Brute

I love Rex! I agree with all that has been stated already but would like to add that I really dig his HRS & Keynote recordings as well. Also, "Baby, Aintcha' Satisfied" is one of my all-time favorites.

That's funny shit right there.

I own the Squeezebox Touch (for my home stereo) and a Squeezebox radio (for bedside, patio, garage, etc). I've spent the last 5-6 months ripping my CD collection to FLAC and can now stream all of my music (25,000 songs) in CD quality via wifi to anywhere on my property. I seldom listen to internet radio but these units can do that too. I LOVE the squeezebox.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

The only other advice I'll add is that I strongly urge you to rip and convert to a lossless codec. If you're going to put in the time to convert a large collection it makes sense to do it once. I ripped my entire CD collection to the compressed Apple Audio Codec for ipod about 5-6 years ago and then had to re-rip & convert it a second time for FLAC. Giant pain in the ass. I would have gone the FLAC route the first time but storage was too expensive at the time. With FLAC or other lossless codecs you can always change it back to .WAV file without losing anything. However, this can't happen when you compress to mp3 or aac etc.

I'm not sure about dual format drives. However, there are numerous free ripping & converting programs out there. I use fre:ac. I have ripped and converted 20,000 songs since May and have only encountered a handful of bad tracks so far. I believe those were a result of scratched CDs. EDIT: Forgot to add that I have been using Western Digital hard drives with no issues.

I just noticed in your original post that you claim to not have a DVD player. You can still record analog audio by lining out of your laptop but you'll most likely need a specific cable to do it, like this one Dual RCA - Mini.

You could always line out in analog from a set top DVD player into a standalone CD burner or digital recorder. I have successfully done this numerous times into one of these sony pcm-d50. They work great for needle drops, too. Of course I realize not everyone has one of those just lying around.

I recommend FLAC for sure. I am currently streaming CD quality FLAC files (16 bit 44k) on my home WI-FI using a Logitech Squeezebox Touch that is attached to my home stereo (i also have the squeezebox radio to move around the house & property with). I have about 20,000 FLAC files ripped from my CD collection and stored on a 1TB drive (backed up to a second 2 TB drive) attached to my computer in the basement. It is networked to my AT&T gateway which streams the info around the house. Sounds as good as a CD and much more convenient. The thing that sealed the deal for me was the free ipad and Android apps that can control it on the network.

Thanks for updating this thread. I just picked up the '84 version for $7.99 at my local used CD shop. I'm looking forward to giving it a spin.

My apologies to you for overreacting, Mr. Litweiler.

Why thank you, madam. Although, I'm not upset at all. I read that book for entertainment not for scholarly research. Is it historically accurate? I dunno but it was an entertaining read.

Yes, for clarification's sake, the one I bought for 25 cents was "Jazz in Search of Itself".

That's correct and don't forget about the sack.

Whatever. Nobody "deserves respect". Respect is something that is earned and no one who has posted after me in this thread will be recieving it from me. I'm not a literary critic and I'm not a music critic. I'm just a guy who enjoyed reading the book. It was the first book that I read on JRM and will likely be the last. I really don't feel the need to defend my opinion anymore so if you if you want to know why daddy is salty, you can lick his sack to find out.

Wow. I'm impressed. I've read your book, Larry. I paid a quarter for it when my public library weeded it out of their collection due to low circulation. I'll refrain from reviewing it since I happen to be a music fan and not a critic.

OK. Everyone is a critic. Pal. Read the book, don't read the book. Who really gives a shit? Geez, I must smell like toilet paper because everytime I post something at this place I have assholes jumping all over me.

Well, clearly you're the expert, dude. I'll be looking forward to reading your book next. I was hoping there was an emoticon that whistled "Zippity Doo Dah" out of his asshole but I didn't see one.

I try to make the journey to JRM once a year. I love that store. As an aside, Howard Reich is the author of "Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton" which is an excellent book and is highly recommended.

IMO, the audience for any jazz discography is probably pretty slim outside of academians & die hard fans and while I don't agree that the info should necessarily be available for free, the discographers have to know that were they to charge for such info, they could never be fully compensated for their efforts.

Got my copy yesterday and I must say this is a great set! The packaging is a little screwy but the music is fantastic especially since I had never heard any of it before. If you're on the fence, I highly recommend picking it up. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I own several volumes of the Penguin guide (thank god for public library weeding) and I use AMG almost daily. Neither are perfect but both have their merits and I'd rather read a crappy review than nothing at all. I must say though that when it comes to buying recordings, neither has ever steered me wrong. That is to say, if a recording is rated 4-5 stars in either resource, chances are very good that it's not a waste of coin to pick up a copy.

Thanks much for the link. That's a great price (best I've seen). I'm really looking forward to enjoying this set. I have his early "Quartets" album and a few of his Verve recordings (West Coast Jazz, The Steamer, & Jazz Giants '58) and I enjoy those very much so I'm sure I'll dig the music.

Anyone know the status on this Select? Is it still coming down the pipe or on the back burner?

Received the CD on Friday 2-18 and everything is great. Thanks again.