"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

Thanks, Jim, you've summed it up. I keep my PC for word processing,
email, pictures for eBay and occasionally catching up with Radio 7. My
audio stuff is quite separate, and I'd prefer it to remain so. I asked
for comments on the Brennan in this NG a while back, and all the replies
pointed me towards a PC solution. My point is that while I've had a few
failures on the audio system(s) over the years - mainly blown fuses, an
arcing failure on the ESL, a burnt out valve etc - I've never had one
which caused me to lose my entire record/CD collection! Entirely
possible with a PC based solution, whether from a virus, unspecified bugs
or simply Bill Gates waking up with a hangover and deciding to render all
previous releases obsolete. I don't want "music on the move", I'm just
looking for a way of archiving the whole lot and giving me ease of access,
hence my interest in the Brennan (no, I'm not plugging it, I haven't
bought one yet) but if it really does what it says on the tin and works
straight out of the box then it takes away all the problems of software
compatibility and so on which do not interest me at all.


There's no guarantee a Brennan won't fail, and thus cause you to loose your
entire record collection. Unless of course you've kept the CDs/LPs, a
solution which works just as well with a PC-based playback system.

In some 15 years of using a PC at home I've never lost data due to an HD
failure. A couple of times computers have died on me and I've had to hook up
the HD from it to another computer to copy off data which I hadn't got round
to backing-up. But I've never not been able to do that, with a Brennan you
would have to send the failed unit back to the factory and get them to do
that for you, if indeed they would be prepared to do it. In addition I
always keep valuable and irreplaceable data (such as my digital photos) on
at least two HDs, RAID makes that easy. Of course both HDs could be
destroyed simultaneously in a fire or flood or suchlike, but then the same
fate could overtake your physical record/CD or photo collections.

David.

In article , David Looser
wrote:
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

Thanks, Jim, you've summed it up. I keep my PC for word processing,
email, pictures for eBay and occasionally catching up with Radio 7.
My audio stuff is quite separate, and I'd prefer it to remain so. I
asked for comments on the Brennan in this NG a while back, and all the
replies pointed me towards a PC solution.

There's no guarantee a Brennan won't fail, and thus cause you to loose
your entire record collection. Unless of course you've kept the CDs/LPs,
a solution which works just as well with a PC-based playback system.

It occurs to me to mention the 'Olive' set of models of devices. I know no
more about them than I do the Brennen, so can't say if they are
better/worse/etc. But they may be preferrable to the Brennan.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

Thanks, Jim, you've summed it up. I keep my PC for word processing,
email, pictures for eBay and occasionally catching up with Radio 7. My
audio stuff is quite separate, and I'd prefer it to remain so. I asked
for comments on the Brennan in this NG a while back, and all the replies
pointed me towards a PC solution. My point is that while I've had a few
failures on the audio system(s) over the years - mainly blown fuses, an
arcing failure on the ESL, a burnt out valve etc - I've never had one
which caused me to lose my entire record/CD collection! Entirely
possible with a PC based solution, whether from a virus, unspecified bugs
or simply Bill Gates waking up with a hangover and deciding to render all
previous releases obsolete. I don't want "music on the move", I'm just
looking for a way of archiving the whole lot and giving me ease of
access,
hence my interest in the Brennan (no, I'm not plugging it, I haven't
bought one yet) but if it really does what it says on the tin and works
straight out of the box then it takes away all the problems of software
compatibility and so on which do not interest me at all.


There's no guarantee a Brennan won't fail, and thus cause you to loose
your
entire record collection.


That's *lose*, Mr looser! :-)


Unless of course you've kept the CDs/LPs, a
solution which works just as well with a PC-based playback system.


No greater fun than having to redo dozens/hundreds of recordings that have
disappeared on a bit of kit which has failed.



In some 15 years of using a PC at home I've never lost data due to an HD
failure. A couple of times computers have died on me and I've had to hook
up
the HD from it to another computer to copy off data which I hadn't got
round
to backing-up. But I've never not been able to do that, with a Brennan you
would have to send the failed unit back to the factory and get them to do
that for you, if indeed they would be prepared to do it. In addition I
always keep valuable and irreplaceable data (such as my digital photos) on
at least two HDs, RAID makes that easy. Of course both HDs could be
destroyed simultaneously in a fire or flood or suchlike, but then the same
fate could overtake your physical record/CD or photo collections.


High capacity USB hard drives make backups a doddle these days - no excuse
for losing data other than in a house fire, as you say - online data
warehousing is the solution to that one if the data is that precious.

"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
In article , David Looser
wrote:
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

Thanks, Jim, you've summed it up. I keep my PC for word processing,
email, pictures for eBay and occasionally catching up with Radio 7.
My audio stuff is quite separate, and I'd prefer it to remain so. I
asked for comments on the Brennan in this NG a while back, and all the
replies pointed me towards a PC solution.

There's no guarantee a Brennan won't fail, and thus cause you to loose
your entire record collection. Unless of course you've kept the CDs/LPs,
a solution which works just as well with a PC-based playback system.

It occurs to me to mention the 'Olive' set of models of devices. I know no
more about them than I do the Brennen, so can't say if they are
better/worse/etc. But they may be preferrable to the Brennan.

Slainte,

Jim

At first glance the Olive seems very expensive and does a lot of things I
don't need. The Brennan would be ideal if it were possible to back up, and
also copy the contents to another machine - ideal for those post-divorce
arguments about who owned which CDs/LPs! Must contact Brennan tech support
(I assume they have one) and find out if either is possible.

I do intend to keep all the originals, apart from a few odd LPs which
should sell rather well on eBay, but was thinking more of the considerable
time and effort it's going to take to transcribe a pretty extensive
collection.

Cheers,

Geoff

Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

At first glance the Olive seems very expensive and does a lot of
things I don't need. The Brennan would be ideal if it were possible
to back up, and also copy the contents to another machine - ideal for
those post-divorce arguments about who owned which CDs/LPs! Must
contact Brennan tech support (I assume they have one) and find out if
either is possible.
I do intend to keep all the originals, apart from a few odd LPs
which should sell rather well on eBay, but was thinking more of the
considerable time and effort it's going to take to transcribe a
pretty extensive collection.


After my old cd player finally stopped working (plastic transport mechanism
parts disintegrated) I was also interested in a Brennen-like solution but
couldn't make a decision and left it 'pending'.

Then our DVD player gave up the ghost last week and we got a Sony Blu-Ray
player replacement. Almost as an afterthought, one of the built in features
is wifi connectivity and I realized that I now have a PC-based solution for
my original CD issue because the Blu-Ray player can access audio files on my
PCs via a home network. Navigation is easy since the player screen display
mimics the folder organisation on the PCs. Audio out from the player into my
IPL transmission line speakers via a Pioneer amp sounds great to my aging
ears.

Cheers,
TonyL

On 12/12/2010 11:59, TonyL wrote:
Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

At first glance the Olive seems very expensive and does a lot of
things I don't need. The Brennan would be ideal if it were possible
to back up, and also copy the contents to another machine - ideal for
those post-divorce arguments about who owned which CDs/LPs! Must
contact Brennan tech support (I assume they have one) and find out if
either is possible.
I do intend to keep all the originals, apart from a few odd LPs
which should sell rather well on eBay, but was thinking more of the
considerable time and effort it's going to take to transcribe a
pretty extensive collection.


After my old cd player finally stopped working (plastic transport mechanism
parts disintegrated) I was also interested in a Brennen-like solution but
couldn't make a decision and left it 'pending'.

Then our DVD player gave up the ghost last week and we got a Sony Blu-Ray
player replacement. Almost as an afterthought, one of the built in features
is wifi connectivity and I realized that I now have a PC-based solution for
my original CD issue because the Blu-Ray player can access audio files on my
PCs via a home network. Navigation is easy since the player screen display
mimics the folder organisation on the PCs. Audio out from the player into my
IPL transmission line speakers via a Pioneer amp sounds great to my aging
ears.


Yes, agreed, it can certainly work that way, or even get a portable hard
drive and plug it into the BR player. I found the interface far too
difficult to use on my LG BR, though.

Rob

In article , Geoff Mackenzie
wrote:


"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...


It occurs to me to mention the 'Olive' set of models of devices. I
know no more about them than I do the Brennen, so can't say if they
are better/worse/etc. But they may be preferrable to the Brennan.

At first glance the Olive seems very expensive and does a lot of things
I don't need.

There are now a range of devices, but you may well be right for all of them
for all I know!

The Brennan would be ideal if it were possible to back
up, and also copy the contents to another machine - ideal for those
post-divorce arguments about who owned which CDs/LPs! Must contact
Brennan tech support (I assume they have one) and find out if either is
possible.

I have a vague feeling that one of the Brennan ads said that making a
backup was possible because Brennan himself had been annoyed by loosing a
HD worth of files. But my memory may be playing tricks on me here as I've
not really considered the device myself.

Interesting to know if anyone has tried one, and if they have found out
what disc format they use - e.g. FAT or ext or whatever. A standard format
and type of HD might make backups easy enough if willing to take the box
apart. :-)

Must admit one thing I wonder is if the internal HD makes any whirring
noises. I find normal HDs a PITA for audio as they make noises. So I tend t
use SSD for the machines I use to play audio. But at present that's not a
cheap option, and limits capacity.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

In article , TonyL
wrote:


Then our DVD player gave up the ghost last week and we got a Sony
Blu-Ray player replacement. Almost as an afterthought, one of the built
in features is wifi connectivity and I realized that I now have a
PC-based solution for my original CD issue because the Blu-Ray player
can access audio files on my PCs via a home network. Navigation is easy
since the player screen display mimics the folder organisation on the
PCs. Audio out from the player into my IPL transmission line speakers
via a Pioneer amp sounds great to my aging ears.

That's an interesting point. I've noticed that players are also starting to
have sockets for things like USB or memory cards as well. So far I've not
seen any widespread standardisation of such things. But this may turn out
to be a significant trend.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

On 12/12/2010 14:23, Jim Lesurf wrote:
In , Geoff Mackenzie
wrote:


"Jim wrote in message
...


It occurs to me to mention the 'Olive' set of models of devices. I
know no more about them than I do the Brennen, so can't say if they
are better/worse/etc. But they may be preferrable to the Brennan.

At first glance the Olive seems very expensive and does a lot of things
I don't need.

There are now a range of devices, but you may well be right for all of them
for all I know!

The Brennan would be ideal if it were possible to back
up, and also copy the contents to another machine - ideal for those
post-divorce arguments about who owned which CDs/LPs! Must contact
Brennan tech support (I assume they have one) and find out if either is
possible.


I'd find navigating using that tiny but well meaning display too
troublesome.

I have a vague feeling that one of the Brennan ads said that making a
backup was possible because Brennan himself had been annoyed by loosing a
HD worth of files. But my memory may be playing tricks on me here as I've
not really considered the device myself.

Interesting to know if anyone has tried one, and if they have found out
what disc format they use - e.g. FAT or ext or whatever. A standard format
and type of HD might make backups easy enough if willing to take the box
apart. :-)


It says you can back up in the instruction book (p.12) - USB FAT32 drive
required.

Must admit one thing I wonder is if the internal HD makes any whirring
noises. I find normal HDs a PITA for audio as they make noises. So I tend t
use SSD for the machines I use to play audio. But at present that's not a
cheap option, and limits capacity.


I've got a 'silentish' music server that I don't use and will ebay at
some point - far and away, the 3.5" HD is the noise problem.

I have about 300GB of music so SSD out of the question. A 2.5" drive
suits my needs. By no means silent, but tucked out the way (easy enough
as no power supply), it's not obtrusive at all.

Rob

Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , TonyL
wrote:


Then our DVD player gave up the ghost last week and we got a Sony
Blu-Ray player replacement. Almost as an afterthought, one of the
built in features is wifi connectivity and I realized that I now
have a PC-based solution for my original CD issue because the
Blu-Ray player can access audio files on my PCs via a home network.
Navigation is easy since the player screen display mimics the folder
organisation on the PCs. Audio out from the player into my IPL
transmission line speakers via a Pioneer amp sounds great to my
aging ears.

That's an interesting point. I've noticed that players are also
starting to have sockets for things like USB or memory cards as well.
So far I've not seen any widespread standardisation of such things.
But this may turn out to be a significant trend.


Yes, this player also has USB but one advantage of network access is no
whirring HDs in the same room.

Backup of my music collection is also resolved because I already have
comprehensive image and file backup systems installed on the network. The
music collection just gets backed up together with my other files.

TonyL