Music Streamer

[navin advani]

Many years ago when iPods became the rage I used EAC (and ripped my CD collection to WAVPACK/FLAC (as well as MP3 via LAME for the iPod). The collection is about 2000 CDs (about 800GB of lossless audio).

Now I am looking for a good audio grade media player.

There seem to be 2 paths one can go by....

a. Build/Buy a HT PC. This involves understanding hardware, software etc.. Also PCs have boot time. Then you need to know compuetese and configure the PC with Amara etc. The best option here is to use a Mac Mini.

b. Using a Media Server. All the good Media servers I have seen (Meridien Sooloos, Boulder 1021, Cary MS-1) are very very expensive. The more affordable ones like Olive's O6HD and Hifidelio's Music Server still cost $2000+ besides anyone know who services Hifidelio in India?

What about using a Media Player from say Asus, TiVx, Roku, Western Digital, Logitech, NetGear, or even Sony? Which of these are

i) Good quality audio (preferably with digital out so the AVR's DAC or an external DAC can be used)
ii) available locally
iii) FLAC and WAVPACK compatiable with the ability to search and find like iTunes does.
iv) Internet based audio like Pandora would be nice but not a requirement.

From what I read here the Squeezebox Touch, Asus Oplay, and WD TV HD are the most popular. The Asus and WD units seem to be more Vido centric with Netflix compatilibility.

 

[sarge_in]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Wow...just amazes me why people like to run over other's threads with their own completely unrelated questions!? Navin - any particular reason why you didn't want to start a separate thread for your unrelated question?!

Moshel - I don't have a suggestion that will satisfy all your needs. I use a Netgear NeoTV 550 - it doesn't download the posters by itself, but use a s/w that downlaods them in batch mode.

 

[navin advani]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Navin - any particular reason why you didn't want to start a separate thread for your unrelated question?!.

I too am confused so I figured why start a new thread. Maybe the mods should move my post to a new thread for "Audio Centric Media Player Confusion".

Sorry Moshel.

 

[venkatcr]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Navin, you are looking at your requirements from the wrong perspective.

A media player is meant for playing of video files. Period. If you want to use something like that, it really does not matter which one you use. The selection criterion should be a hard disk and digital out. Nothing else.

For HQ music you should be looking at a different set up. What you need is a PC storing you music and acting as a server.

In terms of players you can look at two options:

1. The Logitech Squeezebox touch which is the easiest option now. The Touch now supports iPhone/iPad RC, and you can browse through you music collection and play it through the Squeezebox. You will need a working WiFi network.

2. Get one of the streaming music players and do the same thing as mentioned above. Some of the affordable music players are:

Introducing the all-new NP30
Stream Magic 6 Upsampling Network Music Player
Marantz US | NA7004
C 446 Digital Media Tuner - NAD Electronics

Streaming music players are available from companies such as Arcam, PS Audio, Olive and other. These are more specialised and would cost upwards of $2K.

Cheers

 

[GeorgeO]

Re: Media player buying confusion

If you dont want to look at a PC option you can also use a NAS( like a ReadyNAS) to store audio/video and access it from your player like I do.

 

[anm]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

 

[manniraj]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

I think one of our forum member from Hyd (not sure of the name) had the same requirements and he went for Onkyo 8050 after auditioning it and which I think will fulfill your requirements.

Thanks

Edit: Sorry it cannot spin CD's

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

The solution is Denon N7.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

Q Series Products

McIntosh MCD1100, Audio Source MCD1100, MDA1000 McIntosh Audio Source ipod


All-in-one Player | Uniti | SuperUniti | Naim Audio

 

[anm]

Re: Media player buying confusion

The solution is Denon N7.

but that's a receiver. A little more than what one can ask for

 

[venkatcr]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

I have asked Oppo, Pioneer, Panasonic and a few others to design such a unit. They are all asking for a commitment of a million units or more. When I have a manufacturer ready I will let you know.

Jokes apart, read this.

Cheers

 

[KoolPal]

Confused! Are the replies for moshel or navin?

 

[sarge_in]

Re: Media player buying confusion

I too am confused so I figured why start a new thread. Maybe the mods should move my post to a new thread for "Audio Centric Media Player Confusion".

Sorry Moshel.

Well, as most replies have been for audio player in this thread, I will recommend solutions based on HDD and streaming players. If multi-room streaming is on the horizon, Sonos is the king of that currently. Squeezebox is similar but I hear a bit less stable. It is cheaper though, and recommended too, especially if only required in 1 'zone'.

 

[navin advani]

Re: Media player buying confusion

for music only, is there anything that can spin CDs, stream from network, has a great dac, play from USB and also has digital in to use with other devices?

I thought Hifidelio could do all of this. Only questions is sales and service in India.
HIFIDELIO

Maybe the Qsonic 205 will suit your needs.
Q205 Specifications

McIntosh MCD1100, Audio Source MCD1100, MDA1000 McIntosh Audio Source ipod

All-in-one Player | Uniti | SuperUniti | Naim Audio

Great machines if only we could find one that did not have the power amplifier and did not require you to sell your newborn child....

Confused! Are the replies for moshel or navin?

Sorry KoolPal I think I hijacked Moshel's thread. No wonder Sarge was upset.

Squeezebox is similar but I hear a bit less stable. It is cheaper though, and recommended too, especially if only required in 1 'zone'.

Sarge. I am now quite confused. Please correct me if I read this wrong.

From what I see the Squeezebox Touch does not have storage. I relies on a connection to your storage devices (which is usually a PC). One could however connect one's hard disk via the USB port and use the Squeezebox Touch to play files of it.

Q: How does the Squeezebox connect to your stereo? Wifi is not considered an "audiophile grade" connection and a wired connection would make the Touch ungainly unless you left it near the stereo and could control it using an iPod Touch.

What about the NP30? To be honest I amnot satisfied with the built quality of many of Cambridge Audio products but their NP30 might be what best suits my needs. Any other options?

1. Store and Playback 1TB+ of lossless music (and external USB hard drive could be permenantly connected to the NP30)
2. Transmit album/artist/playlist data to an iPod touch or iPad and allow the iPod/Pad to control playback.
3. No boot time and family friendly.

Yes ANM's requirement that the device also spins disks (and better still rips and tags a lossless copy on hard disk for future use) would be great but I could do that externally.

 

[anm]

Re: Media player buying confusion

since ripping and tagging is one time activity for a CD I can do it on my laptop. I carry some 4-5 CDs (not disciplined though) to office and rip them on regular basis.
But thinking more about it, a CD spinner+DAC will do for me. For streaming, I can use much more sophisticated devices like appletv or squeezebox - just need to reuse the DAC of CDP.
Any suggestions now for this truncated requirement? Basically a very good DAC which also spins CDs.

 

[GeorgeO]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Both Squeeze Boxes Touch and Duet have optical and RCA outputs, to connect. I use a DAC on one and the RCA on another. I beg to disagree-wifi works well for me, maybe ethernet is "audiophile".

 

[sarge_in]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Both Sonos and Squeezebox are considered very good music streamers. Audiophile grade has a whole range of meaning, but these two are the most popular options out there. There are companies that offer upgrades to the base version to make it even more audiophile grade if you so desire, e.g. Cullen circuits or Wyred4Sound offer upgrades for Sonos.

As I own Sonos, I can provide details about that, but from what I know SB is very similar - the key differences being that Sonos uses its own proprietary wireless network to stream which is much more reliable than regular wireless we (and SB) use for internet. You also have the option to connect it via ethernet if you have a connection close to your stereo to take even that out from the equation. Sonos also has the ability to play music directly off a networked hard drive and does not need a computer to be on (so 0 boot time). SB works best with a SB server software running on a computer. Some hard drives have a slim server for the purpose but I have read about some performance issues with that.

Anyway, so the Sonos plays music off a networked hard drive (or computer if you want that) and connects to external DAC/AVR via coax or optical conenction (has analog outs too). Control is through a dedicated Sonos pad or its app on iOS or Android. It can also read iTunes playlists if you use that for the purpsoe. Has several online streaming options too - Rhapsody, Mog, Napster, Rdio etc etc.

 

[navin advani]

Re: Media player buying confusion

Any suggestions now for this truncated requirement? Basically a very good DAC which also spins CDs.

Why not just a DAC for the 542?

maybe ethernet is "audiophile".

I did not say ethernet is audiophile but I do believe ethernet (wired) should be better than Wifi.

Question is "Is ethernet (NAS) better/worse/same as USB"?

Ethernet is the best medium for internet based music but I would rarely use the internet as a source.

My understanding is that players like the NP30 and NA7004 allow you to connect a USB hard disk into them. This means you can send FLAC files via USB to the NP30 and then via (digital out or RCA out) to the DAC or Amplifier as you see fit.
DAC and Network Player

From what I have read on the interner I understand that one can do almost the same thing with the SB Touch (as one does with the NP30) but the SB is a bit ungainly and almost demands a better DAC (while the NP30 DAC is acceptabale).

Sarge, does the ZP90 (Connect) have a USB in to accept external hard disks? If not how do you connect your local hard disk to it? Does it accept (ethernet) NAS drives only?

 

[NetFreak]

Re: Media player buying confusion

The collection is about 2000 CDs (about 800GB of lossless audio).

Now I am looking for a good audio grade media player.

What about using a Media Player from say Asus, TiVx, Roku, Western Digital, Logitech, NetGear, or even Sony? Which of these are

i) Good quality audio (preferably with digital out so the AVR's DAC or an external DAC can be used)
ii) available locally
iii) FLAC and WAVPACK compatiable with the ability to search and find like iTunes does.

Path of least resistance :


1. Get a 1 TB portable HDD to store your audio files
2. Get a media player with good UI for browsing with Genre/Artist etc, this media player should have enough power to handle WAV/FLAC
3. Connect Media player to AVR with "HDMI"
4. Turn on the option in Media player that would leave audio "unmolested". I.e.e no equalizer etc in media player
5. Connect HDD via USB to media player
6. keep a backup of audio somewhere else

I would suggest:

AMKETTE - EvoTV

Is costs INR 10k and HDD would cost another 5 -7k.

This available locally, has decent UI and can handle lossless Audio.

PS : Just dont use Analogue out of Media players, that would be useless.

 

[NetFreak]

Re: Media player buying confusion

I did not say ethernet is audiophile but I do believe ethernet (wired) should be better than Wifi.

Question is "Is ethernet (NAS) better/worse/same as USB"?

This discussion is not relavant for Audio. Reason is, even Audio CD has bit rate of 1.4 mbps.

USB / WiFi/ Ethernet all are 10 mbps or above. Current versions (USB 3/ WiFi N) are at least 100 mbps.

So, any of these would work for your use case.