wuzzzer Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I've got a few hundred CDs and some time on my hands. I would like to rip them in a lossless format so I can listen to them more easily. I have a laptop that I can do that with. Question is, what's an inexpensive device I can use to play the songs? Is anything available for less than $100? What would be the best way of going about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 The only thing that inexpensive was the now defunct chromecast audio. The next cheapest thing is some sort of Pi player. Look at Allo Audio. Beyond that it’s a Bluesound Node @ 550.00. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 I forgot to add that I could use the laptop for playback but my wife mainly uses it for our business so that wouldn't work. I'd be connecting the device to my Sony receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mboxler Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Are you wanting to stream wirelessly from your wife's laptop to a device connected to your Sony receiver? Does your receiver accept S/PDIF or do you want to connect via RCA? Do you want to control your playback from a tablet/phone? Do you also want the ability to stream music over the internet...Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, etc? My favorite device is the Squeezebox Touch (no longer made but still very popular). You would need to run a server program on your wife's laptop however. I have built Squeezebox devices using ESP32 as well. DIY, but a blast to play with! Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 9 minutes ago, mboxler said: Are you wanting to stream wirelessly from your wife's laptop to a device connected to your Sony receiver? Does your receiver accept S/PDIF or do you want to connect via RCA? Do you want to control your playback from a tablet/phone? Do you also want the ability to stream music over the internet...Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, etc? My favorite device is the Squeezebox Touch (no longer made but still very popular). You would need to run a server program on your wife's laptop however. I have built Squeezebox devices using ESP32 as well. DIY, but a blast to play with! Mike Unfortunately despite my receiver being new and high end, it doesn't have any wireless capability. Whatever I do, it would be wired to the receiver. My thought would be to use an external USB drive and connect it to the front USB port on my receiver. I'm not sure if doing this would allow me to see an on-screen menu where I could select artist, song, etc though. That's one thing that I would need to be able to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMeader Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Here are couple of other options More $$$ but worth it if you have to go that way MiniDSP SHD if you want something to include a DAC, provides an tablet or smart phone interface via Volumio, also includes REW and Dirac $1,299, XLR & RCA out https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd MiniDSP Studio utilizes an external DAC or a AVR Dac $949 https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd-studio I use Audirvana Studio (Mac or Pc) based music server seen remotely via Tablet or smart phone same concept as Squeezbox, it can see network audio device and send the signal to it via network, if you Sony is connected ( hardwired is best ) to the network it should work https://audirvana.com 30 day free trail can handle DSD easily, interface is good for seeing albums and music , connects with commercial music streamers - worth a look 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMeader Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 To rip your DC's try Exact audio one of many good ones https://www.exactaudiocopy.de 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 1 minute ago, JMeader said: To rip your DC's try Exact audio one of many good ones https://www.exactaudiocopy.de Was just going to say that. What I used many years ago. Worked very well. Use the laptop and a DAC with USB perhaps? If you want to get fancy and use wireless..that's for the rest to decide. I tried Bluetooth with my topping DX7S PRO DAC and noticed a very obvious decline in sound quality. So.. I stuck with wired. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 I figured out that my receiver's USB input is for firmware updating only. My Sony UHD player has a USB input. I'm formatting a 16 gig thumb drive that I ran across today and am going to rip a couple CDs on it to test it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 2 minutes ago, wuzzzer said: I figured out that my receiver's USB input is for firmware updating only. My Sony UHD player has a USB input. I'm formatting a 16 gig thumb drive that I ran across today and am going to rip a couple CDs on it to test it out. My 2 cents, I think you would be better served with ASIO straight output from laptop into a decent DAC after you rip CDs properly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 Looks like my UHD player can read FLAC files just fine. Audio sounds great on the discs I ripped so I'm just going to go that route. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 17 minutes ago, wuzzzer said: Looks like my UHD player can read FLAC files just fine. Audio sounds great on the discs I ripped so I'm just going to go that route. Bypass it. Less is more in audio often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicerogue Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Xiaomi Mi Box This is a Chromecast device. To get gapless playback on Chromecast, use Roon or an app called Hificast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 I know you are on a budget, but here is my recommendation. All your music ripped to a Synology (or equivalent) NAS hard drive on 3.5" disk. Install minim server on NAS. Use a Bluesound Node or equivalent stand alone streamer with controller on a tablet. With this setup you can also stream internet radio stations or music from Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubo Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Laptop PC 10 years running NAS with ripped Cds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 I see your receiver has a Ethernet input on the back. Is this for updating only as well or does your receiver provide DLNA playback? If DLNA play back is an option, then a simple external hard drive connected to the router and you should be able to access your music files that you rip form CDs via EAC to the external hard drive. If not, you could always build a media play with a PI and an external hard drive and perform the same function. Or can you use our UHD as a way to connect an external hard drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 6 minutes ago, The Dude said: I see your receiver has a Ethernet input on the back. Is this for updating only as well or does your receiver provide DLNA playback? If DLNA play back is an option, then a simple external hard drive connected to the router and you should be able to access your music files that you rip form CDs via EAC to the external hard drive. If not, you could always build a media play with a PI and an external hard drive and perform the same function. Or can you use our UHD as a way to connect an external hard drive? Basically what ever one else is saying, just different avenues Hard drive as a NAS or media storage to front end player of your choice, lots prefer the Bluesound Node. I have a Pi, so I am always trying new things with it. https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/articles/best-raspberry-pi-media-players Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wetowne Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 I'm running three Pi s into decent USB dacs. Simple, cheap, works flawlessly, sounds great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Raspberry Pi + HifiBerry DAC + Volumio = Very cheap https://www.hifiberry.com/dacs/ https://volumio.com/en/get-started/ I'd skip the baby steps and get a RPi 4 with a Flirc case (only $15), a decent DAC like Topping (cheap) and Roon https://www.tpdz.net/dac https://flirc.tv/more/raspberry-pi-4-case https://roonlabs.com/ https://community.roonlabs.com/ Finally if you are not into the DIY thing a friend of mine set this up for his 70-something dad and it works great, sounds good and has a "decent" interface. At less than $200 for plug and play wireless/dac/transmitter/receiver that connects like any other line-level audio device you can't beat the simplicity https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B7YH7TM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Personally, I would not go the Bluesound Node route unless you are totally afraid of anything with computers. Lots of similar options with similar sound quality for less money(~$550)...since you are on a budget. Again just my opinion. They are great for old-klipsch-forum-geezers (ducking) 😉If you were going to have a BluOs ecosystem throughout your house the Nodes would be a great place to start. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 26, 2021 Author Share Posted October 26, 2021 3 hours ago, The Dude said: I see your receiver has a Ethernet input on the back. Is this for updating only as well or does your receiver provide DLNA playback? If DLNA play back is an option, then a simple external hard drive connected to the router and you should be able to access your music files that you rip form CDs via EAC to the external hard drive. If not, you could always build a media play with a PI and an external hard drive and perform the same function. Or can you use our UHD as a way to connect an external hard drive? The Ethernet port is for updating. I'm just going to buy a larger USB drive (probably 128 gig), use my laptop to rip the audio as FLAC and listen through my UHD player. It's simple, has an easy interface and works well when I was testing it out last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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