Question for users of less expensive music streamers - How are you using them?

[rongon]

First, some background to explain the motivation for the question...

I've been (pretty much) happily using a Raspberry Pi-based digital music music player for something like the last six years.

The RPi4B is running Moode Audio with a Topping D30II Lite DAC connected to a USB port on the RPi.

I have my music files stored in an external 2TB USB hard drive connected to a powered USB hub connected to another USB port on my Raspberry Pi. That way the RPi doesn't have to supply the power for the USB hard drive.

I use my RPi/Moode music player like a CD player. I play albums of digital files which I own. Many are ripped from CDs I own, others are digital files I bought from a handful of online stores.

I also use my RPi/Moode music player like an FM tuner. Moode comes preloaded with a large page full of online radio stations from the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and NZ. I have a few favorite stations I listen to, just like I did back in pre-internet times.

I don't pay for subscription streaming music sources. First off, they cost too much and second, they don't play a better mix for me than my favorite radio stations already do -- even with those bright, shiny algorithms working. I don't know why. Maybe my musical tastes are too specific, or just weird. And yes I know I can make playlists on those streaming services, but I have to ask.... How is that better if I already have a large library of music I already paid for? Why do I need to pay the monthly subscription to play music I've already purchased?

So, now the question...

I see that there are many music streamer boxes such as the ARCY Ne2, WiiM Pro that use Roon, UPnP, AirPlay, WiFi w/ web interface, etc. to play music over my home network from streaming music services or from local files stored on my phone, tablet or laptop -- but -- they don't have a USB port for connecting a USB hard drive for playback of music files from local storage. (WiiM Ultra has this for $329, though).

If you have one of these music streamers that don't offer direct USB connection to a USB hard drive or SSD with music files for playback, how are you using the streamer? Tidal, Spotify, etc. streaming apps mostly? Music files stored on a personal computer also on your home network but played through the streamer?

 

[kyuu]

You mean there are people with personal digital music collections who aren't running a NAS?

 

[Joe Smith]

I use a WiiM Mini for streaming Spotify in my main setup downstairs, using my iPhone as controller. I use bluetooth as well in other setups. When I want to use stored/disked media, I usually play via PC in my upstairs system or via download to one of my legacy DAPs (mostly iPods and iPod shuffles). Though I have over 1,000 albums digitized, I don't play them very often compared to other media and I don't use a NAS. Since I still enjoy using tapes, CDs and LPs, the ripping I did in the iTunes era just don't get much use now.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

With many/most streamers (eg WiiM) you can do both - stream from services or local files over WiFi using various server software (many of which are free) on a separate host. DLNA etc

One big plus for streaming is virtually unlimited content (ie new music discovery)

Music files stored on a personal computer also on your home network but played through the streamer?

Correct.

 

[Keith_W]

You mean there are people with personal digital music collections who aren't running a NAS?

I store all my files locally on the same PC that I use for music playback on a 4TB HDD. Can you explain the advantage of using a NAS if I don't need to access my music collection from other devices? I think that storing it locally on the PC means 1 less device to worry about if the playback chain breaks.

 

[Crook]

Wiim Mini with Amazon Music Unlimited. I have no need to store any digital music, it's all there on tap in HD/UHD. I also have some physical media.

 

[sergeauckland]

I also don't use a NAS. I run LMS on a laptop in my study, which has a 1TB HDD full of music ripped from my CDs, with either local playback in the study or in my music room on a SqueezeBox Touch. The SBT also plays out Internet Radio, especially BBC Sounds and Venice Classic, and occasionally, Spotify. Never seen the point of a NAS, when Terabyte drives are available so cheaply. LMS can feed any sensible number of endpoints running Squeezeplay or UPnP from the laptop.

Important to take backups of the HDD, but that applies to any storage.

S.

 

[somebodyelse]

I store all my files locally on the same PC that I use for music playback on a 4TB HDD. Can you explain the advantage of using a NAS if I don't need to access my music collection from other devices? I think that storing it locally on the PC means 1 less device to worry about if the playback chain breaks.

For me the HDD in the same room was audible during silences. Changing to SSD is one way to avoid that. Keeping the not-quite-silent thing in a different room is another. I need it network accessible in any case since I have streamers in several rooms, and occasionally in another country.

 

[kyuu]

I store all my files locally on the same PC that I use for music playback on a 4TB HDD. Can you explain the advantage of using a NAS if I don't need to access my music collection from other devices? I think that storing it locally on the PC means 1 less device to worry about if the playback chain breaks.

Sorry, sometimes I forget that being cheeky doesn't always come through clearly. Of course accessing your music collection from various devices on your network is the main point of keeping it on a NAS.

 

[Timcognito]

A single dashboard and NAS are the key for me. Three rooms; main w/ best system, HT/kitchen and large garage shop, ea with an inexpensive 10" android tablet stripped all apps except Roon, BluOS, Qobuz and internet browser. Roon does DSP on main, AVR on HT and garage goes commando. 1200 CD/downloads on NAS, 15 internet radio station presets and Qobuz, plus TT and 650-700 Lps gathering dust. THE KEY Thing is single movable large readable tablet with all music in one all source APP sometimes ROON with with mile wide deep music discovery, DSP and curation features but mostly the BluOS for its speed and simplicity to just play/change. Many say the WiiM app is very good but I have not used. IMO and situation is to focus on the cross platform capability, features and ease of use of the app and GUI, physical mobility in my enviroment and access to all features of all sysyems from anyware. Roon requires 24/7 computer which I don't like but I bought lifetime in 2017 and never use my phone for anything but calls, text, nav and some internet, small screen, big hands.

 

[melomane13]

I use a raspberrypi 4 lyrion music server, with spotify, internet radio and local files on a usb drive connected to the pi. I can access these files with different squeezelite. In practice it is equivalent to a nas (for music only).

 

[The_Fall]

I use a Mac Mini as the host for my Plex server, with all my music and video files stored on a NAS with 80TB of storage.

At-Home Playback:
I use an Apple TV, which runs native Plex and other streaming apps. It's connected to both my TV and hi-fi system, allowing me to stream local music files and online content via YouTube Music—all played back at CD quality.

On-the-Go Playback:
PlexAmp, the audio-only interface for Plex, is fantastic. I can access my entire music library remotely from my phone. I also use YouTube Music when I’m mobile.

Why YouTube Music over other services?
For $12/month (CAD), I get ad-free YouTube videos, live sports, and full access to YouTube Music. It includes every major release plus plenty of obscure content I’m after—all in one subscription.

In short:
My setup avoids the need for a dedicated music streamer, like the one mentioned in the original post. Running everything from a dedicated computer gives me all the functionality I need—without adding cost or more components.

 

[rongon]

Re: NAS:

1) Installing a NAS would make sense, but I've been too lazy to try to implement one. I looked online for a step-by-step, but what I've found seems to be for networking professionals and is too technical for me.

2) My old router has a USB port (USB 3.0), so I think it should work for connecting a drive to make a NAS. I did a quick RTFM to see how to do that, but it doesn't look as easy as they say it is...

Does anyone know of a particularly good (well organized, easy to follow, to the point) online how-to for getting a NAS drive working on a simple home network?

 

[rongon]

OK, I looked further into the NAS thing.

IMO it looks like a bit of a PITA but it's NBD. You do have to translate all the techy stuff into simple steps. IDK exactly how2 to get it done, but it looks doable. I'm just not in the mood for that kind of frustration ATM.

 

[Chrispy]

I generally stream either my own files (mostly ripped from cd, some purchased as files) or via Spotify (maybe Pandora now and then). I do use Spotify premium for the higher bitrate. I use my laptop, tablet or phone over my wifi to various systems for the most part, streaming to playback devices (avr, optical disc players, audio chromecast, chromecast), never found a need for a dedicated streamer box. If I do want to use a thumb drive/mass storage device I just plug it into the avr/optical player's usb port). If your current setup works, just use it.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

NAS is optional.

I use Minim server with BubbleUP software - pocket change cost.

 

[obsessive9119]

I don’t have a NAS, but I have a mini pc running as a media server (with 8tb of attached storage). I mostly set it up to use Jellyfin for video streaming, but once it was there I figured I may as well use it for music, too.

I use a few WiiM devices to stream from the media server via dlna (using minimserver on the server). I also stream from it using Neutron on my phone.

 

[The_Fall]

Re: NAS:

1) Installing a NAS would make sense, but I've been too lazy to try to implement one. I looked online for a step-by-step, but what I've found seems to be for networking professionals and is too technical for me.

2) My old router has a USB port (USB 3.0), so I think it should work for connecting a drive to make a NAS. I did a quick RTFM to see how to do that, but it doesn't look as easy as they say it is...

Does anyone know of a particularly good (well organized, easy to follow, to the point) online how-to for getting a NAS drive working on a simple home network?

You are fine with USB hard drives. It is a good idea to implement some sort of routine backup. It can be, cloud, automated software or just labour. Music files are ultimately pretty small in the grand scheme.

 

[ctakim]

I just moved my Music Library from an external hard drive directly connected to my MacMini running as a Roon Core to a Synology NAS. The external hard drive was working just fine but I recently set up a Raspberry Pi 4 with a HifiBerry DAC2 Pro hat and I wanted to see how it performed using network access to the Music Library on the NAS. Seems to be working just fine. I also tested multiple different music streaming software programs on the RPi4 including HifiBerryOS, Ropieee, Moode Audio, Volumio, and PiCore Player with LMS. Most of my music curation is via Roon so I really did not need the RPi4 to manage the library but I just wanted to see how well it worked. Ultimately settled on the HifiBerryOS for its simplicity and clean design. My go to Music sources are Roon to manage my own music files and Qobuz for streaming via Roon. A fun exercise and learned a lot getting all the programs to run. Happy with how things are working now. I probably will get more RPI's as streaming endpoints for various parts of the house.

 

[Brian Hall]

My music library of my ripped CDs plus album downloads I have purchased are kept on a Linux mini PC running Plex Server. For streamers, I use a Wiim Ultra in my office, an Eversolo DMP-A6 in my living room and a Wiim Pro Plus in my bedroom. I have subscriptions to Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, Spotify and YouTube Music.

I tried Roon for a while, but it didn't add enough to be work bothering with. The Plex server works great and the Wiim and Eversolo devices include good native access to Plex.

I know Plex also has video streaming, but I never use that. I was fortunate enough to get a lifetime Plex server license for $45.