I have an old Cambridge Audio server, which i feeling old and tired (its all down to the software which is no longer supported)
So, if you were me, and you had £350 to spend, what route would you go down (RP or tinker board/which dac etc...) ?
edit - more info: It's for streaming music stored on a Nas, can be a wired or wireless connection.
So, if you were me, and you had £350 to spend, what route would you go down (RP or tinker board/which dac etc...) ?
edit - more info: It's for streaming music stored on a Nas, can be a wired or wireless connection.
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"Server" can mean many things. What do you want it to do? Should it store you music collection? Should it serve the files over network? Or should it have analog out?
I prefer to keep storage and playback separate, but you can of course have both in one device.
I prefer to keep storage and playback separate, but you can of course have both in one device.
oh! sorry, that's a really good point!
its for streaming music directly to an amp, music is stored on a Nas
Here is what you can use for the hardware:
Raspberry Pi 4 ~$40
HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro ~$40
Definitely there are many other DACs on the market. I just didn't use them.
For the software you can use any "Audio" OS discussed in this thread. It's the question of user preferences. You can find the one with Web UI or UI in Touchscreen (additional ~$60 for 7" display).
Then just mount your NAS and you are ready to go.
You still can tell your wife that you spent the whole amount 😉
Good luck!
Raspberry Pi 4 ~$40
HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro ~$40
Definitely there are many other DACs on the market. I just didn't use them.
For the software you can use any "Audio" OS discussed in this thread. It's the question of user preferences. You can find the one with Web UI or UI in Touchscreen (additional ~$60 for 7" display).
Then just mount your NAS and you are ready to go.
You still can tell your wife that you spent the whole amount 😉
Good luck!
Find yourself a second hand Auralic Aries Mini, have the bonus of an excellent DAC, builtin low jitter clocks, builtin multiple ultra low noise LDOs for every section, possibility for a SATA harddisk/SSD, gigabit ethernet and AC wireless, NAS support and excellent software support. Supports everything you throw at it too, be it high res or DSD. Costs less (than high end Raspberry DACs anyway) and sounds better than most, if not all, of that fugly looking jittery Raspberry contraptions pinned on a piece of wood 😉 No hours fiddling with stuff. Well done app to control it, what else do you want!?
But equal to a Raspberry you will need to invest in buying or building a good PSU (for Aries Mini 15V 1.5A) WITH on/off switch. Modifying the casing to get rid of excess heat is also rewarding.
In contrast to RPI these devices were built for audio so no need to change them for audio purposes. Really no comparison. It is so good that it was a competitor of its more expensive brothers and sisters so production was halted.
But equal to a Raspberry you will need to invest in buying or building a good PSU (for Aries Mini 15V 1.5A) WITH on/off switch. Modifying the casing to get rid of excess heat is also rewarding.
In contrast to RPI these devices were built for audio so no need to change them for audio purposes. Really no comparison. It is so good that it was a competitor of its more expensive brothers and sisters so production was halted.
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Isn't it DIY forum? I think for the money which OP has you can buy only power supply for that system 😉
Best regards
You think wrong 😀. Just joking. They can be found quite cheap and real good RPI stuff all starts with the cheap base which is a jittery SBC with bad audio properties. One MUST do a lot to make it shine. If a ready made device outperforms a DIY device (at either comparable cost or simply better performance and way less time) then the choice is not hard for me. DIY is preferable but only so when it makes sense.
I did DIY the PSU’s on both my Aries Mini though as you can make them as good as you like at reasonable cost.
I did DIY the PSU’s on both my Aries Mini though as you can make them as good as you like at reasonable cost.
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