Do I have to use a streamer/renderer to play music from an NAS?

Steve,

Thanks for the info.

Johnnie

Having been down this path a few years ago, I realize how confusing it can be.  I have a QNAP NAS, installed Asset UPnP as well as MinimServer on it; both work well.  I use my Oppo 205 as the digital hub since it decodes almost anything you throw at it.  I have the Oppo connected to my Parasound P7 preamp.

There are various DNLA apps you can use to direct the music to your Oppo or whatever preamp you have.  Oppo has an app.  I also use the Creation 5+ app.  If you have Linn front end digital gear, then by all means use the Linn apps.  Sadly they don't work with my gear. 

I also briefly used a SimAudio Mind player, worked well, well built, but it's stereo only.  

@ kumakahn.  Again, thank you. Many ways to get there. I didn’t know about the Zen Mini. I like the specs for it. It seems to match the RC-1590 better than the Vault II. The Zen Mini can handle DSD, as does the RC-1590.

Have you made a buying decision?  

Audioengr wrote:"Most of what makes digital sound good has to with low jitter, and I mean really, really low jitter, a few picoseconds. It's ALL ABOUT JITTER, period."
I never say never or always, but i pretty much agree here. If you think about reproduction, each sample requries two points, plus smoothing/filtering.  We have spent 35 years focusing on ONE point, voltage (bit depth) and pretty much ignored the other (timing).  Over ten years ago i added a PLL (or two) to my cheap-o transport ( A CD player) and made a large leap forward.
Remember that jitter has many fathers too - noise, threshold detection, blah, blah, blah.  I know nothing about Steve's stuff, but it certainly seems to have the right design objectives in mind.  I have also had very good results with a relatively cheap Schiit EITR (USB - SPDIF).
G

As I recently went down this road I'll share a bit of how I approached it. First, I use a mesh wifi system which made this possible without re-wiring my house. Second, before going all-in and buying something from Synology or QNAP, I set up an old Mac mini (2010) as a NAS running Asset UPnP. Music files are in WAV format. I settled on the mconnect app for control. A Sonore microRendu provides rendering duties and feeds a Bel Canto mLink USB-SPDIF converter (I prefer the BNC connection of my DAC). The sound quality is superb, as is the convenience. I will likely purchase a "proper" NAS some time in the near future but there's little need right now.

BTW, the microRendu replaced a Bluesound Node 2, which replaced a well-appointed Mac mini (2012) running Amarra Luxe, A+, and HQPlayer.