Is this possible and what would I need?
Discussion
The system I use for this is “Roon”. It needs a server to run, and can handle multiple clients. There are lots of manufacturers who offer Roon endpoints, including Meridian & B&W, as well as “HiFiBerry” who have a range of DAC boards that you add to a Raspberry Pi.
You can control Roon from your tablet / phone / laptop, and stream different content to different endpoints at the same time, or synchronise multiple endpoints to play the same thing in different rooms.
You can control Roon from your tablet / phone / laptop, and stream different content to different endpoints at the same time, or synchronise multiple endpoints to play the same thing in different rooms.
Nola25 said:
Is it possible to store 2000+ cds onto a hard drive and stream from the drive through an iPad connected to an amp?
If so, any ideas what equipment I’d need?
Cheers
To unpack the question a bit.If so, any ideas what equipment I’d need?
Cheers
Yes, you can store the music on a hard drive. (UPNP NAS drive)
You can then play that wirelessly to any location within the reach of your router.
No, you ideally should not play it to an amp, through ANY portable device! This means using Bluetooth as the last link to the amp. Or even worse, one thing with a wire, which uses the lowest quality components in any portable.
The missing link is some sort of box, that wires to your amp and receives the music directly from the router,
The only involvement from the iPad, should be to control the library, internet radio and any music subscriptions available to you.
These streamers, range from quite cheap, to all the money, so there is plenty of choice.
The Roon mentioned above is a subscription service/sorfware to unify and manage streaming amongst many brands.
It’s not part of what you need to consider now. That’s for some way down the line.
The most widely adopted and easy to use item to do what you want, could be a Sonos Port.
Thanks for the replies and info
Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
Nola25 said:
Thanks for the replies and info
Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
If I understand that right you want a NAS drive, some sort of streaming device and a laptop for £600. I don't think that's realistically possible, but subject to the following it may be possible.Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
Depending on what router you have you may not need a dedicated NAS drive. I have all my ripped music stored on a portable hard drive (I do also have a backup) that is plugged into my router. If you rip 2000+ CDs at a decent quality (I strongly recommend loseless) then you'll need a decent sized hard drive. You can get a 4TB one on Amazon for £70 at the moment.
The range of streaming devices that take the information from your hard drive to your amplifier is big, the price range is big too. I use a Yamaha Musiccast WXAD-10, which is not basement level at around £150 but nowhere near top end. It works via an app and does all I need it to.
Laptop wise, the majority of new laptops no longer come with a CD drive. If you already have access to a computer then try an externally connected one, they are only £20-30.
As suggested above use your router with portable hard drive if possible for cheapest storage. Lots do this just look for a usb socket on the back of the router. Then I would be looking at connecting an Echo dot to your amp and playing the music through that, via a UPNP or DLNA app. I have not tried the echo dot so no idea if it would work, but it will be far cheaper than any other solution
I use a raspberry pi with logitech media server as dlna server and play to chromecast audios (no longer available) pluged into 1950's valve radios.
I use a raspberry pi with logitech media server as dlna server and play to chromecast audios (no longer available) pluged into 1950's valve radios.
I use a raspberry pi with a cheap Richer sounds DAC.
The pi runs piPlayer or Volumio
The DAC improves the audio quality
You select music via an app on your phone (similar to SONOS)
Total cost Pi/Power Supply/DAC/case less than £150.
ETA: my music is stored on a NAS. I use an old PC running openmediavault but any NAS will do.
Edit2: In theory you could attach the hard drive straight to the RPi and save the trouble of having a separate NAS. Would save electricity too
The pi runs piPlayer or Volumio
The DAC improves the audio quality
You select music via an app on your phone (similar to SONOS)
Total cost Pi/Power Supply/DAC/case less than £150.
ETA: my music is stored on a NAS. I use an old PC running openmediavault but any NAS will do.
Edit2: In theory you could attach the hard drive straight to the RPi and save the trouble of having a separate NAS. Would save electricity too
Edited by nyt on Thursday 7th April 10:46
If it's of any help, this is what I use to do this -
A Synology NAS with two discs i. Something like 4 Tb total. Any old NAS will do.
CDs and a few LPs ripped to .flac.
Ethernet cable from NAS to Teufel Connector.
RCA from Teufel in to back of my amp (Arcam SA20)
I use Minim Server to serve files to Bubble or HiFiCast. ETA I run this software on a cheapo tablet or phone. Any such device would work.
I use Bubble PNP or HiFi Cast to browse music, and send files to the Teurfel from the NAS.
Costs: Tuefel was about £130 IIRC, no longer avialable but the Yamaha Musicast thing is and apparently is very good, £150 ish for that.
Bubble and HiFi Cast are £4 each I think.
Minim Server was free but now costs £20 per year or something.
Synology was something like £180 when I bought it. Two drives were £80 ish, but that's up to you how big you want them. We store loads of fmaily stuff like pictures and videos on there too.
Works well for me. Recent software update on the Synology has screwed up my automatic mirroring of my PC hard drive, which is annoying... sigh.
A Synology NAS with two discs i. Something like 4 Tb total. Any old NAS will do.
CDs and a few LPs ripped to .flac.
Ethernet cable from NAS to Teufel Connector.
RCA from Teufel in to back of my amp (Arcam SA20)
I use Minim Server to serve files to Bubble or HiFiCast. ETA I run this software on a cheapo tablet or phone. Any such device would work.
I use Bubble PNP or HiFi Cast to browse music, and send files to the Teurfel from the NAS.
Costs: Tuefel was about £130 IIRC, no longer avialable but the Yamaha Musicast thing is and apparently is very good, £150 ish for that.
Bubble and HiFi Cast are £4 each I think.
Minim Server was free but now costs £20 per year or something.
Synology was something like £180 when I bought it. Two drives were £80 ish, but that's up to you how big you want them. We store loads of fmaily stuff like pictures and videos on there too.
Works well for me. Recent software update on the Synology has screwed up my automatic mirroring of my PC hard drive, which is annoying... sigh.
Everything is possible, ripping 2000 cd's will be a ball ache, but easy.
Most decent amps come with NAS streaming (from a hard drive on your network over wifi) and online stuff, spotify etc.
NAS (network attached storage) is easy to set up and cheap(ish) mines a QNAP and works flawlessly with a Denon Amp, over wifi streaming lossless content.
HOWEVER
I love tech, I love music.
The reality is I normally use free spotify because I'm lazy!
If I were you, I'd get free spotify on a phone, bung a 3.5mm jack into it, plug into your amp and try that until it annoys you so much to move to the next step.
Not do what I did, which was replace a lovely amp with the new Denon £500, buy a nas £700 and bugger around.
Most decent amps come with NAS streaming (from a hard drive on your network over wifi) and online stuff, spotify etc.
NAS (network attached storage) is easy to set up and cheap(ish) mines a QNAP and works flawlessly with a Denon Amp, over wifi streaming lossless content.
HOWEVER
I love tech, I love music.
The reality is I normally use free spotify because I'm lazy!
If I were you, I'd get free spotify on a phone, bung a 3.5mm jack into it, plug into your amp and try that until it annoys you so much to move to the next step.
Not do what I did, which was replace a lovely amp with the new Denon £500, buy a nas £700 and bugger around.
I used to have a Wifi audio receiver.
I would select a play list on the PC and select 'play to' the wifi dac box thing ,which was about 15 quid.
I built a ras pi jukebox with a hard drive. That was cheap and worked well, but involved a bit of fiddling to get the noise down.
I now just have the music I want on a phone, tablet or laptop and plug it into an amp, or bluetooth it to a Prozor DAC. (£20).
I would select a play list on the PC and select 'play to' the wifi dac box thing ,which was about 15 quid.
I built a ras pi jukebox with a hard drive. That was cheap and worked well, but involved a bit of fiddling to get the noise down.
I now just have the music I want on a phone, tablet or laptop and plug it into an amp, or bluetooth it to a Prozor DAC. (£20).
I did this a while ago so my solution is not the most up to date no doubt. It was:
- rip the CDs into iTunes, storing the content on an external HD (now a NAS)
- connect a Sonos Port (in this days a ZP90) to an input on the amp
- load the Sonos client onto a PC and make it see the ext HD content
- play
Loading CDs is an unbelievable ballache. Really tiresome. And then if you’re fussy, making sure they are all consistently named in iTunes and have their artwork is another ballache. A sub to Apple Music or Spotify is so much more convenient and the quality difference - if any - is highly marginal in real world conditions.
If you go down the subscription route, the streaming service just sits in place of the ext HD/NAS in the set up above. Or you may now be able to get an amp that talks directly to the streaming service, cutting out the need for the Sonos Port or equivalent. Not so sure about that.
- rip the CDs into iTunes, storing the content on an external HD (now a NAS)
- connect a Sonos Port (in this days a ZP90) to an input on the amp
- load the Sonos client onto a PC and make it see the ext HD content
- play
Loading CDs is an unbelievable ballache. Really tiresome. And then if you’re fussy, making sure they are all consistently named in iTunes and have their artwork is another ballache. A sub to Apple Music or Spotify is so much more convenient and the quality difference - if any - is highly marginal in real world conditions.
If you go down the subscription route, the streaming service just sits in place of the ext HD/NAS in the set up above. Or you may now be able to get an amp that talks directly to the streaming service, cutting out the need for the Sonos Port or equivalent. Not so sure about that.
While a bit out of budget, by far the easiest option you could use would be an Innuos Zen mini.
It has a built in CD ripper, built in storage (starting at 1Tb), will connect directly to your amplifier and can be controlled using the Innuos sense app on your phone/tablet.
The only other thing you will need is a cable to your router (I use a a Powerline unit) as the Zen has no wireless built in.
It can also be used to access Qobuz and Tidal if you want online music.
I've had one for a few years and they are excellent products.
The back-up service is excellent also. I had a problem with my one and after contacting support, they used a Team Viewer type product to access my player and sort it.
It has a built in CD ripper, built in storage (starting at 1Tb), will connect directly to your amplifier and can be controlled using the Innuos sense app on your phone/tablet.
The only other thing you will need is a cable to your router (I use a a Powerline unit) as the Zen has no wireless built in.
It can also be used to access Qobuz and Tidal if you want online music.
I've had one for a few years and they are excellent products.
The back-up service is excellent also. I had a problem with my one and after contacting support, they used a Team Viewer type product to access my player and sort it.
Nola25 said:
Is it possible to store 2000+ cds onto a hard drive and stream from the drive through an iPad connected to an amp?
If so, any ideas what equipment I’d need?
Cheers
A Brennan B2 might be a neat solution. https://www.brennan.co.uk/itemcontent.php/content/...If so, any ideas what equipment I’d need?
Cheers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUL9QbvsXUU
Nola25 said:
Thanks for the replies and info
Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
Is there no PC/MAC at your home already? Budget wise - would like to keep it as cheap as possible but still keep a little quality (if that makes sense), say £600
So if I interpret the info properly I’ll need -
UPNP NAS drive
Sonos Port or equivalent
Existing ipad to control the NAS contents and usual Apple Music etc
Oh and a laptop to actually upload the CDs to the NAS
Am I in the right ball park?
If you need to actually buy computer of some sort, that has a CD ripper/drive on it, then a NAS and streamer, then you have the wrong budget.
The above quote suggests you already own the amp and speakers.
Is this correct please?
What are they?
If you do actually need to buy a computer AND a NAS, then rip 2000 cd’s, I’d also suggest you just join a subscription streaming service.
Red 5 said:
If you do actually need to buy a computer AND a NAS, then rip 2000 cd’s, I’d also suggest you just join a subscription streaming service.
^^^ This. Don't believe a word of the "once it's digital it all sounds the same" stuff. When you've got a decent system you can hear the difference between one CD spinner and another. If you have a big decoder/amp/speakers and rip all those CDs into a laptop you'll never be happy with the sound.
streaming service is fine, but many of us do leave the internet from time to time.
Then it's easy to copy a selection of music onto a usb drive from your HD and take it to the car or boat.....
There is also plenty of free to listen music on the web.
It's easy to invest time and money into sorting complex systems, then find you spend more time getting music from youtube or something.
Then the geek toys gather dust.
Then it's easy to copy a selection of music onto a usb drive from your HD and take it to the car or boat.....
There is also plenty of free to listen music on the web.
It's easy to invest time and money into sorting complex systems, then find you spend more time getting music from youtube or something.
Then the geek toys gather dust.
Thanks for all the replies, really appreciate it
Reason I want(ed) to copy the CD's is they are simply sat gathering dust in the garage at the minute and thought I'd put them to some use by digitising and playing via one of the various methods mentioned.
I already have an Apple Music subscription that gets used regularly by the household and a lot of what is on cd will be on there (minus a few bootlegs, live recordings, promos etc)
Think I'll have a look at the portable hard drive/Yamaha solution.
I know it labourious uploading CD's via something like Itunes, but I can cope with doing a few when I have time and treat it more of a hobby than anything.
Thanks again
Reason I want(ed) to copy the CD's is they are simply sat gathering dust in the garage at the minute and thought I'd put them to some use by digitising and playing via one of the various methods mentioned.
I already have an Apple Music subscription that gets used regularly by the household and a lot of what is on cd will be on there (minus a few bootlegs, live recordings, promos etc)
Think I'll have a look at the portable hard drive/Yamaha solution.
I know it labourious uploading CD's via something like Itunes, but I can cope with doing a few when I have time and treat it more of a hobby than anything.
Thanks again
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