High res music streaming

Hi, if you use a NAS it should be on 24/7/365 so startup shouldn't be much of an issue. Anyway, I just ripped my entire CD collection to my Western Digital NAS, which also supports Plex. I use Plex to stream and use JRiver Media Center to play files locally from the NAS.

There is an initial delay when the NAS first wakes from standby, but after that there is no delays and music and cover art suffer no issues. Also with Plex, I can even stream to my android phone which also connects to my car system so I can listen to my collection in my car :)

My apologies - i seem to have missed getting notifications on this thread.

Hmm, maybe it is time to re-visit streaming from the NAS. I ended up getting a NAD C368 and will pick up the MDC BlueOS module in Singapore next month - having a single device instead of multiple is a big plus. That BlueOS interface looks really good. so having it work off the NAS could be the solution I want.
 
Not familiar with that setup, but I do have a DAC in the Teac UD-503. It's an older (2016) but still works so no need to replace it. That said, what I posted is a sperate solution and works as stated without issue through JRiver Media player which is played through the DAC.

The point being the NAS solution also works if you want to stream your own music, regardless of what the files are played through.

BTW, I'm curious why you just didn't get the NAD C368 with BluOS module built in?
 
My apologies - i seem to have missed getting notifications on this thread.

Hmm, maybe it is time to re-visit streaming from the NAS. I ended up getting a NAD C368 and will pick up the MDC BlueOS module in Singapore next month - having a single device instead of multiple is a big plus. That BlueOS interface looks really good. so having it work off the NAS could be the solution I want.
If you are ok with Apple Music just get a usb DAC for the iPhone and connect to any analog amp. Apple currently offers lossless audio. I settled down with this solution after trying multiple ways.
 
If you are ok with Apple Music just get a usb DAC for the iPhone and connect to any analog amp. Apple currently offers lossless audio. I settled down with this solution after trying multiple ways.

I am actually trying to avoid using my phone or laptop or other devices for the music. Want the music rig to be dedicated to music alone. Have an old Android phone that i am ok to use as a controller, that's about it. :)

(Yeah, i know... i am making it more complicated than it needs to be)
 
I am actually trying to avoid using my phone or laptop or other devices for the music. Want the music rig to be dedicated to music alone. Have an old Android phone that i am ok to use as a controller, that's about it. :)

(Yeah, i know... i am making it more complicated than it needs to be)
Ok, this just saves you a pile of money plus makes the system very modular. you can change the phone the DAC or the amp any time without upsetting the rest of the chain.
Cheers
 
You can actually merge PC and Hi-Fi together to get a great sounding music setup. The key is the equipment - hardware (audio equipment), software (media player), and of course music files.

I have a Teac UD-503 DAC connected to my Windows 11 PC via USB cable. My Audioengine A5+ powered speakers and its S8 sub are connected to the DAC. My Media Player is JRiver's Media Center to play my uncompressed lossless flac files. I have a dedicated 2TB Samsung SSD drive with files on it for play direct from the PC. I can also stream from my 4-Bay Western Digital NAS drive, which contains my entire music collection.

The beauty of my DAC is it natively supports Hi-Res music files up to 384KHz, 16-32-bit. Also natively supports DSD file (2.8M / 5.6M / 11.2MHz). It also has a built-in headphone amp, so I'm still rocking my Sennheiser HD700 cans.

The Audioengine A5+ powered still sound great, and if you need bass, the Audioengine S8 sub is plenty and doesn't muddy things since it has adjustable cutoff settings including loudness control. Anyway, my system sounds really nice and clean. This is my setup...

My Audio Setup.jpg


_ADM4882.jpg

And here's the thing... all this equipment (speakers, phones, DAC) is 6+ years old, but still going as if I bought it yesterday. No, it's not going to match a dedicated high-end stereo system, but for a PC setup, the sound is still clean and powerful.

BTW, I don't use a PC soundcard, just simply connect the DAC to a USB port and select its ASIO driver as the soundcard drivers, and let the DAC handle the audio.

Just something to think about for those looking for ideas for a good PC audio setup.
 
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Not familiar with that setup, but I do have a DAC in the Teac UD-503. It's an older (2016) but still works so no need to replace it. That said, what I posted is a sperate solution and works as stated without issue through JRiver Media player which is played through the DAC.

The point being the NAS solution also works if you want to stream your own music, regardless of what the files are played through.

BTW, I'm curious why you just didn't get the NAD C368 with BluOS module built in?

Oops, i missed this— couldnt find a unit with the BluOS built in in stock when i made the purchase.

As an update - I ended up going the NAS route after all. However, am undecided on whether to get a BluOS MDC module for the NAD, or something like a Paradigm PW-Link, which is a streamer + DAC (but also has a digital out) and has Anthem room correction built in. Leaning towards the Paradigm - the only thing holding me back is a concern about how good the PlayFi app is. Worst case, i could leave it in as a DSP unit between a streamer and the amp (it has digital ins and outs).
 
How has the room correction of the Paradigm worked out for you?
Wonderfully! I have awful acoustics for the lower frequencies, and ARC has been able to resolve it with aplomb.
At this price, room correction options for a stereo set-up are limited. The only other option I can think of is MiniDSP.
 
Wonderfully! I have awful acoustics for the lower frequencies, and ARC has been able to resolve it with aplomb.
At this price, room correction options for a stereo set-up are limited. The only other option I can think of is MiniDSP.

Does it work only on LF or the entire frequency range? My room is about 4-5dB higher from 2k Hz onwards and has a 3-4db dip in the upper bass. Am looking for something which would fix both of these.
 
Does it work only on LF or the entire frequency range?

Limit for correction frequency is customizable from 200 Hz up to full-range.

My room is about 4-5dB higher from 2k Hz onwards and has a 3-4db dip in the upper bass. Am looking for something which would fix both of these.

It will certainly attempt to correct both of those. Whether the fix is audibly pleasant or not can, unfortunately, be only known after the fact.
 
I use a headless Mac mini with a HDD of my collection plugged in. Audirvana software for processing and library management with an excellent iPhone/iPad interface. The Mac mini goes into a DAC. Macs are very stable in terms of upgrades and very silent. I have switched off all functionality on the Mac mini. Tidal for streaming which integrates seamlessly with Audirvana.
 
Hi guys - need some advice.

Presently, I have a Sonos Connect that I use to stream music from a folder on my laptop. It works fairly efficiently, and the Sonos app lets me play either the music on my hard drive or from Spotify.

However- there is a catch. This music in this folder is actually a bunch of 320 MP3s - which i had downressed to keep on my laptop for casual listening. I have the originals - about 700-800GB worth - of lossless CD rips and high-res downloads (ranging from 24/96 to 32/384) on a separate hard drive and on a NAS drive (an old basic Synology).

I want to overcome the following issues:

1). I’d like to be able to stream the original, high-res files. The Sonos doesn’t handle files larger than 24/96 - which in principle is fine, as i dont really think there is a discernable difference beyond that (is ok if others feel differently - let’s not get into that here). However, for me to play this would require me to convert all the high-res files into lower-res: which i dont want to do, unless there is absolutely no other option.

2). I find the NAS drive very clunky to use. It takes minutes to boot up, it is slow as hell to access, etc. I’d like to find a solution which is quicker to be “ready to use”. In an ideal world, this would be a single audio-specific device into which i could insert a HDD with my music loaded, hit a power button to turn it on and it would let me either access the music from the HD or from Spotify.

Most streamers i see basically rely on an externaL NAS drive for serving up the music - is there a relatively inexpensive, ready-to-use, plug-and-play device that is both a music server AND a streamer, and which can play the higher-res files i had mentioned above? App played music control from my phone or iPad is a must.

I assume if i spend around 30-40k on a nicer/faster NAS drive, it would accomplish the task of acting as a music server. And a simple streamer - eg, the Audiolab 6000N - is around 40k. So i’d like to keep my outlay to around 1L or less for this.

As an aside: I am aware of Roon. I am done with paying annual subscription fees for stuff. Nor am i willing to pay $500 for a lifetime subscription. I am, however, ok to pay a more reasonable one-time purchase fee for an alternative which accomplishes the above. But the main thing is i dont want to faff around with building a Raspberry Pi or doing complex installation of softwares/uPnP servers/blah-blah-blah. I just want to plug the damn thing in, access my original high-res folders or Spotify from my phone/iPad and listen to music. And all for 1L or so, preferably.

Is that possible? TIA,

Unless I am missing something, have you considered Mi TV Box 4K that has volume controlled analog and optical output. Best part is that it has chromecast built in. This gives you freedom from any app. You can use it with TV ON or OFF.
I would share the HDD with all your media by connecting it to your WiFi router. This way anyone can access it. Then just download VLC player on your android device and connect to the HDD to play local files or stream music from your favourite platform and cast it to the Mi TV box connected to your system. Done!
It with at least one more Mi Box you can even do multiroom and multisource.

I hope that this is aligned to your needs and helps you.
 
Unless I am missing something, have you considered Mi TV Box 4K that has volume controlled analog and optical output. Best part is that it has chromecast built in. This gives you freedom from any app. You can use it with TV ON or OFF.
I would share the HDD with all your media by connecting it to your WiFi router. This way anyone can access it. Then just download VLC player on your android device and connect to the HDD to play local files or stream music from your favourite platform and cast it to the Mi TV box connected to your system. Done!
It with at least one more Mi Box you can even do multiroom and multisource.

I hope that this is aligned to your needs and helps you.

Hi - thanks for that. I actually have my main stereo system separate from the TV systems, and would prefer to keep it as a discrete system. Also, i am tired of faffing around with multiple wires, devices, etc.

I ended up getting an MDC BluOS module for the NAD amp and set up my NAS drive. Now i turn on the amp, open the BluOS app on an old phone i have lying around and can listen to my music. Simplicity personified - no need to turn on my laptop, use my phone, etc.

image0.jpg

One benefit of going the NAS drive - instead of having a HDD plugged into the NAD - is that the Sonos can also use it to feed my second system, attached to the living room TV. So that was effort well spent.

Appreciate the help and suggestions, everyone.
 
I would share the HDD with all your media by connecting it to your WiFi router. This way anyone can access it. Then just download VLC player on your android device and connect to the HDD to play local files or stream music from your favourite platform and cast it to the Mi TV box connected to your system.
Hi Ravindra. Is it possible to do so without a NAS/computer? I connect my HDD to CXN (streamer) via USB and control through the Cambridge app on my mobile - it works well. However then I cannot access the HDD from any other machine. And I don’t want to invest in (and have the hassle of managing) a NAS. Or attach the HDD to a computer which is kept on all the time.

How should I connect the HDD to the wifi router - I see no input ports to the router as such - only the LAN outputs. Or did you mean connecting the HDD to the router via a computer?
 
Hi Ravindra. Is it possible to do so without a NAS/computer?
BTW a router is also a computer :D

How should I connect the HDD to the wifi router - I see no input ports to the router as such - only the LAN outputs. Or did you mean connecting the HDD to the router via a computer?
Some routers have an USB port where you can connect a printer or hard disk using a usb cable. Most routers now days run linux and it is easy to provide NAS functionaility by running samba server. Those routers which provide a USB port they will have an option in router admin menu to configure the username, password and name for the hard disk share.

If your router doesn't have a usb port it means you can't connect a HDD.

Even if the router has such a functionality, be very very very careful connnecting a HDD to it. Connect only those HDD which have its own power supply. If you connect a HDD that gets power from the usb itself and you shut off the router, the read/write head will crash on the platter causing disk corruption each and every time. This will happen when the read/write head is not parked because there was some read or write going on. You may get lucky if the crash happens on sectors where you don't have data. But if it crashes on the first few sectors your disk will be rendered useless.
 
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