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[mwmccaw]

I currently have all music on a diskstation NAS, and play to my DAC via a laptop.  The constant windows background downloads cause interruptions in the play that I've been unable to eliminate, so I'm thinking hard about an Id.

Here's my question: Is there any benefit in my scenario to having a model with in-box storage?  When playing from the NAS, would it download the entire album or playlist and then play from the local disk?  That might have an advantage at times of high network traffic.
If not, and since I don't have any need for video at this location, would the Pi version be all that I might need.

Second part of the question - is there any difference between the standard and Pi versions in fan noise?  If one is distinctly quieter than the other, that would also enter into the calculation.

Thanks much in advance for any help on this!
Mike McCaw

[astromo]

Second part of the question - is there any difference between the standard and Pi versions in fan noise?  If one is distinctly quieter than the other, that would also enter into the calculation.

Am I missing something? Since when does a Pi come with a fan?

From all I've read, the fan on an Intel NUC is very quiet. But if you're remotely concerned, a Pi will undoubtedly win a silence contest.

I currently have all music on a diskstation NAS, and play to my DAC via a laptop.  The constant windows background downloads cause interruptions in the play that I've been unable to eliminate, so I'm thinking hard about an Id.

Here's my question: Is there any benefit in my scenario to having a model with in-box storage?

If your local network traffic takes up that much bandwidth to be noticeable, then for the minimal cost of some storage, a standalone server sounds very sensible. As long as you address the power demand of the drive housing the stored media, I'd expect that a Pi setup could work. For an audio only application, a Pi would make a lot of sense. I'm in the process of setting up a Pi to act as an audio transport from a local NAS. The Pi offers all sorts of add on HAT options that enable more than USB or HDMI as the digital audio path way (e.g. coax S/PDIF or BNC) that I find useful and inviting.

But if you want an out-of-the-box solution, then a NUC based Id with a TB or so of spinning hard drive storage would be a winner.

[mwmccaw]

Thanks!
I've never worked with a Pi, so I didn't know if it had a fan or not.
I don't think that it is network traffic, but Windows background things that cause the brief interruptions in playback. I never hear these glitches on the Sonos in the kitchen, which is playing the same files from the same server.  That is why I was interested in the ID.

If I get it right, as long as you're playing from a network source, the internal drive in the ID does nothing, right?  I was thinking that if it pulled the entire queue to the local disk and then played from it, that would make any sort of interruption essentially impossible.

I think  that the Pi is the way to go for me.

Thanks again,
Mike

[astromo]

You certainly can get fan add-ons for Pis but I'd expect that to be sensible for cases where the unit is likely to work hard &/or the ambient temperature is high.

For a bit of cooling insurance, I would think that you don't need to go beyond a stick on copper or aluminium passive heat sink. An audio only use shouldn't work the Pi that hard, so it shouldn't run that hot.

Regarding Windows background processes, that's one of the reasons I'm setting up a Pi to act as an audio transport from my local NAS. The HTPC doubles as a work machine at home where we do some hard core maths for assessing investment options and this can stress the PC. I'd ultimately like to upgrade the PC but I see sense in separating functions, especially given that the incremental cost to do so is not great.

And with the Id in the picture, I've now got Engen to drive some Z-wave switches with PlayPower. On that basis, it adds to the sense of the overall plan.

The IdPi's SD card is only 16GB, so it doesn't really offer scope for onboard media storage. To access media with the IdPi as a server, you either have to opt for an external drive or a network share drive. Once the IdPi is fired up, it should only need to access the SD card for system processes that are not covered by what's loaded on to the on board RAM.

Regarding memory playback, check the pic for the options available. I've used the default on my IdPi so far and audio playback from the NAS share sounds fine to me. Even so, there are plenty of options to choose from and trial as to what suits best for your use case.

[mwmccaw]

Thanks much, Astromo!
Mike