What's possible/optimal - FLAC files on SSD played via iMac

[Bonefish Blues]

Looking for some advice re my system. I've sold off my old hifi system and replaced it with studio monitors played from iMac as source, through offboard DAC, via a sub into powered monitors. I'm really happy with this arrangement.

I have nearly 1tb of albums ripped to HDD (FLAC files) on a piece of kit that I've yet to sell. What I'd like to do is download the FLACs to a SSD, then plug it into the iMac and play the FLAC files.

Is this possible, will the Mac play straight from the SSD? Do I need an app (UPnP?) to easily navigate the SSD contents, which are pretty extensive? Anything else I need to bear in mind?

[Ed.Neumann]

Have a look at this page...

https://mac.eltima.com/flac-player.html

[Bonefish Blues]

Thanks for the link

[donkmeister]

Another option is to set up a Plex server on the Mac. Then you can play back the FLAC not only on the Mac but also anything else you can install Plex on (so long as the Mac is on).

I even use Plex on my phone to stream music from my home server when out and about.

[conkerman]

Best solution here is to buy or build a NAS.

[Roundm]

if you've not solved this yet

then in addition to Plex, take a look at Squeezebox/Logitech Media Server (there are free installs for all sorts of platforms - from NAS to dedicated PC to Raspberry Pi's). And if you are after flexibility and top end playback, then have a look at Roon - not free/cheap - but pretty amazing!

[Roundm]

if you've not solved this yet

then in addition to Plex, take a look at Squeezebox/Logitech Media Server (there are free installs for all sorts of platforms - from NAS to dedicated PC to Raspberry Pi's). And if you are after flexibility and top end playback, then have a look at Roon - not free/cheap - but pretty amazing!

[GravelBen]

Additional 'if you haven't solved this yet' comments...

Foobar2000 is a free audio player that can play direct to outputs or operate as a media server for access by uPNP or DNLA devices.

Its incredibly customisable, but that means you can also get a bit lost in options and plugins etc so its not for everyone.

If you are just playing direct from the iMac and not worried about controlling it from a phone etc, then pretty much any media player app should work.

[Bonefish Blues]

Thanks both - I'm rather ashamed to say that I'm having a devil of a time extracting my CDs and copying them to an SSD/HDD. Backup is a core function of the device, but it only gives me 1/3 or so of my files - I thought someone had deleted them, but no, they're all still on there. I suspect the disk is partitioned (haven't yet looked though), so I'm going to have a go at unpartitioning it and try again.

Those files I did extract play perfectly through VLC though, so that's a minor success!