Weighing Options To Stream Music/Listen to Mp3 with Older McIntosh Equipment

[cincymat]

I wanted to expand upon my home music streaming network. My goal was to have at least CD quality, 44.1Khz/16 bit, with an upper limit of 192Khz/24 bit. Sometimes I get a wild hair and order music from HDTracks at the higher bit rate. After looking at a lot of options I chose this set up:

 

 - Music Server: Mac Mini with a USB external drive (750GB) and CD drive. I set it up to run headless (no monitor, keyboard, or mouse). There are lots of other PC or Linux based devices to use as a music server. One could even buy an off the shelf solution. This connects directly to a DAC running as a preamp. 

 - A DAC capable of the bit rate I wanted. I have a Benchmark Media DAC3L, Emotiva DC-1 Stealth and one that's built into a Peachtree integrated amp. You can use whatever DAC solution you have or like. 

 - I use ROON as the software to tie everything together. There are certainly others, JRiver for example.

 - One feature ROON offers is the ability to play music across your home network. This means I can, from one server, stream different audio streams to the 3 locations I have set up in my house. Or I could play the same stream at once everywhere.

 - To do the above requires ROON enabled "end points" to connect with the ROON server. These could be a laptop with ROON installed, a linux based do it yourself device, a ROON enabled commercially available music streamer, or pre-built custom solutions like ones from Sonore (microRendu or SonicOrbiter) I went with the SonicOrbiter for my remote locations. These devices will connect to your sound system via either a stand alone DAC or some have a built in DAC.

 - I connect the endpoints to my home network with ethernet powerline adapters made by ZyXEL. Powerline adapters use the AC wiring that's in your house to carry the ethernet signal. I was skeptical about these until I bought a set plugged them in and they worked. The were less expensive than WIFI range extenders with faster connection speeds.    

 - All of the above is controlled via my iPad. I use a remote control app in case I need to do any work on the Mac mini server (rip CDs for example). I use the ROON app to access music that's saved on the server. ROON connects with Tidal (for a monthly fee of course) and with free internet radio stations. If I want to listen to Spotify or Pandora I access them through the web browser on the server. That does limit those services to my main listening area since they are outside of the ROON server software. 

 

As a result I can stream lossless CD or higher bit rate music anywhere I want to in my house.  All of this is easy to set up and understand. 

 

HTH,

 

Mark

[richieb]

Cincy, I always appreciate your input but what you describe is so over my head I may as well dig out my 50 yer old transistor radio. That I can figure out --- 

[cincymat]

Rich, @richieb <-----hey look what I just figured out how to use!! 

 

It's not that complicated. Here it is in simplified:

 

Music server - also known as a computer - but you can think of it as a Wurlitzer jukebox if that helps.

 - The CD's are stored on a hard drive inside the computer. That's exactly like the Wurlitzer jukebox.

 - The server software takes the place of all the wires and relays that are in a jukebox. 

 - The physical pressing of the jukebox buttons is moved to a device (laptop, phone, tablet) that magically talks to the music server over your computer network*. 

 

*Network - this is the same concept as when you could make jukebox selections from your table in the soda shop. It might be WIFI (try not to pronounce it "weefee") or cabled (plugs into the sockets that look like phone connections) from your cable modem or router. I'm sure you have one because you seem to be able to connect here often enough. 

 

So, all you're creating is a digital jukebox that is connected to your home network that is also connected to the internet via your home network. 

All kidding aside, I, as many others here, can help you make the move to digital. Does that fancy CD player of yours have any digital inputs? Toslink or maybe coaxial? If so you might be able to hook the music server to your CD player to act as a DAC. Hmm.... that might be interesting. 

 

On a side note, how do you think I learned about computers? About 25 years ago my dear darling wife told me I didn't need one of those new fangled things 'cause I wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Who do you think she wants tech support from? Not me because I tell her I'm not smart enough to figure them new fangled things. She turns to our daughters who in turn ask Dad. And then they roast her alive on Facebook but that's another story. 

 

You can do it!! 

 

Mark

[OldSkool77]

Add me to the Spotify/Dragonfly list. For the last year I have been streaming Spotify premium from a spare macbook I had laying around, thru a Dragonfly into my Toolshed pre/power amps, then out to the Heresy 3's. Sounds freakin' awesome!  Oh, I'm also using a spare ipad mini as a Spotify remote for the macbook.

 

Only downside is my vinyl now sound "barely average" compared to the digital side.

[adam2434]

In our main system, we use a Sonos Connect hardwired to router, with its digital coax output connected to an Emotiva DC-1 DAC.  We use this for flac files (lossless CD rips) on the PC and Spotify Premium streaming.  Music selection from PC files and streaming services is controlled with the Sonos app on our phones.  We also have a Sonos Play 5 speaker in the kitchen.  The Sonos stuff is a bit pricey, but works well and and does not require extensive set-up and tweaking...it just works.  

 

We also have Chromecast Audio set up in 2 smaller systems (digital optical output to AVR).  They are so inexpensive that I had to give them a try.  They work very well with Spotify Premium and will also work with PC music files (flac, mp3, etc.), if you set up server software on your PC (I use Plex server software on the PC and the Plex app on my phone for this).  The Chromecast Audio is not as elegant and user-friendly as Sonos for the combination of Spotify streaming and PC music files, as additional software and multiple apps are required.  

 

IMO, the 2 keys to maximizing streaming and PC music file audio quality are:

1) Bitrate - use lossless music file rips (like flac and Apple lossless) to maintain CD quality, rather than lossy formats (like mp3 and Apple AAC).  Also, use the higher bitrate streaming services (like Spotify Premium and Tidal).

2) DAC quality - assuming one is using lossless music files and higher bitrate streaming services with a resolving-enough system, DAC quality will come into play for ultimate sound quality, just as it would for any other digital media (like CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray etc.).  For example, a good stand-alone DAC should be an improvement over the DAC/analog output from a PC, phone, tablet, or inexpensive streaming device.

 

 

[Trogdor420]

I have used a Chromecast Audio streaming Tidal lossless to a set of La Scala's. Sounded way better than the other streaming services.

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