Any Stereo Music Players for Digital Files on HDD better than WD TV/ Xtreamer?

[jagdish_p]

Hi All,
At present I am using WD TV to play digital audio content stored on HDD. Optical output to DAC. Though the digital output is taken I feel that that the SQ can be improved upon if we have a better player as source.
I am looking for a no frills audio player capable of playing from HDD. I know that a HTPC would be an Ideal solution but are there any other options?
Essential requirements:
Ability to play FLAC, WAV, MP3 audio files from HDD.
Digital outputs
Desirable:
Airplay
Display
I dont need Video capabilities. Budget Max 25 K.
Please give your recommendations. Even CD Players are OK as long as they play from USB HDD.

Thanks

 

[srisaikat]

Marantz M-CR603, Marantz NA7004, Denon DNP-720AE, Cambridge Audio NP30 Network Music Player, Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6. These are the quality players you can go for, among them only 'Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6' supports both FAT and NTFS system, rest supports only FAT. But none of them but Denon DNP-720AE are under your budget. You should go for used one

 

[jagdish_p]

Thanks for thr Info. Is Marantz NA7004 a better player the Denon DNP 720?
Its cheaper compared to Denon. ( Available at a huge discount in Amazon)

 

[srisaikat]

Marantz NA7004 is far better than Denon. Yes, there is huge discount, but not a quite relief for Indians, you have to add 11k to 12k with original value for shipping & customs.

 

[Shivam]

Most of these players will give better results with Network Attached Storage (NAS) rather than a USB HDD. You should make a budget for that too.

 

[jagdish_p]

Most of these players will give better results with Network Attached Storage (NAS) rather than a USB HDD. You should make a budget for that too.

Thanks for the Alert. I already have a NAS capable Buffalo Air Station Router and 1 TB HDDs. So thats taken care of.

Why is playing from NAS rather then USB better? Any technical reason?

 

[Shivam]

Thanks for the Alert. I already have a NAS capable Buffalo Air Station Router and 1 TB HDDs. So thats taken care of.

Why is playing from NAS rather then USB better? Any technical reason?

Some players have limitations about the quality of files that can be played from USB hard discs. Hard discs also have to be formatted to FAT32 usually.