Large Capacity HiFi Music Storage

[28XX]

My father is 87 and nearly completely blind. He has asked me to find a system onto which we can rip his entire classical music CD collection which at present occupies the whole of one wall of shelf storage in my former bedroom, plus random piles dotted about his house.

 

He has told me this morning that he needs to move to a care home since his sight has deteriorated to such an extent that he is in danger, so the music project has become urgent.

 

I have surfed the net but everything seems to be heading towards streaming, multi room, networking etc. which we don't need. Is this as simple as buying a modern computer with a 2 or 3 TB HDD and connecting to it a good amp and speakers, or is there a more elegant solution?

[dhjgreen]

I did look at one these some time ago but stayed with CDs.

 

http://www.brennan.co.uk

[RANGERS]

My father is 87 and nearly completely blind. He has asked me to find a system onto which we can rip his entire classical music CD collection which at present occupies the whole of one wall of shelf storage in my former bedroom, plus random piles dotted about his house.

 

He has told me this morning that he needs to move to a care home since his sight has deteriorated to such an extent that he is in danger, so the music project has become urgent.

 

I have surfed the net but everything seems to be heading towards streaming, multi room, networking etc. which we don't need. Is this as simple as buying a modern computer with a 2 or 3 TB HDD and connecting to it a good amp and speakers, or is there a more elegant solution?

 

Really sorry to hear this, loss of independence is a tough one to bear for anyone and as a result of it being down to losing the one sense I dread failing strikes a real chord.

 

What you say is pretty much the solution, there are a number of routes to achieve it but storage and a good sound system will achieve the result. I'd suggest finding a local Hi-Fi specialist and paying them a visit, you can check out the options and make an objective choice as to what will be easiest for him to use. The more sophisticated systems are around but there are simple ones and someone who can explain the options and more importantly, show you what they are will really help.

 

Ripping the CDs will take time, do't underestimate just how long it might take!

 

I wish you the best of luck with it and hope your father has many years ahead of him to enjoy the results.

[Danemouth]

My father is 87 and nearly completely blind. He has asked me to find a system onto which we can rip his entire classical music CD collection which at present occupies the whole of one wall of shelf storage in my former bedroom, plus random piles dotted about his house.

 

He has told me this morning that he needs to move to a care home since his sight has deteriorated to such an extent that he is in danger, so the music project has become urgent.

 

I have surfed the net but everything seems to be heading towards streaming, multi room, networking etc. which we don't need. Is this as simple as buying a modern computer with a 2 or 3 TB HDD and connecting to it a good amp and speakers, or is there a more elegant solution?

 

Try iTunes (free) on a laptop/notebook, this will rip CDs and get track info and album artwork from the internet. Laptop can be plugged into an amplifier or bluetooth speakers.

 

Dave

[Tim V]

Try an MP3 player, connected to a set of speakers.

 

you rip the CDs to MP3 format, put them on the MP3 player - Bingo!

[Ian J.]

Much will depend on what format you transfer the classical files from CD to. If you want best quality (and with classical that's a frequent desire) then FLAC is likely to be what you want, but it takes up considerably more disk space than even the best quality MP3 (which is what I settled for). I fit 600+ CDs onto about half of a 128GB micro sd card in best quality MP3 format. In FLAC they'd take up several such cards.

 

So one option might be to get an external 6 or 8TB HDD, transfer the CDs to FLAC and put them on that. Have a second same HDD as a back up with duplicates of everything on the first. Then hook that up to a device that is able to see both the HDD and can play back the FLAC files. It might be possible with a tablet, but a laptop could probably do it. Then hook the output of that to a decent amplifier and speakers for listening.

 

What ever sound system you go for, try and make sure it can play back FLAC files and MP3s.

[dhjgreen]

I did look at one these some time ago but stayed with CDs.

http://www.brennan.co.uk

This can record FLAC.

[30801]

I have surfed the net but everything seems to be heading towards streaming, multi room, networking etc. which we don't need. Is this as simple as buying a modern computer with a 2 or 3 TB HDD and connecting to it a good amp and speakers, or is there a more elegant solution?

 

I know you said you don't want streaming, but as eyesight is an issue an Amazon Echo is seriously worth looking into. You can upload your own music to Amazon's cloud, up to 250,000 songs for £22 pa.

It works standalone and is always on so you can ask it to play music, ask it the weather & news, set reminders etc just by talking to it. The one with a built in speaker isn't HiFi, sounding more like a good portable radio. The cheaper £50 Echo Dot has Bluetooth and line-out so you can plug it into an external amp.

[Fat Controller]

We replaced our (broken) CD with a Brennan at Christmas. Storage capacity is massive, and sound quality excellent, even on our existing speakers. You can group CDs into 'playlists' , so your dad could have all of Beethoven's Symphonies in order, for example. There is something called 'Classical' mode, which I haven't looked at yet.

[Bernard Lamb]

Try an MP3 player, connected to a set of speakers.

 

you rip the CDs to MP3 format, put them on the MP3 player - Bingo!

Except that the OP refers to HiFi.

Probably the best bet is a computer with  a separate hard disk drive, but as others have said, that will take time.

If, or rather when that happens to me, I hope to be able to make a short list for some one to copy and just keep a selection.

Bernard

[jjb1970]

These days memory is cheap enough to go for lossless storage so you get CD quality and store a full collection. The pain is the time it takes to transfer the CDs onto memory but hopefully you only need to do that once. Idid it a while ago and have never looked back. I use two 128GB micro cards for my personal audio player and the mini system in the lounge has a USB port. The Brennan gets excellent reviews but I think just about all stereo systems now come with some means to read digital files. Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz and others make some excellent systems at sensible prices. For most people a good mini system is perfectly sufficient and at age 87 I suspect your hearing has degraded to the point where high end esoteric hifi is pointless. I have a separates system and a mini system in the lounge and to be quite honest the difference in sound is not that wide, certainly not commensurate with the price difference.

[stovepipe]

How would someone with very poor eyesight operate a laptop or similar? The Amazon Echo suggested above is a good one to avoid the issues with scrolling through lists for the right piece of music.

[jjb1970]

How would someone with very poor eyesight operate a laptop or similar? The Amazon Echo suggested above is a good one to avoid the issues with scrolling through lists for the right piece of music.

Very good point.

[andi4x4]

So sorry to hear about your fathers failing eyesight, that is the one thing I fear most.

 

I rip all my cd's onto my laptop into MP3 format at highest quality using the Windows Media Player ( provided free with the Windows OS ) and playback from my laptop using either a BOSE Soundlink Mini bluetooth speaker or the Samsung bluetooth sound bar which came with our telly. The Bose unit is very small (about half the size of a housebrick) but the sound it puts out is very impressive and very loud ! My music collection includes a little of everything from Classical to extreme hardcore thrash metal and most styles inbetween.

 

On my Win10 HP laptop, ripping a normal CD with Media Player takes 3 or 4 minutes (or less) per disc and the sound quality is perfectly good enough - indistinguishable from CD quality to my ears. All my music is kept on the laptop and is backed up, in duplicate, onto two 2TB portable HDD's. Windows Media Player will automatically group albums by artist and can display large album cover images on screen in list format. There are voice recognition applications available to help the blind or partially sighted navigate a pc verbally, and if you get a really good quality headset, he can play the music back through the headphones, too. I currently have about 350 albums and some CD Singles stored this way consuming approximately 13GB of space. I got another four double albums for Christmas which I have yet to to so this has reminded me to get on with - Thanks ! 

 

There are several music file formats and many,many good sound systems available - which you choose will depend on how much the audio playback quality matters to you. Music is important to me as I play guitar myself, but the MP3 format is plenty good enough for me for playback. FLAC is very high quality and great for creating your own music, but it takes up a lot of space and, in most case, playback quality is not really distinguishable from HQ MP3 when played back through the majority of home sound systems.

 

I also do the same with DVD's - got about 200 stored in AVI format at the mo.

[Tim V]

Except that the OP refers to HiFi.

Probably the best bet is a computer with  a separate hard disk drive, but as others have said, that will take time.

If, or rather when that happens to me, I hope to be able to make a short list for some one to copy and just keep a selection.

Bernard

Unfortunately HiFi is a rather over-used term - I've seen mini units costing under £200 called "HiFi". 

 

There are those that consider CDs not to be of HiFi quality.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Transferring all those CD's. Betcha he listens to 5 or maybe 10% of the collection with regularity. Worth asking the question about priorities I would suggest.

 

The care home will ideally be one which offers residents sonically isolated rooms, if a conventional loudspeaker system is to be used. Some are like hell on earth with alarms, monitors, staff calls, blaring radios and televisions all audible, at all locations, at all times, in saeculae saeculorum, amen. Sitting with a dying friend at 3am with what sounded like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise on steroids going off all around was a significant trial, there would be no possibility of musical enjoyment over loudspeakers in such a place. Would Dad consider noise cancelling headphones?

 

Sound quality: there are 'traps' in classical music especially where 'chorus effects' in massed strings or voices can become readily audible, and these are reportedly more noticeable with age. Data reduction regimes typically make such effects yet worse, really unpleasant wolf tones and warbles at worst, a general 'grittiness' in the background at best. Need to test against the music he enjoys most, for his assessment of acceptable sound.

 

I know you said you don't want streaming, but as eyesight is an issue an Amazon Echo is seriously worth looking into. You can upload your own music to Amazon's cloud, up to 250,000 songs for £22 pa. It works standalone and is always on so you can ask it to play music, ask it the weather & news, set reminders etc just by talking to it...

 Voice control: I would want to test that with the individual concerned to see if it is reliable enough. (For someone going blind late in life it sounds a very good prospect, but it has to work near perfectly to avoid endless frustration.)

The care home will need to be in a location with excellent wi-fi bandwidth. My parents are in a very fine one; which however doesn't possess this attribute...

[ColinK]

A suggestion based on how I store my music. I've ripped my CD's onto to iMac - easy to do, but does take time. You could then download those he listens to most onto an iphone or ipod (get a version with plenty of memory). These have voice recognition so he should be able to tell the ipod/iphone what to play. He could then listen using headphones or a docking station. I use good quailty Bose wireless headphones. Best wishes.

[tender]

A suggestion based on how I store my music. I've ripped my CD's onto to iMac - easy to do, but does take time. You could then download those he listens to most onto an iphone or ipod (get a version with plenty of memory). These have voice recognition so he should be able to tell the ipod/iphone what to play. He could then listen using headphones or a docking station. I use good quailty Bose wireless headphones. Best wishes.

I do this from my iPad with iTunes using Apples 'Siri' voice recognition. Works very well.

Say 'Play Bach Brandenburg' and Siri searches my iTunes collection for a match and starts playing. You can drill down to a particular track by simply supplying more info. Siri even recognises my pigeon Welsh for the few Welsh language albums I have.

I use Apples 'Air Play' on the iPad to stream the data to my Apple TV box connected to the HiFi with an optical link. The audio results are very respectable. The Bose Quite Comfort Headphones are worth a listen to if you're listening in a noisy environment.

My iTunes music is stored on Apples iCloud so there's no storage issues on the iPad but does need a fairly good broadband connection.

I have all the important albums stored on a iPod as a back up just incase the internet goes down or if I want to listen while out and about. The original CD,s rarely make an appearance.

 

Edit: I believe the latest Apple TV box is Siri enabled (and also has Apple Music as does the earlier version) so could bypass the iPad, just speak into the remote. 'Beam me up Scotty'

[28XX]

Thank you all for your comments and constructive suggestions. Dad is far from a technophobe, but I think voice recognition is a step too far. I need to get to see some of the user interfaces in real life to gauge how dad would cope.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

I will be interested in any further reports as you look at the options.

 

Looking at much the same situations potentially developing with two elderly folk - one of whom is legally blind, but actually has acute vision in a very limited field - both of whom have accepted the need for a huge edit of their CD collections to enable downsizing moves, but are otherwise currently content with conventional CD playing systems. In my experience the learning of new tech is not entirely welcomed by either, and remotes with tiny buttons and vanishingly small symbols and texts the source of particular ire. I had a short chat with an Age UK worker a few years past when the decisions on how to handle their requirements were being worked out, but her attitude centred on 'Aren't they content just to watch the television?' which did not impress...

[Tim V]

 I had a short chat with an Age UK worker a few years past when the decisions on how to handle their requirements were being worked out, but her attitude centred on 'Aren't they content just to watch the television?' which did not impress...

That is an outrageous comment, says more about her than anything else.

[jonny777]

Thank you all for your comments and constructive suggestions. Dad is far from a technophobe, but I think voice recognition is a step too far. I need to get to see some of the user interfaces in real life to gauge how dad would cope.

 

I would add that if your father is likely to go into a care home, headphones would be the best option. Mahler's 4th symphony may sound good through speakers, but not always to the occupants of adjacent rooms.

[Gordon A]

Have a look at a NovafidelityX12 with a minimum of 1TB on which to store music.

 

Gordon A

[Revolution Mike]

We got my grandad a Brennan when he needed to downsize his music collection - very easy to use.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Fat Controller]

We got my grandad a Brennan when he needed to downsize his music collection - very easy to use.

 

Cheers, Mike

I'm getting used to the thing; still loading music on to it, which takes about ten minutes for an average CD. I've had one CD thus far whose existence it stubbornly refuses to accept, claiming there is no CD. Strangely, several discs that I couldn't transfer on to a USB for the car because of some sort of anti-piracy feature have been recorded without problem.

One thing I would suggest is getting some of those small self-adhesive coloured dots; as you complete 'ripping', put a dot on the outside of the CD, so you know you've done it.