I've always thought that ripping vinyl to a nas drive is a ridiculous thing to do
About 7 years ago I started into my collection of over 3000 vinyl albums and stopped at number 5 or 6
It wasnt just the playing and turning them over it was mostly typing in the artist and track information
I decided that life was too short and I would just play the records on my LP12 when I felt like it
As I was doing away with my cd player and ripping my cd collection I was happy to live with the split
Play a cd from the streamer, play vinyl on the turntable. Simple
I still feel that's a good way to go but often I'm lazy when I have a vinyl record that's not on my hard drive, isn't available online in cd resolution from Tidal, and I dont feel like getting up to look for it.
Then I probably just choose other music.
Last week I was shown a product that changes all that, the Plato from Entotem.
This young British company produces a one-box solution in various guises.
Entry level is a streamer and 1Tb Nas drive all in one box, connect to your existing system and you're streaming and ripping your vinyl to the internal hard drive, £ 1899
Next up is the same gubbins but adding a very high performance turntable input with both moving magnet and moving coil capabilities and a 2Tb drive, £ 2400
Then you can have this with a built-in power amplifier so it becomes a complete one box system for £ 2999
And to top it off you can have a Class A power amplifer included for £ 3999
So I hear the cynics say why would I want to downgrade my vinyl performance to cd level? and here's the clever answer:
You don't, this uses 24 bit Studio Master encoding to give a near perfect copy of your vinyl sound
I have recorded from a Rega Planar 3, a Rega RP8, and from a Linn Sondek LP12. With each improvement in source the recorded sound is noticeably and obviously better.
Simply better, garbage in, garbage out, etc, etc
I am so impressed I have bought one to demonstrate here, they don't give them away you know, to demonstrate it I have to invest my hard-earned!
There are some options for the amount of storage, SSD, solid state silent storage, and even a range of high gloss colours to appeal to your inner Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Everyone knows the name Plato is from the Greek philosopher
I didnt know that he said this:
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the uni ver se, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything
Good man Plato
