Gonna try a little something different....

steveinaz

After we return from vacation, I'm going to pick up an Oppo BDP-103 and a 2TB external HDD and copy all my music to it. Connect it up via USB to the Oppo as my new source. Then of course run the Oppo into the Benchmark DAC. I like this approach for a number of reasons; 1. I have never liked having to depend upon a network connection to listen to my music. 2. Ease of use. 3. I've been looking for a replacement BluRay as my panny is quite old now, AND I've been looking at alternatives to my Squeezebox Touch---the Oppo seems to be capable to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. This also means I still have a shiney disc transport when I'm feeling nostalgic.

tonyb

Sounds like a plan, let us know how it all works out for ya.

steveinaz

I'm gonna get a hard drive that lays flat and has it's own PS; place it on the shelf above the BRP. The Oppo and analog inputs on my DAC will also allow SACD playback potential.

BlueFox

Sounds like a good idea. Are the files accessible from an app on a phone or tablet? Can you create playlists, do random shuffle, etc.? My Bryston BDP-1 uses a USB attached HD, and works quite well, but the Oppo is a much less expensive alternative.

EndersShadow

Cool! Ive debated doing the same for my music, only using my WD Live TV to interface with it. I cant get rid of the squeezebox classic though.....

My wife likes it too much for the clock lol......

ZLTFUL

One thing I *know* you won't be happy with is that there isn't an app or search function built into the device. You have to scroll through (alphabetical at least) your music.

steveinaz

BlueFox wrote: »

Sounds like a good idea. Are the files accessible from an app on a phone or tablet? Can you create playlists, do random shuffle, etc.? My Bryston BDP-1 uses a USB attached HD, and works quite well, but the Oppo is a much less expensive alternative.

From what I understand, you have of course the video display for navigation, and an iphone app is suppose to be coming soon. I'm not sure about playlists, etc---I suspect, no. It's hard to get info on it's capabilities when used with a HDD. To be honest, I never created a playlist with the squeezebox.

steveinaz

ZLTFUL wrote: »

One thing I *know* you won't be happy with is that there isn't an app or search function built into the device. You have to scroll through (alphabetical at least) your music.

I have considered that, but 2 points; 1. I never used the search function on my SQB; 2. There's no search function on my CD racks....except for my blind ****! LOL

It's not "ideal" functionally, but still far better than "hunt & fetch."

I will miss picking a year, then playing songs in that year; this is something Bev & I like to do on a occasion.

steveinaz

EndersShadow wrote: »

Cool! Ive debated doing the same for my music, only using my WD Live TV to interface with it. I cant get rid of the squeezebox classic though.....

My wife likes it too much for the clock lol......

I plan to keep a dedicated HDD attached to the Oppo for music, and use my current ext HDD for backup. I'm going to run the Oppo audio via dig coaxial to my DAC, like I've done in the past.

Dennis Gardner

Have you looked into a My Book?

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/external/desktop/

Loud & Clear

I'm really fond of the Mac method, whereby you have a Mac computer controlled remotely by an iPad Mini. The ability to see all of your music files and sift through them with this method is very user-friendly.

D'prived

steveinaz wrote: »

From what I understand, you have of course the video display for navigation, and an iphone app is suppose to be coming soon. I'm not sure about playlists, etc---I suspect, no. It's hard to get info on it's capabilities when used with a HDD. To be honest, I never created a playlist with the squeezebox.

Once you start using the app on your iPhone then aren't you now depending on your network connection to play music?

Loud & Clear

D'prived wrote: »

Once you start using the app on your iPhone then aren't you now depending on your network connection to play music?

Only for the purposes of remote control communication.

steveinaz

Dennis Gardner wrote: »

Have you looked into a My Book?

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/external/desktop/

Yep, I have one, though it's only a 500GB; I'm gonna buy a WD Elements drive in 2TB dedicated to the Oppo.

steveinaz

I'm not too concerned about the interface, as all of that is software driven---I'm sure it will be addressed in the future. I need a new BluRay player at any rate, so I'll give it a shot as a HDD transport. I look at it like this; it has all of the functionality of a typical remote controlled CD player at the least.

EndersShadow

steveinaz wrote: »

I plan to keep a dedicated HDD attached to the Oppo for music, and use my current ext HDD for backup. I'm going to run the Oppo audio via dig coaxial to my DAC, like I've done in the past.

Sounds like a good plan.

D'prived

Loud & Clear wrote: »

Only for the purposes of remote control communication.

Sure... I understand that. My point is now he's back to depending on his network connection which is the very thing he wanted to get away from.

Loud & Clear

D'prived wrote: »

Sure... I understand that. My point is now he's back to depending on his network connection which is the very thing he wanted to get away from.

True enough. He probably still has his CD's and burned discs available in the event of a prolonged failed network connection. Always a good idea.

steveinaz

Loud & Clear wrote: »

True enough. He probably still has his CD's and burned discs available in the event of a prolonged failed network connection. Always a good idea.

Exactly. The "player' will still be a "stand alone" device; maybe minus some enhanced features. With an iphone app, only the remote features would on the network, the music library would be directly connected to the Oppo. If my network took a dump, I'd still have an HDTV interface via the Oppo to play music.

I'm a simple guy; I don't like bells & whistles that I won't use. I'm from the turntable and reel-to-reel era. I don't have a remote controlled preamp. I've never programmed a VCR or made a playlist. An idiot could operate my cell phone, and does! LOL

steveinaz

Here's the connection scheme:

tonyb

Last time I said I was going to try something different, I wound up in a Psychedelic daze for 2 days.

steveinaz

Let this be an unofficial heads-up, my fellow digital music geeks, that some (lets say hard to find) goodies may become available in the FM in a couple weeks.

pitdogg2

tonyb wrote: »

Last time I said I was going to try something different, I wound up in a Psychedelic daze for 2 days.

and that was a problem? I think not you EXPANDED your horizons No?

tonyb

pitdogg2 wrote: »

and that was a problem? I think not you EXPANDED your horizons No?

I dunno man, something was expanded, don't know exactly what though. Hope Steve gets the same results.

codyc1ark

steveinaz wrote: »

Here's the connection scheme:

Where are the speakers?!?

audiocr381ve

tonyb wrote: »

Last time I said I was going to try something different, I wound up in a Psychedelic daze for 2 days.

#molly

Gaara

steveinaz wrote: »

After we return from vacation, I'm going to pick up an Oppo BDP-103 and a 2TB external HDD and copy all my music to it. Connect it up via USB to the Oppo as my new source. Then of course run the Oppo into the Benchmark DAC. I like this approach for a number of reasons; 1. I have never liked having to depend upon a network connection to listen to my music. 2. Ease of use. 3. I've been looking for a replacement BluRay as my panny is quite old now, AND I've been looking at alternatives to my Squeezebox Touch---the Oppo seems to be capable to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. This also means I still have a shiney disc transport when I'm feeling nostalgic.

I tried it and wasn't a fan. Works well enough but I missed 1) Playlists 2) Quick navigation 3) Gapless playback.

Love putting demo scenes on the HD though, makes it so much easier then switching discs.

steveinaz

Here's the app, pretty basic but I'm sure functionality will improve:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tbkkXkcSLo

falconcry72

Steve, I do this same thing with a 103 in my HT system. I effing love it. I've considered experimenting with it in my 2-channel setup because I can't help but think that a HD into the Oppo as a transport, using the USB A connection, could be *better* than a PC into a USB DAC or SPDIF converter using the USB B connection... but I haven't tried it yet.

Anyway..

Most of the user-friendliness concerns are mitigated by good file management on your HD. If you have TB's of music, then you have to have good organization. I take pride in my folder mgt. Simple. Artists > Albums > Songs. Some people do Genre, but there's too much gray area there so I don't. If you have thousands of unorganized songs then yes it would be hard to navigate, but any standard homo-sapien should be able to develop a file structure better than that.

I find the user-friendliness excellent. You can use the Oppo's remote to scroll through your files on screen, or you can use the android/ios app for your phone or tablet. The app is nice because you can either use it as a true "remote", where you scroll on screen, or you can scroll on the device and pick songs that way.

I've used a squeezebox touch. Nice device. I like the Oppo better. Off the grid... or not with DLNA. The Oppo gives you options: network via DLNA, hard drive/thumb drive via USB A, or disc. The Oppo's DAC is also pretty decent... and the video is great. Quite the swiss army knife.

BlueFox

falconcry72 wrote: »

Most of the user-friendliness concerns are mitigated by good file management on your HD. If you have TB's of music, then you have to have good organization. I take pride in my folder mgt. Simple. Artists > Albums > Songs.

I do basically the same thing with the HD for my Bryston file player. I have 5 top levels; Classical, Jazz, Not Jazz, Rap, and Rock. Under each one is Artist->Album->songs. Works great. I also could care less about album cover art.

steveinaz

My hard drive is setup that way as well (Artist>Album>Songs). Thanks for the info.