Ripping CDs with JRiver vs. Bluesound Vault 2i

I recently renewed my HiFi equipment (from Yamaha AV receiver with Heco Speakers) to a NAD C368, Dali Opticon 6, BluOS MDC module setup. The result is a good improvement in sound quality, so from that point, I am very satisfied. Music source is a Western Digital NAS System with music files ripped via JRiver from CDs using the FLAC encoder. The NAS is connected to my FritzBox 7490 WLAN router with a network cable, the NAD / BluOS amp is integrated into the network via powerline adapter and network cable in another room.

Seeking for even more improvements and still trying to understand the technology and device portfolio Bluesound provides, I wonder, if I could get noticeable improvements, if I would do my CD ripping with a vault 2i device and integrate the vault network device closer to my NAD / BluOS amp.

Is the ripping process of the Vault 2i any different form the way JRiver rips the CD from my computer CD drive, perhaps providing more quality? If so, what would be the best way to integrate the Vault 2i in the aforementioned setup?

Any realistic suggestions are very welcome. Possibly, I already have reached the nearly optimal setup already, so that the integration of the Vault 2i would not give reasonable benefits.

Additionally, I have another use case for my mobile music listening: I use JRiver to transfer my ripped FLAC encoded music files to my Smartphone for music listening on the road. The Smartphone is connected to my PC via USB cable. Can the Vault 2 i deal with that use case?

Kind regards

Thomas

Official comment

Tony W.

Product Support Manager

October 31, 2019 13:27

Hi Thomas

Keep in mind the comments I made on your post here; https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360037182673

The Bluesound VAULT will do a bit for bit slow transfer with no upsample or downsample. CDs are ripped at their native 16/44.1 resolution as there truly is nothing to gain by upsampling.

With a VAULT on your network, once a CD is ripped, slowly for accuracy, it will auto-magically appear in the BluOS App available to play on either the VAULT or C368 in either room.

Thomas Gülden

October 31, 2019 09:33

One thing, I want to add: I discovered that some of my music files, which I ripped with JRiver from CD, habe occasionally some high, short „click“ tones, which were not audible before, when I listened with my older Yamaha Receiver via Airplay.

I rip now my CDs with the lowest compression rate of the FLAC encoder used by JRiver.

Would this problem go away with the Vault 2i ?

November 04, 2019 18:50

Theoretically yes based on what your post here; https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360037182673

Ripping CDs with JRiver vs. Bluesound Vault 2i

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