Who will replace Oppo?

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You need a small PC, a NAS box and the drives to load into it. A new NUC mini PC goes for about $350 by the time you get an SS drive and memory installed. That is for an fairly high performance i5 processor. A lessor processor will cost about $100 less.

A 4 bay NAS is another $300-$350. Drive price depends on size. I have two 4TB drives in my NAS right now (I can add 2 additional drives in the future). They run in a mirrored configuration and provide 4TB of storage. That's my whole collection, surround and stereo, and the drives are barely 2/3 full. The drives go for about $150 each.

The media player software is free for Kodi or Foobar, and under $50 if you need to run JRiver. That totals up to about $1000 complete for the media player.

And of course if you already have hardware that functions well for you as a streamer, you can skip buying a separate computer to use as a playback device.

While I understand the appeal of multi-bay NASes and have lusted after them in the past, I think it's less expensive and arguably more secure to buy multiple single-bay devices and back one up to the other. RAID is definitely useful and convenient, but it's not technically backup. If all your drives are in one box and something goes catastrophically wrong with that box and damages all the drives, you're in trouble. On the other hand, if you have multiple NASes (or other drives), the complete failure of one won't affect the other.

I actually ran a hybrid setup for several years: I had a pair of two-bay NASes that each had two RAID 1 mirrored 2TB drives. But rather than just trusting RAID, they were each backed up to other, cheaper single-drive boxes. The backup drives can even be in a separate room (or if you're really fancy and have a good network, a different house).

As a general rule, the more you know about Linux, the cheaper you can do this stuff as well. A very inexpensive computer with cheap attached USB drives can act as a NAS with far more flexibility than a mainstream consumer NAS usually offers. The downside is that it may require a level of skill and amount of learning that far exceed one's interest.

It's also technically possible to do that with a Windows computer, but I had bad luck with both Vista and Windows 7 randomly deciding not to serve data any more. It's possible that's less a Windows shortcoming than the techno-curse/little black cloud that follows me around to punish me for being a bad person.
 
Everything you say is true in my mind. There are a lot of ways a HTPC can be put together.

My NAS is a Qnap Q-451+, just like this one. You'll notice it costs more than the $350 a 4 bay device usually costs... Its because it has a quad core PC built in. It has an HDMI jack and even comes with a remote. For quite some time It was my HTPC. No other equipment was necessary. I ran Kodi directly from the Qnap. The only requirement is the NAS needs to be located within an HDMI cable length to your display monitor.

But it runs on Linux, which I have no experience with at all. I also wanted to run Netflix and a few other video apps on the same TV. I only knew how to do that with Windows. Besides, I had some grand plans of trying other media software beside Kodi which would require a windows platform (which I haven't done yet). So I got a mini PC to use as a head unit and a copy of Windows. If I had been comfortable with Linux however, I could have loaded it all on the Qnap. My cost would have been $750 for the NAS and the drives.

Others have had good luck with even less expensive equipment. QQ mod Homer was playing with these Wetek units using them for MC playback and running Kodi. We are talking $100 here folks. Provided you can locate it all close enough to your video monitor, just add your USB drives and off you go. But again its a Linux device.

As time goes on, this stuff is getting more common and more affordable.
 
Thanks for that advice! I know Linux pretty well. One of the songs on my album was recorded completely in Linux.

Cool!

Since you're comfortable with Linux and we're talking about multiple drives and backups, I'll just put it out there that rsync is your friend. Once you get the right command string, it can keep your primaries and backups nicely lined up.

I have my rsync scripts kick off every morning in "dry run" mode so that nothing actually changes, but I get a report of what would change if I run a real backup. It's an extra level of paranoia to make sure nothing gets wiped out if something has subtly gone wrong.
 
There are a lot of ways a HTPC can be put together.

Definitely! And even though I seem to be cheerleading for the lower-cost but higher-fuss options, there's definitely much to be said for paying extra for an all-in-one box that Just Works. I personally enjoy the media AND the fussing, but I'm sure most people would just rather listen to the music.
 
It's also technically possible to do that with a Windows computer, but I had bad luck with both Vista and Windows 7 randomly deciding not to serve data any more. It's possible that's less a Windows shortcoming than the techno-curse/little black cloud that follows me around to punish me for being a bad person.
I can assure you that is not a curse that just follows you around. I get similar random behavior Windows 7 and shared drives as well.
 
Definitely! And even though I seem to be cheerleading for the lower-cost but higher-fuss options, there's definitely much to be said for paying extra for an all-in-one box that Just Works. I personally enjoy the media AND the fussing, but I'm sure most people would just rather listen to the music.
Same here. If I were to go the HTPC route (vs using a dedicated media player) , I would probably just go with a cheaper laptop and likely not even bother with one of the Intel NUCs.
 
I can assure you that is not a curse that just follows you around. I get similar random behavior Windows 7 and shared drives as well.

It's been years now, but I vaguely remember some registry hack that fixed the problem in Vista but never worked in 7. While it's annoying that a feature was offered that didn't actually work, in the end I'm pretty happy that it forced me to figure out how to do this stuff in Linux.
 
Definitely! And even though I seem to be cheerleading for the lower-cost but higher-fuss options, there's definitely much to be said for paying extra for an all-in-one box that Just Works. I personally enjoy the media AND the fussing, but I'm sure most people would just rather listen to the music.

Hi,
When you say "all in one box" what are you referring to?

Thanks,
PK
 
When you say "all in one box" what are you referring to?

A computer that can play the files and has all the storage either directly attached or included internally.

As opposed to my situation where I use a Windows computer to extract and manipulate the files, which are then stored on a NAS and played back by either a tiny little single-board Linux box or by having that Linux box send the bits to an Oppo player or by the Oppo player directly accessing the NAS, depending on what's easiest at the time. I don't find it that confusing, but I've lived and breathed this stuff for years.
 
I just want to mention another alternative...and it's an Oppo….it's the 103 and it's used...BUT....the circumstances are a little different....it falls under the blanket of the now wildly popular..."warehouse" special category....here is the listing…now concentrating on the one listed as "good"....think about this...you are buying from amazon...not a private buyer...so you do get some guarantees....like a 30 day return policy....if some of you are looking for an "extra" Oppo...or you are on a budget and aren't afraid to take a risk..this might be the ticket....and the 103 can help you rip SACDs...which has value...right now there are 10 of these available in the "good" category...another thing worth mentioning...if you order this and don't have prime you can get a free trial of prime for one week for only $1.99...so you can upgrade to faster shipping for a modest cost.....now if I were interested in this purchase I would contact amazon and ask some questions...get more information to see if these were merely old stock that might have been returned and were sitting in a warehouse or what was the origin of the players for sale...you could always ask if getting a warranty was possible...if that's important to you...anyway I thought I would mention it...as much as I try to get away from this thread...I keep returning:unsure:
 
sold out already!

Yeah--dang! And just when I'd finally succeeded in arranging to return the open-box unit I bought two weeks ago for $165 so that I could snag one of these...

Oh well. Fourplay mentioned on another thread that many Amazon reviews call this one "buggy," and I suppose the fact that Best Buy had enough "refurbished" units to move that they were flogging them for 99 bucks lends some credence to that. FWIW: mine hasn't been in service very long, but I've been using it fairly heavily in order to give my Oppo a break, and so far, so good. (Plus, it streams Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime without a hitch.)
 
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Interesting conversation. I went fully digital around 12 years ago and disposed of all my CDs after ripping them. I discovered quad and became curious around two years later and started amassing decoded files for future use, but wasn't able to listen to them until five years ago with the purchase of a £30 Raspberry Pi, an Onkyo receiver and a server on which I store all the files. I simply cannot fathom why anyone would put themselves through the hassle using a disc for digital music.

Around 2005 I worked for a hi-fi manufacturer that produced an all-purpose, silver disc player. Although there was demand in the audiophile community for such a machine, even then it seemed like a retrograde step. The audiophile silver disc formats were not solutions to any technical problem in music distribution, but devices to keep music proprietary and under the control of the labels. I get why the labels would do that, but I don't understand why anyone else would voluntarily comply.

While stereo and audiophile has moved toward digital downloads, multichannel has remained resolutely disc-based. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's just too niche, and lends itself more towards niche formats.
 
The audiophile silver disc formats were not solutions to any technical problem in music distribution, but devices to keep music proprietary and under the control of the labels.

I have heard this sentiment expressed many times before. Its not like the copy protection schemes have done particularly well. Every protected format has been broken for both audio and video media. The copy protection schemes they use aren't even considered speed bumps any more. MQA is the newest "protection scheme" to come to the surface, and judging from the lack of acceptance from the public at large, it wont survive very long at all because the target market who would buy a new Hi Res format like MQA are simply tired of this same old business model.

I have also heard a similar argument applied to why we don't get everything in Hi Res. Because once its "out there" ... its out there.... and it really wont be sold again because no one needs it.

Think about how many versions and formats you might have bought of your favorite album... like for instance, Dark Side of the Moon...
I had: several standard LPs, an import LP, a Mo-Fi LP, a Q8 tape, a CD, a gold CD, an SACD, and a bootleg Parsons mix DVD-A. Not to mention the Bluray edition that I didn't buy. Now imagine the money they would have never made if that album were released today, on bluray, in Hi res, right from the start. Why would anyone ever buy another? I believe the labels are afraid of this.
 
I have heard this sentiment expressed many times before. Its not like the copy protection schemes have done particularly well. Every protected format has been broken for both audio and video media. The copy protection schemes they use aren't even considered speed bumps any more. MQA is the newest "protection scheme" to come to the surface, and judging from the lack of acceptance from the public at large, it wont survive very long at all because the target market who would buy a new Hi Res format like MQA are simply tired of this same old business model.

I have also heard a similar argument applied to why we don't get everything in Hi Res. Because once its "out there" ... its out there.... and it really wont be sold again because no one needs it.

Think about how many versions and formats you might have bought of your favorite album... like for instance, Dark Side of the Moon...
I had: several standard LPs, an import LP, a Mo-Fi LP, a Q8 tape, a CD, a gold CD, an SACD, and a bootleg Parsons mix DVD-A. Not to mention the Bluray edition that I didn't buy. Now imagine the money they would have never made if that album were released today, on bluray, in Hi res, right from the start. Why would anyone ever buy another? I believe the labels are afraid of this.

Since you broached this subject...and you are one of my favorite posters...perhaps you can answer this....I wonder why they basically opened the flood gates to full access on these USB sticks they offer on the mega boxes...like the Grateful Dead USB stick...which the sellers on Ebay freely admit that they purchased the USB and only used it once to make a copy....I know they are trying to convey how "like new" the USB is....but they are also admitting they copied it...and to think they only made one copy is really suspect...IMO.....and perhaps I'm wrong about this but there appears to be no copy protection on these drives...is it because the price is high enough that the record companies agree to this....I'd love your opinion and correct me if my assumptions are wrong...
 
You guys talk about storing files digitally.....I have 8TB solely for music storage on my main machine (only use about 4TB for reasons of Windows 10 pisses me off and tells me they are too full) lol,
I have probably 2TB of BD copied to my HTPC, and maybe 2TB of BD on wife's pc...I just put a new 2TB on hers a few months ago for more storage.
I have a separate 2TB disc I keep in a box, it gets swapped in place of the burner to back up SACD/DVDA/DTS. I don't have any great solutions, but there is a digital copy of each disc.

But what I want, what I really really want, is a brand new (or good used Oppo) machine newer and better than my BDP-80. In time.....
 
You guys talk about storing files digitally.....I have 8TB solely for music storage on my main machine (only use about 4TB for reasons of Windows 10 pisses me off and tells me they are too full) lol,
I have probably 2TB of BD copied to my HTPC, and maybe 2TB of BD on wife's pc...I just put a new 2TB on hers a few months ago for more storage.
I have a separate 2TB disc I keep in a box, it gets swapped in place of the burner to back up SACD/DVDA/DTS. I don't have any great solutions, but there is a digital copy of each disc.

But what I want, what I really really want, is a brand new (or good used Oppo) machine newer and better than my BDP-80. In time.....

You can get one...all it takes is patience and some due diligence...and of course you have to pay the market price...once you get over your tendency to "bargain" hunt...you can find one...if you know how to shop on Ebay...there are good options...focus on the buyer's track record...look to see what he has sold in the past...not just his good comments on past sales...
 
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