[Wirbel]

OK, currently I have my amp & USB dac set up next to my PC but I am moving this weekend.
 
I will be putting my PC in my bedroom and I will be buying a shelving unit for my audio hardware and a nice chair for listening, which will all be placed in the living room. I do not have a laptop so nothing to put next to the dac. 
 
I'd rather not replace the dac since I'm quite happy with my setup, but I do need to find a solution for a source. What would be my best and cheapest option? I was thinking of just buying a used netbook and pairing it with an external HD to sit next to the audio gear at all times, but I'd love to find something smaller and that I can buy new. I do have an HTC One phone, but storage limitations are an issue using the phone.
 
Any ideas?

 

[tarnumf]

http://www.tabletswithusbports.net/

 

[Wirbel]

Debating between a used netbook or a tablet. Benefit of the netbook is larger storage and even the ability to simply transfer an external HD from my main PC to it when updating music. Tablet is obviously nicer looking and smaller.
 
Hmmm...
 
Not sure if there's anything I'm overlooking, but I guess options are slim when stuck with USB.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Depending on what smartphone or tablet you currently own, maybe all you need are adapter cables and maybe a dock, as long as they can do USB audio with the CCK (iOS7 and up on newer devices) and OTG (generally S3 and Note II, and later models). Then maybe an SD card or a wireless HDD like the one Seagate has that has its own built-in WiFi (not sure about the file compatibilities though, but Seagate has their own media player app).
 
 

 

 

[Makiah S]

  Depending on what smartphone or tablet you currently own, maybe all you need are adapter cables and maybe a dock, as long as they can do USB audio with the CCK (iOS7 and up on newer devices) and OTG (generally S3 and Note II, and later models). Then maybe an SD card or a wireless HDD like the one Seagate has that has its own built-in WiFi (not sure about the file compatibilities though, but Seagate has their own media player app).
 
 

This man likes Epica... listen to him for he speaks wisdom! 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  This man likes Epica... listen to him for he speaks wisdom! 

 
For all you know I'm just a headbanger with raging hormones, especially when it comes to redheads who replaced her floor monitors with IEMs and a high pressure fan to make her red hair look like fire

If the Duke of Orange had her image like that back then, plus some creative lightning, the Hapsburg troops might try to burn her at the stake since they're very Catholic that way.
 
I can't find the exact photo, but there's one just like this with a wider AOV where you can actually see the fan.

 

[Roseval]

Windows Media Sharing is UPnP/DLNA
You can get players for Android like UPnPlay
This means the phone browses the audio on the PC and plays it.
This would solve the storage problem.
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Android/MediaPlayers/UpnPlay.htm
 
Next question: is there an app that is both UPnP/DLNA and support USB audio?
Can't help you on this one.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Next question: is there an app that is both UPnP/DLNA and support USB audio?
Can't help you on this one.

 

I think as long as the music is streamed wirelessly and the Android phone natively supports USB audio, then the audio goes out through there. The problem is when the Android doesn't support USB audio natively; in which case, AFAIK I think USB Audio Player Pro already has wireless streaming.

 

Some people have posted in the Android DACs thread that they were able to connect the USB OTG cable into a USB hub and use a portable HDD with it. I haven't tried, considering how in many cases some hubs aren't wired the same way and thus don't work identically (and over here we don't have the same return policies as in the US).

 

[Makiah S]

   
For all you know I'm just a headbanger with raging hormones, especially when it comes to redheads who replaced her floor monitors with IEMs and a high pressure fan to make her red hair look like fire

If the Duke of Orange had her image like that back then, plus some creative lightning, the Hapsburg troops might try to burn her at the stake since they're very Catholic that way.
 
I can't find the exact photo, but there's one just like this with a wider AOV where you can actually see the fan.

 
that makes two of us, ginger love for life <3
 
additionally, there are some Dacs made for Phones, such as the Fiio E18 

 

[Souljacker]

I'm kind of in the same situation, wanting a source next to my chair to pair with amp/dac (input usb or optical).
Sony HAP-S1/S seems interesting but too expensive, want something max $500.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I'm kind of in the same situation, wanting a source next to my chair to pair with amp/dac (input usb or optical).
Sony HAP-S1/S seems interesting but too expensive, want something max $500.

 

The thing is you'd really want to spend at least $500 unless you'll use say a tablet or smartphone you already have (or can get from a carrier with subsidies for the call and data plan that you would actually use). There are a lot of cheap options on eBay but the thing is they just have their tiny screens for navigation, while the more expensive ones have (W)LAN that enable remote control via smartphone or tablet.

 

You might think that's trivial given a headphone system is very likely within arm's reach, but think of it this way: $200 to $300 on a tiny player using SD cards or maybe USB thumb drives for storage, but you have a tiny screen and tiny buttons navigating dozens of artist folders, plus album folders in each. Some of the cheaper ones either support only WAV or MP3.

 

At a minimum, get the Cocktail Audio X10 - not sure about prices everywhere else but over here it's around $425 for the base unit. For $650 it comes with a 2TB drive and the WiFi dongle, plus a pair of Castle mini-monitors (the X10 has a speaker amp inside).

 

[Souljacker]

 

You might think that's trivial given a headphone system is very likely within arm's reach, but think of it this way: $200 to $300 on a tiny player using SD cards or maybe USB thumb drives for storage, but you have a tiny screen and tiny buttons navigating dozens of artist folders, plus album folders in each. Some of the cheaper ones either support only WAV or MP3.

 

 
So a tablet is the best option? what about all my music, stream it via WiFi?
What tablet is compatible with a bifrost uber usb?

 

[BackToAnalogue]

Yep you are right, this is quite a tricky problem and we have the ineptitude of the HiFi industry to thank for that. I have been wrestling with this for several weeks now and since you have asked the question I will tell you your options. It took me a lot of research, so I might as well share it.

My handle is a bit of give away that I am a vinyl enthusiast. However I acquired a cheap but excellent DAC a few weeks ago and was amazed how good it sounds with 24/192 files and how it improves well recorded and mastered CDs Note the proviso!

So I decided to set up HD audio streaming around the house. I have time to do all this because I am semi-retired. Back in the day, when Hobbits and elves still walked the dales, I was once a computer programmer and so still take systematic approach. So I have tested all of this by timing file copies. But you will have to trust me on that because I am not going to be writing all my results down here. I also tested using FHD video first because it is much easier to see artifacts caused by network issues on your TV then it is to hear them.

If you are going to do this you may as well do it properly and future proofed so that you can play fully HD files up to at least 24/192. If you only want CD or MP3 then don't bother reading any more. The solutions above will probably work for that but they are not fast enough for 24/192 streaming.

Firstly you need to be able to get the digital audio file from your PC to your HiFi using a network. It needs to be very fast because a 24/192 can stream at up to around 10Mb/s. That means you want a measured speed of at least 25Mb/s and ideally more than 50Mb/s.

The best option is Powerline rather than WiFi. Powerline adapters have claimed 1Gb transmission speed for a while but the Ethernet interface to the PC is usually only 100MB. A new version has just become available that has a 500Mb connection. These are what you need. I found some on Amazon at £80 for a pair.

If you have a crappy router like the Virgin SuperHub then bypass it using an Ethernet hub(£20) so the streaming PC and the DAC can communicate via the Hub not your router.

It should work easily but test it using a PC at each end and do some file transfers over the network. So that was easy.

Now you have the small problem of a DAC you want to connect to your network but it only has a USB plug. Great.

Look at the back of your TV, I bet it has an Ethernet socket. They have been standard on TVs for about 5 years, but not on HiFi.

There are a few Network DACs available now and some like the Pioneer and Yamaha ones look very good. There is an Onkyo you can get for £180 which would be fine for a kitchen system. So if you are thinking of doing this, and haven't already bought a DAC, that is probably the best option.

If like me and the OP you already have a DAC then you have to find something to act as a bridge between Ethernet and your DAC. Ideally this should support Asynchronous USB comms and USB 3.0 so it is future proof.

I have tried using a couple of Ethernet to USB converters and they are far too slow.

If you have an old laptop it may work but make sure you test the speed using a file transfer from an SSD to a fast USB Flash drive. But old laptops are noisy and hot so not a great solution.

The new Rasberry Pi may be fast enough, I know the original version wasn't, but I haven't tested it. That would be the cheapest solution but I can't be bothered messing around with a RP.

The other option is a NAS . This is a file server which has a CPU and operating system and they usually have a couple of USB 3.0 ports. I have bought a QNAP which cost £180 plus cost of HDDs. It takes 2 drives and is almost silent and has a very low heat output. It also looks fine on a HiFi rack. It comes with loads of media playing software which may well handle all the streaming. I haven't tried it yet.

This isn't the perfect solution because if you have several HiFi's you don't want more than one NAS. Also you will probably end up not actually streaming anything over the network because it is all happening locally on the NAS where all your files are stored.

I also haven't quite got to the last bit yet and actually plugged my DAC into it because I had lots of problems with my DX90 USB driver and only got that working on Friday. I will know if it works next week and will repost then, but I am 90% sure it will. If it doesn't then the only other option is the smallest, quietest, fastest, coolest, cheapest PC box that you can find. Which will be a pain in the backside if that is the only solution.

Unless someone else has a bright idea?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

   
So a tablet is the best option? what about all my music, stream it via WiFi?
What tablet is compatible with a bifrost uber usb?

 
There are still a few kinks in streaming anything lossless, but here's how I would go about it:
 
 
1) As previously mentioned, spend a bit more on the music server. The Aune S1 has LAN capability so you can use a tablet as a remote.
 
2) Forget the USB option on the Schiit, I'm only using USB with my tablet and smartphone because that's the input on the amp. If you're going to be using a DAC with SPDIF inputs anyway, get the AudioEngine APT-X BT receiver. It has an optical output, so what you do basically is just switch on BT and WiFi on your smartphone/tablet - wireless gives you remote control and stream the contents, and then BT transmits lossless to the receiver, which then sends it to the DAC.

 

[Souljacker]

 
2) Forget the USB option on the Schiit, I'm only using USB with my tablet and smartphone because that's the input on the amp. If you're going to be using a DAC with SPDIF inputs anyway, get the AudioEngine APT-X BT receiver. It has an optical output, so what you do basically is just switch on BT and WiFi on your smartphone/tablet - wireless gives you remote control and stream the contents, and then BT transmits lossless to the receiver, which then sends it to the DAC.

 
The AudioEngine APT-X BT is very interesting. Only thing is that I now never use a tablet.
So would a dap with a digital output make more sense? Are there players with digital outputs?