audiophile nas based system for home - audio only

[bijalvp]

Hi,

I have the anthony gallo 3.5 reference speakers and a vincent sv-236mk integrated amplifier (built-in DAC).

I intend to build a NAS with either Raid 1 or 5 with 2tb x 6 drives. I am a newbie at this so do excuse the questions if they sound dumb.

What I want to achieve is this:

1. Be able to select songs / songs lists from the NAS from a Apple or Android based smart phone or tablet

2. Be able to play the songs via the amplifier

All suggestions are welcome. Budget is not a restraint at this time.

Thanks

 

[CubanlB]

Plex or XBMC should both work for you. Really depends on the features your are looking for.

Rip to .flac and you should be golden.

Plex will have one central library that the clients draw from, so management of the library can be easier with a lot of clients. Also transcode out over the web if you are ever interested in that.

XBMC will be more easily modified to do other things or use other video players etc... but most of the need to do that type of stuff has either been corrected or is more geared towards video. Good app/web control support. I personally use a netbook tied into a amp for house audio with xbmc and the xbmc remote for android and I like it quite a bit.

Both have apps for android and iphone. the plex remote app is also the player for the android/iphone device and you can select to play the media on another client instead of the phone.

If you are worried about sound quality go digital to amp or buy your preferred external DAC.

 

[s44]

Plex or XBMC should both work for you.

Both massively overkill.

Run Serviio on the NAS and use BubbleUPNP as the control app. If the amp/AVR doesn't have built in DLNA, play through a WDTV connected by HDMI.

 

[lastig21]

Decide on the device you want to interface with first. This is easy to accomplish on Android or Apple. I personally find the Apple interface a little more appealing, but the file options are more limiting. Apple lossless is all you will be able to load into iTunes.

Depending on the device at hand and which stereo I connect to:
My Apple System:
iTunes to hold the library, Apple TV as the streaming device, and iPod/iPad or TunesRemote+ on Android as the control. Very easy to use, and my wife does use it. I use this method most of the time.

Android/Receiver only:
Bubble UPNP on the Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Tab 2 to control the NAS UPNP library (or stream local files on the device). My Pioneer receiver has built in DLNA, and has a lot of flexibility in file types. If the TV is on, the DLNA UI on the receiver is awful. I don't need the TV on for this to work though. I find this just as easy to use, but my wife won't even attempt to use it.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I use Mediamonkey connected through SPDIF optical to my Anthem receiver (via WASAPI). Then I can control it with MediaMonkey Remote for Android, which is free. iCrap = No thanks.

For a truly high-end system, you could also add some sort of jitter-free digital transport and probably pay as much as you want for that... I just use the onboard SPDIF.