Server/Streamer vs. Laptop/dac
- Thread starter TLS
- Start date
Igloo Audio
Registered User
Laptops and USB DACs combined can often cost much more
Peter
In some cases yes but you can find usb dacs at very good prices and a laptop provide a large screen + a place to store, download and rip the music.
337alant
Negatively Biased
My own preference is for a NAS drive in a remote room for storage of all music in FLAC, hard wired to a silent HTPC connected to my DAC via Async USB.
I use Windows 7 on the PC and JRiverMedia software with a Samsung Tablet as a remote control via Gizmo App.
It works flawlessly and sounds awesome and better than my CD player IMO
Tried a laptop but I could hear the fan and it was limited in storage and didnt sound as good as my present set up.
You dont need any expensive HIFI streamer the PC controls the playback and JRiver disables all Windowz interfearence so you get WASAPI direct output to your DAC and playback from memory buffers the track to reduce CPU usage, note on my wired system this is instant no delay, if you chose WIFI transfer from your NAS you may get a second or 2 delay before the track plays.
Alan
I use Windows 7 on the PC and JRiverMedia software with a Samsung Tablet as a remote control via Gizmo App.
It works flawlessly and sounds awesome and better than my CD player IMO
Tried a laptop but I could hear the fan and it was limited in storage and didnt sound as good as my present set up.
You dont need any expensive HIFI streamer the PC controls the playback and JRiver disables all Windowz interfearence so you get WASAPI direct output to your DAC and playback from memory buffers the track to reduce CPU usage, note on my wired system this is instant no delay, if you chose WIFI transfer from your NAS you may get a second or 2 delay before the track plays.
Alan
Julf
Facts are our friends
Laptops and USB DACs combined can often cost much more
Especially if you go for silly expensive stuff.
Playing music, unless you go for DSP, takes very little computer power, so any old hand-me-down laptop will do. Even cheap DACs sound great these days, so unless you have to have one made of unicorn horn, it won't be very expensive.
337alant
Negatively Biased
Especially if you go for silly expensive stuff.
Playing music, unless you go for DSP, takes very little computer power, so any old hand-me-down laptop will do. Even cheap DACs sound great these days, so unless you have to have one made of unicorn horn, it won't be very expensive.
Yes keep it simple and make up a basic mini pc preferably fanless, using SSD and external power supply, no CD rom drive or mechanical hard drive required either (but you can plug one into a USB drive for installing operating system and drivers etc ) and only use that PC for music playback don't clutter it up with unnecessary software.
Alan
Strictly Stereo
Trade: Strictly Stereo
The laptop option isn't necessarily cheaper and either option can sound good, so isn't it really a matter of personal preference. Some will no doubt find that a dedicated streamer provides a better experience or simply that it looks better in their rack. Others will disagree. The streaming option is perhaps more scalable too, since you can have several streamers served by a single NAS.
Roughly how much did your fanless mini-pc/SSD/operating system cost?
337alant
Negatively Biased
About £600 for the PC with a monitor but I wasn't trying to save money
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/8842658317/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/7537988476/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/7537989826/in/photostream/
I fitted a DVD drive but that is disconnected internally
Using the tablet can do away with the monitor and keyboard as it boots up straight into JRivermedia.
I used to use one of these which was about £300
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=251493591701
There are loads of new versions of the rock mini pcs
Before that I had a Cambridge streamer NP30 which was inferior to all of the above IMO
Alan
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For playing music, a laptop with a large (1Tb.) hd is enough for most music libraries and you shouldn't hear any fan noise if placed on the audio rack near the dac. Music selection can be done with a wireless mouse or through a tablet connected to your home network. No physical server, no streamer, no nas, no hassle.
In my opinion the main benefit of a nas/streamer over a laptop is that it is an off-the-shelf solution that is already configured, has built-in remote access via phone/tablet/desktop, updates itself, and just "works". I'm a techy, and have spare kit to build out a media PC, but unless there is some additional benefit that I want (digital room correction, for example) I would rather avoid the initial hassle and the possibility of maintenance.
Cheers. How electrically noisy is the USB output on that? Can you hear any noise from it at full gain?
337alant
Negatively Biased
Yes of course you can use whatever you wish and it will work fine
I also used a laptop for a while but prefer what I have now and sound quality is in a different league IMO.In my home my NAS contains all my music, movies, Pictures and CCTV on 4 x 1TB hard drives, I can access this from anywhere in the house wirelessly via PCs, laptops and Squeeze box touch in a second system, its also wired to my TV & DVD player for playing blue rays so its very convenient for me and absolutely no hassle.
The SBT certainly was bargain of the century pity they stopped making them
Alan
337alant
Negatively Biased
Excellent! And as it should be.
btw did you know that JRiver are working on their own renderer based on an NUC - see here. Looks early days, but there's a pic of one "working" at the end of the thread.
337alant
Negatively Biased
Very interesting thanks for link
Alan
np. If you're interested in something similar, Tranquil are doing a pre-configured NUC similar to the JRiver box for £200 - see here - the Windows 7 may be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your pov. £200 is Squeezebox Touch kinda money, so if the fan is quiet and the USB silent, that could be a decent deal.