Cocktail Audio X10 Discussion, Part II

I'm in the process of downsizing and I've just had the X10 suggested to me to archive my CD collection.

I've just started looking at the specs and it looks great. As far as I can tell, you have to insert the CDs into the X10 to have them ripped, and the tracklist and art downloaded from the internet.

Is it possible to copy existing FLAC files from a computer to the X10, and will it be able to identify the titles and album art (as if it had ripped the CD itself) ?
 
Is it possible to copy existing FLAC files from a computer to the X10, and will it be able to identify the titles and album art (as if it had ripped the CD itself) ?

YES. See my post at 30-01-2013 5:35 PM.

As long as your FLAC files are correctly tagged you should not have a problem. As I said in my abovementioned post, it's the tagging metadata that is important, not the naming and organisation of the fles themselves.

Good Luck :)
 
Thanks starfry. I'll probably use Exact Audio Copy (EAC) to to rip the files on my own PC while I'm still considering whether to buy the X10.

As long as your FLAC files are correctly tagged you should not have a problem.

I don't suppose anyone knows if EAC adds the correct tags to FLAC for the X10 ?
 
I don't suppose anyone knows if EAC adds the correct tags to FLAC for the X10 ?

I don't know EAC because I use Linux, but I expect it puts data in the right tags. The question is whether the data is correct. My rip process pulls data from freedb.org (same as the X10) but the data is occasionally incorrect or missing, and sometimes for multiple disc albums it varies the formatting between discs.

That is especially a pain if the album names don't match because you'll end up with a separate album for each variant of the name. For example freedb might entitle the first disc in an album as "blah (disc1)" but might do the second as "blah - CD2". These both need to be just "blah" for them to combine as one album. So some manual editing may be necessary.

Tags do not need to reflect any file naming convention or directory/folder structure you might use to organise your ripped media. The X10 and other devices rely purely on tagging data.

The other pain is album art. This needs to be attached into the file but you really need to manually check this and perhaps supply your own. I have a low level of confidence in automated tools getting correct artwork. I use a combination of "albumart.org", Amazon and Google to obtain my album art. You may also find that larger images fail to attach (as well as waste space). I've found that keeping to 300x300 pixels or smaller JPEG file works ok.

If you want a really good tag editor that does album art also, I recommend EasyTag. It's free and available for both Linux and Windows (I have no experience of the windows version).

I rip my media on the computer so I am in control. I then upload onto the x10 and I have the x10's media area shared so that other computers can access it. My wife uses that share to access the library in iTunes (it plays the music located on the X10 on her PC, or syncs it with her iPod Shuffle). She also has a button on her web browser which brings up the X10 web interface and she can use this to control what the X10 plays.

I'm rambling on a bit - sorry, I hope it helps :)

PS. I also understand custom tags for iTunes so if this info is of use just ask :)
 
Thanks. I've ended up using dbpoweramp to rip to FLAC. It seems to be much faster than EAc and uses AccurateRip to check for data being ripped accurately.

I've used dbpoweramp's default naming folder/file naming system, so I'm just hoping that the X10 will import the names correctly.
 
For quite a while now I have been looking for a device like this where I can transfer all my CDs (in lossless format of course) and free some space in my lounge. Just wanted to ask a few questions before deciding to go ahead with purchase or not:

1. Is this a reliable product?
2. Does any external HDD work with it (for back-ups, playing music from, etc)?
3. Is the CD easily replaceable (i.e. easy to change for a new one if it breaks down?)
4. Is this the best option I have? (basically I just want a machine that can store my CD collection in lossless format and play it. I am not bothered about Wi-Fi, fancy screens, and all the other add ons).

By the way I use a Mac at home (if that matters).
 
For quite a while now I have been looking for a device like this where I can transfer all my CDs (in lossless format of course) and free some space in my lounge. Just wanted to ask a few questions before deciding to go ahead with purchase or not:

1. Is this a reliable product?
2. Does any external HDD work with it (for back-ups, playing music from, etc)?
3. Is the CD easily replaceable (i.e. easy to change for a new one if it breaks down?)
4. Is this the best option I have? (basically I just want a machine that can store my CD collection in lossless format and play it. I am not bothered about Wi-Fi, fancy screens, and all the other add ons).

By the way I use a Mac at home (if that matters).

1. I have had my cocktail for over 18 months, never broken down; I have had it freeze occasionally but a quick reboot does the trick (the cocktail is jus a cut down linux PC)
2. Only HDD or Sticks formatted as NTFS will work with the cocktail (most are these days)
3.No Idea never had a problem; but since its built to allow replacement of the HHD by users then I doubt its that difficult to replace the CD drive.
4. The only other machine is the Brennan 7; it is about the same price but it is very restrictive, only two formats WAV or MP3; no network access;few firmware updates so not very future proof. Also the brennan, to my knowledge, is only availble mail order whereas you can get the cocktail in shops like Richer Sounds (they will even demo it for you)
 
I have just finished loading all of my CDs onto my new 'Cocktail Audio X10. I have ripped them all to mp3 and I understand that the unit first rips to WAV and then converts to mp3 when not being used. I have switched off the unit and left it with the on/off switch at the back in the ON position. I have tried to backup to an external hard disk and keep getting the 'Still converting, try later' warning. My question is, how long will it take to convert to mp3 as it has been converting for a couple of days so far and still shows 2786 tracks to convert.
 
troddbarry said:
I have just finished loading all of my CDs onto my new 'Cocktail Audio X10. I have ripped them all to mp3 and I understand that the unit first rips to WAV and then converts to mp3 when not being used. I have switched off the unit and left it with the on/off switch at the back in the ON position. I have tried to backup to an external hard disk and keep getting the 'Still converting, try later' warning. My question is, how long will it take to convert to mp3 as it has been converting for a couple of days so far and still shows 2786 tracks to convert.

I panicked about this at first. You need to leave it on standby and it converts in the background it takes a long time to convert you'll have to be patient before you can back up.
 
Thanks russypussy, for your reply. Now I know it takes a long time to convert I can stop worrying, reassured that I am not doing something wrong. So far I am very pleased with the X10 and it seems to do everything it said it would.Great forum too. Did not expect to get a response to my question so soon. Thanks, russypussy, once again.
 
I have had the cocktail audio for a month or so and have loaded about 3000 cds and broadcasts on to it so far. i installed my own 2 TB disk.
I decided to use FLAC for a balance of quality and size. I have connected it to the hi-fi via my Arcam amp and I am very pleased with the quality of sound.

I ripped the CDs using ripping software on my desktop and copied the results to the cocktail audio via the external USB connection. I am not sure about what indexing method to use but if you take Bach for example I have loaded 300 or 400 disks. The cocktail is not very quick at returning to the top level index entry. A quick way of adding sleeve covers in one go for a cd with 20 tracks would be useful.

Anyway I think it's a fantastic little box and should be encouraged.
 
I am thinking of purchasing the 1TB X10 - one question I have relates to importing music from LP's. I have an Ion iTUSB turntable which I have used to record my LP's onto my PC, and I have done this by connecting the inbuilt USB cable on the turntable to the PC and using Audacity software on the PC to record.
Can you connect the turntable to the USB on the X10 and record LP's direct on to the X10 that way, or do you have to use the line (aux) in?
 
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Hi All, :hiya:

Does anyone know how to create a playlist (i.e. what paths to use for the tracks) and import it into the cocktail?

Also, is there any direct access into the x10 via ssh or telnet?

Cheers
 
After going through this forum and learning a lot about this little box of tricks I parted with my cash at Richer Sounds a couple of weeks ago. Apart from the odd lockup of the unit as noted in earlier posts I have found that the web browser although a Beta Ver 0.9.4.2 performs pretty well, apart from trying to add album art as it will not see any image files from either Allcovers or Amazon and with google it will only show a line of clickable boxes with the jpeg size but no image. Is this a known bug with the software or is there an update available or planned?. If I click one of the boxes it will download an image but without preview its not always the right on
 
Any news about future update? It's been three months since the last update. I wonder if the web browser will still stay in Beta version. The web browser is ok but still need a big change. I have read a lots of suggestions for improvement sent to cocktailaudioX10.co.uk forum and it would be great if they would consider them.
 
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Any news about future update? It's been three months since the last update. I wonder if the web browser will still stay in Beta version. The web browser is ok but still need a big change. I have read a lots of suggestions for improvement sent to cocktailaudioX10.co.uk forum and it would be great if they would consider them.

Has gone a bit quiet over there. Be a good idea if they had like a "what's in development" (regarding firmware etc) section.Just to keep us in the loop etc.
 
Having tried, without much success, to stream music from my CAX10 to a Sony SA-NS410 (Network Speaker) using 'Eyecon', (the streaming software mentioned in the CAX10 handbook) installed on a Samsung Galaxy 8.9 tablet, I decided that 'Eycon' was just not reliable (it might, of course, have been me!), so I looked on the Internet for a replacement.

I finally found 'BubbleUPnP', it looked promising so I downloaded and installed it on my tablet, they let you do this on a trial basis. It seemed to me to work better than Eyecon so I raided my piggy bank and forked out the £3.04 for the full version.
I've had it now for a couple of weeks and although I'm still learning (I am a very slow learner) it seems to me to work well and I find the display very clear.
I haven't seen any correspondence about this but if there is anyone thinking of streaming music from the CAX10 over a home network my experience might be helpful.
 
Has anyone come across a question mark appearing on tracks and albums. Some of mine after playing normally in the past can not now be played because a question mark for some reason has appeared. The ever so helpful.......Not admin on cocktail forum has said this is not possible when clearly it is because its happened on my player.
 
Question marks usually point to a character set issue. Not sure how that relates to the x10 though
 
This sounds like corrupted tags - not sure how that could happen though. Do you have a backup that you could restore to see if it fixes the issue?
 
I tried the recovery mode and it removed all the albums with question marks next to them, so I suppose I will have to re-rip them. Unless there is a way to restore them.
 
Do you not have a physical backup on another harddisc you could restore?
 
It's one of those jobs that you say your going to do and before you know it you regret not doing it, so no I haven't unfortunately :(
 
Just learned about the Olive One. Tempted to sell my X10 and get one of the Olive One. Seems like the same price as the X10 but with touchscreen, better web interface and audiophile grade quality.
 

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