Building a system for a server

[Bootneck]

Hi,

i have seen many now use a server to listen to their music and ripped CD's and I would like to ask advice as to the simplest and most cost effective way would be to achieve this. If anyone can advise then I would be grateful. I am not very good with comicated set ups and it does slund quite complex.

Many thanks in advance

jools

 

[cheeseboy]

this is one of those how long is a piece of string questions.

some people use their NAS devices such as synology as they have playback software and you can plug an external dac in to them and control them from idevice/android device/pc.

some people use their pc to playback, either with an external dac or the onboard sound.

It all depends on what set up you want. IE do you want your files stored centrally to be accessed by lots of devices, in which case a NAS or dedicated server is a good way to go. Or do you just want one device to handle playback and storing of files, in which case a NAS such as synology or a dedicated PC would do the job nicely.

Hope that helps a bit...

 

[unsleepable]

I would say that the first and most important thing you need to consider is what audio sources you want to use. These will strongly condition the sort of gear you can opt for. There are many options to play lossless files, for example. But if you need something like iTunes (server), or Spotify, the available options narrow down considerably.