Making a streamer with Intel Nuc/how

[Daverz]

The problem is that many have conflicted views. That is the problem. The choice above is fanless for the cpu and the hdd makes 21db working.
I haven't heard anything about digital noise from anybody besides you. You can be right of course. What do others think of my choice above. Yay or Nay? If the Shuttle introduces noise in the dac or music then I will disregard it. I want the quality to be at least cd quality.

It'll work fine. Electronic noise will not be an issue. Just don't stack the NUC on top of the RME.

If I was going to spend that much on a NUC, I'd put an SSD in it. A 2.5" SATA SSD is fine.

Everything described so far can easily handle very high-res files. It will take a while to to fill up 2 TB of storage.

You can configure the ripping software so that it outputs files directly to a network share on the NUC.

 

[WesParker]

Thanks for this. I now realize that I've been doing IT wrong for the past 30 years. I can barely comprehend the trail of destruction I must have left behind at the string of global companies for which I have worked. In fact. I think there's a fair chance that I personally caused the 2008 global financial crisis by incorrectly using Gb to refer to gigabit, when I should have used GB as you have done above. It's now become clear to me why I couldn't understand any of the technical sessions at CiscoLive! Barcelona last month. I feel like such a fraud, at least I got to see Nile Rodgers and Chic live at the closing party.

That was fun. I was merely pointing out that there was no 1Gb throughput bottleneck in the chain, since you decided to question the integrity of the linked article based on the imagined limitation. I hope it didn’t take you too long to realize that I was referring to 1Gigabit Ethernet and not 1 Gigabyte Ethernet, since only one of those standards exists.
I still maintain all this is moot Because of the hardware and bandwidth requirements to stream music are almost none.

 

[Nybto]

I started out with music streaming with a cheap Seagate HDD and its Dockstar base station plugged into my router, the Dockstar ran LOgitech Media Server. On the main hifi system a Squeezebox Touch was acting as a usb player to my DAC. The sound quality was perfect. That Dockstar server is now replaced by a pi4 and the Touch is replaced by a pi3b with a spdif hat (Digione), as an spdif streamer to a simple ToneBoard DAC.

The Pi installations are achieved with PiCorePlayer, the guys that maintain this and the other guys that maintain LMS are my hero’s, (note to self - time to donate some more money) and they have kept me in music for something like 10 years now.
I tried Roon free trial recently, the first thing they wanted was my credit card number and a commitment to pay the fees .. I didn’t discover any advantage over LMS, slightly better resolved album art maybe, it was a nervous process extracting myself from that contract.

I also bought a full installation of Audiovana a few years ago for installation on my MacBook in order to experiment a bit. A year ago that stopped working following MacBook firmware updates. I contacted Audiovana and they had nothing to offer other than a few percent off buying a whole new installation of the programme.

These guys have tried to add value by putting a bit of gloss on the surface, and have also tried to hook us in to become dependent on them, with their fees.

Consequently my advice and strong recommendation is to go with the open source, donation based providers, who have found ideal partners in the Raspberry Pi world, who seem have the same ethos.

 

[Jinjuku]

We are not talking about audible noise here but ruther about computer pollution transfered via USB cable from computer to DAC. This pollution is generated by fan CPU and other components. Please read and learn about it.

I keep getting pollution from my USB port. I installed some geraniums and hosta in my office at 90 degree angles and up 7 degree's to the horizon to combat this.

Looking for any other plant varieties and geometric placement suggests you may have. Also should I wear a plant pot on my head?

 

[Puska]

Enjoy

 

[somebodyelse]

We are not talking about audible noise here but ruther about computer pollution transfered via USB cable from computer to DAC. This pollution is generated by fan CPU and other components. Please read and learn about it.

And despite this pollution the RME achieved excellent performance while connected to the PC for testing. It's almost as if they were aware that this was normal and designed their equipment to handle it.

 

[Puska]

Can you post the link that proofs above?

 

[Bliman]

Thank you all for your input. I am now a bit wiser.
It will be between a nuc style and a pi style with nas. The greatest problem with the pi style is that it all seems so bare. I seldom see a fleshed-out product for it. I mean like the Allo. Now I was looking at the Allo Usbridge but it seems like it doesn't have wifi.
So I get that open source is safer. But I am looking for something like the stream box S2 Ultra (https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/stream-box-s2-ultra/)but then with a reasonable price and that can also have opensource. I don't like these bare boards that you always see with those raspberry pi. I want one that is reliable simple and in a box and can be trusted. If someone knows some like these it would be great (I live in Belgium by the way). And it would be great if it takes care of digital noise (whatever that is). It doesn't need a dac.

 

[WesParker]

Sounds you are looking for a cheap windows box rather than Pi, if you want something easier to maintain.

 

[Daverz]

Th

Thank you all for your input. I am now a bit wiser.
It will be between a nuc style and a pi style with nas. The greatest problem with the pi style is that it all seems so bare. I seldom see a fleshed-out product for it. I mean like the Allo. Now I was looking at the Allo Usbridge but it seems like it doesn't have wifi.
So I get that open source is safer. But I am looking for something like the stream box S2 Ultra (https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/stream-box-s2-ultra/)but then with a reasonable price and that can also have opensource. I don't like these bare boards that you always see with those raspberry pi. I want one that is reliable simple and in a box and can be trusted. If someone knows some like these it would be great (I live in Belgium by the way). And it would be great if it takes care of digital noise (whatever that is). It doesn't need a dac.

A NUC doesn't offer much more. The Pi4 has built in microSD port, wi-fi, bluetooth, gigabit ethernet, 4 USB ports (two of them USB 3), and 2 micro HDMI ports. Just hook up keyboard, mouse and monitor, and it's a desktop. USB 3 gives you a wide array of external storage options.

EDIT: I want to add that the Pi4 is tiny. It snaps into its plastic case and is easily tucked behind the DAC where it will neither be seen nor heard.

 

[HemiRick]

I've been using a Pi3+ with an Allo Boss DAC hat (about $150), running Moode software(free), its cheap, reliable, and sounds great. The Allo Boss feeds into my AVR/Amps. My music is on share on a Windows box on my network. I like feeding the DAC over ethernet, thru the Pi, seems to eliminate the possible USB issues when streaming from a PC.

 

[somebodyelse]

Can you post the link that proofs above?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...eview-and-measurements-of-rme-adi-2-dac.2582/

 

[Puska]

Which part in this tred proofs it?

 

[somebodyelse]

Which part in this tred proofs it?

The source for the USB measurements when testing DACs with the AP test gear is the Windows PC that the AP test software is running on. AP use, and in some cases require, a USB connection from the PC to their hardware, and don't specify anything about that PC beyond software version compatibility and the CPU being fast enough to run the software.

 

[Puska]

USB pollution from PC is something you should read about and learn from.

 

[Puska]

It's not my finding. I'm not inventing the wheel. It's well documented everywhere. I tested it many times with many dacs and always proofs that music over network attached device sounds by big leap better.

 

[FooYatChong]

MEASUREMENTS: Intel i7 PC and Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Audio Streamer - XLR / RCA, Noise and Jitter. Do digital transports / streamers really make a difference? Do USB cables?

http://archimago.blogspot.com/2018/12/measurements-intel-i7-pc-and-raspberry.html

 

[Puska]

Note this test was made by both devices connected directly to a DAC and with 15 feet long usb cable. Totally unacceptable.

 

[Bliman]

Th


A NUC doesn't offer much more. The Pi4 has built in microSD port, wi-fi, bluetooth, gigabit ethernet, 4 USB ports (two of them USB 3), and 2 micro HDMI ports. Just hook up keyboard, mouse and monitor, and it's a desktop. USB 3 gives you a wide array of external storage options.

EDIT: I want to add that the Pi4 is tiny. It snaps into its plastic case and is easily tucked behind the DAC where it will neither be seen nor heard.

I don't have a problem with Pi. The problem I am having is that many people are saying that they use Pi. But not what.
I am looking like such a form factor like the project ultra stream but cheaper. I don't want something with only a print plate. It is difficult to find something like that. Yes Allo has something like that. But I don't see any other options. You most of the times see a pi board and you have to assemble it with a case and such. I have been looking at Hifiberry but that doesn't also look very simple. So I want some suggestions with bundles of pi with a case that is well integrated and you can use open source software or yeah how do I explain it something I don't have to figure out everything. Something concrete, not just I have pi. I want a full product and that can be with pi.

 

[HemiRick]

Plugging a DAC hat into/onto a Pi is very easy. There's only 1 plug, and its obvious which way it goes. This should NOT be a concern.