The Brennan B2

[Dave2002]

Good grief! Do you have analogue CDs?
They must be worth a fortune!

Oops - well spotted. I think you knew what I meant, though!

[Stunsworth]

...if you want the highest quality all you need to do is get a computer (more or less any one will do though up until now Macbooks would be a good choice ..... 2nd hand Mac Mini would be perfect) and buy a RME external soundcard

I use a Mac Mini plugged into an Audiolab M-Dac via USB.

[MrGongGong]

The RMEs don't look particularly consumer friendly. Which one(s) would you recommend?

Also, would they (one or more) be able to do multi channel if required - i.e. surround sound? I suspect out of scope for most domestic listeners.

The Babyface is simple
and the bigger ones are often the weapon of choice for multichannel diffusion

You can get more or less the same (or lesser quality) components in a "consumer friendly" box and pay huge amounts.
Surely people who are really interested in music and sound would take the trouble ?

I use one of these most days

https://uk.focusrite.com/usb-audio-interfaces/scarlett-2i4

very simple to set up and use, affordable and great quality, though not as good as the RME

[ChrisBennell]

I don't know what the Brennan costs. However, there are many music servers that rip CDs to an internal HD, have a DAC, play every format conceivable, and offer TuneIn for quality internet radio. I suggest you look at Bluesound, because it does all of the above, will play High Resolution files, is affordable, and can be expanded to a whole home playback

It costs between £389 and £579 depending on the size of internal hard disk chosen. I believe you can only buy it from very restricted outlets including direct from Brennan and Amazon

For more details see: http://www.brennan.co.uk/units

[BBMmk2]

It costs between £389 and £579 depending on the size of internal hard disk chosen. I believe you can only buy it from very restricted outlets including direct from Brennan and Amazon

For more details see: http://www.brennan.co.uk/units

Even then it's direct rom Brennan!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What we are discussing is merely an oversized iPod.

[richardfinegold]

I know i've probably said this before
BUT
if you want the highest quality all you need to do is get a computer (more or less any one will do though up until now Macbooks would be a good choice ..... 2nd hand Mac Mini would be perfect) and buy a RME external soundcard.
One of these is probably what was in the studio where your music was mastered and probably was one of these (or something equivalent) in the recording session as well.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en/index.php

Some of us hate bothering with a pc. Thus, the existence of turnkey servers, such as Brennan, Bluesound. Having done both Bluesound and the Mac&DAC, I prefer to have the convenience of Bluesound and am willing to ante up. I have to deal with IT issues all day during work and just want to unwind at home. For those that don't view the pc in as jaundiced a light, enjoy the music

[Anastasius]

This is my impression as well. Eg. No field for composer.

Digitising a large (several thousand) CD collection would not for me be worth the effort and man hours.

Especially when all you can enter to find, say, a Symphony by Mahler is to type in 'symphony' and then scroll through the thousands of results until you get lucky.