More Streaming Advice - Do I actually need a Network Player?

[Mellow7]

I'm getting a bit confused! I'm looking to go digital but also retain my fantastic recently fully restored Philips CD960 (see recent thread) for some of my favourite CDs. Amplification will be through my Arcam AV200 - not the latest in technology but good enough for me, and B & W 603 floorstanders, centre and surround system.

I was looking to sell off my Sony DVP 900v DVD/SACD Player (A shame as it looks good even just sitting there!) and invest in a Pioneer N50 or Marantz NA7004 - however I have read a few poor reviews on the N50 and the 7004 looks a bit industrial to me (saw a scruffy demo one on Richer Sounds yesterday). However, I had originally thought about a Sonos Connect or Arcam rDAC before looking at streamers.

I had also experienced Philips playing through an Audiolab M-DAC which was amazing, but to get this and a streamer seems a bit piointless not to mention very expensive.

So the question is, if I get the Sonos and use the DAC of my existing Arcam amp, will the sound be "hifi", or similarly, can I just get the rDAC linked to a NAS through my BT Infinity router and "command" it to receive music using my netbook as a controller - or as I suspect, will it be the netbook actually receiving the music from the NAS and I will need to connect it (hardwired or wireless) to the rDAC? At least I think that's my question!

My ideal scenario would be to find a really cheap Sonos - type streamer with everything (TV/CD/Streamer) going through an M-DAC but I doubt such a product exists. As you can see, I'm tying myself in knots!

Cheers

[Teetertank]

Mellow7 said:

can I just get the rDAC linked to a NAS through my BT Infinity router and "command" it to receive music using my netbook as a controller

You would probably need something to actually play the files. there may be small server type software that you can install, or otherwise something like an Airport Express could be used to read off the NAS. You could then take a digital out from that, then control from netbook or smart phone.

Mellow7 said:

- or as I suspect, will it be the netbook actually receiving the music from the NAS and I will need to connect it (hardwired or wireless) to the rDAC? At least I think that's my question!

You just need to connect something that can read the files off the network and play them out. There are a few options to achieve this.

Mellow7 said:

My ideal scenario would be to find a really cheap Sonos - type streamer with everything (TV/CD/Streamer) going through an M-DAC but I doubt such a product exists.

This relates to audio only, although there are likely media streamers that would cater for TV/films too:

I use Squeezeboxes that I control from an app on a smart phone - I find this a great solution and you can choose digital or analogue out depending on your hardware/requirements.

If you want a cheap solution then consider an O2 Joggler which you can find for £50 on eBay. You can install "Squeezecentre" on one of these - this will effectively turn it into an Squeezebox Touch but at a much cheaper price. If you want digital out you would need to make a small modification to the unit or run a USB DAC from it as there is no TOSLINK or SPDIF as standard (but does have USB).