Audio & Video Player / Streamer

[Techno Commander]

Hi all, a little advice / thoughts please. I am looking for a good music & video streamer/player. I have decided to rationalise and shrink my current Hi-Fi system to something a bit more modern and compact. Over the past few years, I have ripped all my CDs and copied all my tapes. I still have some vinyl, but not a lot. I will shortly be selling my CD player and tape decks. I also have approx 2000 movies and TV series recorded in 1080p. I wont be using any online streaming services, but internet radio is a possibility.

What I am looking for is a single box player/streamer that can replay both audio and video files. I am happy to accept an internal hard drive as long as it is user replacable, as it will need to be about 12TB in size. I am also OK with using an external NAS for storage if the player is merely a front end device. Is there anything out there that will handle both video and audio replay and provide decent quality? I have seen the HiFi Rose and that does look likes it ticks all the boxes, although at a price. Or would I be better off building a compact HTPC and setting it up with an android tablet to control it?

This also then brings up another question. Most audio streamers I have seen (as well as HTPCs) have built in volume controls. Is there a way to set the output permanently to line level (eg 0.75v), to feed an external amplifier, or is it better to use the internal volume control and feed the output into active speakers? I currently have a decent Sansui amp and a pair of high end studio monitors, but I have also been listening to a pair of powered Adam studio monitors and do like their sound. I would be happy selling the Sansui and speakers for a good pair of actives (ATC/PMC etc), or keep the big monitors and get a better amp to drive them with.

With regard to video, I dont need surround sound or multi channel. At the most, it will be a 2.1 system (which would probably be easier to accomodate with active speakers), but I would prefer to err on the side of quality audio over everything else. Thanks.

[struth]

jriver does do video as well as audio. its usable with video and may be better than that but i dont really use it much as i use roon for audio at moment and i use plex for my audio. the server for plex is currently on my pc and goes to my amazon stick via their app on amazon. works well too. currently wathing a film on the tv through this system. plex can do audio too but ive not bothered so far. its free too.. or you can buy it for extra usability

[dowser]

RPi 4, Raspberry OS, then install Kodi (you can make it dedicated Kodi, but I use the OS for other things too). I use a digi out hat to feed into my DAC, but you could also use a DAC hat to get line out or use onboard USB if you have a DAC with USB or (lowest quality) use native audio out of RPi.

[Bencat]

On a Pi the HDMI out has full digital audio and picture out so if you are using an AV or DAC with HDMI you could use that as well.