Ready For Digital Source...Computer?


I have speakers and amplification all figured out, now I need a source. No vinyl and not concerned with CD's at this point.
Only steaming online. No Roon either, been there, done that. 

Honestly, (because I need a new computer anyway) I would really like to use a computer to play Spotify (hopefully CD-quality soon), Tidal, Qobuz, etc. but most say a computer is too "Noisy" to use for this purpose. Although, I have heard there are ways around this.

Rather than having to purchase a dedicated music server, does anyone know how to set up a computer as a high-quality music server? I can't really seem to find anything online.

Thanks






high-amp

An older windows laptop and a good dac are a great choice for folks with lots of music on hard drives.  Use Foobar2000 and the related Foobar2000 remote control for smart phones and it is super convenient.  Set up Windows sharing across your home network and you can also use Plex if you wish though I don't like it as much since it doesn't allow selecting WASABI or ASIO to by pass Windows audion settings.

in place of Moon, you might want to consider Hegel integrated amps. I use a Mac and Audirvana. When Audirvana works, the sound is divine. 

I’ve streamed airplay (via Mac mini) to a Hegel h590 and found it to be superb. It also works with quobuz, Audirvāna, Roon. The Hegel HD 30 DAC works as a streamer and DAC with volume control and digital preamp. The simplicity is amazing. 
most of my music is legacy cd, streamed from a synology server in my office. 
I didn't see enough of a difference with high bit rate quobuz audio to pay every month. 
there is also a challenge with playlists. Most can't import them. And if you choose to move on to another service, your playlists don't come with you!

as such, I still value Apple Music (iTunes) for the metadata capability. 

Call Andrew Gillis at Small Green Computer.

He told care of this old timer who didn't know squat about setting up streaming.  A great experience and great products.

@high-amp 

 

You can see two of my systems if you click on my ID. If your budget I'd ~$5K then I recommend a Aurender N100 streamer and a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC. I use a Aurender W20SE streamer and Audio Research CD9se DAC. On my headphone system I use an Aurender N100 streamer and a Ayre QB-9 2020 DAC.