1 Topic by Bill

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Topic: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Hello HDD people!  I found the forum via Ashley’s AVI site a few weeks ago and I’ve been lurking in the shadows ever since, reading (and enjoying) the forum.  Finally, I’ve decided to join in (obviously!) and look forward to making the occasional contribution.
My hi-fi path started in 1975, with a Pioneer PL112D turntable, Trio KA3500(?) amp, and a pair of Solavox PR40 speakers – all from Comet. Pretty esoteric stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree?!  I seem to recall the PR40s being Comet’s own make? I’m not sure, but at the time, the system, to me, was the DBs.  I’ve since had a variety of lower/mid-end kit down the years, culminating around ’96 with a Cyrus/Mission combo.  I was also a sucker for all the speaker cable/interconnect/green marker pen voodoo (it’s ok, I’m better now).  A couple of house moves later and I found that there was not enough room to accommodate the 4 box cyrus and the 753s, and they lay, for the next 4 years, boxed-up, gathering dust in the spare room.
Two years ago, I bought a pair of Audioengine A2s, unauditioned (is that a word?), on the recommendation of the Radio Paradise website (which, incidentally, is an excellent, blabber-free station). To say that I was blown away would be an understatement:  I couldn’t believe that such small boxes could produce such a great sound. Since then, my “hi-fi” has been comprised of a Macbook Pro and the A2s -- and I love it.  I love the fact that I don’t need a room full of separates and can get such great music from a laptop and a pair of £120 speakers!
I’m currently in the process of replacing the HD in the Mac with a 500GB Western Digital, with the intention of ripping my CD collection (around 1200 discs) to the Mac, backed-up to an external 500GB WD.
Now, having read many of the customer reviews, both here and the Facebook group, I’m sorely tempted to replace the A2s with the ADM9.1s….  again, unauditioned.  I don’t believe there is a stockist near me, but I feel confident enough that I wouldn’t be disappointed. What do you think?  Crazy?
I’m enjoying the clutter-free existence of a laptop and speakers and I’d like to keep it that way.  With that in mind, what else do I need (if anything) between the Mac and the speakers?  Is an optical link the best way to connect the two?
Well, that’s my introduction. As I said, I’m looking forward to joining in, and any advice would be gratefully received.

Kind regards

Bill

No longer living in UK smile
Macbook Pro > Audioengine A2

2 Reply by Labarum

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Plug to ADMs into the Mac and you are off - I think the ADMs come with the optical cable.

Anything else, you said?

You could splash out £80 on an Airport Express and stream wirelessly to the ADMs, then your Macbook is not tethered.

Brian

3 Reply by Bill

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Labarum wrote:

Plug to ADMs into the Mac and you are off - I think the ADMs come with the optical cable.

Anything else, you said?

You could splash out £80 on an Airport Express and stream wirelessly to the ADMs, then your Macbook is not tethered.

Thanks for that, Brian. I'm tempted by the wireless route, but I'm concerned with "reliability" i.e. drop-outs and sound quality in general. Any issues there?

No longer living in UK smile
Macbook Pro > Audioengine A2

4 Reply by Labarum

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

I use a Windows 7 laptop and a Squeezebox feeding an external DAC driving amp and speakers!

I have no issues with drop outs. Sound quality should not be an issue. It will depend on the location and strength of your router and the construction of your house.

There are plenty Mac / ADM users on this forum who can offer advice, and Ashley himself will probably respond before too long.

Last edited by Labarum (2010-02-17 23:00:45)

Brian

5 Reply by Bill

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Cheers Brian. All I need to do now is juggle the finances!

No longer living in UK smile
Macbook Pro > Audioengine A2

6 Reply by nik

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Bill the adm 9.1's are well recived by many here and I am sure they would be a good purchase - if you can take a trip to AVI although looks like it might be a distance.

I have an AEX and use it to feed a secondary system via my laptop. In my main system I have an Apple TV which I prefer for flexability, I use it as a standalone main media player rather than streaming from the laptop, plus photos etc..

I am sure you will get loads of good advice the key is decide on what is important to you, for example I didn't want to have a computer on to play music but i am happy to use a computer and i tunes to manage my music libary and rip cd's etc.

Last edited by nik (2010-02-17 16:15:18)

iPhone 4 - 250 Gb Apple TV -  Creek DAC - Rotel amps - Celestion compact a's and 1tb NAS

7 Reply by Bill

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Hi Nik,
The multimedia side of things doesn't really appeal as I hardly watch TV. I've had a look at Apple TV and can't see where/how I would make much use of it? I've also had a look at Time Capsule, but it only seems to be an expensive back-up solution.

Thanks for your reply

Bill

edit: Don't know if I'll be able to make it to AVI (much as I'd like to see where it all happens!).

Last edited by Bill (2010-02-17 16:44:37)

No longer living in UK smile
Macbook Pro > Audioengine A2

8 Reply by nik

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

The key with computer based audio is sorting out the storage and then how you get the files to the speakers - I have used PS3, Airport Express and now Apple TV. At all times the driver has been music (multi media came with it). Aplle tv can act as an airport express in that you can sent music to it but you can also use it to pull files from your computer or as i do have the muisc files synced to the atv and play them straight of the device itself.

So sat here I have florence and the machine playing from my apple tv and don't have itunes running on my computer, but as i said it is what floats your boat that counts

do let us know how you get on smile

iPhone 4 - 250 Gb Apple TV -  Creek DAC - Rotel amps - Celestion compact a's and 1tb NAS

9 Reply by Ashley James

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Bill

Try as I may I can't think of  better upgrade!

I use two AEX at work and Time Machine and three AEX at home, 1 x ATV and Time Machine, in both cases with Airport Extreme Base stations and external HDs and the wireless is Mac bullet proof, but both the work Dells (yuk!) have had to be ethernet connected.

Audioengines do seem to better quite a few separates and dealers I know who sell them really rate them, so they support what you're saying. However we've sold a few pairs of ADM9.1s to owners and they all report worthwhile improvement.

I'm sure you won't regret it! We've only had to give the money on two or three occasions since we started the online shop.

Ash

Last edited by Ashley James (2010-02-18 17:36:15)

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10 Reply by Bill

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Nik / Ash

I think you may have convinced me about the AE. I must admit, my hesitation was based on the the reviews on the Apple website  --  I tend to be influenced by negative reviews! But if it's as reliable as the users on here say it is, then that's good enough for me. I'm also more inclined towards the minimalist approach, these days - the fewer boxes and cables the better.  I did consider the Audioengine W1 audio adapter at one time, but it does look a bit "aesthetically challenged" (as well as more expensive than the AE).

The ATV *may* be a later consideration, but at the moment I don't think that I would make use of all its features.


Thanks again

Bill

No longer living in UK smile
Macbook Pro > Audioengine A2

11 Reply by Ashley James

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

I've never had one fail and Apple's service is excellent, but I saw those posts and wondered and went ahead anyway.
You see lots of Anti Apple rants on hi Fi Forums too, but not all are objective and they rant about lots of things.
TBH I dem with Apple and people are so impressed that they generally buy it as well. The ATV is the most impressive for most people because it does so much, doesn't need a computer on and anyone can use it safely.
Ash

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12 Reply by One trick horse

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

I have two airport expresses running and I have to admit I'm very happy to still be using them. Rock solid in my opinion.

Sod it!

13 Reply by m10

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Hello! Been reading a little while but this is my first post here - my computer audio project is in an advanced state -- I have a MacMini attached via optical to my Denon amp (and I have been amazed by the sound quality), with an external Iomega drive holding the audio files.  I'm still ripping - and feel like I've been doing it forever! (Pop, jazz, classical done - only the opera left!)

Maybe the Apple users could chip in here - do you use Time Machine for backups or just drag & drop on to another drive?  The Time Machine of course is automated, but if I just drag and drop I could disconnect the drive once it has all the music on it and store it away safely.  Any thoughts?

I'm itching to get an Airport Express to extend the system into another room - probably replacing the iPod dock in my bedroom system -- maybe another quick question to the AEX users - are you using 'G' or 'N' wireless routers?

Many thanks,

Malcolm

Malcolm

Meridian 506.20 / Pink Triangle LPT / Oppo DV-983H / Sony BDP-S550 / Mac Mini with external 1TB HDD, iPod Touch and Remote app / Denon AVC-A1D / Panasonic TH-42PZ80 / B&W CDM9NT, CDMSNT & CDMCNT

14 Reply by Ashley James

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Malcolm
Welcome to HDD, I'm glad you're enjoying the Mini!
Apple is a complete and integrated system, so in my opinion works best if used as such rather than mixing and matching products from different companies. Therefore if you want a really robust network I'd buy an Airport Extreme Base Station, plug a big HD and leave Time Machine to do back ups automatically. This means if you lose either the back up or the HD in the Mini, the maximum you'll have lost is 10 Mins. Cdodkin is the expert, but I think the system will automatically work in N and be very fast as well as having plenty of range.
We had several routers before the Apple and none were anything like as robust.
AEX and a Touch or iPhone are excellent too.
Ash

Manufacturer: www.avihifi.com / Contact: Email AVI / Blog: AVI HiFI

15 Reply by Darren

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

m10 wrote:

Maybe the Apple users could chip in here - do you use Time Machine for backups or just drag & drop on to another drive?  The Time Machine of course is automated, but if I just drag and drop I could disconnect the drive once it has all the music on it and store it away safely.  Any thoughts?

I've never used Time Machine.

I gave up using an external drive with my Mini because I don't like the noise. My solution was to rationalise my music collection to fit on a 500GB internal drive: it's fast, reliable and robust.

Once in a while I plug in my 1TB external drive and synchronise the music folder using "Chrono Sync". It simply analyses the source and destination folders and copies over any new files that have been added to the Mini.

Backing up over a network doesn't appeal to me at the moment as I have an ISP freebie "G" router. However, I would consider it if I had a high-speed wired network.

Shake your Snaic with me.

16 Reply by Bull.ed

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

m10,

You don't need to run the back up drive non-stop.

Switch Time Machine on in the TM control panel but feel free to turn the TM back-up Hard Drive off. When you switch the Drive on, if Time Machine detects that it has missed a scheduled back-up, it will do it automatically.

Also, if you forget and haven't backed up for 10 days, OSX will pop up a reminder advising you that "You have not backed up for 10 days. Do you wish to back up now?"  Turn on the drive and click OK.

Finally, always remember to eject a Hard Drive before turning it off, by either draging the icon to the trash/eject or, clicking the eject icon beside the drive in the finder sidebar devices list.

17 Reply by Darren

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Scheduling backups or anti virus or whatever, seems like a nice solution, but it always pops up at the worse possible time. I remember cancelling virus scans most of the time on my Windows machine because it slows things down.

Shake your Snaic with me.

18 Reply by Bull.ed

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Also, m10,

Don't drag and drop files with Time Machine. It can produce issues. Like most good back-up software, let it analyse and run itself.

Once it has run the first back -up, which can take a few hours if you have a lot of data, just keep Time Machine switched on and turn the back up drive on when it suits you.

19 Reply by m10

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Thanks for the replies and advice.  For many years I was an Apple refusenik - it was a Windows PC (ok) & Sony HDD Walkman (truly lovely - probably the best sounding personal device I've ever used).  When the Sony's battery became flaky after a couple of years I tried the iPod and liked it - and enjoyed being freed from Sony's awful software!  I begrudgingly became an Apple user - when I got interested in an HDD audio solution, it became quickly clear that Windows wasn't the way to go as the Mac Mini is just so elegant.  Having the digital audio on board was really the clincher, and I must say I couldn't be more pleased with my Apple purchases.

I had promised myself that I would wait (a) until my music was fully ripped and (b) until I had played with an iPad before I bought an iPod Touch.  I weakened and bought a Touch anyway - I love it so much that now I know I need* an iPad although I would also like to see some improvements to the Remote App (i.e. I would like it to use the 'Album Artist' field in preference to the 'Artist' field where it exists - at the moment if you search albums by artist name, it will omit any duets on the album if the duettists name is in the 'Artist' field - a minor irritant, but I would also like to see an option to sort albums by Artist in the all album view rather than in strict order of album name - I don't want much, do I?)  If an iPad enhanced version of the Remote App can do all this, I'll be thrilled (and a bit poorer).

Time Machine seems to be the way to go for the backups it seems -- but I'll probably just use it with a USB drive connected to the Mini (no second computer to worry about, although I take your point Ash about Apple gear working well together - I'm amazed at how much it's not like computing and much more like consumer electronics.  Windows just can't seem to achieve that, for all their other strengths.

On the subject of the external HDD - I feel lucky that the Iomega I have chosen is all but inaudible from my listening seat (except when first 'spinning up') - if the whole thing gets noisy it can move to another room and I'll buy that Airport Express.

Thanks again
Malcolm

*could substitute the word 'want' here! smile

Malcolm

Meridian 506.20 / Pink Triangle LPT / Oppo DV-983H / Sony BDP-S550 / Mac Mini with external 1TB HDD, iPod Touch and Remote app / Denon AVC-A1D / Panasonic TH-42PZ80 / B&W CDM9NT, CDMSNT & CDMCNT

20 Reply by m10

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Bull.ed wrote:

Also, m10,

Don't drag and drop files with Time Machine. It can produce issues. Like most good back-up software, let it analyse and run itself.

Once it has run the first back -up, which can take a few hours if you have a lot of data, just keep Time Machine switched on and turn the back up drive on when it suits you.

Thanks... what I was thinking of was perhaps just running a second HDD without time machine, and dragging and dropping the files periodically from one drive to the other to back up manually.  Seems like a bit of a fuss doing it that way, but being new to Mac I don't have any experience of Time Machine although it looks like it's quite simple.

Malcolm

Meridian 506.20 / Pink Triangle LPT / Oppo DV-983H / Sony BDP-S550 / Mac Mini with external 1TB HDD, iPod Touch and Remote app / Denon AVC-A1D / Panasonic TH-42PZ80 / B&W CDM9NT, CDMSNT & CDMCNT

21 Reply by Ashley James

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

My Base Station Extreme is upstairs and attached to a 1TB HD. Both my Mini and my Macbook Pro backs up all the time over the network without affecting anything else. It did a year or two ago, but Apple upgrades fixed it.
I've got thre AEX and one ATV on my home network, one for the printer, one to increase the range to my sitting room where the last is. It's bullet proof and a joy after previous loathsome windows experiments. I love Apple and would never go back, although I gather 7 isn't as bad.
Ash

Manufacturer: www.avihifi.com / Contact: Email AVI / Blog: AVI HiFI

22 Reply by Bull.ed

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

m10 wrote:
Bull.ed wrote:

Also, m10,

Don't drag and drop files with Time Machine. It can produce issues. Like most good back-up software, let it analyse and run itself.

Once it has run the first back -up, which can take a few hours if you have a lot of data, just keep Time Machine switched on and turn the back up drive on when it suits you.

Thanks... what I was thinking of was perhaps just running a second HDD without time machine, and dragging and dropping the files periodically from one drive to the other to back up manually.  Seems like a bit of a fuss doing it that way, but being new to Mac I don't have any experience of Time Machine although it looks like it's quite simple.

Time Machine is a great package. It's also great fun to use should you need it to recover anything.

If noise is an issue, back up remotely by using an Airport, plug your back up Time Machine disk into it's USB port and stick it out of the way somewhere. You could also consider Time Capsule. It really is a set-and-forget solution.

23 Reply by kelly7898

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Bill wrote:

Hello HDD people!  I found the forum via Ashley’s AVI site a few weeks ago and I’ve been lurking in the shadows ever since, reading (and enjoying) the forum.  Finally, I’ve decided to join in (obviously!) and look forward to making the occasional contribution.
My hi-fi path started in 1975, with a Pioneer PL112D turntable, Trio KA3500(?) amp, and a pair of Solavox PR40 speakers – all from Comet. Pretty esoteric stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree?!  I seem to recall the PR40s being Comet’s own make? I’m not sure, but at the time, the system, to me, was the DBs.  I’ve since had a variety of lower/mid-end kit down the years, culminating around ’96 with a Cyrus/Mission combo.  I was also a sucker for all the speaker cable/interconnect/green marker pen voodoo (it’s ok, I’m better now).  A couple of house moves later and I found that there was not enough room to accommodate the 4 box cyrus and the 753s, and they lay, for the next 4 years, boxed-up, gathering dust in the spare room.
Two years ago, I bought a pair of Audioengine A2s, unauditioned (is that a word?), on the recommendation of the Radio Paradise website (which, incidentally, is an excellent, blabber-free station). To say that I was blown away would be an understatement:  I couldn’t believe that such small boxes could produce such a great sound. Since then, my “hi-fi” has been comprised of a Macbook Pro and the A2s -- and I love it.  I love the fact that I don’t need a room full of separates and can get such great music from a laptop and a pair of £120 speakers!
I’m currently in the process of replacing the HD in the Mac with a 500GB Western Digital, with the intention of ripping my CD collection (around 1200 discs) to the Mac, backed-up to an external 500GB WD.
Now, having read many of the customer reviews, both here and the Facebook group, I’m sorely tempted to replace the A2s with the ADM9.1s….  again, unauditioned.  I don’t believe there is a stockist near me, but I feel confident enough that I wouldn’t be disappointed. What do you think?  Crazy?
I’m enjoying the clutter-free existence of a laptop and speakers and I’d like to keep it that way.  With that in mind, what else do I need (if anything) between the Mac and the speakers?  Is an optical link the best way to connect the two?
Well, that’s my introduction. As I said, I’m looking forward to joining in, and any advice would be gratefully received.

Kind regards

Bill

Thank you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

24 Reply by Ashley James

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

Welcome Kelly, it's quite nice on here, so hopefully you'll make some friends.

Ash

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25 Reply by cdodkin

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Re: Hello! Another HDD virgin

m10 wrote:

I'm itching to get an Airport Express to extend the system into another room - probably replacing the iPod dock in my bedroom system -- maybe another quick question to the AEX users - are you using 'G' or 'N' wireless routers?

Many thanks,

Malcolm

Go N if you can - better throughput, and you can set it on 5GHz to keep if free of interference from other local wifi signals.

This has allowed me to build a 100% solid streaming setup from my Mac Pro upstairs, through an Airport Extreme, to the Airport Express downstairs plugged into my DAC.

Darren has a good sticky on Airport setup you can review.

.                                              /-----aPA7-->ProAc Response 2.5         
        CD8x+PSX-R-->aCA7+PSX-R----- aPA7-->                                cool                 
                                |              \-----aPA7-->
iTunes-->AE-->DacMagic              \----aPA7-->ProAc Response 2.5

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