Like mapman wrote:"Stick with the laptop. No need for expensive proprietary music server hardware". I have been doing home streaming for many years and have upgraded DAC 3 times.
Music Server or Laptop?
I’m looking for suggestions. I exclusively listen to my music collection ripped to FLAC from my laptop/Foobar--->DAC--->amp--->speakers. I’m wondering if there is a decent, no-frills, music server that I could use in place of my laptop or would I be better suited to just buy another, smaller laptop that I would use solely for music and maybe save a little bit of money? I’m just looking for something that I don’t have to have a wire running across my room all the time or it coming loose when I move the laptop when in use. If it helps, I do not stream anything. I prefer to listen to my own collection.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Just looked at Daphile. It is an OS image for x86 type servers. It is based on the Logitech Media Server / Squeezelite packages running on an real time OS for lowest possible jitter playback. It is a similar idea to piCore. Personally with the Raspberry Pi 4, I'm going to run Ubuntu on it, with LMS. Tiny and fanless. |
Laptops provide the most flexibility with trying out different music players. My Macbook pro was in my system for about 10 years and could have gone longer but I had the opportunity for a nice used newer one. I use the Toslink connection to the Qutest to eliminate the computer power issues of the USB. |
A simple but very good solution, if you can find one, is the Arcam rPlay. It's been discontinued but available on ebay and other places. I have one plugged into my router that works extremely well taking streaming from an iTunes database on an iMac, Spotify and Apple Music HD and passing it on to my DAC. Another option might be the Google Chromecast Audio, also discontinued but available on ebay. I have one and it works well but haven't used it enough to know it very well. Here's a review comparing the rPlay to the Bluesound Node 2. https://www.whathifi.com/features/arcam-rplay-vs-bluesound-node-2-which-better |