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DIGITAL HIGH-RES AUDIO SYSTEM -HELP PLEASE

I need your expert advice on building a 24 bit/96Khz, 24/192Khz max, computer based home audio system I'd like to integrate into my home audio/ht system. I'm not totally clueless on what I need but I could definitely use some advice and direction as well as helpful tips. I have a fairly good audio system I currently use for ht and music playback. So, I'm not starting from scratch but want to incorporate computer audio and WAV and FLAC file streaming and storage into my system. Video streaming and storage can wait for a future time.

My current system consists of the following:
Plasma HDTV
Full 5.1 surround setup (5 spkrs and 1 subwoofer with in-ceiling surrounds).
Three separate stereo amps that power the main l/r, subwoofer/ center and l/r surrounds.
Directv satellite source (box has HDMI and digital audio output)
Older DVD/CD player as source used for movies and music.
Surround sound processor (older unit with just coax and optical audio inputs/outputs, no HDMI or USB inputs/outputs).
Separate tube preamp with HT Passthru. I'd run computer analog outputs to this for 2-channel listening.

For computer audio I already have some components:

Newer Laptop with 4 USB2.0 ports, dual core processor, 2 GB RAM and 110 GB internal hard-drive that can be solely devoted to a computer audio system(only 35 GB free on HD, however).
Wireless high-speed LAN with smart HDTV already attached and streaming Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Amazon Prime to the tv and laptop.
JRiver v19.0 media player installed but no downloads yet and only a handful of cds ripped.
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 24 bit/192khz DAC.

My current budget is only about $1,500 and was thinking my next steps should be to:
A. Buy a new or used Oppo BDP-103 or, preferably a BDP-105 to replace my DacMagic and Sony DVD,CD player and get at least into 21st century technology.
B. Buy a NAS next to connect via USB to my laptop when more funds become available.

So, please let me know the following:

1. Am I thinking correctly and on the right path with buying an Oppo followed by a NAS?
2. Is there a method to connect my laptop, and future NAS wirelessly to the Oppo? I'm currently running a 12ft USB cable from my laptop to my DAC. I know cabled is better than wireless but curious how much better.
3. Any suggestions for a good, affordable NAS?
4. Does the Oppo BDP-105 have internal surround sound decoding capability that would allow me to run analog cables to my 3 HT amps directly from its analog outputs and substitute for my Parasound processor?

Thanks in advance for any advice and guidance.
Tim



128x128noble100
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
The spec on the NAS will state whether it has RAID quite clearly - you only
need "RAID 0" - the ability to mirror.

The D-Link NAS supports Raid and are very easy to setup.

You might want to go to a good computer store since there are better
quality drives suited to raid - only a couple of bucks more, but will last
much longer that drives suited to desktop computers

The Seagate Constellation line of drives are "enterprise drives" suited to
Raid. They are not as fast as other drives but very durable - 2 Tb $135 or
thereabouts. Take a look at the seagate site for details

Regards
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
8,673 posts
 
Willie, a slight correction if I may. I think you meant to say "RAID 1 -- the ability to mirror."

Regarding wireless vs. wired, I agree with the others that wireless can be problematical in SOME circumstances, depending on the quality of the wireless devices, where they are located relative to each other, possible interference from other wireless equipment in your own or a neighbor's house, what channel is being used, etc. However, I would not necessarily rule it out.

For example, I have been using a Squeezebox Touch for about a year and a half, wirelessly connected to an EnGenius EAP350 wireless access point (which is not a router; it is just an access point, and it works in conjunction with a separate router that it is wired to). The access point and the Squeezebox are in very different parts of the house. I have not had a single dropout in that year and a half. I should add, though, that the nearest neighbors are a couple of hundred feet away. Also, if it has any relevance, I just use it for Internet radio, not for playing computer files.

Good luck as you proceed! Regards,
-- Al
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
Al - thanks for the correction - it is raid 1.

My situation regarding neigbours - I have between 4 and 10 routers active depending on the time of day from surrounding households, and changing channels never completely fixed the problem. Add to that some of the older cordless telephone systems in the neighbourhood, which I'm told can also contribute to dropouts and my number of dropouts were as high as several per hour depending on the number of active routers.

The number of dropouts also went up depending on the the size of the music file e.g. mp3 had very few, 24/192 had several, which makes sense to me.

Direct connection seemed to have fixed this and using Audirvana also ensures no dropouts because it loads the track into memory before playing. Haven't had a dropout since.

Regards
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
1,093 posts
 
Hi Al and Willie (or is that Mr. wonka to me?),

I really appreciate your assistance. I've decided to up my budget a bit, to $1,600 or so, and buy the Oppo BDP-105 and NAS hopefully within a week. The Oppo is a definite buy after reading a lot of great owners' feedback and professional reviews. It just seems like the ideal unit for my situation. As to the NAS, I'm currently considering 2:

The Synology DS213j ($199 on Amazon) with 2 Seagate Constellation 2TB hard-drives (about $135 ea.) which would be a total of about $470.

The Seagate STBN4000100 with 2 2TB hard-drives included is $322 on Amazon.
The Seagate looks like the better value but I don't know what the differences are in user interfaces, customer support and compatibility compared to the Synology.

I understand the mirroring is not the same as backing up, more like redundancy, and will look for this feature on whatever NAS I consider. I believe both of the ones above allow for mirroring 0,1,5 and possibly more protocols.

My main concern is how, and if, this is all going to work together: laptop, Oppo and NAS. I have some questions that I need further assistance with:

1. Should I buy the less expensive Seagate or the recommended Synology?

2. Having the laptop wireless is very convenient and being limited to a 12-14ft USB cable is not working well. The Oppo and NAS will be set right next to each other in my rack. Our only close neighbor is within 100 ft and I know their LAN extends into our house (at times, their network displays as an available network choice on my laptop). Can I reduce dropouts,and will it function properly, if I use a short USB cable from the NAS to the Oppo and leave the laptop connection wireless?

3. Do I use the laptop as the controller via JRiver to download and play hi-rez files, or am I not understanding how the downloading/playback is controlled?

4. Any good websites to learn about choosing and setting up this stuff?

I'm watching the Denver-New England game right now and the 5.1 surround system is sounding great, even with my 20 yr old Parasound pre/processor. I think the new system will probably sound at least as good for ht and much better with discs and downloads. Plus I'm gaining a bluray player as a bonus.

Thanks again to all,
Tim
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
Tim - it's actually Steve - aka Willie
But there is a nice ring to Mr. Wonka :-)

Your setup appears to be quite different from my own in that my computer is wired to the system and all remote function is provided via my tablet that controls playback on the computer, from the NAS drive.

In your proposed configuration it appears the TV can stream, but only the Oppo and the computer can stream from the NAS

However only the computer is capable of downloading music files from the web, which can be stored on the NAS for playback via the Oppo or the computer.

It also appears there is an ability to remotely control the Oppo from an Android device, but I couldn't fing anything about using a computer running OSX or Windows for remote control.

So the only issue I can see relates to how you are going to stream...
- via computer - then you have to connect to the Oppo (as a DAC) via USB or Optical or spdif
- via the Oppo - then you have to use the Oppo's remote to control playback.

I may not be aware of some other Oppo/Computer feature so it might be quite possible without any further hardware.

I would NOT worry about the dropouts in your case - I have three neighbours within 60ft of my house and I have two wireless routers in my house, so it became an issue.

I did come across one review that reported problems with the Seagate NAS, but reported the Synology NAS had worked OK. So you might want to go with the Synology.

Sorry I could be of more assistance.
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