Online music playback
Discussion
Hi all. I've decided to finally move away from CDs and build up an online collection.
Anyway, my first problem is what to store them on and how to play them back. I have a NAS drive which I use for storage of family photos and videos, and I have a have an amp which seems to have 'Music Server' connectivity (Denon RCD-N7) but I've never used that functionality.
But then there's the UI. Is there such a thing as an IOS app which could get them talking to each other? I've heard of people talking about Plex, but googling it, it looks quite complicated. I can't possibly use the amp to control playback as the screen is tiny and to navigate through menus on the NAS drive would be a nightmare.
My final question relate to quality. I want to have high quality, am I going to lose quality playing via wifi? I hear that Bluetooth compresses the file quality to below mp3 quality? I don't want to have any less quality that I have from my current CDs.
Thanks all for any help/advice.
ETA - I've just seen that my amp supports Airplay, so I might have answered my own question! i.e. I store the music on my iphone and just airplay from that. Only 1 question then, what quality is Airplay and will getting them on my iphone in the first place be a problem in FLAC format?
Anyway, my first problem is what to store them on and how to play them back. I have a NAS drive which I use for storage of family photos and videos, and I have a have an amp which seems to have 'Music Server' connectivity (Denon RCD-N7) but I've never used that functionality.
But then there's the UI. Is there such a thing as an IOS app which could get them talking to each other? I've heard of people talking about Plex, but googling it, it looks quite complicated. I can't possibly use the amp to control playback as the screen is tiny and to navigate through menus on the NAS drive would be a nightmare.
My final question relate to quality. I want to have high quality, am I going to lose quality playing via wifi? I hear that Bluetooth compresses the file quality to below mp3 quality? I don't want to have any less quality that I have from my current CDs.
Thanks all for any help/advice.
ETA - I've just seen that my amp supports Airplay, so I might have answered my own question! i.e. I store the music on my iphone and just airplay from that. Only 1 question then, what quality is Airplay and will getting them on my iphone in the first place be a problem in FLAC format?
Edited by audi321 on Tuesday 8th May 20:36
miniman said:
What do you want to listen to that isn't available on Spotify?
I don't really want to pay a monthly subscription when I have most of the music I want on CD or I will buy the track/albums from somewhere like itunes.Not a fan of paying monthly and never owning the music - basically I want to be able to have my music forever.
audi321 said:
miniman said:
What do you want to listen to that isn't available on Spotify?
I don't really want to pay a monthly subscription when I have most of the music I want on CD or I will buy the track/albums from somewhere like itunes.Not a fan of paying monthly and never owning the music - basically I want to be able to have my music forever.
miniman said:
I guess my issue with that is that you have to maintain it digitally forever. I spent hours and hours ripping all my CDs to iTunes but it's easier to listen to them streaming. I have never listened to more music than since having access to anything and everything.
Sometimes quality trumps quantity 
OP,
Spend a little money and some time and use dbpoweramp to rip your CDs to flac and store them on your NAS.
Connect to NAS via router with your Denon.
Install the Denon app on your iPhone and start listening to your freshly ripped collection in CD quality.
This way, the phone acts as a remote control and also software controller to select files, albums, playlists etc.
Any music files already on the phone can be streamed via airplay.
Once you invest the time ripping your collection (it can become tedious) you’ll not look back.
Edited to add: there should be no difference in sound quality between CD, cd ripped to flac and those files streamed wirelessly. I prefer wired connection as it’s more robust and wireless has a habit of going crazy for no apparent reason.
Avoid Bluetooth - even apt-X is a bit crap. Ok for background noise while taking a shower but hifi it is not IME.
Edited by legzr1 on Tuesday 8th May 21:54
audi321 said:
what quality is Airplay and will getting them on my iphone in the first place be a problem in FLAC format?
Airplay audio is CD quality (44.1kHz). If you go down this route you’d want to rip to Apple Lossless, not FLAC, and use iTunes to load them on to your iPhone. FLAC & AL are both lossless formats so you can convert from one format to the other without any loss of quality if you want to use different kit in the future.I have been asking similar questions for years here on PH, and I still haven't found a hardware and software system which is 'fit for purpose'.
My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
V8mate said:
I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
It sounds as though you want to do this by dragging & dropping the actual files & folders on disk - is that right? Is there any particular reason for needing to do it that way?The way you describe listening to music is exactly how I currently listen to music. iTunes maintains an "Up next" queue - not a playlist - of tracks it's lined-up to play and you can select tracks or albums and either "Play Next" (put at the head of the queue), "Play Later" (put at the end of the queue) or simply "Play" (dump the queue, start playing immediately). You can also go in and amend the queue (re-order or remove tracks).
The Music app on an iPhone supports similar functionality, as I'm sure many other music players do (I'm sure I've seen this in Sonos?). Notably the iTunes "remote" app doesn't support it, which is frustrating.
However all this only works by right-clicking on tracks/albums in the music library, not by dragging & dropping actual files, so you might need to remove that constraint to get what you want.
I appreciate iTunes has many faults, particularly on a PC (I'm a Mac user), but this really is bread-and-butter functionality for it.
audi321 said:
Perfect thanks guys. So rip to Apple Lossless format. Import into iTunes. Sync iPhone. Airplay from iPhone onto Denon and I’ll have CD quality playback.
Simples. Thanks for all your help
Which NAS are you using?Simples. Thanks for all your help
There’s a chance the NAS manufacturer actually has a decent music playing app already installed or easily added.
I’ve used Synology for years and their DS Audio app is fairly decent, quick to access and looks good on an iPad. Free too.
Without doubt the smoothest system I’ve used is Synology NAS (a + model which makes browsing a large collection really quick) controlled by BubbleUPNP app playing into a CA streamer. Minimserver on the NAS is really quick too and especially important for putting classical albums into correct order and genres.
Unfortunately BubbleUPNP still isn’t available for iOS. However, it’s so good I bought an android tablet specifically to use bubble for music playback.
Unfortunately the tablet is a bit s
t compared to an iPad that I think I’ll replace it with a decent model and not some Chinese crap.V8mate said:
I have been asking similar questions for years here on PH, and I still haven't found a hardware and software system which is 'fit for purpose'.
My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
A solution to this has been available for a few years from several manufacturers at all budgets.My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
Maybe you’ve asked the wrong questions
What’s your budget?
Is used gear an issue for you?
Are you looking at no-name rather than Naim?
A Cambridge Audio SM6, CXN or 851N using their Connect app will do everything you’ve asked.
These run from around £200 for a lightly used SM6 to £1400 for a new 851N.
I’ve owned and listened to quite a few streamers and these CA models are pretty good.
No need to have a PC in the same room once you’ve ripped all your music (I think you’ve already done this).
Add a decent tablet for control and track selection and it’s a joy to use.
Tidal integration just recently added too - add 7 tracks from your own collection then an album or three from Tidal or just a track from each from 15 albums then finish with 12 tracks from your collection while listening to the first track. Stick it on random or repeat or go back in while it’s playing the current track and totally change everything on the fly.
It’s great
And all with sound quality that either matches £2K CD players or surpasses them with SACD or 192/24 files.
The Yamaha MusicCast app works well for queueing tracks etc too with their MusicCast amps and powered speakers (can do multiroom etc too). I don't have a dedicated NAS at this stage so my PC has to be turned on to stream music from it as a server on the network, but easy to control everything from the app on my phone.
I don't like itunes so use foobar if I'm playing directly from PC, initial foobar setup is a bit a clunky but good once its up and running and very customisable. And free.
I don't like itunes so use foobar if I'm playing directly from PC, initial foobar setup is a bit a clunky but good once its up and running and very customisable. And free.
Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 9th May 11:52
I’ve got a HTPC connected via HDMI, running Jriver and it’s hard to beat for home use. All artwork accessible on a big TV with a proper keyboard and CD quality playback directly into the amp.
I’ve also got a Neet airstream pro connected to my spare HiFi for playing media from my iPhone but the interface isn’t as good so I don’t use it. Benefit of a HTPC is tou can use it for other sources like iPlayer, YouTube, Kodi and Spotify.
I’ve also got a Neet airstream pro connected to my spare HiFi for playing media from my iPhone but the interface isn’t as good so I don’t use it. Benefit of a HTPC is tou can use it for other sources like iPlayer, YouTube, Kodi and Spotify.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 9th May 20:31
V8mate said:
I have been asking similar questions for years here on PH, and I still haven't found a hardware and software system which is 'fit for purpose'.
My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
My current setup is Computer to NAD DAC to speakers. At the start of the year I switched to Music Bee player which wasn't easy after using Winamp for so long. I have found MB excellent - it is very powerful and has great community support via the forums. As well as the desktop software it comes with a mobile app that acts as a remote. Via this app I can change track, pause, adjust volume but also search my library and queue that track into the current playlist.My music collection is on a NAS connected to my PC, and I continue to use my PC for playback. I'd much rather that I could route the sound through a hi-fi.
The key issue I haven't been able to overcome is control of the choice of music. With c.25,000 albums, I will typically roam through a couple of dozen different albums , dragging and dropping individual tracks into a software music player, i.e. creating an impromptu playlist on the fly. The first track is alreayd playing as I hunt out some others to join it.
I don't want to keep the playlist; it's to reflect my requirements in the moment. And I've yet to find a way of assembling such a list on a mobile device/tablet. You can ask it to play an entire album or an individual track. But if you are playing one track and then flick to another album, it can't queue a further selection up behind the current track, only start playing it instead.
Time moves on, of course, so if anyone knows of a software player with the ability easily to roam through thousands of folders, select and queue individual tracks on-the-fly, I'd be...
https://getmusicbee.com/ (no connection, just a happy user)
Edited by dontfollowme on Sunday 13th May 09:32
dontfollowme said:
My current setup is Computer to NAD DAC to speakers. At the start of the year I switched to Music Bee player which wasn't easy after using Winamp for so long. I have found MB excellent - it is very powerful and has great community support via the forums. As well as the desktop software it comes with a mobile app that acts as a remote. Via this app I can change track, pause, adjust volume but also search my library and queue that track into the current playlist.
https://getmusicbee.com/ (no connection, just a happy user)
Thanks - strangely, another music lover dropped that product name my way a week or so ago - entirely unsolicted.https://getmusicbee.com/ (no connection, just a happy user)
Looks like it's time to take a look
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