Need a streaming/DAC box

N8Nagel

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So I'm finally (mostly) happy with my 2-channel setup... I'm currently running a Yamaha CR-640 feeding Wharfedale W70Ds (just posted about those, non-stock but functional tweeters) and am finishing up rehab on the Dual 1226 turntable.

So the big, gaping hole in this setup is digital. Currently it's streaming FLACs off a NAS (good so far) through a Sony Blu-Ray player, which is connected to a TV via HDMI, and then using the TV's internal DAC to send an analog signal to the receiver.

I'm pretty sure that that's going to be the weak link in this signal chain, and also the TV needs to be powered on to listen to music (so no listening in a dark room, say.)

I've seen mention of Raspberry Pi based devices that can stream and then output to a DAC and be controlled by a smart phone, I'm thinking that that may be the way to go. Also if it works well, the same kind of thing could be used elsewhere where there *is* no TV, e.g. bedroom system, etc. Also if that could be used to stream from Pandora, Spotify, etc. that would be even better. Wired network is available in some locations, but if it could be set up to operate on a wifi network that would be ideal, as there is no wiring in bedrooms, for instance.

I'm definitely going to be doing a lot of searching and reading, but figured I'd post up in case anyone can give me a shortcut to a notably superior product that will do what I want it to do.
 
Looks doable. I'm using an old school receiver with analog inputs though. Does that S/PDIF card have analog outs too, or is that an either/or? Analog ones good? Really looking for "great" quality sound as despite the trash picked nature of my system, it's really hitting well above its weight class IMHO. (well, not really weight, Wharfedales aren't light...)

Seriously, thanks for that list, looks like you're thinking along the lines of exactly what I'm looking for, I just don't want to compromise on the DAC end of things.

Will piCorePlayer play nice with a Twonky media server? That's what we have...
 
Sonos Connect. By far the easiest way to play ANY streaming music. Wireless or wired ethernet, NAS or just about any streaming music service. The connect can be controlled from any laptop, IOS or android phone. Hands down very easy. Yes, it is a bit pricey, but it is well worth it.
I have been using one for over four years. I also have a well tweaked Mac Mini dedicated for music, but the Sonos gets used 95% of the time for convenience and the sound quality is great.
When you are ready to improve it even further, get the DAC of your choice and run the Sonos Connect through the DAC for even better sound quality. The Sonos has analog, USB, and TOSLink connectivity.
 
PiCorePlayer essentially turns the Pi into a Squeezebox. On your NAS, install Logitech Media Server and point it to the folder where your music resides. PiCorePlayer will automatically connect to LMS and show up in your list of players. You can use the web GUI from your computer or one of the many Squeezebox controller apps for Android or iOS. My favorite controller app is Squeezer for Android. It's free, and I find it simpler to use than the paid apps such as Orange Squeeze and Squeeze Commander.

On the DAC end, the S/PDIF card I linked to would be ideal if you already have an outboard DAC you wish to use. If not, the card with the analog-out would be the correct choice. They are both clones of the Hifiberry DAC and Hifiberry Digi+ i2s to S/PDIF card. There are many rave reviews on both. You can use an authentic Hifiberry if you wish, but they do cost a decent amount more. Both the clone and authentic use the same Texas Instruments PCM5122 DAC chip, which supports up to 24-bit/192KHz operation.
 
Problem is that NAS is a WD box that comes prepackaged with Twonky; using anything else involves some warranty-voiding mods.

However, if LMS is better than Twonky (which I have a few issues with) it might be worth it...

thanks again for the recommend. I'll look into the Sonos thing too.
 
Problem is that NAS is a WD box that comes prepackaged with Twonky; using anything else involves some warranty-voiding mods.

However, if LMS is better than Twonky (which I have a few issues with) it might be worth it...

thanks again for the recommend. I'll look into the Sonos thing too.

If you have a desktop computer, just install LMS and point it to your WD network share.
 
Problem is that NAS is a WD box that comes prepackaged with Twonky; using anything else involves some warranty-voiding mods.

However, if LMS is better than Twonky (which I have a few issues with) it might be worth it...

thanks again for the recommend. I'll look into the Sonos thing too.

Sonos doesn't require Twonky etc, it does its own indexing. Just set up the WD as a shared drive, and point Sonos to it. Done.
 
Sonos doesn't require Twonky etc, it does its own indexing. Just set up the WD as a shared drive, and point Sonos to it. Done.

Sonos requires nothing other than Sonos. Any music visible on your local network through a NAS or simple share can be seen and added to Sonos. It will find it, index it when you add new music, just tell it to update the music library and it will add it.

Also, you don't need any connectivity to a TV or any other type of screen - all control is done through an app on a PC, laptop, or phone.

Here's a pic of the app on my Mac laptop - I'm using it now while I write this on AK:

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I'm not trying to be a shill for Sonos, but I don't think people understand how convenient this thing is for streaming music. I don't personally use their integrated speaker versions, but I have family members who do, because of the convenience.
 

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I'm not trying to be a shill for Sonos, but I don't think people understand how convenient this thing is for streaming music. I don't personally use their integrated speaker versions, but I have family members who do, because of the convenience.

You're not shilling, any insight for the OP is great and opens up more options :thmbsp: Sonos is a great piece of hardware, and very simple to setup, probably the simplest as far as network music players go.
 
I don't take it as shilling either. I'm reading this and next time I have a chance to sit down and do some web searching I will definitely check out everything mentioned. I am currently leaning toward a raspberry pi based solution just for cost reasons (if it works I'll probably want two or three of them) but the sonos thing does look really appealing, just pushing the budget a bit.

One comment/question: when using the Blu-Ray player to stream off NAS it will cut off the first second or so of each track, not a problem for tracks with silence at the beginning, but really annoying when listening to something that you know starts right off with a killer hook, or classical music where tracks just flow together.

I've seen mention of similar issues with other solutions, has anyone experienced that with any of the devices mentioned above?
 
I don't take it as shilling either. I'm reading this and next time I have a chance to sit down and do some web searching I will definitely check out everything mentioned. I am currently leaning toward a raspberry pi based solution just for cost reasons (if it works I'll probably want two or three of them) but the sonos thing does look really appealing, just pushing the budget a bit.

One comment/question: when using the Blu-Ray player to stream off NAS it will cut off the first second or so of each track, not a problem for tracks with silence at the beginning, but really annoying when listening to something that you know starts right off with a killer hook, or classical music where tracks just flow together.

I've seen mention of similar issues with other solutions, has anyone experienced that with any of the devices mentioned above?

As alternative to RPi you can use Wandboard Dual - see http://www.wandboard.org/

and install Squeeze on Arch - http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?101624-Announce-Squeeze-on-Arch-developer-version

The advantage over RPi is that Wandboard comes with WiFi and 1G Ethernet on board. You can connect it to either USB DAC or use optical TOSLINK output.

Unlike RPi installation is rather complex, but then it just works without any further maintenance. As with RPi it imitates Squeezebox device, but Wandboard has multiple USB ports and can run LMS server on its own.
 
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Nate - if you have a laptop, you could get an Audioquest Dragonfly and use RCA single to dual cable into receiver input. You are free to borrow mine. I've been trialing Jriver with it at work on Win 7 laptop and headphones.

I've been using iTunes and an Airport Express for a long time and then I got a Sonos connect earlier this year. Price is down to 350...they were far more pricey when initially released. Sonos app has been refined and seamless so far. Nice to see how it works with iTunes in the future release.
 
One comment/question: when using the Blu-Ray player to stream off NAS it will cut off the first second or so of each track, not a problem for tracks with silence at the beginning, but really annoying when listening to something that you know starts right off with a killer hook, or classical music where tracks just flow together.

I've seen mention of similar issues with other solutions, has anyone experienced that with any of the devices mentioned above?

No issues here, everything works great. You can choose whether you want crossfade or not.
 
Sonos Connect. By far the easiest way to play ANY streaming music. Wireless or wired ethernet, NAS or just about any streaming music service. The connect can be controlled from any laptop, IOS or android phone. Hands down very easy. Yes, it is a bit pricey, but it is well worth it.
I have been using one for over four years. I also have a well tweaked Mac Mini dedicated for music, but the Sonos gets used 95% of the time for convenience and the sound quality is great.
When you are ready to improve it even further, get the DAC of your choice and run the Sonos Connect through the DAC for even better sound quality. The Sonos has analog, USB, and TOSLink connectivity.
Main limitation of Sonos is that they are limited to CD resolution. RPi and other Squeeze...something solutions play everything: CD, high-end PCM, DSD - you name it. Setup process is rather complex for those who are not computer savvy, but this is one time deal. Sonos, on the other hand, is for those who does not want to know how they play their music (which is understandable too).
 
Sonos, on the other hand, is for those who does not want to know how they play their music (which is understandable too).

Really?! And here I thought it was for guys like me, with over 30 years of engineering experience, who've tried all the alternatives, including Squeezebox, and found them all to be lacking with far less thought put into their designs, and far less reliable in operation.

Thousands of others like me have moved on from the abandoned Squeezebox to the far better Sonos platform, which has helped drive Sonos annual revenues to over $1 billion, while all the "Sonos killers" turn up as road kill.

It's also for those who understand enough about digital to know that hi-res is completely wasted in playback, and is being pushed by marketing, not engineering.

Finally, it's for music lovers, like myself, who want to choose from as many as 60 music services, far more than any competing platform, and who want a system that just works, first time, every time.

So ultimately, it's for those of us who fully understand how we play our music, and want the best-engineered system to play it on, regardless of cost.
 
LOL chicks - I was responding with essentially the same thing that you wrote, but your response was so much more eloquent than mine, I deleted it. :D
 
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LOL chicks - I was responding with essentially the same thing that you wrote, but your response was so much more eloquent than mine, I deleted it. :D

Sorry, I just get a bit worked up by this sort of thing.
 
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Really?! And here I thought it was for guys like me, with over 30 years of engineering experience, who've tried all the alternatives, including Squeezebox, and found them all to be lacking with far less thought put into their designs, and far less reliable in operation.

Thousands of others like me have moved on from the abandoned Squeezebox to the far better Sonos platform, which has helped drive Sonos annual revenues to over $1 billion, while all the "Sonos killers" turn up as road kill.

It's also for those who understand enough about digital to know that hi-res is completely wasted in playback, and is being pushed by marketing, not engineering.

Finally, it's for music lovers, like myself, who want to choose from as many as 60 music services, far more than any competing platform, and who want a system that just works, first time, every time.

So ultimately, it's for those of us who fully understand how we play our music, and want the best-engineered system to play it on, regardless of cost.

Sounds like you are Apple fanboy too. Exactly the same words found in Apple marketing material.

I do not buy anything that limits my ability to get what I WANT, regardless of what vendor's marketing strategist decided. That is why I do not use Sonos or anything from Apple. I do not need 60 services, the same like I do not need hundreds of TV channels which I never watch.

Do you have BBC Radio 3 in UK domestic quality (AAC 320 kbps) stream in Sonos? If not, that is one more flaw in the list.
 
Sounds like you are Apple fanboy too. Exactly the same words found in Apple marketing material.

I do not buy anything that limits my ability to get what I WANT, regardless of what vendor's marketing strategist decided. That is why I do not use Sonos or anything from Apple. I do not need 60 services, the same like I do not need hundreds of TV channels which I never watch.

Do you have BBC Radio 3 in UK domestic quality (AAC 320 kbps) stream in Sonos? If not, that is one more flaw in the list.

You know, you can offer your opinion without insulting others -or do you do it intentionally?
 
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