Network player for music only

Easy Runnin

French

It sounds like your in the market for a AVR. If that's the case why not just get a receiver with DNLA and an Ethernet connection. I use an Integra receiver, media monkey on my PC and an app called Oremote. In my case the receiver is hard wired and my PC is wireless. Works good for me, no dropouts

vcwatkins

There's a limit on the size of the Sonos library. I think 65k tracks? There are workarounds, but none I'm willing to try yet.

I love Sonos at the beach where I mostly stream. The software is excellent - handles a smaller library effortlessly - and streaming from Spotify, Linn, Radio Paradise, and a few others, is at 320.

But at home where I archive everything and SQ is more important, I'm sticking with SBT's. I have frequent problems with the system due to slow old PC, very heavy traffic, thick old mesh/stucco walls, slow NAS, and cumbersome library w/ growing % high rez vinyl rips, but when it works, you can't beat it for a flexible interconnected network of high quality players. And most folks won't have any of the infrastructure problems I have.

I am going to try one of the W4S Remedy reclockers on both systems in the next couple months. Anyone have experience with a Remedy on either system?

Craig

coolsax

not sure if it's been mentioned yet but if you like the type of player the Sonos is, i would also look at Bluesound from the makers of NAD. Its gotten really nice reviews and it plays Hires which the Sonos does not.

tophatjohnny

Easy Runnin wrote: »

French

It sounds like your in the market for a AVR. If that's the case why not just get a receiver with DNLA and an Ethernet connection. I use an Integra receiver, media monkey on my PC and an app called Oremote. In my case the receiver is hard wired and my PC is wireless. Works good for me, no dropouts

es

Yes, totally spaced the AVR route !! That and if you have a newer TV set up
that has a USB then an external hard drive will play the content and even show tracks on your TV screen. I am doing this in my living room, and working great. Not the same as the Stream Magic, but like I said, you get what you pay for.

French_guy

coolsax wrote: »

not sure if it's been mentioned yet but if you like the type of player the Sonos is, i would also look at Bluesound from the makers of NAD. Its gotten really nice reviews and it plays Hires which the Sonos does not.

Bluesound Node is ~$400....at this price, i should start to look at the Marantz NA7004....

tonyb

Ha.....Phil has the bragging rights of turning me into a Sonos fanboy.

I'm not saying Sonos is the cream of the crop of music streamers at any price, but taking everything into consideration, in it's own price category, it certainly is tops.

One of the main things that would bug me about streaming is dependability, dropouts, and crappy software to use. Sonos has conquered all of that and then some. My 68 year old mother in-law who is far from being acquainted with electronic gizmo's was using it inside 2 minutes.

Think of it as a transport, it just simply takes your files and delivers to the playing system. Depending on how good your playing system is, or quality of your files, will have more to do with the SQ you'll get out of it. I couldn't be more happy with this little box, and it's the software and dependability that make this product what it is.

tonyb

French_guy wrote: »

Quick question: why the Sonos has analog inputs?

You use the analog outs if you want to use the dac built into the unit. Perfect example would be if you want to hook up to a vintage receiver, which doesn't have them.

I use a old Sony receiver for one system with speaker A-B switching so I can cover 2 area's with one box. One for the kitchen, and speaker b for the outside deck speakers.

The other Sonos is a Cullen modded one for the main rig. I've been using Sonos for about 5 years now with no hiccups, Phil has been even longer. Just be warned, the WAF factor is pretty high on this little thing, she may eventually kick your butt to the curb and keep the Sonos.

tophatjohnny

tonyb wrote: »

Ha.....Phil has the bragging rights of turning me into a Sonos fanboy.

I'm not saying Sonos is the cream of the crop of music streamers at any price, but taking everything into consideration, in it's own price category, it certainly is tops.

One of the main things that would bug me about streaming is dependability, dropouts, and crappy software to use. Sonos has conquered all of that and then some. My 68 year old mother in-law who is far from being acquainted with electronic gizmo's was using it inside 2 minutes.

Think of it as a transport, it just simply takes your files and delivers to the playing system. Depending on how good your playing system is, or quality of your files, will have more to do with the SQ you'll get out of it. I couldn't be more happy with this little box, and it's the software and dependability that make this product what it is.

I didn't know Sonos supported FLAC files?? When I was shopping for streamers I was told that Sonos did not support FLAC?? Anyway, I doubt my beat up ears could tell the difference, even though all I have to reference to anymore are FLAC files, I'm sure the Sonos sounds great with a great system.

French_guy

I was talking about the inputs....

tonyb

Yes, it supports many files, but it won't support hi-rez files in any format. So yeah, 16/44 flac files is fine, but 24/96 or higher flac files is a no go. Their website is pretty slick too, tell ya all you need to know.

French_guy

There are 4 RCA connectors on the back:
2 Outs (L and R)
2 Ins (L and R) .... What for would you need those ones?

tonyb

French_guy wrote: »

There are 4 RCA connectors on the back:
2 Outs (L and R)
2 Ins (L and R) .... What for would you need those ones?

Outs are for connecting to vintage receivers. This allows you to use the internal dacs of the sonos. Vintage receivers only have analog inputs, they don't have dacs, you have to convert a digital file someway, yes ?

Inputs can be used to connect other devices and there is also a digital input and output. Digital output to go to a digital input on a separate dac or receiver. Digital input can be used to connect from a computer, IPOD device or any other device with digital connections. Also Ethernet for connecting to computers.

Sonos has a variety of stuff, they have their own IPOD doc too that will integrate with the rest of the system. Also stuff for HT. Visit the website, watch a few video's.

pearsall001

tonyb wrote: »

Ha.....Phil has the bragging rights of turning me into a Sonos fanboy.

I'm not saying Sonos is the cream of the crop of music streamers at any price, but taking everything into consideration, in it's own price category, it certainly is tops.

One of the main things that would bug me about streaming is dependability, dropouts, and crappy software to use. Sonos has conquered all of that and then some. My 68 year old mother in-law who is far from being acquainted with electronic gizmo's was using it inside 2 minutes.

Think of it as a transport, it just simply takes your files and delivers to the playing system. Depending on how good your playing system is, or quality of your files, will have more to do with the SQ you'll get out of it. I couldn't be more happy with this little box, and it's the software and dependability that make this product what it is.

I'm glad I got you hooked on Sonos Tony...It's the bees knees as far as I'm concerned. Yeah I know it doesn't do 24/96 just yet but it's more than likely coming down the road. But you know what that's not an issue with me. My entire CD collection that I have ripped to FLAC are all redbook 16/44.1 & when done right running thru a hi-quality DAC is phenomenal sounding.

My DAC supports hi-rez & DSD, & I've downloaded a few songs to give it a whirl & it too is phenomenal sounding. I simply run the hi-res material straight into the DAC. But for me personally the whole hi-rez format is simply too cost prohibitive at this time. The difference in sound quality simply doesn't warrant the expense as far as I'm concerned (by no means is all 24/96 better sounding than 16/44.1) In fact a lot of so called 24/96 is bogus & simply 16/44.1 upsampled. Unless the master was recorded in 24/96 your getting ripped off thinking it's a true 24/96 recording, buyer beware. I'm sure that the prices will eventually drop & at that point in time I'll take another look at downloading them.

Now for someone in the market for a server the deciding factor would be how it's going to be used. For strictly a two channel system in one room there are an awful lot of options out there. But if you're looking for a combination two channel & whole house music system then I have to give Sonos the nod there without any hesitation. Pair the Sonos with a hi-quality DAC that does 24/96 & DSD & you have all bases covered.

tonyb

Well said Phil, also points I've made myself about the hi-rez industry. It wasn't long ago we were all getting our panties twisted over the next cdp to come out with the latest and greatest dac chip upsampling everything it played. Seems to me we were all pretty tickled with the SQ then.

That's all I myself am looking for in a streamer, YMMV of course. Plus lets be honest for second here, how many excellent recordings on cd do most of us have ? I'll be willing to bet most of the cd's you have, or have downloaded on your 'puter are less than stellar.

That leaves you a few choices, spend the coin and re-buy all your music, or obtain gear that won't emphasis the recordings shortcommings. The problem comes in when you start your upgrade path and your system starts to become more revealing. Those bad cd's/files suddenly sound worse. So you adjust...buy warmer sounding gear/cables....maybe dacs that have a more analog sound to them.

One of the first rules of fight club is "it all starts at the source". Second rule of fight club is "audio isn't a race". To some it is, but in the end it's simply about enjoying your music regardless if it's on a Hello Kitty cdp and some CV speaks, or Utopia's with VAC mono blocks.

....which brings us to the third rule of fight club, "Good sound can be had at any level". Nothing new there, we've all experienced it. Audio is about the music and how it moves you, not the nameplate on the gear you own. Make any sense ?

....fourth and final rule of fight club, "EXPERIMENT". At least as best as your wallet allows. Then and only then will the first 3 rules make any sense to you.

gce

I'm using a Synology NAS that's hard wired in my network. Works flawlessly with my Marantz, streaming up to 192/24 FLAC. The Synology also has the ability to add a USB Dac.

shadowlight

@French_guy‌,

Find a low end PC with USB Dac, install Daphile and enjoy your music.

EndersShadow

shadowlight wrote: »

@French_guy‌,

Find a low end PC with USB Dac, install Daphile and enjoy your music.

I'd love to hear more about this if your using it. It looks intriguing.

Is it basically like XBMC? Does it run as a PROGRAM on a PC, or does it run as a OS on the pc?

jhw59

So will Daphile stream from my various internal and external drives to my 2 channel setup? What do I need to connect to the amp so it will receive the stream? I have a DACmagic

shadowlight

I had looked at Daphile about 9 months or so ago and revisiting it as replacement for some of the Squeezebox solutions (Touch, Duet, etc) and JRiver (getting tired of the constant updates). The software complete erases your existing OS and installs a Linux version (not sure what the distro that it is based on). It has LMS software installed along with Squeezelite which will act as a player. Once you hook up the USB DAC you can run it headless and use Squeeze Commander or another of the Squeezebox remotes on Android/iPad devices.

Last time I basically mounted my Windows shared drive on Daphile and configured LMS software to look at that mount point and it would stream all your files. I plan to get a fanless pc like ECS LIVA. If you plan to convert everything to DSD or up convert to 192k PCM stream you might need a faster computer.

French_guy

So Daphile instals on a PC, connected onto a DAC (usb) itself hooked up to the amps or receiver
And then you can access the Daphile PC from another PC, or tablet, to stream music sotred on your network (such as a NAS)?

recoveryone

pearsall001 wrote: »

Amen brother...there's SONOS & everything else is a SONOS wanna bee, period end of story. It's rock solid design & capabilities leave all others still scratching their heads trying to catch up. It's an amazing system that simply works, never any dropouts, easy as pie to set up & anyone can operate it without any problems. You get what you pay for.

Beg to differ on that note, the Squeezebox system was clearly a decade ahead of its time. If Logitech would have supported it when it brought out Slimdevice in the area of software development it would still be the system to beat. Squeezebox set the bar of high quality digital playback with its own audiophile level of built in dac's ( Touch & Transporter) and lead the way for streaming services. Sonos has taking a page out of the Bose advertisement playbook doing infomercials and high profile event commercials.

msg

shadowlight wrote: »

I had looked at Daphile about 9 months or so ago and revisiting it as replacement for some of the Squeezebox solutions (Touch, Duet, etc) and JRiver (getting tired of the constant updates). The software complete erases your existing OS and installs a Linux version (not sure what the distro that it is based on). It has LMS software installed along with Squeezelite which will act as a player. Once you hook up the USB DAC you can run it headless and use Squeeze Commander or another of the Squeezebox remotes on Android/iPad devices.

Last time I basically mounted my Windows shared drive on Daphile and configured LMS software to look at that mount point and it would stream all your files. I plan to get a fanless pc like ECS LIVA. If you plan to convert everything to DSD or up convert to 192k PCM stream you might need a faster computer.

wow, this sounds pretty cool. I'm gonna mess around with Daphile later today if I get a break from work. I've been casually checking around for a good Squeezebox replacement. I really like my Squeezebox, but not sure how all the software works, eg., whether it needs a live connection to Logitech (I think it does since it goes down periodically and tells me it can't connect and won't play). I imagine one day they may completely pull the plug.

Side note, similar idea, additional functionality - for a while now, I've been thinking about building a small media PC, similar to what you show above with this one from NewEgg, with an optical/digital out to my processor - or even your USB DAC idea now - that way I could just use desktop apps for Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, or anything else, but that still leaves a remote control problem to address. VNC or TeamViewer could work, but it would be clunky. maybe there's something better. Also thought it would be good to have video out as well, and run some old game emulators off it just for giggles. sometimes we'll have an old-school guys night where we'll go riding our bikes, and then get Pizza or burgers or something, and watch RAD or some other cheesy 80s movie, and then maybe play Nintendo for a little while, and laugh at things we did when were were kids.

French_guy

I'm installing Daphile on a USB drive right now....Will make some test today if I can
Now, 2 questions:
1) What is the cpu requirement? Will a Celeron N2807 be OK (such as a BRIX)?
2) What would be a decent/good DAC (usb flash drive type)?

pearsall001

recoveryone wrote: »

pearsall001 wrote: »

Amen brother...there's SONOS & everything else is a SONOS wanna bee, period end of story. It's rock solid design & capabilities leave all others still scratching their heads trying to catch up. It's an amazing system that simply works, never any dropouts, easy as pie to set up & anyone can operate it without any problems. You get what you pay for.

Beg to differ on that note, the Squeezebox system was clearly a decade ahead of its time. If Logitech would have supported it when it brought out Slimdevice in the area of software development it would still be the system to beat. Squeezebox set the bar of high quality digital playback with its own audiophile level of built in dac's ( Touch & Transporter) and lead the way for streaming services. Sonos has taking a page out of the Bose advertisement playbook doing infomercials and high profile event commercials.

Too funny! If SB was that great I'm sure Logitech would have invested in supporting it. Oh well I guess not.

msg

shadowlight wrote: »

I had looked at Daphile about 9 months or so ago and revisiting it as replacement for some of the Squeezebox solutions (Touch, Duet, etc) and JRiver (getting tired of the constant updates). The software complete erases your existing OS and installs a Linux version (not sure what the distro that it is based on). It has LMS software installed along with Squeezelite which will act as a player. Once you hook up the USB DAC you can run it headless and use Squeeze Commander or another of the Squeezebox remotes on Android/iPad devices.

Last time I basically mounted my Windows shared drive on Daphile and configured LMS software to look at that mount point and it would stream all your files.

I just got this running. it's really fast. haven't got it hooked in yet and don't have a USB DAC, but this is basically a build-your-own Squeezebox?!? pretty cool! especially since used SBT's are going for $250-$300+ right now.

I'm gonna set it up on an old notebook for now with the 3.5mm stereo to RCA adapter just to play with the functionality. I wanted to add another SBT to my system, but I think I'm gonna try this now, instead. great share, Shadow!

tonyb

Certainly many ways to skin that cat of streaming music gents. Each of us has our own preferences and a variety of products available to meet our needs. Whatever works for you, roll with it, but if it's ease of use...dependability with no complicated setup issues your after, then Sonos is your solution.

Regardless of the means you use to transport/stream a digital file, one constant remains.....you need a good dac....somewhere in the chain. Getting a digital file from point A to point B isn't the hardest thing in the world. The dac and software used should draw more attention.

shadowlight

It will run just fine on Celeron, just make sure that you download the correct version of Daphile. I believe the new Celeron support x64. I plan to run it on old Pentium Core2 system that is collecting dust and stick it in my secondary system. There are bunch of dacs out there that are USB - Schitt Modi, ODAC, Audioquest Dragonfly etc. They all run around 100 to 150 bucks. If you have USB sound card you can initially use that to get an idea on how Daphile works.

French_guy

I was actually looking at the Schiit Modi 2. How does it compare with the Audioquest DragonFly?
They are at the same price, but the Dragonfly seems to be much smaller.....

shadowlight

Sorry, have not heard either of them. Dragonfly is based around Sabre chip (I believe it is 9023) while Modi2 is based around AKM4396. Just a quick glance at the Modi 2 Uber and it has options for toslink and coaxial input so you can hook up a cd player to it also if needed.

tonyb

I believe some around here tried the Modi and weren't too pleased with it's sound. The Dragonfly is about as good as it gets for the type of product it is.