Jetmek - I had an iMac connected to a V-link192 via USB, connected to a "tricked out" Bifrost DAC and streaming content from a NAS drive. Sound quality was great!
But...
I had to install Audirvana to bypass all the silliness that Apple deems necessary, in order to get the raw data only to the DAC
I purchased a special dual USB cable and separate power supply to eliminate the problems associated to the computers inadequate USB power.
I suffered the various software version upgrades from both Apple and Audirvana.
I suffered spurious glitches during playback
Then recently...
I purchased a Bluesound NODE 2 - loaded the player software onto my various Droid devices - plugged it in - pointed it to the NAS drive’s iTunes configured library - and started playing music.
The Node2 also provides access to various streaming services.
Basically - it took less than one day to achieve the same thing it took weeks, no months, to achieve playback from a NAS drive with a computer - and the quality is better!
I have read of software glitches with the Node 2 software and it’s Library Management features pertaining to playlists are not perfect, but it does play great quality music straight from the LAN - so, no USB issues!
I have experienced dropouts at 24/192 when connected via wireless, but that was when the wireless Lan was very active and my router is old (no "N" mode). I now connect via Ethernet and have no issues.
I recommend the Node 2 based on music quality alone - it may not provide the streaming services you require, but you can look that up on their web site.
Yes - the computer is infinitely more configurable, but I like to listen to music rather than play with settings and web sites.
I was so impressed with the Node2 - I purchase the PowerNode 2 for playback on my A/V system.
Hope that helps
But...
I had to install Audirvana to bypass all the silliness that Apple deems necessary, in order to get the raw data only to the DAC
I purchased a special dual USB cable and separate power supply to eliminate the problems associated to the computers inadequate USB power.
I suffered the various software version upgrades from both Apple and Audirvana.
I suffered spurious glitches during playback
Then recently...
I purchased a Bluesound NODE 2 - loaded the player software onto my various Droid devices - plugged it in - pointed it to the NAS drive’s iTunes configured library - and started playing music.
The Node2 also provides access to various streaming services.
Basically - it took less than one day to achieve the same thing it took weeks, no months, to achieve playback from a NAS drive with a computer - and the quality is better!
I have read of software glitches with the Node 2 software and it’s Library Management features pertaining to playlists are not perfect, but it does play great quality music straight from the LAN - so, no USB issues!
I have experienced dropouts at 24/192 when connected via wireless, but that was when the wireless Lan was very active and my router is old (no "N" mode). I now connect via Ethernet and have no issues.
I recommend the Node 2 based on music quality alone - it may not provide the streaming services you require, but you can look that up on their web site.
Yes - the computer is infinitely more configurable, but I like to listen to music rather than play with settings and web sites.
I was so impressed with the Node2 - I purchase the PowerNode 2 for playback on my A/V system.
Hope that helps