Perfect Wave Memory Player

It has always been a memory player. To realize its full potential you need the I2S connection (using an HDMI cable), which you obviously cannot do with the meridian. How it stacks up against other transports using the non-I2S interfaces I do not know.

After reading about the PWT, it seems like a hassle to use. Download Hi-Rez music and then have to burn a DVD in order to play it. IMHO, advances in digital music distribution, storage, soft ware for organization, retrieval and play back have marginalized this product.

Steve

But why in this day and age? Just asking .

I think I had that many and it got ripped pretty painlessly. I would rip them while posting on AVS. You can do the same. Rip one for each post you do here

Seriously, drives are very fast these days as is ripping. Put a stack next to your computer and set the ripper to auto-eject when done and auto-ripping on insertion. You can probably do 10 to 15/hour.


No because it is not a useful device.

Welcome to the future! The ripping is a PITA, but you will not regret it. Now the only question is do you join the Bryston party or follow Amir's advice of getting a computer and USB to S/PDIF converter. Tough call.

Since for some obscure reason most new music can only be bought as physical CD or MP3 (and not 44/16 flacs), I am still buying them. I use them once to rip them and then I archive them ..... Somethime I actually stil flip through the little booklets.


Your strategy suggest you are more time constrained than $$$ constrained, in which case letting someone do the ripping for you for a fee would make sense. It is just so much more convenient. All reports suggest best in class music servers are now sonically equivalent to a top notch trasport, so there will be no compromise in SQ.

"Seriously, drives are very fast these days as is ripping. Put a stack next to your computer and set the ripper to auto-eject when done and auto-ripping on insertion. You can probably do 10 to 15/hour."
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The idea of ripping my CDs and dong the modification and tweaking of a Mac Mini system kept me away from digital music "server" for at least a year. I took the plunge into the unknown about 6 months ago with an impulse buy of a BDP-1 and then started ripping. The ripping went surprisingly quickly.

Perhaps I still have the enthusiasm of the newly converted but after 6 months of use, the BDP-1 and similar units, likely coming from other manufactures next year, are the "real deal". At $2100, the BDP-1 is a real bargain.

Steve

I miss not so much the physical booklet, but I do miss the supplemental content. I asked PS audio if they could provide a link to artist / album page on allmusic.com from whatever album is playing. No answer so far, so I am not holding my breath. A pitty, because if anything digitization should give you access to more, not less content.

You can install multiple drives in a computer to rip multiple discs at once or buy a auto loader. It will hold 25 discs and will rip them all in about a hour.

http://www.moondogdigital.com/ripping.html
http://www.acronova.com/duplicator_dupliq_usb.htm

Hello,

If it were me I would be tempted to skip the PWT and go for the PWD with Bridge, that gives you a great DAC and Streaming device in one box.

I was confronted by a similar dilemma, a collection of nearly 700 CD's, and a desire to use them around the house and in car without risking damage to the original media.

I currently have a couple for Streambox Duet's connected to old Perpetual Tech P-3A DAC's with outboard PSU's, but in my main listening room I use a prototype PC which is desgined for streaming, but this will be moved to my living room system roon when my PWD & Bridge arrive in the New Year.

The key to ripping is using the right software. I use dbPoweramp Reference, it's the best ripping and tagging software I've found. I rip to both FLAC and Apple Lossless, FLAC for the home and Apple Lossless for my car's iPod. It can do both rip's simultaneously, and it uses Accuraterip to ensure you have a good rip. The Metadata system it uses is superb, I have some really obscure CD's going back to '87, and in a collection of almost 700 dbPoweramp has only had difficulty identifying about 12 discs. It is well worth buying for a major ripping job like yours.

Once your music is ripped there really is no looking back, and I'm so seriously comitted I will be selling both of my stand alone CD players next year.

Hope this helps.

Dave