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Native FLAC Player

Are there any receivers that can play FLAC natively? I feel that its a shame that the logitech Squeezebox Transporter is the only native (at least form what I can find) Flac player.

Am I too far ahead of the curve or does anyone else feel let down by Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon etc with the fact that none of their receivers can play FLAC naively?

Some of them will use uPNP to connect to "media servers" but the media server has to stream the FLAC so it down-converts as it transcodes (translates digital info to music) over the network for the receiver to play.

Even the highest high end Onkyo TX-NR906 does not support FLAC through its USB ports. This is particularly confusing because certain reviewers claim that it can play FLAC - well yes it "can" via the "media server" as described above.

Why haven't all the high end audio device makers not seized this opportunity? Is it because the true connoisseurs still listen to loss-less music on analog media (LP) ? What about the rest of us (ok ME) that can't afford the great analog equipment ?

Or... am I completely missing the boat on this? Are there good quality receivers in $2000 range that can play native FLAC?
anuruddhak

Showing 1 response by rxmage

rxmage
1 posts
 
The Escient Fireball MX-111 does natively decodes FLAC files. Additionally, it will encode your cd's to FLAC. It is a very nice media server solution. The software is easy to use and nicely catalogs and organizes your media. It also acts as a web server to any web enabled devices on your network. This is a very nice feature since you can use your touchscreen smartphone as a nifty remote.

The downside to the software is that it is a bit dated. Escient does not seem to support it with regular updates. Not that the software is buggy, but updates to support Pandora, Netflix and YouTube would be easy and welcomed additions.

As for its built in DAC, I haven't utilized it nor do I intend to do so. You must remember that this unit is nothing more than a proprietary branded pc running their software. You want to keep audio circuits as far away from this thing as possible. I use mine with a PS Audio Digital Link 3 for D/A conversion. This solution works very nicely.
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