RankStranger

Just what it says on the can. I have been using iTunes-based playback for years now and from here I'm investing in a Naim Unitiqute and storing all my music on a NAS. I know the Naim should not have any issues with a library configured for iTunes but is there any benefit in changing anything about how the file system is organised or how the tags work e.g. unpacking the compilations folder? My library is pretty well organised and tagged already. I was even thinking of ditching iTunes altogether on my mac, which I listen through occasionally, and just playing via audirvana or fidelia via the network. Which one is best for that sort of thing? I appreciate any input. Thanks RS

why?

That was 06-14-2011. It went really well for a while. Then it stopped going really well. Then it stopped. Now I'm in residential real estate. I turn the value in peoples' property into an improvement in their life. It's bloody long hours but I love it. RS

Lawks! The Aedle cans and that Bespoke pre are puuurdy!

We used sennheiser HD650's. They fit over the pregnant belly nicely and the velour ear cups were comfortable. No idea what effect it had but not only is my now-two-year-old daughter pretty damn clever (what dad would think otherwise?) but she loves to get down to Daft Punk's Get Lucky so it didn't hurt her musical tastes. I have a photo of the belly-cans somewhere. It used to be my avatar for this site!

When I'm really drunk I put on "always with me, always with you" really loud. It drives my wife nuts. Don't think I've ever even heard the rest of the album. RS

That was the first album of his that I got ages ago. I liked it but not enough to seek out his other stuff apparently! I'll have to go back and give it another listen. My tastes have matured a bit in the year or two since I discovered it and I'm finding a bit of stuff - specifically jazz stuff - that I couldn't get into before but I really dig now. RS

That's exciting! I have just started listening to Natsukashii from '11 in the last couple of weeks and when I go to my iTunes library I can't bring myself to put anything else on. The first track, in particular, just transports me. Thanks for the heads up. Can't wait for the new one. RS

Thanks. I'll look out for that one.

How does the vinyl sound?

this

Thanks, Jud!

You can watch the whole this from the start, if you feel you must. To me it's a bit like a who's who of bland 70's rock. To proceed directly to the face-melting guitar solo, and the only reason I keep watching this video again and again, skip straight to about 3:25. In fact, once you have watched it once, go back again and marvel at how banal and middle-of-the-road all of their performances are up to that point, especially the guy soloing at 2:05 (Steve Winwood?). They're the quintessential faded rock stars. Then, when Prince's solo really gets going it's like they're embarrassed at how he has just wiped the stage with every last one of them and they all seem to wake up a bit, even the lighting guy. Gold! Happy Xmas!

Thanks for your replies. I've tried both those things. I'll have another play with it today and see if I can't nut it out. I'm totally over iTunes and having my music on a mac mini. There's too many variables to make things go wrong. About twenty-five percent of the times I want to just cue something up on my remote app and have it play, there's something stopping it. RS

Hi, I feel like I should know the fix to this as I've been using itunes for years. I've unsuccessfully tried a couple of things mentioned on Apple support pages but I thought I might get a result out of some of the itunes gurus that hang out here. The issue is, I opened iTunes and it's like a new piece of software with no content. None of my 1.2TB of music shows up in the library, it just has two buttons, go to itunes store and scan for media. My music is still on the drive but iTunes doesn't see it. I tried alt/option opening but I get a message saying the library was not found. I tried rebuilding the library as per instructions on apple support (drag .itl file to desktop and replace with latest previous .itl file) but to no avail. Adding the whole library to library seems a bit crude and I'm wondering if there's a better way Any ideas? RS

Chris, you look way less of a nerd than I always imagined you. This is neither a compliment nor a criticism, just an observation. Keep up the good work. RS

I used to work in a hifi shop so I'm intimately familiar with his oeuvre, I just didn't make the connection. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, though. It's a little bit like that guy at work who says "d'oh" when something goes wrong, has been doing so since 1994 and doesn't realise that it makes those around him just a little bit homicidal. RS

Thanks for that. I just laughed and some pretty decent sav blanc came out through my nose.

Almost exclusively sales training and self-improvement recordings on CD (often downloaded and burnt) because my car audio is just a little bit pre-bluetooth. When these make me want to drive at speed into the nearest immovable object I invariably tune in to the national broadcaster's classical music station (with a bit of jazz on weekends). It's curious because I don't often listen to classical other times and even though Melbourne, Australia has 3 (yep, 3) independent public broadcasters which is amazing, they either refuse to just shut up and play music or play way too much reggae which makes me want to sandpaper my eyeballs. Even the classical public station doesn't get much of a look in as I feel like it plays "old people's music" instead of just classical. At the risk of going widely OT, does anyone know what I mean by old people's classical music, as opposed to the normal sort? I'm not sure if it's just a feeling I get but I can usually tell if I've left it on the wrong station by what they're playing. RS

@Audio: At the risk of opening a whole 'nother can of worms... Does the Synology sound better? RS

Belated thanks for your helpful replies. Unless I can think of a really good reason to spring for the Synology I'll probably settle on the QNAP RS

Holy crap that video just undid me. I knew Steve wrote that song but I've only ever heard Guy Clark sing it with Emmylou backing him up. Theirs is a beautiful version but seeing Steve sing it like that is so raw and bloody. Thanks so much for sharing. RS

I'm going to get a NAS to move my music library to in preparation for replacing the setup in my signature with a Naim SuperUniti (give me the simple life!). I've been thinking about a Synology ds413 because it looks much better than the 413j and I'm a shallow b*stard. A friend has recommended the Qnap TS 412 which looks ok and is about $200 cheaper but the specs are way worse. Has any body had enough experience with either to suggest whether the Synology is overkill for what I want? Basically, aside from my music I'll have a bunch of standard def video on it and everything will be served over ethernet through a time capsule or maybe a new airport extreme. I'm no sort of power user but I'm happy to spend the extra if it's going to improve my listening experience. Enough of my music library is hi-res for it to matter, if it matters. Thanks in advance RS

Best. Review. Ever.