[bigbang]

So I want to finally put all my CD's (~200) on a drive in FLAC format. I just want to go from an external drive to my onkyo 886 (I said I was old!). I'm not opposed to looking at a new pre/pro. Are there newer units that have features that would help with this? I have no cat5 up where this system is. There is a router on the main floor, however no space near it for any kind of music server.

If I could sit on the couch and control said drive with my laptop or tablet, that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

[WGH]

I just want to go from an external drive to my onkyo 886...

Everyone would love to do that but you will need at least one more box to decode flac files and output some sort of signal the Onkyo can read - either digital, optical or analog.
You need a budget, the most accurate method is to pick the amount you are comfortable spending, double it, then add 50% and that is your budget.

Once there is a budget everyone will disregard it and recommend a magic box that will fit your needs. Are you a retired computer programmer or do you want plug-and-play?

Both Pioneer and Elite AV Receivers play back high-resolution FLAC audio files - listen to this old guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNgtSn9-gs

[ripeart]

you could rip your CD's to FLAC, put the FLACs on a USB drive, plug the USB drive into a Roku or Nvidia Shield, plug the Roku, Shield, etc.. into your Onkyo, and control it via a tablet. You would need a network connection to control the media player.

[LittleWoodenBoy]

I use Volumio and like it a lot.  My old guy (late 70s) father has one too and hes no trouble with it.  Around $60 in computer, sd card, power supply, and case.  $6-$200 for a USB DAC.  You might need a USB hub to provide supplemental power for the HD.  Control it from any device on your network.  Plays FLAC.  Sits by your amp and patches into the wifi.  Plug HD into the Volumio box or into your router in the basement.  Not entirely flawless.  It still has some quirks in it's interface.  Searching isn't always effective, but rip your CDs into a file structure that makes sense to you and it's fine.

Alternatively, my buddy just got a new amp. It searches his network for his music drives and he controls it with an app on his phone.  I think it's a Marantz. 

[artur9]

There are "all in ones" that do the ripping, storing, and converting to analog.  Something like a Cocktail Audo device.

[bigbang]

You need a budget, the most accurate method is to pick the amount you are comfortable spending, double it, then add 50% and that is your budget.

Once there is a budget everyone will disregard it and recommend a magic box that will fit your needs. Are you a retired computer programmer or do you want plug-and-play?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNgtSn9-gs

Now that's funny stuff (because it's true)!

Not a retired IT guy, hence the newb questions!

Anyway, I did see the Cocktail Audio and the Bluesound unit. The bluesound looks perfect except for the need to be hardwired to Ethernet and less than stellar reviews.

I was looking at https://www.solid-run.com/nxp-family/cubox-i/ with https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UCA222 and something like this https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-passport-1tb-external-usb-3-0-portable-hard-drive-black/5605523.p?skuId=5605523&ref=212&loc=1&ksid=5768aa92-acdc-443e-b426-23c28a7ad493&ksprof_id=8&ksaffcode=pg256887&ksdevice=c&lsft=ref:212,loc:2

I would need something like Volumio or dbpoweramp as software, correct? Would the above pieces would go - hard drive to cubox, cubox to dac, optical out of dac to pre/pro? Or one of these? http://lnx.m2tech.biz/products/pens/ and get a dedicated laptop (they are cheap) with extarnal drive and just leave it in the rack?

With a wireless HD, do I need software on that so it "plays" the files to output to a dac?

I've read and learned a lot, just can't wrap my head around the actual process yet. Seems there should be a much easier way.

Thanks again for all the input!!!

[WGH]

If you don't use all the features in the Onkyo (surround sound) and would be happy with a stereo setup then the Naim Uniti Nova would be perfect for you.
The Unity Nova is an all-in-one receiver.

The March 2018 Stereophile magazine has a great review, now out on your newsstand.

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/uniti-nova



Watch the video:
https://youtu.be/1YuVX9nPl0E

There are more affordable Unity models too:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/naim-thing-uniti-core-atom-star-and-nova

You know you want one.

[randytsuch]

IMHO, would separate the ripping and playing aspects of this project

Do you have a PC to rip with?
A PC with a CD/DVD drive, and dbpoweramp software to rip the CD's, and you can rip away.

My Asus router also acts as a NAS.  This means I can connect an external hard drive to my router, set it up with the router software, and then anyone on my local network can access it.  Its a fairly cheap and easy way to make flac music files available to anything on your network.  I think other routers support this also.  You probably need to format the external hard drive before you can use it with your router, but this is pretty simple.

So now you have ripped your CD's to flac, and copied your flac files to a NAS (really your router).

I'd get one of these
https://www.allo.com/sparky/boss-player.html
with Volumio as the OS

Volumio is pretty easy to setup.  You can control Volumio via a webpage from any browser on a PC, pad or phone.

The setup I linked to will output an analog signal that you can connect to your existing system.  I'd get the optional wifi dongle so you don't need ethernet.  You might have to setup the wifi, but I think volumio will help with that, you would need to connect to ethernet to get it setup, but after that you can use wifi.

Randy

[audioengr]

The simplest way to get into digital computer audio and streaming is to buy a Sony HAP-z1es.  Google it.

Steve N.

[Vincent Kars]

Many ways to Roma.

A simple one imho is what I call direct playback.
Take a PC and connect it to the stereo.
This can be done analog (3.5 mm headphone to 2x RCA) but sound quality might be so-so.
The other way is using the USB, no PC without USB but older gear like your Onkyo can’t function as a USB-DAC.
Hence you need a USB-DAC  feeding the analog out of your receiver or a USB to SPDIF converter if the receiver has  digital inputs.

The other one is streaming.
Most common protocol is UPnP/DLNA
It is supposed to be simple (UPnP=Universal Plug and Play) practice might be a bit more complex.
In this scenario you need a server e.g. a PC or a NAS containing the audio and a client browsing the server for meta info and puling the audio from the server.
If it can play the audio it is called a renderer and if you can browse your collection a control point.
This is what most modern receivers do as a lot of them are DLNA enabled.

Then there are mixtures.
Systems like Sonos or Bluesound are streamers but they don’t use DLNA but file sharing.

If you you do direct playback, a PC is also DLNA as Windows is a fully certified DLNA product.
Hence you can use a tablet or a mobile to control is.

Etc, etc.

[Blu99Zoomer]

Good websites to look at and read both of their forums are Computer Audiophile and JRiver.  The path is long Grasshopper, but the journey is worth the trip.  Patience with yourself while your learn.

Best Regards,

Blu99Zoomer

[Doublej]

If the drive is a USB drive by far the easiest way to do this is to purchase a receiver, streamer (like Steve N recommends), also called a network audio player, or other device such as an Oppo player that has a USB input and can decode FLAC.

I have a $200 Yamaha receiver that does this. There is a free a Yamaha app that can be used to control it. I believe the app can be run in demo mode without a receiver so that you can get a feel for it's capabilities. The Yamaha receiver also has MusicCast so you can broadcast tunes throughout your abode to additional or other Music Cast speakers.

Want to get more complicated? You can make it very ugly, very quickly. Just throw Raspberry pi, pi dac, plex, wireless, vnc, into the equation and you'll be running for a Macintosh with an Airport Express or Apple TV to breathe a sigh of relief once your convert the files to an Apple compatible format.

[LittleWoodenBoy]

Vincent is right.  If your existing amp doesn't do it already, the simplest and cheapest way to do it is to take an old laptop and put some audio software like foobar or Jriver on in, hook it to your stereo, plug in your HD, and you're good to go.  You will have to stand up to change playlists.  There are remote control apps, but I don't have experience with them. 

I use the Volumio for a few reasons.  1) It's a small inconspicuous box. 2) Remote control. 3) Significantly better sound quality than the output on my computers. 4) It's nerdier. 5) They're cheap so it's easy to have several of them around the house.

Mike

[bigbang]

Whoa, clear as mud! lol

So I wan't to go into my pre/pro with a digital signal. So if i've deciphered all this somewhat correctly, I can take my laptop/exteral drive into a dac with an optical out into my pre/pro?

OR, get a cubox-i.4 connected to a hard drive and run that via phone or tablet?

I could use a new br player anyway, so if i go with oppo, just go from laptop via usb straint into the oppo then out via hdmi to my pre/pro?

[srb]

So I wan't to go into my pre/pro with a digital signal. So if i've deciphered all this somewhat correctly, I can take my laptop/exteral drive into a dac with an optical out into my pre/pro?

Assuming the laptop doesn't have a combination analog headphone / optical digital output (many Macbooks and some PC laptops have a combo jack which takes either a 3.5mm analog headphone plug OR a mini-TOSLINK optical plug) - you need to convert the only digital output of the laptop (USB) into a coaxial or optical S/PDIF digital signal that the current pre/pro can accept.

If you have a DAC with a either a coaxial or optical digital output, that will work ..... but since you won't be using the DAC circuitry in the DAC (DAC conversion to be performed by pre/pro) you only need a USB > S/PDIF converter which may be less expensive than buying a DAC with a digital output for conversion purposes only.

However, some users may choose to use a USB DAC and connect it to the pre/pro via analog cables because the stand-alone DAC may be of better quality than the DAC in the pre/pro.

Steve

[Vincent Kars]

I can take my laptop/exteral drive into a dac with an optical out into my pre/pro?

No.
DAC=Digital to Analog Converter hence the output will be a analog signal.

What you can do:
If the laptop has a optical (Toslink) out (sometimes headphone out doubles as Toslink out), connect this to the Toslink input of the receiver
If it doesn't:
1- connect it analog with a 3.5 > 2x RCA cable , you are using the analog part of the onboard ausi of the laptop
2- USB to Toslink converter and feed de receiver digital. You are using the DAC of the receiver
3- USB DAC, feed the receiver a analog signal.

Maybe this part of my website is of use: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/HW/Connect/Digital_connect.htm

[artur9]

My advice:

Step one:  How are you gonna convert your CDs to files?  You can either do it yourself with a computer or use a special purpose device like the Sony or Naim units.  Or just get a cheap Mac and use iTunes for everything.

Step two:  Figure out how you're going to organize/navigate your music.  If you get an all-in-one then it will organize it for you, which you may or may not like. See here for some ideas: https://www.lifewire.com/free-music-management-tools-for-organizing-your-mp3s-2438774 .  If you use something like iTunes then done.

Step three:  How are you going to play those files?  This seems to be where you're concentrating your questions but honestly, I kind of think this is the tail wagging the dog. 

BTW, I have one of those cuboxes.  It's toslink jack is "special" and is too small for a normal cable.  So that means you'd need to output the digital signal over USB which I don't think your receiver takes.

[WGH]

I'll have to remember not to ask any of you guys to help write a technical service manual. I have been playing with computer audio since 2006 and still can't figure out half of what was written, a newbie would need divine intervention to interpret the directions.

The most elegant (and expensive) solution is the Sony or Naim all-in-one.

The most affordable is a laptop, an Audioquest Dragonfly USB pre-amp, and the JRiver player. I like dBpoweramp for ripping but it costs $39, Exact Audio Copy works just as well once it's set up correctly and it's free. My advise - pay the $39.

With the laptop/Dragonfly/JRiver combination you could be playing music is less than an hour without reading any directions (almost). Plug in a Audioquest Jitterbug for a little better sound.

When the laptop hard drive is full, move the music to an external USB SSD for more storage, a standard spinning hard drive is too noisy for quiet music listening.

JRiver


JRiver Gizmo App on a tablet


Dragonfly


Dragonfly Red

[bigbang]

Haha! It's all good.

I'm concentrating on the hardware side 1st as I don't want to add a bunch (none would be good) if at all possible. It seems ripping and storing flac is pretty basic.

So far I'm leaning towards foobar on a pc with hdmi out of the pc to my current or future pre/pro. From the screen shots on the foobar site, it will output wav to the hdmi which any pre will be able to convert, no? This would also put the sound quality on the dac of my pre which I'm fine with.

Is there any reason this simplistic approach will not work?

Plan on using dbpoweramp to rip.

Thanks for all the input. It has led me to some interesting reads!

[srb]

So far I'm leaning towards foobar on a pc with hdmi out of the pc to my current or future pre/pro.  .....
Is there any reason this simplistic approach will not work?

I forgot about HDMI output on the laptop as a possible digital audio source.  That certainly could work, although HDMI can be at times tricky depending on the hardware.

Depending on the HDMI audio portion of the graphics chipset, HDMI audio may or may not be available on a secondary monitor, so you might have to make the TV your primary display if that's so in your case.

I don't see audio file type specs for the Onkyo, so you may want to also try FLAC or AIFF file types (which I prefer for their better metadata tagging capability) to see if they play on the Onkyo.

It will cost you nothing to try the setup, although you might want to experiment with ripping an album or two to several file formats to see what works the best before ripping the entire library.

Steve