Local network HiRes storage and player

You can go either way and get excellent results so I wouldn’t agonize about it.  I use a Melco N100 NAS for storage but it can also be a player, usb only.  I subsequently added a Cambridge Audio CXN 100 to the same system because I wanted the features it offered (Chromecast. AirPlay, and Internet Radio).  Occasionally I compare the Melco player vs the CA, using the  CDs and downloads that I have ripped to the Melco.  I prefer the Melco by the smallest of margins but the CA app is much better so I tend to use the CA as the player, and I can also play files from my phone without having to change an input.  I have used other HDs with both the Melco and the CA and the differences are trivial .

After looking into similar situation, I ended up buying a Blue Sound Vault. NAS’s are great but you must do all the loading via a PC, meta file editing, organising etc. There are programs that do this ok but still requires some effort and time. The Node is dead simple stuff a CD into it, and it does it all is self, it can also be backed up to a hard drive or NAS. Can read off a NAS or hard drive as well.  It’s also a good streamer if you use the digital out to your DAC. I found it hard to tell the difference to my other streamer at a significant cost increase. That streamer is now sold off. The Vault is a handy devise that organises and makes your digital music easy to use through the app. The vault can be set to store using FALC/WAVE etc. so basically CD quality if burning a CD for example. I do not know if it can handle hi rez recordings though as I don’t have any SACD’s. Probably though.

There are more expensive options that do the same, but I have to say the Blue OS is excellent (better by far then the Aurender app). The vault worked flawlessly for adding my 300+ CD’s (with more then half the space still avail). I used FLAC as its lossless and slightly less space needed then WAVE (Native red book CD). But you can pick either option for storage.

Why are you replacing the A8 and what specific improvements are you looking for?  What’s your budget and are you looking for new or used?

I'm interested in this topic as well. I am currently using a Brennan B2 with a custom power supply as my local music server with the optical output fed through a Theta Digital TLC Timebase Linque Conditioner into my MiniDSP Flex and then into my DAC. The Brennan is a Raspberry Pi based unit and presumably it is only reading 1s and 0s. I am considering upgrading to a Volumio RiVo but I have trepidation that there won't be a discernible improvement. I am curious of the community's consensus.

@hifi_jed_1986 I am partial (as I have one for sale), but e.g. the Innuos Zen Mk3 server/streamer is an excellent choice for what you seem to be looking for, both A8 upgrade- and functionality-wise, w/o breaking the bank.

It can have up to 4 Tb of storage (mine has 2 Tb), Innuous’ Sense software is known for how good it is, and the Zen is fully Tidal and Qobuz Connect compatible.

It also has a built-in CD reader so it’s also easy to rip CDs with a minimum of fuss and work.

Unless you have rare CDs that you can’t find on Qobuz or Tidal, I wouldn’t bother with ripping them. And the few rare ones you can rip using dbpoweramp free version into FLAC or WAV. 

If you already have a library of CD rips or high res music you can store it on SSD drive with a backup on another SSD or HDD. 
 

My music library is on SSD mounted internally in my Roon Nucleus One. It’s extremely rare that I play an album from that library. 

Many ways to (successfully) skin that cat.

Answers to two questions might help.

1. Do plan to use Roon, and
2. what is your budget, all in, to get the digital signal to your DAC?

In the meantime, you might look into Roon’s own website, Small Green Computer, and, at a higher price point, Grimm Audio and/or Antipodes.

Eversolo has a new model coming out, the T8, with up to 16TB storage.  If you like the Eversolo environment you might consider that.  That said, any home cloud device will do.

Oh, and don't forget a backup device.  I back up my NAS manually with separate USB drives.

I also use a PC (AMD Ryzen 5 5600x, 16GB RAM) as a NAS with MinimServer, and I store my entire music library on an M2 NVMe SSD (don't kill me for this, but there are differences between different NVMe SSDs, and they're very, very noticeable, by the way). Then I output via a PCI SFP card, fiber optic cable, an Ethernet audio switch with SFP, and Cat8 (OCC+Ag) to the LUMIN. The same FLAC file from Qobuz vs. the server sounds slightly better from the NAS PC. All my CDs are ripped to WAV. By the way, MinimServer sorts everything.
This configuration was the result of many tests (trial and error) and hours of listening. I hope it helps.
Best regards.

@tutonunez 

:Please, could you go deeper into the differences you find among NVMe SSD’s?

I have a QNAP NAS setup with mostly FLAC files for my CD library.  I am using an Esoteric streamer/app that integrates seamlessly with the NAS for cover art, sorting, searches.  For me a NAS made sense because I also use it for other purposes such as large volume photo storage, computer/phone backups, etc.  If one goes this route I suggest upgrading the NAS power supply and using a good quality switch for critical listening.  I have a fairly large CD collection but in reality, wind up steaming the majority of time from Tidal or Qobuz with no discernable difference from ripped files. If I didn’t have other storage requirements and still wanted local CD files I would use a streamer with onboard storage and not bother with the NAS. 

All of my FLAC files from my personal library (7,946 full albums and over 100,000 tracks) are stored on a Synology NAS.  The NAS has two drives so all files are duplicated for backup.  I also backup that NAS to a cloud service and also keep another hard copy on an external drive which is stored offsite.

I stream to my stereo via Roon (which requires a PC to be running which I have, or, Roon Server can run on the Synology) or JRiver if using my computer.  If I want to just stream directly to the stereo I can use the Yamaha's internal interface, which is poor, or I use my WiiM interface which is much better.  The Synology has music server software that runs on it and serves up the music to the interface.  Was not hard at all to set up and the results are quite good.  

FWIW I think that music from my local library or from the local CD player sounds better than the streamed versions, so I tend to play from my local library most of the time (which differs from what some here say they do).

My choice has also been Synology NAS. My issue with integrated storage with streamer is the possibility of higher noise floor in the streamer. Hard drives produce high levels of EMI and require processor resources, both can result in higher noise floor, masking of low level details. As for the need for local file storage, it may indeed be superfluous. While my cd rips provided superior sound quality to streams via Tidal/Qobuz via Roon initially, over time my streams absolutely equal my cd rips for sound quality, at this point really have no need for local storage.   

@corente

I used to have my entire library on an SSD, but one lazy day, I decided to add some FLAC files that were on my NVMe M2 (Windows 11) to the MinimServer and surprise, they sounded better. Since that NVMe was with the W11, I decided to buy another one to store my music exclusively (my motherboard has 2 NVMe slots) and I bought a 1 TB WD Black, but bad news, it didn't sound as good as the one the W11 had. I then thought it could be because it was on the W11 disk, I cloned the disk, but the WD Black definitely didn't sound like the previous NVMe, which I could prove because my motherboard has 2 slots. I had another NVMe drive with less capacity (WD Green), and it didn't sound as good as the original either. So, as a true audiophile, I couldn't just sit back and settle... so I looked for the exact same original NVMe drive, but with a larger capacity, and BINGO, it was clearly the best. Here it is for you to buy: Western Digital Blue SN550 NVMe SSD 1TB (WDS100T2B0C)
The difference was in transparency and tonality. I don't know the cause, but I trust my ears.
I hope it helps.
Best regards!!

@sns I was concerned about noise with my system as well but then stumbled upon the iFi (SilentPower) LAN purifier products.  I put a LAN Purifier Pro between my router and the NAS and then also employed a couple of iFi LAN Silencers in the mix as well.  I thought it made a noticeable difference in the noise floor of my internal network.  

@larryincmh I also find LAN filters effective but this doesn't address the streamer with internal hard drive issue. I've found that minimizing noise at every single component and interface in streaming chain is necessary for obtaining full potential of that streaming setup. As for that streamer with internal storage, one could provide maximum shielding from hard drive and separate processor and power supply for that hard drive, anything else will be a compromise.

I've also found drives do provide variable sound quality, reliability and durability also critical here.

@sns I am currently using WD Red NAS drives and honestly didn't research much before purchasing them what the noise levels might be for those.  I have been mildly interested in the Synology branded hard drives but have not had occassion yet to purchase one as my current drives are just a year old.  I did just do a bit of a Google search and of course it says that the WD Pro drives are noisy LOL.  Now that might be all I notice when streaming.

@hifi_jed_1986 

Like some others have said, I initially had my music files (all FLAC) on the hard drive within my Aurender server/streamer. Then purchased a Synology NAS and loaded all of my music files to it..

A noticeable improvement in sound! Straightforward transfer of files, and be able to manage everything via my computer on the local network another plus.

    -GAR

The largest determinate of the sound characteristics of streamed files is the streamer. A very high quality streamer (like Aurender... the higher tier the better) the better the sound quality will be. I cannot tell the difference between locally stored on my streamer, on my NAS, pocket drive, or streamed files from Qobuz when it is the same version of an album. Often streaming sounds better because a high resolution version of the album is available on Qobuz. 

The key to sound quality is the streamer, not all the tech supplying it with bits, unless one uses a steamer not appropriately matched to your system... (inferior). 

@hifi_jed_1986 

I have not seen answers to my questions about Roon and your budget, but I will go ahead an answer your questions:

1. What is best way of doing this device wise (separate everything or combine),
2. what devices are you using, and lastly
3. are FLAC files the ideal format to store or is there something better?

Answers, IMO:

1. While some methods may offer better sound, some better reliability, and some may be better than others based on the size of your personal library, there are multiple methods of storing "high resolution music files locally on your hardwired network and playing into a stand alone DAC".  There is no one "best method" as several of the potential set-ups and a variety of different equipment could be used to provide a high resolution digital signal to your DAC.  As mentioned by @ghdprentice, it is also my opinion that, relative to that digital chain (i.e., prior to the DAC), the streamer has the most influence on the sound you hear.  Some will say there are sonic benefits to separating the server and streamer, but there are several high-priced one-box (server and streamer) solutions by companies such as Grimm and Antipodes that likely offer current state-of-the-industry performance.
2. I use a separate server and streamer - two different components.  My sonicTransporter i9 (Gen4) is set up in a separate room along with my modem and router, and the digital output signal is converted to an optical signal, which is connected by a fiber optic cable to a Sonore Signature Rendu SE Deluxe streamer (located in the room with my main system) that either feeds my DAC through a USB cable or, depending on my set-up at the time, feeds a Singxer SU6 DDC via USB, which is then connected to my DAC via S/PDIF coax or AES/EBU XLR.
3. While there are other formats, FLAC files should sound just fine (particularly for standard redbook CDs) and will in most cases equal what you hear by streaming.  

I have the Eversolo A6 and I'm ready to throw it in the trash.  It's way too buggy and I often abandon my listening session as a result .  Each update seems to create new problems.  So I completely relate to your post.  I too am looking for a Streamer/Server in the $1k - $1.5K range.