[redstar]

Hi
 
I have my desktop in the office, and I want to get my media to the bedroom.
 
I have settled on my amp/dac, being a Burson conductor. I dont however know what other pieces of hardware I should look at.
 
I was looking at an Oppo 105D as I can connect an amp to improve on that, and use the oppos dac, stream music to it, and plug in thumbsticks/hard drives. As an added bonus I get a decent bluray player which would top my PS4.
 
Is there perhaps a better option for the money. Im not really after a bluray player in the end.

 

[tempest11]

Are you opposed to running cables? Is your bedroom close enough that you could make a USB run from your desktop to your DAC? I ran a 30' USB cable from my desktop to my DAC and then I control the media player on my desktop via my iPad.
 
If cables aren't an option, you could get some type of device that's capable of DLNA streaming and stream from your media player to that, although the audio would be transcoded from its original format so you would probably notice some loss in quality.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Hi
 
I have my desktop in the office, and I want to get my media to the bedroom.
 
I have settled on my amp/dac, being a Burson conductor. I dont however know what other pieces of hardware I should look at.
 
I was looking at an Oppo 105D as I can connect an amp to improve on that, and use the oppos dac, stream music to it, and plug in thumbsticks/hard drives. As an added bonus I get a decent bluray player which would top my PS4.
 
Is there perhaps a better option for the money. Im not really after a bluray player in the end.

 
Do you really need to stream the music from the desktop? Because a lot of devices nowadays can just take the audio off an NAS. Or have their own HDD built in, like the Cocktail Audio X10. It comes with a 500gb or 1TB drive, can be controlled remotely if hooked up to the network (wired or its dedicated antennae), can also stream content from an NAS, and also has a low-power speaker amp built into it. I've tried that driving Duevel Planets, which are 85db sensitivity due to their omnidirectional design, and it still gets loud off this little sucker without any noticeable (non-euphonic) distortion.

 

[redstar]

Very interesting.
 
I cant do the cables, its a fair distance from the office to the bedroom.
 
I have a PS4, thats all at the moment. Some device (which I dont know of) that I can connect the PS4, Burson Conductor, and a hard drive to perhaps.

 

[tempest11]

Supposedly PS4 is getting DLNA support 'soon', so when that happens you can just run ps3mediaserver on your desktop and stream to your PS4. Sorry that doesn't help you much at the moment though :/

 

[redstar]

So I was thinking, perhaps get a media pc (one of those micro ATX jobbie things) and connect the Burson by Halide Bridge, but that still does not overcome the problem of volume control. The oppo shines in the fact I can control everything via remote. Plus if I go micro ATX, Mini pc type thing, it means a lot more cost involved.

 

[redstar]

I think building a HTPC might be the way to go here. I am only guessing here, but If I have the volume set at a level im happy with on the amp, I can just use a remote to the HTPC to turn the volume up/down/mute.
 
I understand most things with the components on an HTPC, however connecting an amp/dac is confusing me. What do I need soundcard wise to connect the Halide Bridge?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 

  I have a PS4, thats all at the moment. Some device (which I dont know of) that I can connect the PS4, Burson Conductor, and a hard drive to perhaps.

 
What digital outputs does the PS4 have? If it's using only HDMI it can't work with the Conductor, which doesn't have HDMI. Digital audio travels through that cable along with digital video, simplifying HT connections and reducing audio-video sync issues. If you really want to use the PS4 and it only has HDMI, get a Network-capable HT receiver too and the hook up an NAS to your router. From what I read on the specs/features, you can set up something like the Onkyo NR525 to get a stream of digital audio through the network and then use a tablet - so far only iOS and Android, no W8RT - using the dedicated app (the HT receiver basically has its own player controlled by the tablet).
 
If it has optical or coaxial SPDIF, then you can hook that up to the Conductor, but AFAIK it might actually complicate the set-up to have a separate HDD the PS4 plays audio from, so it might be easier to use a separate source.
 

  So I was thinking, perhaps get a media pc (one of those micro ATX jobbie things) and connect the Burson by Halide Bridge, but that still does not overcome the problem of volume control. The oppo shines in the fact I can control everything via remote. Plus if I go micro ATX, Mini pc type thing, it means a lot more cost involved.

 

  I think building a HTPC might be the way to go here. I am only guessing here, but If I have the volume set at a level im happy with on the amp, I can just use a remote to the HTPC to turn the volume up/down/mute.

 
I assume you'll be using speakers since you're worried about the volume, instead of just reaching over to move the knob on the Conductor? The set-up above will have an HT receiver with its own remote (and being digital, it might be controlled through the remote apps too). An alternate set-up using a PC is to use an Android mini-PC, then set-up an Android phone or tablet to function as a remote. Even if you use a remote app on a set-up using the Burson that means you will be reducing volume, and bits, at the OS level (instead of just a digital potentiometer). An HT receiver usually controls the digital volume at the DAC or processor, not reducing the bits on the incoming digital signal, so the HT receiver might be the better option for you.
 

 
I understand most things with the components on an HTPC, however connecting an amp/dac is confusing me. What do I need soundcard wise to connect the Halide Bridge?

 
You don't use a soundcard anymore - the Halide Bridge takes a digital audio stream through the USB port. You then connect the SPDIF end to a DAC or HT receiver that has such an input, like the Conductor.

 

[redstar]

Many thanks for the reply!
 
The PS4 has Optical out.
I wouldn't use the PS4 for my music library, I would use it only for bluray.

Will I be perfectly fine with the PS4 using optical straight to the burson conductor for just bluray use? Is there any quality loss here?
If that's good enough, I can dump the idea of the oppo and just go with this.
 
Is there a cheap simple ht sort of device i can put between the ps4 and burson, purely to change volume from remote?

If the above will work well, when I have the money I will start creating the below;
I would like to know if this will work, and if its a great idea.
Ive been doing a bit of digging on pc hardware sites, and I have come across this piece of interesting kit, barebones pc
http://www.ebuyer.com/543320-gigabyte-brix-nm70-cpu-celeron-1007-gb-xm14
heres a photo - http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/IhqmwsOBELU/maxresdefault.jpg
Its crazy small, (well thats the impression im getting). I could put a SSD in it and install win 7, and put foobar or Jriver on it... I think... No idea lol
I then could get an ext bluray drive, something like this;
http://www.ebuyer.com/486854-samsung-smart-networking-blu-ray-and-dvd-player-usb-x-1-hdmi-x-bd-f5100
I then could install bluray software
 
Apparently I can control everything with with my android devices... well XMBC certainly allows for this.
 
My biggest confusion with this is, "you don't use sound-card anymore"?
Do I literally use any free usb port and connect the Halide Bridge?
If so, how does the Halide bridge connect to the burson?
If the Halide does not use the Bursons Optical In, could I have PS4 into Optical In and micropc into burson aswell (via halide)? This meaning I dont have to constantly switch cables.
 
Is there a simpler and better option than building a micro pc? It seems like a good idea, but long winded.
I will start doing some reading up on an Android Mini-Pc, no idea what that is.
 

 I assume you'll be using speakers since you're worried about the volume, instead of just reaching over to move the knob on the Conductor? The set-up above will have an HT receiver with its own remote (and being digital, it might be controlled through the remote apps too). An alternate set-up using a PC is to use an Android mini-PC, then set-up an Android phone or tablet to function as a remote. Even if you use a remote app on a set-up using the Burson that means you will be reducing volume, and bits, at the OS level (instead of just a digital potentiometer). An HT receiver usually controls the digital volume at the DAC or processor, not reducing the bits on the incoming digital signal, so the HT receiver might be the better option for you.
 

 
In regards to the volume comment, no i wont be using loud speakers. What I was referring to, was I watch films in bed, or away from where the amp would sit. So it would be a huge inconvenience to walk across the room to alter volume.
I am still very confused about how to set this up. Reducing volume, and bits, at the OS level (instead of just a digital potentiometer) I assume this is bad.
 
Your comments are a huge help, thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  The PS4 has Optical out.
I wouldn't use the PS4 for my music library, I would use it only for bluray.
  Will I be perfectly fine with the PS4 using optical straight to the burson conductor for just bluray use? Is there any quality loss here?
If that's good enough, I can dump the idea of the oppo and just go with this.
 

 
No quality loss, only format incompatibility vs a real HT receiver. If you're fine watching in stereo, then I don't see any issues.
 

Originally Posted by redstar /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
My biggest confusion with this is, "you don't use sound-card anymore"?
Do I literally use any free usb port and connect the Halide Bridge?
If so, how does the Halide bridge connect to the burson?
If the Halide does not use the Bursons Optical In, could I have PS4 into Optical In and micropc into burson aswell (via halide)? This meaning I dont have to constantly switch cables.

 
USB out on motherboard > USB end of Halide Bridge->Coax end of Halide Bridge > Coax SPDIF input on Burson Conductor
PS4 > Optical output > Optical cable > Optical input on Burson Conductor
 
There is a switch on the Burson on which input to use.
 

 
Is there a cheap simple ht sort of device i can put between the ps4 and burson, purely to change volume from remote?
  In regards to the volume comment, no i wont be using loud speakers. What I was referring to, was I watch films in bed, or away from where the amp would sit. So it would be a huge inconvenience to walk across the room to alter volume.
I am still very confused about how to set this up. Reducing volume, and bits, at the OS level (instead of just a digital potentiometer) I assume this is bad.
 
Your comments are a huge help, thanks!

 
You can't keep it between the PS4 and the Burson since the PS4 will stream digital audio - even if you could, you'd still be cutting bits in the digital program. And even if that were an analog signal, what you'd end up doing is using a low volume source that you can attenuate with an amp that you will probably keep wide open on the potentiometer. You can however have a convenient remote and circumvent software-level volume control by using an amplifier with a hardware digital potentiometer, so you'll really have to give up the Burson Conductor and get something like this : http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB6/NFB6EN.htm
 

 
Is there a simpler and better option than building a micro pc? It seems like a good idea, but long winded.
I will start doing some reading up on an Android Mini-Pc, no idea what that is.

 
Use tablet or smartphone and an NAS in your home network. Some music player apps have DLNA, so that's what you're going to need on the software side.