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[Gio300ZX]

Hallo, thanks to the advice here, I think I can define my network question better. I’ve checked the wiki and the examples and read the past few threads in Media Network which seem to cover related ground. And I found this article https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/ca-academy/the-complete-guide-to-hifi-upnp-dlna-network-audio/

I’ve got a number of overlapping things I want to sort out. Basic issue is analogue hi-fi in the main room needs connecting to my music files. So I need a DMR (renderer), a DMS (server) and a connection. I have a Sony TV and a Humax STB, both of which can connect to the network and read the files on the UPNP server built-in to my NAS (Seagate) – but their browsing / GUI is not the best and they don’t do FLAC.

If I use my tablet as a CP (control point), I can play from the UPNP to the Humax but can’t use transcode.

I’ve not been able to find a DMR/DAC which I can put on the network, connect to the hi-fi and use MC (on tablet or laptop) to send audio to it. There are things like the microRendu (which needs an external DAC and it’s not exactly budget).

I have an Asus VivoPC (quiet but not fanless) which I got for testing stuff and I could get a 1TB SSD (to reduce noise), configure MC as a server and use that as the main music store. If I put this in the main room, could use the TV as display and add my Meridian Explorer DAC (should be better than in-built PC audio).

If that was too noisy, I could put it back in my workroom and use something I read about in Hi-Fi News, the wonderfully-named Nubert nuFunk (German site https://www.nubert.de/nufunk-wireless/20/ ) which for about 150 Euro will get the data stream from the VivoPC/MC wirelessly to a receiver/DAC at the hi-fi. I could use JRiver remote on my phone as CP.

So in a nutshell:

• It seems sensible to use MC as the DMS instead of the UPNP on the Seagate
• That implies upgrading the Asus VivoPC to a bigger/quieter SSD
• The Meridian Explorer should be better than the TV, STB or PC built-in audio. Don’t know about the quality of the nuFunk but that reads as better than built-in.

I don’t know enough about the various JRiver Id options (and have no experience with Linux) – would a fully -baked IdPi do the trick as a DMR and would it use the Meridian DAC or does it already have good audio built-in or is it upgradeable (I’ve seen audio options https://www.hifiberry.com/ )?

Be interested in your comments / experience. If there’s an article or thread / post I’ve missed, happy to take a look. Thanks.

[JimH]

I’ve not been able to find a DMR/DAC which I can put on the network, connect to the hi-fi and use MC (on tablet or laptop) to send audio to it.

The Id should work.  You could connect to a DAC or use its audio out via HDMI or analog.

You could use any old laptop or PC as a renderer, just to test, or even permanently.

It's possible you can use your Sony TV as a renderer, depending on how old it is.

[Gio300ZX]

The Id should work.  You could connect to a DAC or use its audio out via HDMI or analog.

You could use any old laptop or PC as a renderer, just to test, or even permanently.

It's possible you can use your Sony TV as a renderer, depending on how old it is.

Thanks. I'm reading this forum about the JRiver Id. Lots of info. I shall carry on reading.

 I've been testing with my everyday PC and the tablet and the spare with WMP vs MC and, apart from one display preference, MC wins. ATM I've got 200GB of audio on my everyday laptop plus the same copied to the UPNP which all seems a bit ridiculous and I should get a bit more organised.

The Sony TV (Bravia from 2018) does act as renderer but it's not a good UI and has issues with FLAC and the audio output (to my hi-fi) is not wonderful. The Humax STB has better audio but still lousy GUI.

So right now, I'm thinking to use MC as DMS on the VivoPC in my workroom, mount the UPNP as a library to that and put a JRiver Id Pi with the hi-fi. Control via either the Windows tablet with MC or Android phone with JRemote. Is that a sensible start point?

Thank you for your advice.

[JimH]

So right now, I'm thinking to use MC as DMS on the VivoPC in my workroom, mount the UPNP as a library to that and put a JRiver Id Pi with the hi-fi. Control via either the Windows tablet with MC or Android phone with JRemote. Is that a sensible start point?

I don't know what you mean by "the UPNP".  The NAS?  If so, you can skip the UPnP server and just import directly from the drive with MC on the VivoPC.

But better might be to use the IdPi to import from the NAS.  It's a very low power device, so can be left on 24x7.