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[DougHamm]

Hi all,

This is a supplemental thread to this one: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,102778.0.html

For nearly a year I've been looking for a way to bring my HTPC's hi-res audio files to the library in my garage loft.  It's a smaller Onkyo 5.1 system and there's no TV up there.

Short of purchasing a laptop, I was at a loss on how to do this -- I've got a large collection of DSF files including a couple DSD-128's that stream over 30mbps and are quite CPU-intensive.  Raspberry Pi doesn't have the horsepower and various Linux boxes don't decode the range of audio codecs, bitrates and audio channels that I need to play 100% of my library.  I've got a Bay Trail tablet (no HDMI out) but I knew it really struggled on DSF decoding.

On a whim the other day I ordered a 2016 (Cherry Trail) Compute Stick.  Installation was not without its issues:
1) I immediately installed the Creators Update but on reboot the internal Wi-Fi adapter was disabled and I couldn't log in offline!!  Thank goodness I had a USB Wi-Fi adapter kicking around and it worked when I plugged it in.  Had it not, I'd have been Amazon'ing a USB Ethernet cable... beware!
2) I had to order an HDMI display emulator, since as soon as I turned off my receiver the Compute Stick would lose HDMI audio devices but would not automatically re-enable them when the receiver turned on.  (Google Headless Ghost.)
3) Using MC22 DLNA to reduce CPU resources on the stick - I found some constraints: DLNA streaming from my main HTPC using the Stick as a rendering target (leveraging the HTPC for DSD->PCM conversion) would max out at 24/96.  Would like to have seen it higher.
4) Setting the Stick's Library Server client settings to convert to PCM 24-bit at the HTPC - again to reduce CPU on the stick - would convert multichannel only to stereo albeit at higher resolutions.  Couldn't figure that out.
5) EDIT: One more caveat...on my HTPC with AMD video, HDMI audio would default to 2 channel depending on whether my receiver was turned off before TV...EDID hell. I created an EDID-override monitor.inf and installed it by putting Windows in developer mode so that the TV inherited the EDID from my receiver, solving the issue. On my Stick, I installed the same monitor.inf just to be safe, though I'm not sure it's needed with Intel video. Your mileage may vary but I'm including this as an FYI.
6) EDIT 2: Goes without saying perhaps, but one has to set Windows to log in automatically.

This all said...it works!  Turning off all DSD-PCM conversion options and streaming the full-sized files, there's just enough CPU power within the Stick to play back all my audio types (DSD-128's converted to 192KHz use ~75-80% CPU).  Multichannel WASAPI output is perfect.  I can control it through VNC from my phone, or easier yet, through JRemote.  I'm thrilled.  Also of note: this is over a local 802.11AC connection to an AP in my garage, which is connected to a D-Link AV2 powerline adapter kit to get back to the house over the garage's electrical wiring - max sustained speed about 100Mbps, so 3X what's required to stream DSD-128's in full glory.

I couldn't be happier!

-Doug