Playing Hi Res FLAC or Apple lossless without PC

[admin_exported]

I really want to be able to download the Hi-Def recordings from the likes of Linn but I don't want to stream from my Mac to my HiFi. I want to leave my Mac turned off and not have to run upstairs and turn it on every time I want to listen to music.

I wand to download the music to a drive and connect that to my HiFi and play as I would a CD. My pre amp has a built in DAC so I can accept a digital signal via optical, electrical or USB (though I'd like to avoid USB)

Is this possible - if so I would love recommendations for a good NAS media player with this functionality.

 

[Anonymous]

BFW,

What you need is a NAS drive with music saved on it , then an audio streamer, (something like a squeezebox), connected to your hifi system.

 

[nads]

you will still need to turn the PC on to do the downloads though.

but yes a Squeezebox or a Sonos or any other media player can do the playback.

 

[The_Lhc]

nads:but yes a Squeezebox or a Sonos or any other media player can do the playback.

Sonos doesn't support 24-bit files, which is what I assume the OP means by "Hi-Def".

Squeezebox Touch supports it though, although that's only up to 96kHz, so it won't handle the best 192kHz files (hadn't realised that before now, bummer), you could download them to a usb drive and play them directly, you won't need the MAC on then.

 

[Anonymous]

you could download them to a usb drive and play them directly, you won't need the MAC on then.

How do I do that - I have an iPhone and was hoping I could use that to chose the songs on a NAS. Don't want a load of computer kit beside my HiFi! Has anyone used an AppleTV as a media player?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

bfw:
I really want to be able to download the Hi-Def recordings from the likes of Linn but I don't want to stream from my Mac to my HiFi. I want to leave my Mac turned off and not have to run upstairs and turn it on every time I want to listen to music.

I wand to download the music to a drive and connect that to my HiFi and play as I would a CD. My pre amp has a built in DAC so I can accept a digital signal via optical, electrical or USB (though I'd like to avoid USB)

Is this possible - if so I would love recommendations for a good NAS media player with this functionality.

I use the HDX BD1.

 

[The_Lhc]

bfw:the_lhc:you could download them to a usb drive and play them directly, you won't need the MAC on then.
How do I do that - I have an iPhone and was hoping I could use that to chose the songs on a NAS. Don't want a load of computer kit beside my HiFi! Has anyone used an AppleTV as a media player?

Well if you actually read the chain of replies you'd see we were refering to using the Squeezebox Touch, that's controllable with an iPhone app I think but comes with its own remote regardless, you plug a USB drive into that and you can play whatever's on the USB drive, if you want to use a NAS you either need one that can have Squeezebox Server installed on it or have the laptop running with SBS on it, which is not what you wanted.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, thanks for that. I see the Squeezebox Touch has digital out - does that mean I can bypass the 96KHz issue if my DAC has no such limitation?

 

[nads]

yes,

but be aware that there is no release date for the touch at the moment, but word is that April is possible.

 

[The_Lhc]

nads:yes,

Sure? Just because you can bypass the DAC doesn't mean the 96kHz limit is no longer there, the unit still has to unpack the file to PCM, it might be that that's where the limitation lies. I don't know I have to admit but until I see it in writing I wouldn't be too sure.

but be aware that there is no release date for the touch at the moment, but word is that April is possible.

Really? Curious, they've been trumpeting it for quite some time now!

 

[nads]

the_lhc:
nads:yes,

Sure? Just because you can bypass the DAC doesn't mean the 96kHz limit is no longer there, the unit still has to unpack the file to PCM, it might be that that's where the limitation lies. I don't know I have to admit but until I see it in writing I wouldn't be too sure.

must read things carefully

but be aware that there is no release date for the touch at the moment, but word is that April is possible.

Really? Curious, they've been trumpeting it for quite some time now!

I got board of waiting.

they have warehouses full of stock but the software does not doe everything it says on the boxes.

the hardware works as it should and the beta testers have been using them for over a year now.

 

[The_Lhc]

nads:the_lhc: but be aware that there is no release date for the touch at the moment, but word is that April is possible.
Really? Curious, they've been trumpeting it for quite some time now!

they have warehouses full of stock but the software does not doe everything it says on the boxes.

the hardware works as it should and the beta testers have been using them for over a year now.

Oh dear, that's a bit poor. Say one thing for Sonos, until it's ready to ship they don't even let you know what they're working on!

 

[Anonymous]

I just tried to order the Squeezebox Touch and got a deliver date of 16th May!! Are there any alternatives I should look at. I was thinking of connecting an external drive to the Touch (or whatever) via USB but some folk say USB is awful in terms of sound quality - any thoughts?

 

[The_Lhc]

bfw:I just tried to order the Squeezebox Touch and got a deliver date of 16th May!! Are there any alternatives I should look at. I was thinking of connecting an external drive to the Touch (or whatever) via USB but some folk say USB is awful in terms of sound quality - any thoughts?

Yes, they've no idea what they're talking about...

 

[Anonymous]

Just took delivery of my Squeezebox Touch. Now for the fun part - getting it to work. WIll report back on success or otherwise and on sound quality. Have FLAC files from the B&W club in 16 and 24B bit. Will connect vie RCA and coaxial to the DAC in the Pre amp.

 

[PJPro]

bfw:I just tried to order the Squeezebox Touch and got a deliver date of 16th May!! Are there any alternatives I should look at. I was thinking of connecting an external drive to the Touch (or whatever) via USB but some folk say USB is awful in terms of sound quality - any thoughts?
I suspect they mean from a PC/laptop to a DAC via USB. It appears that some suffer from noise/ground loops....which an optical interconnect can avoid (no electrical connection). A external USB HDD should be OK. I have one connected to a WDTV Live via USB and I haven't had any problems.

 

[Anonymous]

I use Apple TV which works perfectly through my Amp

 

[Anonymous]

OK have it - setup was a doddle. Internet radio is good but bit rates make it a substandard listen. BBC down at 48kps. At the same time as I set up my Squeezebox touch I connected my Macbook to the Cyrus DAC using a Lindy optical cable with a mini connector on one end. I joined the B&W Society of Sound and downloaded Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back in 24bit 192KHz. I played this on CD directly from the Macbook and copied it to a usb stick and plugged it into the Squeezebox. The Squeezebox was only connected via RCA analogue (waiting for the proper TOS link cable).

The sound from the Squeezebox was good but not as good as the CD and the sound from the Mac was stunning. I will be better able compare the sound once I have both Squeezebox and Mac connected to the DAC. I haven't tried streaming yet because all of my music in iTunes was ripped at 320Kps. I am in the process of re ripping into Apple lossless and will update.

I have to admit the sound of a Hi Res FLAC on the Macbook through the Cyrus DAC blew me away. My AMp and speakers performed like I have never heard them before. The width and depth of the sound stage was huge!

 

[Anonymous]

OK had a chance to listen to the Touch connected to the Cyrus DAC via optical SPDIF.

I first listened to music pulled via wireless from my Mac iTunes library - in both lossless and 320Kps. They sounded very good - perfect for a casual listen but not a patch on the Hi Res files on the Mac directly connected to the DAC. I then loaded a HiRes album and an Apple lossless album on to a USB stick and connected this directly to the Touch.

This was fantastic - the lossless album was within a whisker of the same album on CD - say 85-90% as good and the HiRes was stunning - way better space and dynamics than a CD but still a little behind the Mac directly playing through the DAC. But way more convenient.

I noted that lossless albums were slightly down sampled when streamed wirelessly - also noticed that the B&W music is 24bit 48Khz - I had thought they were 128Khz but apparently that is a rare breed!

A fantastic way to listen to your ripped CD's and your HiRes downloads for very little money. Listening to 320kps albums is fine for background or party music. The only issue I've had is artwork - for some reason only about 10% of my albums display artwork!

Would I listen to the touch using it's own DAC - No! But using a decent external DAC - definitely!

Big thumbs up!

 

[Anonymous]

bfw:

OK had a chance to listen to the Touch connected to the Cyrus DAC via optical SPDIF.

I first listened to music pulled via wireless from my Mac iTunes library - in both lossless and 320Kps. They sounded very good - perfect for a casual listen but not a patch on the Hi Res files on the Mac directly connected to the DAC. I then loaded a HiRes album and an Apple lossless album on to a USB stick and connected this directly to the Touch.

This was fantastic - the lossless album was within a whisker of the same album on CD - say 85-90% as good and the HiRes was stunning - way better space and dynamics than a CD but still a little behind the Mac directly playing through the DAC. But way more convenient.

I noted that lossless albums were slightly down sampled when streamed wirelessly - also noticed that the B&W music is 24bit 48Khz - I had thought they were 128Khz but apparently that is a rare breed!

A fantastic way to listen to your ripped CD's and your HiRes downloads for very little money. Listening to 320kps albums is fine for background or party music. The only issue I've had is artwork - for some reason only about 10% of my albums display artwork!

Would I listen to the touch using it's own DAC - No! But using a decent external DAC - definitely!

Big thumbs up!

.

For itunes artwork, if I manually add artwork to iTunes then copy to Squeezeserver and rescan library, all artwork shows on Duet and Touch. Whereas wheras if one auto downloads artwork within itunes, it does not subsequently show when read by Squeezeserver SW. This is more about itunes than a Squeezserver defficiency.

itunes id3 tags music differently so i used Media Monkey to retag whole of itunes library then reimported into Squeezeserver- all artwork viewable.

Tag editng can be confusing. Slimdevices forum is a great resource if you are stuck.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that - is Media Monkey available for Mac - can't see a ref to a Mac version!