Need a solution for computer audio

[Fiftyfifty]

Hi,

My Mac Mini appears to be giving up. I have a lot of digital files - flac, wav, dsd, etc.

• I need a solution, like a dedicated music computer to play these files;
• It should ideally have AES/EBU or i2s out. But I can compromise and use Coaxial or USB too, if the other conditions are met;
• It should preferably have internal storage of around 1TB so that I do not need to connect an external hard drive;
• It should be available in India;
• It should be headless and capable of being operated remotely using a phone or other device;
• I do not need streaming;
• I do not need a DAC;
• I would prefer not to use a network server, i.e. I like my music server connected directly to my external DAC.

I will be grateful for product suggestions or if a DIY enthusiast can offer to assemble one for me.

Many thanks

 

[rikhav]

Instantly auralic aries mini and it's other product come to my mind

It ticks mostly all boxes for you except for one , that's it's not available in India

But, you can easily hand carry one during your trip to USA or Singapore.

As and when other products come to my mind , I will post again here

 

[blackscorpio]

Check out Synology NAS

Don't dismiss it being NAS, you can connect a DAC directly to the USB of the unit, it acts as digital out. I guess the bad part is only few DACs are supported at the moment.

 

[surfatwork]

Rpi with picoreplayer + Logitech media server + squeezelite. Works perfectly well.
Rpi can do i2s out, but do note that cable length has to be less than 4 or 5 inches. You may be better off with a allo digione plus (coax/bnc Spdif out)

 

[rikhav]

Rpi with picoreplayer + Logitech media server + squeezelite. Works perfectly well.

I don't think he will be comfortable with it . Else allo usbridge or digione signature fits perfectly for his use

 

[Fiftyfifty]

I don't think he will be comfortable with it . Else allo usbridge or digione signature fits perfectly for his use

I live in a rented house and don't want to run an Ethernet cable all over the place. Except for that, I'm ok with any solution though i would prefer one box, fewer components.

 

[manniraj]

I have a barebones PC and you should be able to achieve all these with a Windows/Linux OS installation or a simple Daphile OS as well. Here is the sale thread - https://www.hifivision.com/threads/foxconn-intel-atom-barebones-pc-4gb-ram.59238/
As I posted in the above sale thread comes with a 4GB RAM stick and I can include a SSD at extra cost and build it for you if you are interested. I used it for dedicated music PC with Foobar and it was very good until I upgraded.

Thanks

 

[prem]

I have owned a Auralic Mini in the past. It’s very convenient. I had not compared it to other options. So don’t know how it compares to others in sound quality. But by itself it’s very decent. It has a decent interface too. When I had it, it only allowed use of a I phone or a I pad as a remote. I don’t know now if it works with an Android phone.

 

[rikhav]

I have owned a Auralic Mini in the past. It’s very convenient. I had not compared it to other options. So don’t know how it compares to others in sound quality. But by itself it’s very decent. It has a decent interface too. When I had it, it only allowed use of a I phone or a I pad as a remote. I don’t know now if it works with an Android phone.

It's control app is one of the best apart from roon

 

[rikhav]

I live in a rented house and don't want to run an Ethernet cable all over the place. Except for that, I'm ok with any solution though i would prefer one box, fewer components.

You can use the allo usbridge with a wifi dongle.
Network is used just to update OS once a while and select songs.
HDD will be connected locally , you will be pleasantly surprised with sq of usbridge signature.
I can very well help you with the whole setup

 

[jai1611]

My preference would be a pc with a linear power supply and JPlay. Getting it to a single box is tough though. If you were in Bangalore, I could help you put it together but not possible remotely.

Allo options are good but don't work with WiFi. I'm reasonably tech savvy but even then getting WiFi to work on the usbridge was an exercise in futility. The digione signature can work with a regular raspberry pi so may be the better option there

I'm general, if looking at other options, pay attention to power supply and software

 

[sidvee]

Hi,

My Mac Mini appears to be giving up. I have a lot of digital files - flac, wav, dsd, etc.

• I need a solution, like a dedicated music computer to play these files;
• It should ideally have AES/EBU or i2s out. But I can compromise and use Coaxial or USB too, if the other conditions are met;
• It should preferably have internal storage of around 1TB so that I do not need to connect an external hard drive;
• It should be available in India;
• It should be headless and capable of being operated remotely using a phone or other device;
• I do not need streaming;
• I do not need a DAC;
• I would prefer not to use a network server, i.e. I like my music server connected directly to my external DAC.

I will be grateful for product suggestions or if a DIY enthusiast can offer to assemble one for me.

Many thanks

My recommendation would be Aurender n100h, it meets all your requirement. I think cinema focus in Chennai is the dealer, and his pricing relative to International pricing is quite decent. I believe the 2tb n100h retails for USD 2700 in US.
You also don't need internet connectivity for day-to-day listening after you have set it up.
Alternate would be any fanless PC with decent spec. running jriver 26 with windows 10. You would need internet connectivity to use the gizmo remote, but beyond that it is almost as good as the Aurender option.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Fiftyfifty]

My recommendation would be Aurender n100h, it meets all your requirement. I think cinema focus in Chennai is the dealer, and his pricing relative to International pricing is quite decent. I believe the 2tb n100h retails for USD 2700 in US.
You also don't need internet connectivity for day-to-day listening after you have set it up.
Alternate would be any fanless PC with decent spec. running jriver 26 with windows 10. You would need internet connectivity to use the gizmo remote, but beyond that it is almost as good as the Aurender option.
Cheers,
Sid

My preference would be a pc with a linear power supply and JPlay. Getting it to a single box is tough though

I'm quite open to someone putting together a decent music centred fanless pc with an external LPS for me

 

[sidvee]

I'm quite open to someone putting together a decent music centred fanless pc with an external LPS for me

Some time later this year I am considering picking up this in US or other options from them for fanless systems

Akasa Euler | Silent Mini PC

Based around the Akasa Euler case, the Akasa Euler Thin Mini ITX Fanless PC is super small at only 2.4 x 9.0 x 7.4in, but (unlike NUC PCs) allows the use powerful i7 CPUs, all while being completely silent and mountable to your vesa mountable monitor.

silentpc.com

Cheers,
Sid

 

[jai1611]

I'm quite open to someone putting together a decent music centred fanless pc with an external LPS for me

HDplex make fanless pc cases and linear power supplies. You would need someone in your city for the rest

 

[Vivek Batra]

FYI. Aurender directly ships to India as well with 1 year of additional warranty.

 

[Fiftyfifty]

Some time later this year I am considering picking up this in US or other options from them for fanless systems

Akasa Euler | Silent Mini PC

Based around the Akasa Euler case, the Akasa Euler Thin Mini ITX Fanless PC is super small at only 2.4 x 9.0 x 7.4in, but (unlike NUC PCs) allows the use powerful i7 CPUs, all while being completely silent and mountable to your vesa mountable monitor.

silentpc.com

Cheers,
Sid

Looks interesting, Sid. Will explore this route too. Thanks

 

[zeta148]

For a music pc, consider a Intel NUC with schitt eitr usb to spdif convertor. The eitr should do a good job of isolating the computer from the rest of the system. The Intel NUC could be bought pre asembled from amazon and can run jriver or jplay or audirvanA.

 

[jai1611]

For a music pc, consider a Intel NUC with schitt eitr usb to spdif convertor. The eitr should do a good job of isolating the computer from the rest of the system. The Intel NUC could be bought pre asembled from amazon and can run jriver or jplay or audirvanA.

A better option than the NUC is the Dell Optiplex micro pc

 

[Naturelover]

I think a revisit to this thread will give you exactly what you need

What is your configuration for Computer Audio?

Starting a thread to just get an idea of what is being used by our forum members for computer audio. There is no right or wrong answers to this so just share with us what you have setup in your chain. My setup at the moment has the following software: Windows 10 Pro 64 bit (Build 10240)...

www.hifivision.com

For example, my music PC is

Fanless Antec ISK110 cabinet
Asus J1800I-C board
Optimized Win7
4GB RAM
1 TB Samsung evo840 SSD
Foobar2k
HDPlex linear PSU

This was built on advice from some wonderful FMs