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?
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?