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Setup to compare HDD, CD and streaming

Timpster1

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Apr 16, 2022
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I want to reduce my CD collection. Not liquidate it, just cut it down. I also have about 2 GB of music on a hard drive and currently have Qobuz. What I would like is to be able to listen to all these sources through the same DAC while controlling everything from an IPhone or Ipad Pro. I get the impression that the Bluesound Node could do the job, although I might need to hook up an external DAC to get better sound. Can I connect my Oppo 105 (probably via USB) to the Bluesound, stream from Quobuz at 24/192 and play all my non-DSD files from the hard drive? Can I seamlessly switch between these different inputs, or is there a lot of delay? I do want to avoid having to have a computer on all the time, but I have Seagate Personal Cloud drive that can stream without one, or I could clone the drive and hook it u directly to the Bluesound, but I don't know if there's any point to doing that. It doesn't seem to me like there are alternatives in the under $1000 range that can do all this with what most people consider to be easy setup with a decent app (I know not everyone on this forum likes it). If there are some alternatives I should look at, I'm open to suggestions, but I'm about to have surgery and want to have something that pretty much just works while I'm recuperating. Maybe a Raspberry Pi-based device is cheaper and better, but I don't want to have to do a lot of configuring. Maybe somewhere down the line I'd find that fun, but not right now. Thanks to anyone who responds.
 
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freemansteve

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You might find an all-in-one to be instantly gratifying and fuss free, depending on your budget.

Just a thought, but have a look at a CA Evo 75 or 150.

I have a 75, and it's decent enough mid-fi. I can play music off my NAS/RAID storage box which has DLNA or off any of my PCs by running a free DLNA server on them. I can plug in a drive full of music files and play them (SSD, HDD or usb stick). I can run a bunch of streaming services like Tidal etc (I choose not to). I control the thing easily with a 7" tablet (£80 new). I run headphones, main speakers and two active subs off it. It integrates perfectly with my TV, coming on and off automatically with the TV. There is matching CD tranport out soon (they tell us!), but you can plug in any off-the-shelf player. The 150 model also lets you plug in a turntable if you are a fan of 'rice crispy' sound effects :)

See, I was going down the Pi/DAC/Hypex amp route, myself,but my wife killed off that idea, wanting a tidy single box that she'd be able to use, and one I wouldn't be constantly fiddling with!
 
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Timpster1

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Thanks for the response. It’s a bit more than I’m looking for right now, but getting rid of some boxes is definitely looking like it’s in my future, so I’ll keep this in mind
 
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