WHF help needed

[admin_exported]

Hi Andrew, Clare, Andy

I posted this same question on the forum few days ago, but had no answer...

I want to buy all-in-one Home cinema system for the living room, and one of the basic requirements (among DLNA certification, wireless rear speakers and WiFi) is the ability to play flac files (I have around 250 GB of music on 2.5" Toshiba USB HDD, and play them through J.River Media Jukebox 14 with asio4all installed).

Are you aware of ANY all-in-one home cinema in a box system that can play flac files? I have checked 2010 ranges of usual suspects like Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and LG, but they seem to only have support for lossy formats like MP3, AAC and WMA. Even new all-in-one ranges from Onkyo and Pioneer recently reported in the News section doesn't seem to support flac? (Which I found VERY strange by the way, keeping in mind that flac is non-proprietary codec, and probably the most popular audiophile codec).

*I know that I have alternatives like media player - A/V receiver - speaker system, but separates are 2-3 times more expensive and out of my budget. Also, I dont want to use my old amp as part of any ner set-up since it doesn't have digital inputs.

Any help will be greatly appreciated,

Goran

 

[The_Lhc]

I've never heard of an home theatre all-in-one that supports flac, I know the big Pioneer SC-LX7/82 receivers do but not an all-in-one. I think you might be out of luck.

 

[Zarn_Smith]

One of the nice things about lossless audio files is that conversion between the lossless formats causes no loss in audio quality. I understand that you have selected flac as your format of choice, however you may find that the devices that you have looked at which support WMA and AAC may play the lossless versions of these formats.

If that is the case, you may be better off doing a quick convert of your collection using something like dbpoweramp, safe in the knowledge that if something does support flac when you are in the position of buying a new system, you can just convert them back.

Either that or buy a squeezebox to go with the shiny new set-up.

 

[Anonymous]

It really seems I am out of luck. Moving above all-in-one systems I found that even new A/V receivers like Onkyo TX-SR 608 are not supporting networking and flac. What are my options?

I don't want PC in my living room; If I buy media streamer (and attach my HDD on it) and A/V receiver and connect them via digital (optical or coax) connection, then the receiver's DAC will be used, but where the decoding of flac is happening? If it's at the media streamer, surely I can play my music this way? I am perplexed, please help!

 

[Anonymous]

Do PS3s play FLAC? They will play over wifi or if filed right, even straight from USB (you can buy HDD cases that convert it for use over USB)

 

[The_Lhc]

Gok:It really seems I am out of luck. Moving above all-in-one systems I found that even new A/V receivers like Onkyo TX-SR 608 are not supporting networking and flac.

Err, well like I said I know the Pioneer SC-LX72 and 82 receivers support FLAC via the network (I think they require a DLNA server to pull the files from though).

I don't want PC in my living room; If I buy media streamer (and attach my HDD on it) and A/V receiver and connect them via digital (optical or coax) connection, then the receiver's DAC will be used, but where the decoding of flac is happening? If it's at the media streamer, surely I can play my music this way?

Well, yes, media streamers wouldn't be much use if they didn't perform that function. That's what I do, with my Sonos system, but you could use Squeezebox or something like that. The PC doesn't need to be in the same room then, you don't necessarily need a PC at all.

I think you sound like the ideal customer for the new Squeezbox Touch actually, plug that into your receiver (via digital or analogue connection), attach a USB HDD with your music on it and off you go.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions the_lhc, Squeezebox Touch seems ideal for listening music.

However, I was probably not sufficiently clear about my intent. My primary intent is to play my (stereo) music in flac, but I also need to be covered for my family jpeg pictures and AVCHD videos, and DivX/DivX HD/MP4 files for downloaded concerts and films, and play some odd BluRay disc.

This is why I am (rightfully?) insisting for all-in-one home cinema system. 2010 models seem to support all above formats, have built-in WiFi and DLNA support (some of them can even accept HDD through USB port), so I can access my laptop and at least YouTube wirelessly. Wireless rear speakers upgrades seem to be around 100 eur, so not too expensive. However, my only concern - flac - is not supported, at least not in 2010. And this has shocked me after 5 months spent in re-ripping and downloading the entire music I love in flac instead of rubbish MP3!!!

So, finally: If I buy all-in-one system which does not support flac, and add simple media player through HDMI in port of all-in-one system, will I be set?

Sorry if I am a bit thick with repeated questions, but I really need to be shore what I will do!

 

[Anonymous]

Short clarification: With Media Player, I mean not 'only' music (squeezebox or sonos), but also video player/streamer (something like Lacie Lacinema or Western Digital Live).