplifier is adding? Inflection becomes obsession.

All audio gear puts its own signature on the performance. The argument forever debated is whether that inflection adds or subtracts from the music. Art Dudley got me thinking about this when he posted his list of loves and hates.

The audiophile disease is perpetuated in a Holy Grail like search for the perfect sound, but that sound is different for each of us. One theory is that we audiophiles fall in love with one type of nuance early on and spend the rest of our time trying to recapture it. I think that the perfect sound is a moving target for each of us. At one point detail is king, at another the warm bloom of tube gear is the Gospel. 

With so many different viewpoints, who is right? Who cares? It is not about right or wrong, it is about the music.

Ready, willing but able?

Once you commit to the idea that your entire music collection must fit in an Altoids’ box, the next question is how to squeeze it all in? When you start ripping your music, which is the process of converting analog music to zeros and ones, you will have an option on which type and what level of compression you want. Compression is how small you make the file. The smaller it is, the more you can fit. But, the more you compress, the more the sound is affected. Try thinking of it as packing a suitcase. The more you stuff, the more wrinkled it will be when it comes out.

There are two types of compression: lossless and lossy. Lossless recording coverts the music to smaller files that sound exactly like the original. This is good. The downside is that they are still large and you could easily fill a small hard drive with a couple hundred songs. These include: .wav, FLAC and Apple lossless. If you need your music to sound like the CD because you are playing it back on a high-end system, this is the way to go.

Lossy compression have several flavors as well. MP3 is the most popular. There are different bitrates, which is how much compression is used, the lower the number, the more compression applied. Most music from iTunes comes at 128k. Other vendors can use different levels. Many folks may hear a difference and vary the compression.

When you are ripping your music, think about how you want to hear and use your music before you pull the switch.

Okay, I plug what into what?

Having reconciled yourself with the fact that Apple will never release an iPod with a turntable option, you have decided to go ahead and digitize your prized LP collection of Tuvan throat singing. Wonderful! Now how do you get from point A to B?

The traditional method is to connect your computer to your stereo. This requires several important pieces. First, if you have never connected a turntable to your receiver, check if it has a phono input? Many home theater receivers do not. Look for a button or setting. If you do, great, if you don’t, or it says Phono/Aux, then you are going to need a phono preamplifier between the two, to boost the signal strength. This piece can run from $15 to “Oh my God.” You won’t need the best, but a super-cheap one could hurt sound quality. 

Next, connect the receiver to the computer. This requires an interconnect cable with two RCA jacks on one end and a stereo 1/8th inch mini-jack on the other. The RCAs get plugged into your tape out jacks, while the mini goes to the computer’s microphone input. Your computer might have other jack options as well. 

Once the connections are complete, you need to install software that helps convert the music. There are dozens of programs available from third-party vendors.

If all this sounds complex, and it can be, you can streamline the operation with a USB turntable that connects directly to your computer using a USB port. This subtracts the receiver from the equation. USB turntables are becoming a popular item and NPR has a nice piece about them.

Yet another option is to let someone else do it for you. A little searching on line will deliver a list of vendors eager to digitize your vinyl if you monetize their accounts. It’s up to you.

The death of vinyl records?

Your left hand holds a paperweight five-ounce iPod, your right is flattened under a stack of vinyl records taller than you. How to get the two together is a problem old-school music buffs are beginning to come to grips with. Cheer up audiophile Luddite; we are here to discuss just that. 

The world of digital music offers many advantages. You can access your tunes in seconds, anytime and anywhere. You can keep your music library in your computer, a media server, your phone and so many more. The downside is not everything you may desire is available from resources like iTunes and Amazon.com. If you can’t find what you want, you have a few choices. 

You can venture away from the mainstream outlets. Some buffs are posting their music on the Internet for everyone to enjoy. Cliff Bolling has been digitizing old 78 rpm records for a decade. His website is now becoming a nexus for connoisseurs sleuthing for rare, old recordings. Bolling processes most of his music without digital enhancements so all the hiss and pops are still there. Some prefer this keepin’ it real approach. If that is not your thing, you can always digitize your own. We will take a look at that option next time.

Of course, some of us may still refuse to bid adieu to our old vinyl. There is the ongoing debate that LPs sound better than CDs, for all its imperfections. The argument is that vinyl records are recorded analog, and we listen to music in analog waves. All this digital manipulation is just mucking up the music. If you are true blue vinyl aficionado, take heart, you are not alone. Vinyl is making a comeback with major labels reporting a 30 percent growth in 2007. It seems rumors of its death may be greatly exaggerated.