Music Servers, Do They Matter?

" In more analog mindset, does it make as much sense to evaluate a separate music server in the same terms as one might consider a cartridge to a turntable?"

Music server hardware, no, not much if at all anymore really in practice. Music server software that runs on the hardware, yes.

A music server is a computer program that streams data from files. It only has to work reliably as designed like any other computer server for any other app must. It need have nothing specific to do with the making of sound other than supplying the data which any properly operating computer device can do just like always. What is in the files themselves will have a lot to do with sound....that is where the source quality is determined, much like the source quality of a record or tape.

In some cases, some music server programs may provide features that change the data it gets from the file before sending it and hence the sound may be changed in some pre-determined way, like a loudness leveling feature for example, to help make all files achieve similar loudness levels despite differences in how they were originally mastered. . But that is part of the server software....it can run on any supported hardware and do its thing just fine. Anything is possible there but as a result of the specific server software running not the hardware. Same true with the streamer software. Both server or streamer software programs may have features that allow it to change the sound in some predetermined way.

Music making starts once the streamer starts sending the data it received from the server or any other streaming source to the DAC. Now the digital data must be converted to analog accurately in real time. Here is where the music making starts, similar to a cart on a turntable and where ones traditional concern for good sound reproduction from the source is better served.

Bottom line: pay attention to specs and features of music server software. Choose the ones you like that provide the features you need or want. With some you may have the option of running it on different supported hardware platforms. With others, the vendor will decide for you what hardware to run their server software on and both come bundled together as is the case with many music servers marketed to traditional home audio users. Expect to pay a premium for plug and play music server devices especially if marketed to audiophiles and pay attention to the specs  (like resolutions and formats supported) and any features that might help distinguish one server from another.  

The Music Server or PC Transport matters as much as everything else counts in a quality audio system. The best DAC will convert what it gets. If it gets garbage it will convert (at its best) garbage. In twenty years of digital audio I have tried everything. The best result, I got with a computer optimized and dedicated for the purpose.
Linear power supplie;
High Quality Hardware as industrial grade Motherboard and  Xeon Processor.
My sistem is based on:
DAC Merging +HAPI
Master Clock Apogee Big Ben
Preamp Audio Research LS25mk2
Amp MOON W3
Loudspeakers Thiel CS2.4  :-)

mapman

I generally really appreciate your posts (for years actually) and honestly never make it a habit to disagree with folks on the forums. But you just could not be more wrong here.

Having built custom PC based servers for my system over the last 10 years, I must have gone through more than 100 permutations of hardware and software. In my current build every component change and software change effects the sound quality. There is simply no way anyone can openly and honestly experiment with this and not find the same. For those looking for genuine answers to this question, it is very confusing and misleading to suggest otherwise. If you have tried various server solutions of different quality and have a resolving system and cannot tell the difference then something else is wrong. It’s just unequivocal.

Just one small example that I have repeated literally dozens of times: I love the Roon interface. I have a subscription. I REALLY want Roon to work in my system. But in every recent iteration of my server, Euphony sounds significantly better. The difference is not subtle. And that is a shame because Euphony’s interface is vastly inferior to that of Roon. (I am aware that in many systems this may be the reverse. But this is consistently what happens in MY specific system.) I bring this up only to illustrate just how important each component of the server seems to be for playback quality. This is one example I could give of dozens. I have no dog in this fight. None at all. I just want newcomers to have an accurate picture of the enterprise. Believe me, I really wish it were otherwise. But every component of a server, down to the OS and playback software, will tend to affect the sound.

@abdodson 

My experience aligns with yours; servers matter and Roon is not the best sounding software. 

I have an Innuos Zenith Mk. 3, I tried Squeezlite/Ipeng in place of Roon. The Squeezelite/Ipeng sound was a significant improvement but the Ipeng UI is incredibly poor--especially compared to Roon. 

I'm looking forward to the release of Innuos 2.0, hopefully Roon will be relegated to my Bluesound devices around the house. 

I received my Lucas Audio LDMS Music Server.  Does it make a difference?  I would not have believed it until I heard it.  I have a $30k Lampi Pacific Dac and I thought my sound was great.  That is until I started up the LDMS.  

The sound quality, the detail, the instrumentation separation was more apparent, clarity of sound was enhanced.  My overall experience has taken my system to a totally different level.  I will even say that if I would have known this I might have purchased a less expensive DAC.  

I highly recommend, if you are looking for a music server, check out Lucas Audio.  Lucas D is a computer genius.