[crwilli]

I studied how to jump into the digital media world for almost a year learning much from the members here and in other venues. I have had a Sonos systerm for two years and used that experience to also educate myself on the basics. There was no question I wanted the same convenience, having access to and control over my music, that the Sonos provided, in a system that allowed for higher resolution. The two high level options were closed systems offered by many reputable companies and a PC based one. In the end, I decided that while the closed systems offer a mostly simple application and initial ease of use, I didn't like the somewhat limited upgrade \ expansion ability of most nor the cost of the best. Therefore, I decided fairly early on to move toward a PC based system. The only questions then were how best to configure it all and how to insure that my investment in the media was protected.

As the title suggests, I decided to buy a Silenzio from Emile of 'Audio by E' after a few discussions and as I said, lots of research. I have now had it installed for about three weeks. First impressions.

1) Unless you are burning a CD, it is silent. 100%. nothing mechanical in it other than the drive. Therefore, it is perfect for a dedicated audio room.

2) The software that Emile suggests works - period. Especially, the Exact Audio Copy which is used to burn CDs to FLAC (in my case). JRiver works well - although personally, I find it a little tedious coming up the steep learnign curve. Technically it works great. The JRiver Remote for the iPAD is excellent!

3) Emile's integration of the NAS is flawless. That is the one area I had no experience with and the simplicity of what seemed to me to be complicated has been greatly appreciated. I could have done it on my own with a great deal more time and aggrevation. It works great!

4) The Silenzio as a PC is super fast. It boots in seconds. Like 6.

5) The sound -- I now have burned roughly 40 CDs to FLAC and have roughly 30 CDs in HiResolution downloads. not to mention my 175Gbs of mp3's.

All are streaming wirelessly (that's right!) from my NAS a floor away to the Silenzio through a WW Platinum Starlight USB into a McIntosh D100. To my ears, there is NO difference between the CD and the FLAC versions and very little difference between the FLAC at 16 : 44 and the 24 : 96\ 172\192 music I have. Yes, I can hear the difference wtih mp3's but they are great - like the Sonos, for background, party music. The biggest differences are simply the source recording. The sound is phenomenal.

6) Emile - the best for last. As has been stated many times, Emile is a pleasure to work with and provides a value add that more than justifies anyone beyond an expert from trying to do this on their own.

From his design of the Silenzio to the thought of how to configure the software, to the seemless integration with the NAS of your choice to his willingness to spend the time it takes to get you up to speed and keep you there he provides a valued high end product.

I am pleased with my purchase and really suggest anyone thinking about moving to media based music \video to make a point of calling Emile. It will be worth your time and your ears \ eyes will thank you.