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[PaulZ]

I have all new computer equipment that I’m trying to integrate with my Audio Video System:

Computer Side:
-   Asus Desktop 8G / Windows 7 / MC 15.0.174
-   NAS: Synology  / 10T / Raid 5
-   Notebook 1: Asus / Windows 7 / MC 15.0.174 (installed) / Bluetooth Keyboard (on order)
-   Notebook2 : Asus / Windows 7 / MC 15.0.174 (planned)
-   Switch: 24 port Gigabit
-   J River Remote to control the Notebook

AV Side
   Desktop: HRT Music Streamer II+ / AEGO 2 Sub and speakers
   Media Room: USB DAC / AV Receiver / Bryston Amp / B&W Speakers / Samsung DLP TV / Universal Remote 800

Goal:
-   Re-rip CD’s to the NAS from the high quality optical drives on the desktop
-   Have the notebook share all the music files, playlists and pictures from the NAS and feed the AV equipment
-   Once everything is ripped ….. copy to MP3 for a Zune HD64

Background:
- Copied 200 or so WMA Lossless CD’s I’ve ripped over the years to the NAS  (s:\Music\CD_Old).   MC recognizes these just fine on the desktop.
- I know how to convert from wav to other formats … MP3, FLAC etc  (kept in s:\Music\CD_MP3 & s:\Music\CD_FLAC)
- Am re-ripping all the CDs (starting with 50 new ones) as WAV …. Why? … perception of better quality? (s:\Music\CD_WAV)
- I’ve been told to rip as FLAC because this has Metadata and Wav does not.   (I’m confused)
- Notebook computer sees the NAS … but the Albums and Artists are incomplete and not everything is there (pointed to S:\Music)


Issues:
1. The dates on  the new ripped files are 4 days ago … not the date and time on my computer.  Strange?
2. I read multiple PC’s can use the same files.  How “exactly” do I move / copy the databases / Libraries from the desktop to the NAS and have the notebook point to the same file?
3. Am I missing something with the J River (hp media center) Remote?  I thought it would have command macros already imbedded in the remote to actually control the MC application … not just equipment mute, volume, on-off etc. stuff.  I thought I was going to be able to transfer the macros into the Universal Remote that is already programmed for my other equipment.
4. What’s the best lossless and highest quality format to rip in … WAV, FLAC WMA?  Pros and cons?  As space is not an issue what settings?

Thanks in advance to whoever responds.

[jmone]

You will get a few different views on this one.  I'm happy to be in the "lossless=lossless=lossless" camp in that it does not matter what lossless format you decide on the quality is all the same (eg they all decode to bit perfect WAV).  I'd recommend that you select the lossless flavor of FLAC, APE, WMA etc based on the utility of these formats in your setup (eg do any of your portable devices support one of these naively?  in which case it may be a good choice to prevent having to transcode).  I'd not pick WAV for the lack of file based meta data eg you can tag you files in MC fine with Titles, Artist, Coverart, etc etc but these can not be stored in the actual WAV file as it can with other formats (this is good as this meta data can then be read by your Handheld device etc).

You have a couple of choices on how to share the content on your Network:
1) Use Library Server (this is your best "first" bet)
2) Use a Library on a Network Share (this will be read only by all but one PC)

[Vincent Kars]

The paradox of WAV is that support for this format is almost universal but due to a lack of a tagging standard, portability of the tags is poor. So poor a lot of people think you can’t tag WAV.

If you want MC to tag WAV, you have to activate a plug-in: http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MC14/MC14_Edit.htm
If you don’t you probably see all the information on the machine you did the ripping but not on any other machine reading the audio file.

There are claims that due to the fact that WAV requires less CPU than FLAC (must be unpacked), WAV sounds better. In my opinion if even the slight amount of additional CPU maps into a degradation of the sound you have a sound card not up to its job: http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/WAV-FLAC.htm

[PaulZ]

Thanks .... I think I'll go with FLAC so I don't have to input the metada myself.

- when converting to MP3: will the metadata be copied to the files and be picked up in a Zune?

- How do I get the "library" to the server?
- Do I install MC on the server and run MC from each PC or do I move specific files to the server and point the PCs to the libaray?
- Does each PC become a zone?
- How is or is not DLNA relevant here?  Should I use it?

[Vincent Kars]

Converting will preserve the tags. Have a good look at the sync option: http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MC14/MC_sync.htm

If you server is the NAS and the NAS runs Linux than the answer is simple, MC requires Win to run.
You can store the audio on the NAS.
You can have MC run as a server on the desktop and pointing to the NAS for the audio.
Other PCs access the audio via the server.
DLNA, might be a bit slow but probably the NAS supports it.
All PCs access the NAS using DLNA
1 access the NAS directly to maintain the collection

[PaulZ]

Vincent:

"re-ripping it because now you have found out how to do it" is very true.  Am still trying to get it figured out and the locations of the files and what's on the desktop and PC right.  Is the proper setup:

- Network Attached Storage has the Music Files
- Desktop rips the CD's
- Notebook plays the CD's

How does the Notebook use the "library" (is this the right term?) on the Desktop so the tagging and playlists are the same?  Does something have to be done in Windows or all in J River?

[Vincent Kars]

On the desktop the library server must be running: Start > Programs > J River > Media server
On any other machine connect to the server: File > Library > Connect to server
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library_Server

By using the Media Server on the desktop, all PCs see the same library, views, play list, etc

Library is the right term.
Scanning a collection (a large number of audio files) takes a long time.
To speed matters up, all meta info is stored in a database, the Library

[PaulZ]

Thanks ....  I need to map the notebook to the desktop.