Thank you
@Torq!
Are there any beginner level tutorials to learn the software/protocol side of things you could please recommend?
For example, I am trying to understand what it would take to setup, under Mac OS, a system with the main objective to play music stored on the local network with possible integration with streaming services (e.g. Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal…).
So far, I see it unfolding like this:
OpenHome Player
Linn Kazoo control app
Linn Kazoo Server
O, perhaps:
JRiver…
To understand if I am on target here, and what configuration is actually better, and why, I definitely need some education…
Will it be possible for you to briefly describe the software/protocol side of the system employed in your tests, please?
So … back to your your specific question (I’m going to save general discussion of Network interfaces and protocols to my specific comparison thread on the subject):
“I am trying to understand what it would take to setup, under Mac OS, a system with the main objective to play music stored on the local network with possible integration with streaming services (e.g. Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal …).”
The first thing to know, is that there are two major approaches for achieving this. One is with the DAC attached directly to your computer (i.e. via USB, optical or coax, directly). The other is with a Network or Ethernet Interface/Streamer attached to your DAC. The first case is the simplest, so let’s start there.
Most of the good OS X/macOS players can read files off a network storage device, be it a NAS or something else. All you need to do is add the appropriate network folders to your library and connect the DAC to your computer and you’re in business.
One simple example is
Audirvana+ which, in addition to playing local and network files, can also access TIDAL and Qobuz. It won’t talk to Spotify however, so you have to use the Spotify client for that, but that will work happily with a directly connected DAC anyway.
You can even remote control this with an iOS device if you want to.
Roon, which is an absolutely fabulous way to both play and explore your music, will also work perfectly happily in this scenario, and you can run both the Core and the Client on a single machine if you wish, though most people put the core on a dedicated machine that acts as a server for local and network files as well as the gateway to TIDAL.
Roon actually has the advantage of fully integrating your TIDAL and local/network libraries so that they can appear as one (TIDAL albums that you don’t own copies of get a little “T” icon in the corner.
Pretty simple and how most people go about it.
I use both, but my client of choice is Roon whenever possible. Audirvana+ gets more use in portable scenarios where I’m not connected to my Roon core.
Now, if you want to use a Network/Ethernet Interface or Streamer to feed your DAC, things get a bit more complicated. For a start, there are more moving pieces, and some of them work better than others.
Most such devices support something called DLNA/UPnP or OpenHome (extensions to UPnP developed largely by Linn). This has three components (I’m simplifying a bit from the formal spec):
- A SERVER (e.g. Asset UPnP, Linn Kazoo Server, etc.) – this exposes your library on your network, provides catalog services and allows access to the actual music data.
- A CLIENT (e.g. Linn Kazoo, Lumin, Songbook, etc. )– this talks to the server to let you browse your library, build playlists, send “play” requests and choose where the music is sent to.
- A RENDERER – this is what actually plays the music; the client sends it a list of tracks to play, which the renderer then requests the data for, a chunk at a time, directly from the server. Note that a renderer can JUST be an interface (which is the formal definition for it) or it can be an interface that has a DAC as part of it (e.g. the Linn units or an Auralic Aries Mini).
Setting this up is pretty easy, and there are lots of Servers and Clients to choose from which will, more or less, all work together.
To get this going, the easiest path is to download either Assent UPnP or Linn’s Kazoo Server and install them. You need to tell them where your music is located (i.e. choose one or more drives/folders that contain your music) and then you’re good to go with the defaults.
Install the client, which exists for iOS, Windows, OS X, and depending on which client, there are Android versions as well.
When you launch the client it’ll ask you to choose a SERVER (and it’ll usually just prompt you with a list) and then a RENDERER (again, you’ll usually get a choice). And then from there it’s just a case of choosing tracks and hitting “Play”.
This can all be done for free, so if you have a DLNA/UPnP capable DAC or streamer, playing around with it is quick, simple and won’t cost you anything but time. There’s not much that
needs to be configured, but you can get tweaky if you want to with some of these components.
The PS Audio Network Bridge II, Linn DSMs, the Auralic Aries (and Mini), SonicorbiterSE, and most other network-capable devices targeted at home/audiophile uses support at least DLNA/UPnP, but it’s easy enough to check.
You could use JRiver to do this sort of thing too. It can act as both a DLNA/UPnP Server AND Client for example. I choose not to because I think it’s interface is quite intolerably ugly and while it’s much more tweakable, and offers many features unavailable elsewhere, they’re things that I don’t care about and don’t wish to deal with the very fiddly the interface and configuration.
Now, Roon can also operate in a similar mode here, and it’s a MUCH more sophisticated, pleasant and capable interface (especially on touch-screen devices). It also costs either $120/year or $500 for a lifetime subscription. You can try it for free, but if you like it, and you probably will, you have to pay to play.
Far fewer devices, currently, are capable of acting as Roon Endpoints (the Roon equivalent of a “Renderer” in DLNA/UPnP terms), but that number is growing extremely rapidly. If you want, you can use a PC or a Mac as an end-point, or a Raspberry Pi board, as there are “Bridge” components (simple software download) that enable that.
Out of the box, the Auralic Aries (but NOT the Mini), SonicorbiterSE and, as of this week, the Network Bridge II work as native Roon endpoints.
Protocol wise, Roon’s RAAT specification is a lot more capable than the UPnP protocol, and allows for features that UPnP doesn’t even being to approach. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch and you have a more limited selection of devices you can use, and you have to pay to do so.
I imagine, before very long, Roon support will be standard on pretty much anything with a network interface, even if it is just one option they support.
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To use something like the RedNet 3 interface (or the AES67 “Ravenna” interface on the Merging NADAC) you either use something that can talk directly to them (which isn’t much outside of the pro-audio world), or you use a virtual sound card on a PC or Mac and then ANY player can route its sound via that and talk to the interface (and thereby your DAC).
I’ll likely still use Roon as my player/server with the RedNet 3. I’ll just install the Dante (the protocol) Virtual Sound Card software on the same machine as Roon, and then in Roon select that sound card as my output just like I would any other available sound device in OS X “System Preferences”.
This would work with any other player, including those that will only talk to the “System Default” sound output, since you can just tell OS X to make the virtual sound card it’s default output.
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That’s the simple version, anyway … for several scenarios.
I’ll try to break things down a bit more, and illustrate them properly, in my main thread on this subject. This is as much as I want to derail this particular thread with details on this topic.
As to which sounds the best ... that's an excellent question and one to which my main thread on this subject will attempt to explore (at least for my purposes). I will say that, so far, I've heard nothing but good things about the RedNet 3 device from people who's opinions I value and trust, so I have good optimism in that direction. It's also a bit cheaper, if a little fiddlier, than the Aries solution (unless you buy the LE).
In the mean time, if you've not already, you should check out
@johnjen's thread on "
The DIY'rs Cookbook", probably starting with
this post, as he, and others, are exploring the RedNet devices in some detail there.
Hope it helps!
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