UKC

I've noticed that UKC seems to give sound advice about listening to music so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

I've got a good amp and speakers, OK CD player and loads of CDs but these seem to get played less and less. I like to support bands, going to gigs and buying music directly from them when i can.

Not bothered by multi room stuff.

I'm thinking that i would like some form of digital storage, hard wired into the amp, ideally controllable from laptop or phone. The ability to stream Spotify and the like would be good as I will get that for listening to in the car and elsewhere anyway.

Not super price sensitive but wouldn't want to be spending more than £500 to £1000 tops.

I've tried to research this but just seem to get confused about what i might need and why. Any advice either about specific products or general advice would be great

In reply to PaulW:

Some sort of Network Attached Storage device (NAS) to store your music on (which you can then use for other stuff too) - plus and old phone or cheap tablet to choose and select music.  Connect the Jack audio output from the phone / tablet into the Amp.  Would work fine but might not be pretty to look at.

You can also by devices to receive Bluetooth at the amplifier end.  use your phone to then play and 'cast' the music via bluetooth to the amplifier.

Something more sophisticated would be the Yamaha WXA-50, WXC-50 or similar.

In reply to PaulW: I would get a bluetooth reciever, the audio quality is pretty good now (used to be bad).

This seems to be a good choice for audiophiles

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engine-B1-Premium-Digital-Receiver/dp/B00MHTGZR4/r...

If you have spotify I wouldn't bother with storage, but if you do want it then a tablet or pc with bluetooth will do the job, depending on how much you want to store.

In reply to Route Adjuster:

It's ok but you are using the DAC and analogue electronics of the device, which may not be great.

In reply to PaulW:

Just assembled exactly this. Used a Raspberry Pi as core of the system with an Allo Digione on top. Buy an assembled kit from Allo. You can connect to a NAS or (as I did) plug a spare SSD into the Pi with all your tunes on it. I used Exact Audio Copy to rip all the CDs as FLAC (free). Then you need a DAC to sit in between the RPi and your amp. I used a Khadas Toneboard (£80), extremely well reviewed, which comes as a bare board so you need an enclosure and a Power Supply. I can log onto the RPi from any wifi device in the house, select tunes and control volume. Cost was comfortably less than £500. Its better quality and more convenient than my CD player. 

Cheers

Paul

In reply to PaulW:

The first thing to do is rip all your CDs to FLAC files (this took me some time).  I used dbPoweramp to do it, which will cost you a small fee but it's been well worth it for me.  I also ripped the CDs to Apple lossless files too, but I could just as easily have used dbPoweramp to do that instead. 

I have these files stored on a drive connected to my PC, backed up to another drive, and then on a further drive in a caddy that's connected to my hifi.  I also have the Apple lossless files, or some of them at least, on an iPod touch that's also connected to the hifi.

The device I use to manage all these things is a Musical Fidelity M1 Clic.  This is no longer in production but they do crop up on eBay; other things are available of course, but this is what I have.  This has the drive in the caddy connected to it through a USB lead and the iPod connected through a dedicated connection.  I also use it as a DAC to manage output from the CD player, as the DAC it has sounds better than the output from the CD player does.  So that M1 Clic is a versatile device that manages a lot of inputs and feeds its output into my preamp, and does it very well.  If you can get one, it'll serve you well (I've posted a fuller review about it on Amazon); but others may know more about other things that are as good or better, of course.

Why the iPod as well as the hard drive?  It does playlists better, and also means that I can play podcasts and the like through the hifi as well.  The sound from Apple lossless is comparable to that from the hard drive, not absolutely as good but for casual use, it's fine and my wife can't distinguish between them, for instance.

I don't use Spotify so can't comment on it.  Otherwise, that's what I do and use and I like it a lot.  The next upgrade to the hifi may mean that I move onto other things but that upgrade is likely to cost me a few thousand pounds, so it isn't going to happen any time soon . . . 

T.

In reply to Paul Evans:

I like the idea but way outside my level of competence to set up. I can mis wire a plug...

In reply to PaulW:

Thanks for all the replies so far. I certainly want to keep buying music i like, either CD or download but also stream some stuff, Spotify and podcasts mostly.

So I think I am right in that I need a NAS wired into the amp for stuff I rip and a decent quality bluetooth receiver like the Audioengine also wired into the amp for the streaming side of it.

In reply to PaulW: You wouldn't wire the NAS into the amp, you'd stream to that using a phone tablet or PC.

What do you in terms of computing at home, laptop?

In reply to PaulW:

Check out the Google Chromecast Audio. You can get them for as little as £22 or so and they're a revelation for streaming. They're controlled via a phone or tablet app but they handle the streaming themselves. The sound is perfectly good and you'd need to spend more than a factor of ten more to improve on it. I use Deezer, but Spotify is also supported, as are various radio apps and the iPlayer Radio app. You can set them up to stream from a NAS as well with a little jiggery pokery but I've not yet bothered. They're cheap enough that I have three - kitchen, living room and bedroom.

Edit: apparently they've just been discontinued but will still be supported by Google, so it might be eBay or elsewhere!

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:

On top of Chromecast being v easy to use for streaming, the output is actually a 3.5mm optical as well as analog, so you can have it send the raw digital audio data for your HiFi's DAC to translate (potentially as a higher quality signal)

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:

I was going to reply this morning about Google Chromecast Audio but could not find any on their site. Now I understand why. That would have been the best and cheapest option.

If memory serves me right, Captain Paranoia is the best person to speak to about a bespoke setup for the OP's music options.

As for me, my set-up is straight forward, ish. All my music is on a NAS box and the tracks are MP3, close to 320kbps as I can get. I'm not an audiophile and my hearing isn't top-notch so I can't tell much difference between a FLAC and MP3 file when played from my choice of speakers.

Any CD's that I possess were ripped using the bog-standard Windows Media Player Ripping process. Those CD's are now hiding somewhere in my attic and have not seen the light of day for at least 14 years. I also use Google's own free service where I can download all my music to Google's own servers. You are allowed to download something like 50,000 of your own tracks for free. Its Google Music Play.

To play the music back while at home, I have two methods. The first option is to play my music direct from my NAS box to some WiFi speakers. There are quite a few on the market but I started with Sonos and I am more than happy with their quality and features. They are not cheap but I've yet to hear better WiFi speakers for their price.

If I am in the garden, out-and-about or on holiday then I listen to my music over the internet, or my home router, with Google Play Music. I either use headphones or a Bluetooth speaker.

Back to the OP, if they have an AUX connection on their HiFi system then they could connect their phone, tablet or laptop to it. It is then personal preference to how the music is stored and sent to the phone, tablet or laptop.

If you have a budget, you may want to think about replacing your HiFi setup and get some WiFi speakers. All your music could be on your laptop and then you could send that music to the WiFi speakers around the house. If your budget allowed then you could get a NAS box and store your music there. That way you would not need to fire up the laptop and just use your phone instead to send the music from your NAS box to your WiFi speakers.

In reply to Mike Stretford:

I use a laptop. A Mac so not sure that a Chromecast works well without fiddling

In reply to henryeh:

Exactly what I do in the living room, but the Chromecast's integral DAC is certainly not bad. Google's economy of scale means that it feels like it's punching massively above its weight.

In reply to PaulW:

You just need the Google Home app on a phone or tablet to control it and you won't need to turn on your laptop as the Chromecast links directly to the WiFi. Works fine on Android or iPhone.

In reply to PaulW:

For £700 Cambridge Audio do a separate with Apple Airplay and Spotify Connect. It will also work with storage. So spend the balance on a NAS or stream from your Mac.

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/cx/cxn-v2

The cheap version of this to use Chromecast Audio (discontinued) and a decent DAC to take the optical out from the Chromecast. You still need something to play the MP3 from your NAS to the hifi. Messy, especially from a Mac.

In reply to Philip:

The Cambridge Audio looks interesting, I will check it out. Running short on space on my Mac so looking to move some music elsewhere.

Also found this https://us.auralic.com/products/aries-mini which looks interesting especially as you can pop a hard drive inside too

In reply to PaulW:

Problem with tech now is it doesn't last due to firmware support not hardware quality.

Things change, old devices not supported, and you lose features. I ditched my separates years ago, sold on here in 2007. I miss them. Currently just putting Spotify through one of two Spotify connect speakers (Philips and a Sony smart speaker). Will probably get a ruark R4 when I redesign the back of the house to give a quiet room.

In reply to PaulW: This from richer sounds get s good reviews and the price is good.

https://www.richersounds.com/arcam-bluetooth-receiver.html

I would get something like that and see how you use it with your spotify, then you'll have an idea of how much storage you need. 

Me, I stream to the hifi via a reciever and store CDs in a wallet files sans boxes. I still like to browse through and pick one out and play it, and I can't be bothered ripping them.

In reply to PaulW:

You've gotten me looking, dammit. The Yamaha MusiCast stuff looks interesting. The WXAD-10 is basically a Chromecast with knobs on, supports Apple, Android and Amazon, most streaming services, NAS systems and can be linked for simultaneous multi-room fun-times. Just over £100 per unit makes it a pretty tempting upgrade from my Chromecast set up.

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle: Yeah I agree WXAD-10 is the choice for the OP. If I was ever going to use NAS i'd get one!

In reply to PaulW:

You might have already have a device that does what you want. I've got a vinyl/CD hifi in one room but the CD player broke and I can't decide what to replace it with. There's an Xbox One & AV receiver set up in the living room and I'm currently using Kodi on the Xbox to play audio, video and photos stored on a PC. I also use a Kodi box to access the same stuff on a TV/soundbase system in the bedroom. 

In reply to PaulW:

I've decided to dip my tow into streaming first, have a play for a month or two and work out what i actually want to do.

It was a toss up between the Yamaha WXAD and the Arcam Miniblink. Went for the Arcam for now as it is a fair bit cheaper while I decide on a NAS or not.

Thanks for all the suggestions.....and apologies if I have encouraged others to start checking product reviews and bank balances

In reply to PaulW:

That's what the grandchildren are for.

In reply to PaulW:

I use a Desktop PC with all my CD's copied to a HDD in a lossless format.  That is then played via a DAC to an amplifier/speakers.  Very easy to set up and sound quality should in theory be as good as playing through an actual CD player.
You could use a Mobile/Tablet as an remote control using an app.  Not sure which is best as I haven't gone down that route as I'm quite happy to control what's happening with a media player on the actual PC.
Another alternative is a standalone storage/music playing device such as the Brennan:

https://www.brennan.co.uk/

I've been tempted to get one, but not sure if I can justify the cost.

In reply to PaulW:

Similar situation, but instead if ripping the CD's I downloaded the albums in FLAC  from  RuTracker.

Pretty easy to use with Google Traduction to get things going.

Even if you're concerned about pirate copies, this isn't a problem as you already own the album. 

Saved a lot of messing around and the CD's are left gathering dust !

In reply to PaulW:

I'm currently looking for a new system, potentially going multi room

Audio Pro got good reviews in a recent What HIfi test coming out above, much more expensive rivals and with an apparently better/easier set up, just connect your phone/device and play.

As a modular system you can build a bit at a time .

I still like cables and valves though 

In reply to Deviant:

Good idea but I think I would quite enjoy using a bit of spare time to rip my CDs manually. Sort of contemplative "man in shed" moments to remind me of what I have got and memories of why i bought it in the first place. Could take a year or two though...

But yes, the CDs will then gather dust in the loft.

In reply to artif:

The way I 'multiroom' is to turn the hifi up loud enough so I can hear it upstairs in the bath. It's a primitive solution but hopefully my neighbours appreciate my excellent taste in music.

In reply to Phantom Disliker:

I also have excellent taste in music 

However; neighbours/family don't seem to agree

Noise cancelling headphones have been a lifesaver for me