Playing Hi-Res Files with SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo

[PLGA]

Hi guys

I have a pretty nice digital rig (besides the SMS-200, I have three Lan filters, Fiber converters, Uptone ER, silver cables, master clock, Audio GD DI-20 DDC, Audio GD HE7 DAC, Audioquest Jitterbug, etc etc).

I use it for streaming Tidal with Audinirvana and Windows 10 on the computer used as a Core and I really love the way it sounds.

Nevertheless, as an audiophile, I’m always looking for better SQ and now I want to try to play Hi-Res files and I have some technical questions that maybe you can help me (I’m not an expert on digital networks).

As I understand, there are three ways of playing those files and I would love to hear another fellows experiences:



Storing the files on the internal hard drive of the computer used as a Core to command the SMS-200 as End Point.
This is a fast test to make and easy to compare with Tidal, at least with Audinirvana.

The caveat is that the files have to go through the home network to the SMS-200 and I think some data must be lost.

I compared this option with Tidal, with the only Hi Res album I have now (Flac 96/24) and to be honest I haven’t found noticeably differences in SQ.

I will compare another Hi-Res formats (WAV and DSD) vs Tidal next week to see if my appreciations are correct.



Storing the files on a NAS.
This is not my idea by the moment as I believe it’s somehow technically complicated and the most expensive option.

Nevertheless, I’m open to hear new ideas about it.



Storing the files on a SSD external hard drive connected directly to the USB inputs at the back of the SMS-200.
This options needs some configuration, wich I will try next weeks, but I believe some users had trouble making it work properly and SQ was not optimal when the hard drive uses the power from SMS-200 USB input.

Has anyone succeded with this alternative and had a better SQ than streaming? How? Any suggestion on configuration, hard drive specs, etc?



Please I would appreciate posts from people with actual experience with the SMS-200.



Finally, a side question. Does the specs/quality of the Core computer affect the SQ on the SMS-200? Why? Any suggestion on configuration, specs, etc?



Thank you!!

 

[Craft Ears]

I used to have the SMS-200 normal some time ago.
My preferred solution for playing Hi-Res files is to use a NAS. As you said it is a bit more complicated and requires some financial investment. The second best solution is to use the Core computer and a hard drive to store your music. In either case, you won't lose any quality when transferring the music over the network. I would say it is beneficial to keep the Core PC and NAS as far from the audio setup as possible.

 

[Peti]

Sorry for necrothreading but I'm in the process of setting up my SMS200 Ultra Neo for playback. Hooked it up to the 'net via Ethernet and planning to play back files from a USB stick I have attached to the device. I will not stream or anything, just playing back my own files via usb. I have managed to launch Squeezlite but the files on my usb stick won't show up, even after re-scanning. I go to the Music folder -> USB and it's empty. Any ideas how to solve this?

Thank you in advance.