External Hard Drive To Amp

[Cannonball236]

My entire cd collection has been converted to high quality MP3 and latterly flac files onto a 1tb external drive. I had been playing them via my laptop using Media Monkey which was okay but my laptop is not up to the job and I am not looking to replace it it. I know there are streamers that have USB ports and can be used to play the files. I am not a streaming person and rarely use Spotify etc. I am looking for an alternative way to play my music on the drive connected to my amp. any suggestions would gratefully received.

 

[nads]

You need a box to play the files.
that will be a streamer (as that is what you are actually wanting to do).

what box depends on how much you want to pay.

 

[michael hoy]

Think about it as internal streaming and not internet streaming .
As Nads states, you need a streamer of some type.

 

[abacus]

1. Check to see if your router has a USB socket and supports DLNA, if so your drive can become a simple NAS.
2. If you have a smart TV, Stick, Blu-Ray player etc. you can use an app like VLC to access your NAS and play through your amp.
3. If your amp is separate or your router doesn’t have support for DLNA, then as above you will need a separate streamer.

Bill

 

[jjbomber]

My entire cd collection has been converted to high quality MP3 and latterly flac files onto a 1tb external drive. I had been playing them via my laptop using Media Monkey which was okay but my laptop is not up to the job and I am not looking to replace it it. I know there are streamers that have USB ports and can be used to play the files. I am not a streaming person and rarely use Spotify etc. I am looking for an alternative way to play my music on the drive connected to my amp. any suggestions would gratefully received.

What amp do you currently have?

 

[Cannonball236]

Thanks for the replies, my set up is old, I have a Rega Brio amp with Cambridge Audio speakers.
I knew that a streamer was probably the way to go, reading reviews and watching You Tube videos there is little or no information how external drives work with them with the exception of the Cocktail Audio which has not been well received.

 

[Gray]

I know there are streamers that have USB ports and can be used to play the files.

That's right.
(That's how a raspberry Pi plays mine).

Presumably the 1Tb drive you mentioned in your first post, has its own power supply, which is good 👍

 

[Gray]

..there is little or no information how external drives work with them

Streamers come with their own control apps.
During setup, you would tell the app to retrieve audio files from your drive.

The control app is an important part of your streaming experience - as is the DAC, which can be built into the streamer or separate from it.
You probably know that, unlike your Brio, some amps have a DAC built into them.

 

[nads]

Thanks for the replies, my set up is old, I have a Rega Brio amp with Cambridge Audio speakers.
I knew that a streamer was probably the way to go, reading reviews and watching You Tube videos there is little or no information how external drives work with them with the exception of the Cocktail Audio which has not been well received.

How they work depends on where they are and what you home network is like.

most streamers have a USB port. But they may have issues with a large set of data. Many routers have a USB port that you can then access over the home network By wire or wifi.

some streamers are easier to set up than others.

 

[jjbomber]

Thanks for the replies, my set up is old, I have a Rega Brio amp with Cambridge Audio speakers.
I knew that a streamer was probably the way to go, reading reviews and watching You Tube videos there is little or no information how external drives work with them with the exception of the Cocktail Audio which has not been well received.

Depends how much you want to spend. You could use a Behringer UCA-222 from the USB of your laptop and connect via RCA interconnects of whatever length you need. That's the £20 solution! Downside is you may not be able to use your laptop when it's connected to the Brio, or you may end up with a long phono cable around the room.

 

[Cannonball236]

Depends how much you want to spend. You could use a Behringer UCA-222 from the USB of your laptop and connect via RCA interconnects of whatever length you need. That's the £20 solution! Downside is you may not be able to use your laptop when it's connected to the Brio, or you may end up with a long phono cable around the room.

I am eliminating using my laptop as there has been buffering with the larger flac files

 

[nads]

I would pop down to your local HIFI retailer and have a play.

There is a project streamer that is fine but you need to be a bit more computer savvy to do the set up. Or you could setup to the blusound node. That will do way more than you currently need. Both do require their app on a phone/tablet but there is a remote for the Node.
there are also may others but I have not tried others.