Making a simple budget music server

[juju81]

Hello,

I would like some help to set up my father's music server. My father is converting his CD library to FLAC and wants to play it on the soundbar in the living room. Here is the actual configuration:
-FLAC library on NAS
-Raspberry Pi 2 with Moode
-Samsung HW-Q900T soundbar with S/PDIF in

So I was thinking of buying this: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-digi2-pro/

Can anyone confirm I will be good with this setup to achieve what he wants to do? Also, do you think this DAC is more than enough? He doesn't have an amplifier and 99% of his music is CD/16bits audio.

Thank you

 

[kchap]

Hello,

I would like some help to set up my father's music server. My father is converting his CD library to FLAC and wants to play it on the soundbar in the living room. Here is the actual configuration:
-FLAC library on NAS
-Raspberry Pi 2 with Moode
-Samsung HW-Q900T soundbar with S/PDIF in

So I was thinking of buying this: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-digi2-pro/

Can anyone confirm I will be good with this setup to achieve what he wants to do? Also, do you think this DAC is more than enough? He doesn't have an amplifier and 99% of his music is CD/16bits audio.

Thank you

Yes, keep it simple. The hard work is creating the FLAC files, make sure they are backed up. If your father gets the HI-FI bug (warning, it does serious damage to your wallet) he can always upgrade the streamer, DAC, amp, speakers etc.

 

[JayGilb]

Hello,

I would like some help to set up my father's music server. My father is converting his CD library to FLAC and wants to play it on the soundbar in the living room. Here is the actual configuration:
-FLAC library on NAS
-Raspberry Pi 2 with Moode
-Samsung HW-Q900T soundbar with S/PDIF in

So I was thinking of buying this: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-digi2-pro/

Can anyone confirm I will be good with this setup to achieve what he wants to do? Also, do you think this DAC is more than enough? He doesn't have an amplifier and 99% of his music is CD/16bits audio.

Thank you

Welcome to ASR !

Yes, that looks like it should work fine with his current setup.

 

[juju81]

Many thanks guys for your feedback. So we will continue on this way

 

[jrfinkel]

I have to say that I'm confused by all this. I've ripped all my music from CD to FLAC and store it on an inexpensive Netgear ReadyNAS, which runs a Plex server. I access the NAS-based as well an internet-based music with a used Microsoft Surface 2 Pro running Plex client. I also have access to iTunes via this small PC. (Why iTunes? Primephonic was bought by Apple.) And other live streaming (e.g., from radio stations worldwide) is also available.

I run Equalizer APO on the Surface PC and output the stream vis USB to a Loxjie A30. I can also run Plex client on my Android TV and output the stream via TOSLINK to the Loxjie. The Loxjie then drives 2 JPL Stage A130 speakers.

Now maybe it's my age (68), or the 5 Wagner Ring Cycles, or the ~200 Grateful Dead Concerts, but everything sounds just fine. My go to test recording (ripped from CD to FLAC) of Coltrane's "Black Pearls" sounds spectacular. And I do not expect the sound quality of, say, Furtwangler's 1936 Bayreuth recording of "Parsifal," to match its exceptional performance quality.

My attitude has always been that no amount of money can purchase a system whose audio quality matches that of a live performance (especially for acoustic music). So, I save money on equipment and support live music. In my system, the most important parameter affecting the sound quality is the speaker placement.

So, after reading about really expensive streaming solutions, I wonder: What am I missing? (Besides having to get up and physically use the Surface PC to select music).

 

[oldgrumbler]

I went a slightly different route with my build. I built a music server for my near-field listening system. The system already had a decent DAC built into the pre-amp, so I was able to "save" a bit of money there - but what I have actually spent is still pretty cheap.

Fanless PC off eBay with activated Win 11, 240gb SSD, 8Gb Ram - Dell/Wyse thin client - £73
Old monitor, keyboard and mouse - already had
Additional Storage - 2 x USB 3.1 256Gb SSD dongles - £50 (rounding up because can't be bothered to look up what I actually paid, but know it was less than that!_
Backup Drives - 2 x WD Passport drives - £50 (again rounding up, etc...)

I bought the WD Passport drives when they were on sale - then a couple of months later, the Verbatim 256gb Ultra Fit SSD dongles are on sale on Amazon. I could have quite happily run with 1 as the library disk and 1 as the backup disk, but the chance to make the server a "no moving parts" item and have around 500gb of storage available for the library was too good to resist. The physical disks will now be backup disks.

Software - MusicBee. Sounds better than anything else I've tried to date that plays FLAC. Allows your library to be split over multiple disks/folders. Has in-built backup software. Has inbuilt access to online databases for tagging and album art - and - usefully - has a 3rd party FREE remote control app (android) on the play store. Did I mention that MusicBee is free?

The only thing left to do now is upgrade from the godawful 3rd party replacement power supply that came with the PC. A disastrous attempt to order one off Aliexpress has delayed this happening (for some reason they reverted to a previous address, despite me having ordered and had stuff delivered to my new address, and despite me ordering a 19v unit, the onscreen details showed it as a 24v unit!) But to be honest, it sounds so good through the nearfield system that I'm wondering if it's worth actually doing. Either way, a decent LINEAR power supply will cost around the £100 mark delivered.

I will be hard cabling the PC to connect to the internet, although the wireless upgrade for the thin client Dells is available cheaply, I want to minimise RF noise.

Right now, the nearfield system is:

Emotiva PT-100 DAC/Tuner/Preamp (superb sound, I bought mine as a new old stock item off eBay).
Helios 1 CD Player (without doubt the best built CD player I have ever encountered - the factory mods to the transport are superb - shame the onboard DAC is so laid back it turns everything into lift music! Thankfully the Emotiva DAC is amazing).
Mackie HR624 Mk 1 monitors (bought from a friend, a couple of years back)
Music Server PC
Various cables

Long story short, it sounds so good that I'm going to make the Emotiva DAC/Pre-amp my main system pre amp, and move the CD and music server to my main system.

 

[mhardy6647]

The O/S for a Synology NAS comes with a media player.
Done.

Add DAC if desired (or required).