Storing and playing music files

[RMutt]

I sometimes think that with hifi the simplest solutions get overlooked precisely because they are that, ‘simple’. The idea of fit and forget is not what a lot of people want because they enjoy the fiddling and tweaking. I’m probably beginning to sound a bit evangelical about the Squeezebox Touch but it really is an easy way in to streaming or playing music through your hifi that is stored remotely. The Touch is a touchscreen so you can see your music without a laptop, tablet or phone. You don’t even need a DAC because it has a DAC onboard so you can plug it straight into your amplifier using RCA’s. If you want to take a digital out and plug it into your DAC you can. Your music files are stored on your PC, laptop or NAS. That can be anywhere in your house that connects to your home network. You download Logitech Music Server (LMS) to wherever your music is stored and LMS will find it with a scan. The Touch screen which, is connected to your hifi finds your stored music library and you simply play it. As you become familiar with the LMS software you can use plug-ins to play Spotify, Tidal, Radio Paradise and so on. I cannot really imagine a more cost effective and straight forward solution.

[mikmas]

I sometimes think that with hifi the simplest solutions get overlooked precisely because they are that, ‘simple’. The idea of fit and forget is not what a lot of people want because they enjoy the fiddling and tweaking. I’m probably beginning to sound a bit evangelical about the Squeezebox Touch but it really is an easy way in to streaming or playing music through your hifi that is stored remotely. The Touch is a touchscreen so you can see your music without a laptop, tablet or phone. You don’t even need a DAC because it has a DAC onboard so you can plug it straight into your amplifier using RCA’s. If you want to take a digital out and plug it into your DAC you can. Your music files are stored on your PC, laptop or NAS. That can be anywhere in your house that connects to your home network. You download Logitech Music Server (LMS) to wherever your music is stored and LMS will find it with a scan. The Touch screen which, is connected to your hifi finds your stored music library and you simply play it. As you become familiar with the LMS software you can use plug-ins to play Spotify, Tidal, Radio Paradise and so on. I cannot really imagine a more cost effective and straight forward solution.

Not being awkward here Andrew, but what you describe is not really what I would call 'simple' - it already involves the use of at least 3 discrete devices (including a functioning wired and wireless network)

It's no 'simpler' than the alternatives already mentioned (Zen, RPi, Brennan, etc) except of course that the Squeezebox isn't readily available

I think the problem for the OP is that there isn't one solution within his price range offered so far that would be truly 'simple' and no fuss
i.e. a standalone combined storage and player in one 'easy to use' box that's capable of HiRes playback.

[Edward]

Hi,

I'm looking for suggestions for storing and playing music files without having to use a pc. I have a growing collection of hi-res music downloads stored on a laptop and played through a dac but find having to log-on a deterrent to listening. I haven't been able find any hi fi equipment which I could store and play digital files from, except one made by a company called Brennan. This machine doesn't play hi-res files and has an in-built amp, which I don't need. The closest I've come to finding what I want seem to be expensive streamers, and I don't stream music. Downloading (mainly from 7Digital) to pc is fine. I'd then like to be able to transfer files to a dedicated piece of hi fi that would store and feed my dac with music. Suggestions welcome, including corrective ones if I'm asking for the impossible.

John

John

Given that you already seem to be a fan of Cambridge stuff I recommend you have a look at the Cambridge CXN (V2). This is slightly above you budget but Richer sounds are currently selling it discounted to £699. This streamer allows you not have to 'log on' in that you can choose albums, tracks, stations from its front panel or via the supplied remote controller. You can also, if you wish, use the Cambridge app which you can download to your android or apple phone/tablet. So lots of flexibility.

The CXN does have an internal DAC but you can output high rez music to your existing DAC via spdif out. Or perhaps you will like the Cambridge dac in which case you could sell your existing dac (to make up some/all of the extra over your budget).

In terms of your music files, if you did get the CXN, you will not need a nas or separate computer, just store them on a cheap USB hard disc drive and attach it to the CXN. Or use a high capacity USB flash drive.

The CXN will, like the Brennan you mentioned, also be able to stream from external sources such as Spotify, Tidal and thousands of 'radio' stations.

Personally I would get a CXN myself but for now it does not have full Roon functionality - but that is not something you are looking for.

[RMutt]

Not being awkward here Andrew, but what you describe is not really what I would call 'simple' - it already involves the use of at least 3 discrete devices (including a functioning wired and wireless network)

It's no 'simpler' than the alternatives already mentioned (Zen, RPi, Brennan, etc) except of course that the Squeezebox isn't readily available



I think the problem for the OP is that there isn't one solution within his price range offered so far that would be truly 'simple' and no fuss
i.e. a standalone combined storage and player in one 'easy to use' box that's capable of HiRes playback.

John, the OP, has downloaded or ripped hi-res files and he is using a computer on the internet so admittedly I am taking some knowhow for granted. I would imagine his computer must be connected to a router, and therefor probably a home network, somehow, in order to connect to the web. The Zen and Brennan are cost prohibitive and I think the pi needs a bit more geekary and some sort of screen. Obviously I agree that the Touch is out of production but software updates are still ongoing so finding and installing LMS is not a problem. So, I am going to stand by my suggestion for a simpler, cheaper and more cost effective solution.

[steve-z]

One of these would do the job just fine - just needs a cheap monitor and a 3.5mm optical or USB cable to your DAC and a copy of Audirvana installed - job done:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APPLE-MAC...kAAOSwm2Nc~9J6

I have one set up in the shed - plays music just fine

A 500GB HDD stores a helluvalot of music

Another vote for the Macmini, I’ve been using one as my digital music source for over 10 years now, in fact I’m on my second one now, my first I couldn’t update past OS Snow Leopard so I bought a 2015 series one used off ebay about 3 years ago for £300. All my music collection is stored in itunes or as it’s now called in the new OS Catalina, “Music”.
I also stream Spotify and Amazon Music with it. A recent upgrade to a Solid State Drive (SSD) has also made it a very slick machine speed wise even with a relatively slow processor and only 4GB of RAM. Note the very latest Macs no longer have optical outputs so digital has to be via USB.


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[AJSki2fly]

John, the OP, has downloaded or ripped hi-res files and he is using a computer on the internet so admittedly I am taking some knowhow for granted. I would imagine his computer must be connected to a router, and therefor probably a home network, somehow, in order to connect to the web. The Zen and Brennan are cost prohibitive and I think the pi needs a bit more geekary and some sort of screen. Obviously I agree that the Touch is out of production but software updates are still ongoing so finding and installing LMS is not a problem. So, I am going to stand by my suggestion for a simpler, cheaper and more cost effective solution.

The Pi is very straight forward to set up, and as I suggested a pre set up box with DAC from Volumio is plug up and use, you just set up a logon on Volumio's website, you access The Pi using the Volumio web page on a browser on a computer to mobile device on which you can download their app simples! Their support pages are also very good, plus there are loads of us on here to help and advise. The hard and time consuming bit is get the NAS set up and copying the files over IMO.

[struth]

The Pi is very straight forward to set up, and as I suggested a pre set up box with DAC from Volumio is plug up and use, you just set up a logon on Volumio's website, you access The Pi using the Volumio web page on a browser on a computer to mobile device on which you can download their app simples! Their support pages are also very good, plus there are loads of us on here to help and advise. The hard and time consuming bit is get the NAS set up and copying the files over IMO.

never managed a nas. i bought one but it wouldnt work..a synology... so it went back.. not sure if it was deffo faulty but it wouldnt bloody workk lol
you can easily attach an hdd to a pi tho. as long as its self powered it will work.
i prefer throwing the music off my laptop down the ethernet personally to my pi/digione and on to dac. volumio is nowadays simple to set up.

[Edward]

The Pi is very straight forward to set up, and as I suggested a pre set up box with DAC from Volumio is plug up and use, you just set up a logon on Volumio's website, you access The Pi using the Volumio web page on a browser on a computer to mobile device on which you can download their app simples! Their support pages are also very good, plus there are loads of us on here to help and advise. The hard and time consuming bit is get the NAS set up and copying the files over IMO.

Using a Pi and Volumio does one need a NAS? Is it not possible to simply use a USB drive and plug it into one of the Pi's USB ports?

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[struth]

Using a Pi and Volumio does one need a NAS? Is it not possible to simply use a USB drive and plug it into one of the Pi's USB ports?

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yup, but use a self powered hdd. that way you wont have issues.

[AJSki2fly]

Using a Pi and Volumio does one need a NAS? Is it not possible to simply use a USB drive and plug it into one of the Pi's USB ports?

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As Grant says yes you can do that, but you need to consider how to back it up to make the music stored on it safe in case of hard drive failure, I use a NAS drive for flexibility and plug a secondary USB drive into it and the NAS drive if configured to incrementally back up to it on a weekly basis during the night. I also use the NAS to store other media and documents I need to keep, but do not want cluttering up my laptop. It is also possible to access the NAS drive remotely and securely when not at home.