NAS, Hard Drive or something else entirely ?

[mightymonoped]

Yes I thought this was a pretty elegant solution too. Are the files on the SSD just stored 'as normal' without there being any other software on it like LMS? And you can point volumio to the folder and it picks them up? Does Volumio tell the SSD to 'spin up' (I know it doesn't actually spin up) when needed or do you just switch it on manually when you want to listen?

Yes, the files are just stored in a folder (or folders) and Volumio is just pointed to it in exactly the same way as you would with a NAS or USB Drive. As it's an SSD, there's no 'spin up' or switch on even (as the power is via the USB connection).

I basically just power on my amp, then the RPi and listen at leisure to either LAN or Internet streamed content.

[Ashmore]

Neat. I used to use a vortexbox - a little bespoke headless Linux distro that ripped CDs and then served them via LMS. About a year ago I bought a two disc Synology NAS, which runs LMS. It does the job impeccably as well as doing back up duties for photos, but it does sometimes seem like overkill...

[Made in 1968]

What confuses me with File based systems is what seems to be a lot of Hassle & people need to use a complex way of setting things up into a system! I never thought it was suppose to be that way. I always stood by the notion that if something is labourious regarding computers & computer based peripherals its not been done right, no different from using a computer in general.. in most cases there is no need for the complexity.

I understand that a lot of people do like overkill & prefer to go all out, i also get to thinking that people are going all out unawares that they are doing so.. i suppose its part of the fun in the hobby at the end of the day with some, others hell on earth but what do i know, sending a simple message on the mobile phone is a nightmare enough for me

[Ashmore]

I feel your pain. I think the challenge is that there are so many solutions to choose from. They're often not difficult to implement, nor do they have to be expensive, but they do usually seem to involve two of three things 'doing stuff together' - unless of course you go down the commercial plug and play route (e.g. naim star or atom). I agree that simplest is best is a good philosophy, hence my admiration for Tony's SSD solution.

[mightymonoped]

Neat. I used to use a vortexbox - a little bespoke headless Linux distro that ripped CDs and then served them via LMS. About a year ago I bought a two disc Synology NAS, which runs LMS. It does the job impeccably as well as doing back up duties for photos, but it does sometimes seem like overkill...

I've tried a few different configurations but found this to be suited best to my needs. I'm familiar with NAS setups as I've used Synology boxes in work for years. If I need more file storage or want something more flexible, I would certainly go down that route. To be honest though, I'm finding that the quality and convenience of the Tidal Hifi streaming via Volumio has supplanted most of my own file content as far as regular listening is concerned. I really don't find myself ripping CDs or adding files locally anywhere near as much as I used to.

The RPi + Katana + Shanti setup has left my vinyl and CD-based sources pretty much sidelined.

[struth]

been trialling roon. its pretty good connection wise... think i prefer the sound via my main system. Jriver has the edge on headphone system tho. Seems you can make your rpi a roon endpiece using a program called Ropieee