Request Audio's The Beast

[kheah78]

Has anyone bought or have used The Beast? I understand that it was launched in USA at this year's CES show.
I've had mine for about 5 months. During this time I have encountered many issues and bugs with the user interface/software. I have been in contact with Request Audio reporting all the issues but they have yet to fix any of these problems (except for an incompatibility with certain DSF files).

Is anyone else having problems with their The Beast? I'm getting very frustrated with their customer service and would like to get in touch with other owners/users to hear about their experience.

The Beast sounds fantastic and I'm very happy with the sound but the interface software is not up to acceptable standards. It takes the enjoyment out of playing music!

Thanks.

(SQ qualifier: I am not using the internal MSB developed DAC. Instead, The Beast is connected to a MSB Select using I2S.)

 

[edorr]

Has anyone bought or have used The Beast? I understand that it was launched in USA at this year's CES show.
I've had mine for about 5 months. During this time I have encountered many issues and bugs with the user interface/software. I have been in contact with Request Audio reporting all the issues but they have yet to fix any of these problems (except for an incompatibility with certain DSF files).

Is anyone else having problems with their The Beast? I'm getting very frustrated with their customer service and would like to get in touch with other owners/users to hear about their experience.

The Beast sounds fantastic and I'm very happy with the sound but the interface software is not up to acceptable standards. It takes the enjoyment out of playing music!

Thanks.

(SQ qualifier: I am not using the internal MSB developed DAC. Instead, The Beast is connected to a MSB Select using I2S.)

There is something to be said for buying an optimized server using standard components and mature mass market music software server like JRiver and JRemote. You can have MSB I2S compatibility with the Pink Faun I2S card. Grand total for the project would be less than 10% of the beast. Additional benefit is it actually works flawlessly. I feel your pain.

 

[CKKeung]

There is something to be said for buying an optimized server using standard components and mature mass market music software server like JRiver and JRemote. You can have MSB I2S compatibility with the Pink Faun I2S card. Grand total for the project would be less than 10% of the beast. Additional benefit is it actually works flawlessly. I feel your pain.

Hi edorr,

The Pink Faun I2S card is compatible with MSS Pro I2S format?
I have great interest because I own a MSB IV Plus dac!
Please tell us more about this card.

Many thanks!

CK

 

[kheah78]

Hi edorr,

Thank you for your comments. I have tried using both Windows and Mac based servers but found that a dedicated server was easier to use. Some like the ones from SOtM and Aurender sounded very good but The Beast is definitely a big step above these in terms of SQ. I would be less frustrated if they at least made an effort to solve the issues instead of silence! They seem to have done very little testing as I found so many bugs within the first few days! The excuse given is that they are a small operation and not like Apple! Pathetic excuse!

Hopefully they will take some action to fix the issues as I am sure there will be a growing number of complaints from US customers. I'll just have to be patient a little longer.

 

[kheah78]

Hi CK,

The feature that convinced me to go with the Beast was the I2S connectivity! It is far superior to all the other digital connections to the MSB.

 

[edorr]

Hi edorr,

The Pink Faun I2S card is compatible with MSS Pro I2S format?
I have great interest because I own a MSB IV Plus dac!
Please tell us more about this card.

Many thanks!

CK

Sorry - been off line for a while. Yes, the Pink Faun I2S card is compatible with MSB I2S (according to literature). I believe they configure the card for whatever DAC it is supposed to play with.

 

[edorr]

Hi CK,

The feature that convinced me to go with the Beast was the I2S connectivity! It is far superior to all the other digital connections to the MSB.

I visited the pink faun shop in Holland last week. They say they are trying to do a shootout between "the beast" and their $4,000 a/v streamer. My money is on the a/v streamer (in fact I am about to order one).

For starters, I suspect the a/v streamer packs higher value hardware components than the beast (yet sells for $35k less). Do the math. The difference between a 2TB and 4TB version of the beast is $2,000. The difference in cost between these two drives is $100. I suspect the 2000% markup of hardware cost is roughly what was applied for this machine, so this $38K box packs about $2,000 worth of hardware. All the other cost to build the beast add nothing to its quality (e.g. custom build chassis, proprietary server software) yet inflate the price tremendously for a very small series product. By contrast. the component cost of the a/v streamer is proably just over $2,000, yet sells at low margin, manufacturer direct for just over $4,000.

 

[edorr]

Hi edorr,

Thank you for your comments. I have tried using both Windows and Mac based servers but found that a dedicated server was easier to use. Some like the ones from SOtM and Aurender sounded very good but The Beast is definitely a big step above these in terms of SQ. I would be less frustrated if they at least made an effort to solve the issues instead of silence! They seem to have done very little testing as I found so many bugs within the first few days! The excuse given is that they are a small operation and not like Apple! Pathetic excuse!

Hopefully they will take some action to fix the issues as I am sure there will be a growing number of complaints from US customers. I'll just have to be patient a little longer.

This is the big trade-off. A PC based system using JRiver / Jremote may have its problem (damn right they do), but the basic server software has been sold millions of times and is rock solid and far more robust and feature rich than anything a proprietary server garage operation can develop and support.

 

[dallasjustice]

When it comes to software: Swim with the fish.

 

[Hammer]

Another option for a server is daphile. Install it on a small form factor PC (I use a fanless Gigabyte BRIX and my music is stored on a NAS outside the listening room in the basement) and hook it up to an USB DAC. UI is iPeng on a iPad. Nothing fancy, but it's very stable, easy to setup and works great. I have an Auralic Vega DAC and no drop outs even in "Exact" clock mode. And even though it is free, support is excellent and author usually responds within 24 hours. Highly recommended!

 

[kheah78]

Hi edorr,

I would be most interested in the results of the shootout and will not be surprised if their streamer won. The Beast is most definitely over priced and I questioned Gerhard Schneider, CEO of Request, on his development cost. If I remember correctly he said that the most expensive bits were the chassis, power supply and the software. The majority of the cost went into the OS which is Linux based and a small percentage to the UI. (I guess that's the reason why the UI sucks!)

Please update us if you hear anything about the shootout.
Thanks

 

[Elberoth]

edorr - your $2k estimate is a bit optimistic IMO. A state of the art PC server is more like $4k in parts alone. Not that it changes anything with regards to the retail of The Beast ...

 

[edorr]

Hi edorr,

I would be most interested in the results of the shootout and will not be surprised if their streamer won. The Beast is most definitely over priced and I questioned Gerhard Schneider, CEO of Request, on his development cost. If I remember correctly he said that the most expensive bits were the chassis, power supply and the software. The majority of the cost went into the OS which is Linux based and a small percentage to the UI. (I guess that's the reason why the UI sucks!)

Please update us if you hear anything about the shootout.
Thanks

Will do. My own a/v Streamer is being assembled as we speak. I'll ask the guys in Holland if they are doing the shootout.

 

[edorr]

edorr - your $2k estimate is a bit optimistic IMO. A state of the art PC server is more like $4k in parts alone. Not that it changes anything with regards to the retail of The Beast ...

Let's split the difference. The a/v streamer sells for $4K and has a massive custom build linear powersupply. Assuming their margin is something in the $1K range, there can't be more than $3K worth of parts. Since they have to recover R&D cost and overhead, they obviously run their business as a high-end charity, but if they are willing to sell me their hardware at these prices I'm not complaining.

The Baetis reference server selling for $14K occupies the middle ground between the a/v streamer and the Beast. They are all tweaked dedicated computers with proprietary linear powersupplies.

http://www.baetisaudio.com/index.php

 

[edorr]

Hi edorr,

I would be most interested in the results of the shootout and will not be surprised if their streamer won. The Beast is most definitely over priced and I questioned Gerhard Schneider, CEO of Request, on his development cost. If I remember correctly he said that the most expensive bits were the chassis, power supply and the software. The majority of the cost went into the OS which is Linux based and a small percentage to the UI. (I guess that's the reason why the UI sucks!)

Please update us if you hear anything about the shootout.
Thanks

This business model makes no sense. He is sinking all this R&D cost to recreate something that has been fully developed on a standard platform with millions of users (Jriver) and has the slickest remote control app in the business (Jremote). He than has to recover this R&D on the handful of machines he is selling. If you want to build a "reference server", most cost should go into optimizing the hardware (and I don't mean a fancy chassis).

 

[Elberoth]

This business model makes no sense. He is sinking all this R&D cost to recreate something that has been fully developed on a standard platform with millions of users (Jriver) and has the slickest remote control app in the business (Jremote). He than has to recover this R&D on the handful of machines he is selling. If you want to build a "reference server", most cost should go into optimizing the hardware (and I don't mean a fancy chassis).

+1

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Elberoth]

Let's split the difference. The a/v streamer sells for $4K and has a massive custom build linear powersupply. Assuming their margin is something in the $1K range, there can't be more than $3K worth of parts. Since they have to recover R&D cost and overhead, they obviously run their business as a high-end charity, but if they are willing to sell me their hardware at these prices I'm not complaining.

The Baetis reference server selling for $14K occupies the middle ground between the a/v streamer and the Beast. They are all tweaked dedicated computers with proprietary linear powersupplies.

http://www.baetisaudio.com/index.php

We misunderstood each other. I was reffering to the cost of a state of the art PC server, no to the cost of the streamer you mentioned (of which I know nothing about).

The Beatis server seems to as over priced as any other ready build server I have seen - at least to someone who is computer savvy.

 

[kheah78]

This business model makes no sense. He is sinking all this R&D cost to recreate something that has been fully developed on a standard platform with millions of users (Jriver) and has the slickest remote control app in the business (Jremote). He than has to recover this R&D on the handful of machines he is selling. If you want to build a "reference server", most cost should go into optimizing the hardware (and I don't mean a fancy chassis).

I assume that the Beast uses a stripped down version of Linux which Gerhard feels produces a superior sound. However he seems to put a very high value on this OS. I wouldn't mind so much if it worked even half as well as Jriver! I must admit however that the SQ is excellent!

 

[edorr]

I assume that the Beast uses a stripped down version of Linux which Gerhard feels produces a superior sound. However he seems to put a very high value on this OS. I wouldn't mind so much if it worked even half as well as Jriver! I must admit however that the SQ is excellent!

If you want to improve on Jriver (which according to some digital guru's is not even possible, because they say all bitperfect servers sound the same and the only differences between servers are hardware related), you can buy HQ player (linux or wondows) for $140. They probably have 1000s of users, funding their R&D. You can also run JPlay with Jriver and for Mac there is Amarra. Mr. Schneider is basically trying to reinvent this type of software for a user base of less then 100 (if not less then 25), and charging each user a fortune to recover his development cost. With this proprietary approach you then end up with a lousy user interface, because developing a good one is a massive undertaking that can never be funded / recovered from this very small user base.

 

[kheah78]

If you want to improve on Jriver (which according to some digital guru's is not even possible, because they say all bitperfect servers sound the same and the only differences between servers are hardware related), you can buy HQ player (linux or wondows) for $140. They probably have 1000s of users, funding their R&D. You can also run JPlay with Jriver and for Mac there is Amarra. Mr. Schneider is basically trying to reinvent this type of software for a user base of less then 100 (if not less then 25), and charging each user a fortune to recover his development cost. With this proprietary approach you then end up with a lousy user interface, because developing a good one is a massive undertaking that can never be funded / recovered from this very small user base.

They have apparently sold 60+ Beasts prior to the U.S. launch. If more serious users in U.S. start to get first hand experience of the UI then maybe Request Audio will do something. A review, or two, that mentions the bug filled UI would hopefully incentivise them to start fixing the problem! I can only keep my fingers crossed and wait for an update!