Streaming Guides

Supported formats for various brands we stock

streaming-table

Typical streamer set up diagram’s below.

streaming-flowchart

Storing Your Music Collection Ready for Streaming

Storing your music collection onto a computer or hard disk can be time consuming, so we recommend you read this guide before embarking on the process.

Introduction

When you stored music onto your computer for the first time (assuming you’ve done it before) it was probably to get that music onto an iPod or similar device. Using the programme’s (usually iTunes) default settings will have been fine for this purpose, but these settings can be adjusted for higher quality and in some cases a different programme may be better.

This guide will take you through the stages of choosing the best format, programme and storage location for your music collection.

Format

Music files can take up a lot of space, so various forms of compression have been developed to reduce the size of music files. This is great if you are more interested in quantity, for a portable player for instance, but not so good if it’s quality that is important to you.

Remember, you don’t need to compress your music at all if you have enough disc space, and adding more disc space is comparatively inexpensive these days.

It is important that you choose a format that is compatible with the devises that you intend using. Although you may be able to convert from one format to another with some programmes, we have found that there can be compatibility issues such as loss of album art or track information (meta data).

If you would like more information on the various music storage formats click here.

Programmes

Choosing the correct programme for you comes down whether you are using a PC or MAC and what format you’ve decided is best for you

Storage Location

Our recommended storage location will depend on what kind of device you are likely to end up using.

Stage 1

Decide why you are storing your music; pick the statement below that most closely describes why you are storing your music:

I want to play my music back on my portable device using headphones and/or a docking station and want to fit as much music as I can on to the device.

Format

Most portable devices have a limited amount of storage space and most will be compatible with MP3 which can compress to a number of levels, expressed as “bit rates” (the higher the bit rate, the less compressed and the better the quality). Choose a bit rate that gives the right balance between quality and space. This can be done by storing the same track in two or three quality levels, listening to the difference (through your player not your PC) and choosing the one that you think is best.

If you are using iTunes this can be done by following these steps (written for v10, software developments may alter this process, please call us if you need help)

Open iTunes
Click on “Edit” and Select “preferences” from the drop down list
A box will open with a number of tabs along the top “general” should be selected
Select the “Import Settings” box about two thirds of the way down the page.
A box will open entitled “Import Settings” with a drop down box entitled “Import Using”
Pull this box down and select “MP3”
Use the next drop down box “Settings” to select the desired quality of MP3
Note, select “Custom” for more options
A new box will open with a drop down box entitled “Stereo Bit Rate”
Select the desired bit rate. The higher the better, but use 128kbps as a minimum!

Non-Apple users should refer to the device manual for information on format/bit rate selection.

Programme

iTunes should be used for Apple devices, other devices will have recommended software.

Storage Location

A network drive (NAS) with universal plug and play (UPnP) is the ideal device for this purpose and can be used to store and back up documents, photos and music files. We recommend purchasing two drives with one mirroring the other or a single box with two internal drives that can be configured to mirror each other. Two drives the mirror each other will add an extra layer of protection; if one drive fails, you still have a copy which can be used until the failed drive is replaced. We sell Buffalo Link Stations which we’ve found to be quiet and reliable.

I want to play my music through my HiFi and/or Multi-room system, want to box up my CDs and put them in the loft and I’d like good quality sound but I want something easy to use.

Format

We would recommend using a “lossless” compression format such as Apple Lossless or FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec). Both formats are commonly used and can be played by most playback devices that you would use.

The two formats are similar, but FLAC files cannot be stored in iTunes, so the programme you use will probably determine your choice of format. See “programmes” below.

If you decide to use iTunes for Apple Lossless, this can be done by following these steps (written for v10, software developments may alter this process, please call us if you need help)

Open iTunes
Click on “Edit” and Select “preferences” from the drop down list
A box will open with a number of tabs along the top “general” should be selected
Select the “Import Settings” box about two thirds of the way down the page.
A box will open entitled “Import Settings” with a drop down box entitled “Import Using”
Pull this box down and select “Apple Lossless Encoder”

Programmes

iTunes

We have found that that iTunes is the most commonly used programme amongst our clients. Many people already own an Apple portable device and use the programme for this. Since iTunes is both easy to use and can also produce excellent results when set up properly, we have no hesitation in recommending its use.

Other programmes

There are a number of other programmes out there that are equally as good as iTunes and may be preferable to those who want to download music in a format that iTunes does not support, primarily FLAC.

dBPoweramp, J River Jukebox 14 are options we’ve tried and get on well with, but our recommendation is to use iTunes unless you have a specific need to use something else.

Storage Location

If you have a large music collection, we recommend that you protect it by taking a back up.

I want to play my music through my HiFi and/or Multi-room system and I want the very best quality.

Format

For the highest performance, we recommend using a completely uncompressed format such as WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) or AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format).

Other formats such as FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), MLP (Meridian Lossless Packaging) and Apple Lossless can also give good results depending on the original file and the playback system being used. Please check our compatibility chart to see what formats can be used with each of our recommended devices.

If you decide to use iTunes, this can be done by following these steps (written for v10, software developments may alter this process, please call us if you need help)

Open iTunes

Click on “Edit” and Select “preferences” from the drop down list

A box will open with a number of tabs along the top “general” should be selected

Select the “Import Settings” box about two thirds of the way down the page.

A box will open entitled “Import Settings” with a drop down box entitled “Import Using”

Pull this box down and select “WAV Encoder” or ”AIFF Encoder”

Programme

iTunes

If you intend to stream music directly from your PC/MAC to a DAC and have down loads of high resolution musics within your collection, we recommend purchasing an additional programme that sits on top of iTunes. Pure Music and Ammara automatically match the output sample frequency to the original recorded format and preserve the quality of high resolution recordings. These programmes can be found here

http://www.channld.com/puremusic/index.html

http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/

BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS

Some download services such as Linn Records and Deutsche Gramophone only offer their best quality downloads in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) so you may want to use an alternative programme if you intend to build up a collection of high quality downloaded music, or in some cases it may be appropriate to use two programmes.

PC users can use dBpoweramp and J River Jukebox 14 which are inexpensive options we’ve tried and get on well with.

http://www.jriver.com/mj/

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm

For MAC users Amarra offer a player that is separate from iTunes rather than an overlay, and handles FLAC and Pure Music iTunes overlay adds FLAC compatibility. We will update this guide once we’ve Amarra and Pure Music with FLAC files.

Storage Location

If you have a large music collection, we recommend that you protect it by taking a back up.

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