Do I have to use a streamer/renderer to play music from an NAS?

To make this work, you'll need a hardware device to hold your music files; some type of software to "serve" or stream your music files; endpoints to receive the streamed music; music control software running on a hardware device to play music; and a wired or wireless network to tie everything together.

• Hardware Storage Device examples: NAS, computer hard/solid state drive (HHD/SSD), thumb drive, USB HHD/SSD, media server HHD/SSD
• Software Server examples:  Roon Core, Logitech Media Server (LMS), Synology Audio Station, JRiver Media Center
  
• Endpoint examples: Raspberry PI, Squeezebox Duet or Touch, Chromecast Audio devices/Chromecast speakers, AirPlay speakers, DNLA speakers
• Music Control Software examples: Roon, iPeng, JRiver, LMS, DS Audio

Using LMS and Raspberry PIs, AirPlay speakers, and Squeezebox Duets, I created a whole house stereo system that worked very well for years.  I used this setup to synchronize music to wired and wireless speakers, both active and passive, all over my 3-story house.  LMS is free, still well supported, and using plugins supports a wide range of clients (e.g., Squeezebox/Squeezelight, DNLA, AirPlay, Chromecast).  If you have a little "techie" in you, LMS is a good option and it has a proven track record of flexibility and reliability.

Recently, I switched to Roon.  Roon has a much better interface and much better SQ; however, to take full advantage of Roon's DSP capabilities, you need a fairly powerful device to run Roon Core.  Hence I purchased a sonicTransporter with DSP (with no storage) just to run Roon Core.  My Roon setup is Ethernet from a wall jack to a 5-port switch.  The sonicTransporter and Zenith are plugged into the switch.  The Zenith music server is plugged into a Mytek DAC using a USB cable.  The DAC is plugged into a NAD M12 preamplifier using RCA cables.

Using Roon, I had to make some comprises. For example, Roon does not support DNLA, but does support RAAT (Roon's protocol), AirPlay, Squeezebox, and Chromecast. HOWEVER, you cannot synchronize different protocols (called Zones in Roon).  The much improved SQ and Roon music management capabilities made the trade-off worthwhile.  I have two zones: 

• Zone 1 uses a Roon ready Mytek DAC and a RAAT enabled Raspberry PI
  
• Zone 2 uses Roon ready Chromecast wireless speakers and one Chromecast Audio device

As a side note, I use Riva WAND wireless speakers in Zone 2 (family room, kitchen, living room, and upstairs guest room).  The SQ is surprisingly good, IMHO much better than Sonos.  I replaced Sonos with Riva WAND because of the SQ but more importantly, the RIVA's support DNLA, AirPlay, Chromecast, and Bluetooth, and they have an Aux input. The switch from LMS to Roon was painless :-).

You need to carefully choose your front end. 

• LMS gives you many streaming options - basically, every major streaming service (e.g., Tidal, Qobuz, Pandora, Sirius), an Internet radio directory, and the ability to manually enter web page URLs (e.g., RadioTunes channels).  
• Roon allows you to stream Tidal and just this week Qobuz, and radio stations that stream in MP3, AAC, and FLAC formats, and TuneIn web page URLs.
  
• I tried JRiver; its like a Swiss Army knife.  I decided not to use it because I didn't want to tie up a computer to use it, and I didn't want to spend the time learning how to use all of the bells & whistles.

If you use a Synology NAS, you should run the LMS Beta version in the "Beta" package center.  I used that version for a couple of years with no problems!

You can also run LMS server and LMS client on a single Raspberry PI, and connect it to any USB or network device.  For my goddaughter's 30th birthday, I gave her one of my legacy systems: vintage Bose 901 speakers (original series with chrome stands), Bose equalize, Yamaha receiver, Raspberry PI LMS Server/Player, and 3 TB USB drive. She's streaming Tidal from LMS, and playing music from the USB drive and her phone/table.  There are no latency or connectivity issues with this setup. 

There's a lot to learn about this stuff.  Don't be shy about asking more questions.  That's how I learned on this forum.  

@ curiousjim  I ripped my CDs to FLAC.  There are those who believe WAV provides better SQ.  I haven't tried WAV and I'm quite happy with FLAC.  WAV takes up more disk space, if that's a concern.  I don't think you'll have a SQ problem with either format.

@rbstehno  I go directly to my dac using Ethernet so no need for the inferior usb connection.

Why do feel a USB connection is inferior to Ethernet?  I've used both in my setup and I get the best SQ with USB.

Also get a dac that has a network interface so you can keep the server in a different room

I think that depends on your overall system setup.

I once used a Synology DS216+ NAS as my media server.  It was kept in my home office and could make mechanical noise at times, but had no impact on SQ outside of that room. 

Currently, the Zenith media server and sonicTransporter that are in my music room are totally silent, that is, neither make any mechanical sounds while operating.

@kumankahn.  But, honestly, I just want to listen to music that sounds great and is easily located and selected.

Looks like you have to main goals for your music: (1) sounds great  and (2) is easily located and selected.

(1)  Seems like a hardware choice.  Since your RC-1590 has a DAC, I'd look for a pure media server.  Take a look at the Innuos ZENmini  
http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zenmini-mk3-1tb-hdd. 

They are simple to setup and configure; are CD rippers; and come pre-loaded with Roon.  They cost more than the Bluesound Vault 2.  I use a Zenith MKII.  The SQ is outstanding.  Check out the online reviews.

For connectivity, the ZENmini has two Ethernet ports or a USB port.  In your case, you would connect your LAN cable to the ZENmini "LAN" port, and then the ZENmini "Streamer" port to you RC-1590 "Ethernet" port or the ZENmini "USB" port to you RC-1590 "USB" port.

(2) Seems like software choices.  I'd give Roon a try.  If that doesn't work, there are a lot of other choices.

@OP.  Try to find a local dealer and audition the ZENmini in your system if possible.

Steve,

The OP appears to be relatively new to this "hobby," at least from a music streaming perspective if nothing else. He, like most people I believe, probably wants to get it as close to "right" the first time; sit back and enjoy the music; and make tweaks from there.

That's been my approach, based on listening experiences with my equipment and setup, along with visits to dealer showrooms to audition various pieces and with help from members of my audio club. I live in the DC area where there's no shortage of truly high-end audio/video dealers.  Before I spend thousands of dollars on ANYTHING, I first hear it in my system - or have the option of returning it.

There's is a lot of information and opinions in this thread.  I don't agree with it all and I'm sure not everyone agrees with everything that I've shared.  That's natural. 

Clearly, you have a lot of practical experience and technical expertise in this area.  Would you please elaborate on what you mean by the phrase, "More like a load of misinformation?" I can't speak for everyone, but I'd certainly like to know what you are referring to.

Johnnie

Steve,

It’s ALL ABOUT JITTER, period

I was under the impression that jitter was handled by “modern” DACs or by using an external master clock.  Having said that, I have zero experience with external clocks.

I have a Mytek Liberty DAC.  It’s specs have, “Clock generator: Low noise with 10ps of jitter.”  Realizing 10 is more than a few, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being really bad, where would you rate “10ps of jitter?”

@OP.   Please forgive me for diverging from your original question.  Many of these responses have been educational for me.  I’m posing questions to better understand and learn.

Johnnie

Steve,

Thanks for the info.

Johnnie

@ kumakahn.  Again, thank you. Many ways to get there. I didn’t know about the Zen Mini. I like the specs for it. It seems to match the RC-1590 better than the Vault II. The Zen Mini can handle DSD, as does the RC-1590.

Have you made a buying decision?  

As I noted in an earlier post:

I was under the impression that jitter was handled by “modern” DACs or by using an external master clock.

I'm really trying to understand "jitter" and it's impact on streamed music.  I use the following components for streaming:

NAD M12 preamplifier/DAC w/BluOS MDC (I don't use it's DAC)
NAD M22 v2 power amplifier
sonicTransporter i7 for Roon DSP (no storage)
Innuos Zenith MKII media server
Mytek Liberty DAC

My Roon setup is Wireworld Cat7 Ethernet from a wall jack to a 5-port switch

• sonicTransporter and Zenith are plugged into the switch using Wireworld cables
• Zenith is plugged into DAC using a Wireworld USB cable
• DAC is plugged into a NAD using Cardas RCA cables

I could use Ethernet from the Zenith to the M12, eliminating the USB cable.  I like the Mytek DAC better than the M12 DAC, and the Mytek DAC allows me to play native DSD files.

To me and my friends, the SQ is excellent.  In my system, native DSD sounds best; MQA second; and Zenith FLAC files upsampled to DSD 128 last.

If I have a jitter problem, I cannot hear it.  So my question is, how can you tell?

@kumakahn.   But, do I have to have the Cambridge or some other device to just play the digital music from the NAS to start?

Once you store files on your NAS, you can play them using JRiver, iTunes, Logitech Media Server, and if your NAS is powerful enough to run Roon core, you can use Roon.  I'm sure there are other "front-ends" that you can use.

I'm going to PM you.

“Best” depends on your equipment, wants, and needs.

• For my setup, LMS was best for my whole house stereo needs because I had a mix of Squeezebox and AirPlay end points.  
• I switched to Roon because of its DSP and music management capabilities, and I now have Roon ready and Chromecast end points.  
• I tried Jriver, but didn’t like the interface or complexity so I didn’t spend much time using it and I didn’t want to use a computer to run it.
• I believe HQPlayer is another option, but I have no experience with it.

With my setup, Roon is best. Roon is also the most expensive to setup and use.  You will need a fairly powerful computer/device or NAS to run Core, not to mention the annual fee or lifetime membership .  I decided on a lifetime membership.

LMS is probably the most flexible and is free, and works with about every thing.  LMS can be a little tricky to setup, but it works great.

@itsjustme.  Regarding jitter, I found this article on Audio Myths on the PS Audio site quite interesting:  https://www.psaudio.com/article/audio-myths/

Digital audio has a unique type of timing deviation called jitter, but with all modern sound cards jitter is so much softer than the music that you’ll never hear it.

My takeaway from the article is, while jitter exists in all digital music and can be measured, with modern DACs jitter is irrelevant.  I've read other articles that have reached that same conclusion, as have my ears when listening to my system.