The '<n> albums' sort order (again)

[DavidHB]

l

(17-09-2013 11:01)simoncn Wrote:  I think many people would find this useful.

I'll try to find the time; as I explained in my last, I am not entirely in control of my agenda at present. I'd like to use a fairly structured format, as this is helpful for new users, and enables experienced contributors to spot and correct mistakes more easliy.

Quote:I agree that this is an important topic and I'd pleased to see these discussions on the MinimServer forums. There is already a forum section for Music Tagging, which is one aspect of this. It might be useful to add a new forum section with a broader scope as a place for discussions about the wider digital audio ecosystem. Perhaps this new section would be a suitable place to host tutorial guides as well as other discussions.

I think this is a very good idea, particuarly as workflow is typically described in step-by-step fashion, and such descriptions can be used, at least to some extent, as tutorials.

More generally, the rason for my 48 hour silence was, as you will have guessed, the arrival and installation of my Akurate DSM. And you are right; I think I'm going to be very happy with it. Played through my Quad 606/Rogers LS3/5A/REL T2 setup, it is actally pretty hard to tell the difference from the expensive counterparts the dealer was using during the demo. 'Source first' is certainly a viable philosophy.

The demo had covered all the ground on streaming, and with my infrastructure already in place, the Linn just slotted in and made itself at home. The bigger surprise was just how capable a preamplifier and contol unit the DSM acually is. With digital sources, you get to realise that the DAC is very good. Using the digital output of my Roksan Kandy Mk III, and so reducing the player to the status of a transport, has massively improved CD playback, so not everything will have to be ripped and streamed. Things are just as good on the analogue side. As I write, I am re-discovering my LP collection; the Linn Basik may not be an LP 12, but it is a capable deck, and it's now playing through a Linn phono stage. The only downside is that, while the in-built Class A headphone amplifier is pretty good, I am inclined to prefer my Naim Headline, and there is no way to run that from the Akurate, as all its pre-amplifier outputs are volume controlled; this could be a gotcha for anyone thinking of upgrading from, say, a Majik DSM, as that does have an output that is not controlled.

So far, I also quite like Kinsky. I've crashed it a couple of times on Android; playlist edititing does not seem to be as robust as on the PC and, I understand, the iOS versons. But recovering from an app crash in Android is usually not a big deal, and the stylish user interface does not sacrifice usabilty for prettiness. I also like the way Kinsky takes the input from MinimServer and uses it as is without imposing rules of its own. This means that I can probably do most of the 'tuning' of my system through MinimServer options, starting, of course, by working out a way of dealing with the 'surname first' issue for composers and artists ...

David