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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
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
1,093 posts
 
Willie/Steve,

Thank you.
Yes, I feel like I made some decent progress last week. I really wish there was a manual or tutorial on how this is all setup: laptop with JRiver v18, Oppo 105, Gateway router and NAS or external hard drives. I want to set this up, at least initially, wirelessly and only use Ethernet hard wire connections if sound quality or functionality is not high quality. My impression, thus far, is that wireless audio and video fidelity is very high.

I have the Oppo attached to my home network and the internet and have watched some Netflix movies streamed wirelessly in 1080p and they both looked and sounded great. I can also go into the Oppo's "Network" menu and see several files of CDs I ripped to my laptop, which means the Oppo has access to my laptop files and can 'Pull' these files and stream them wirelessly utilizing its internal Saber dacs to convert into analog outputs. All 3 of the CDs that were 'pulled' sounded great but, of course, they were only standard redbook resolution at 44.1khz/16 bit.

Once I figure out how to incorporate JRiver into this and 'Push' files to the Oppo wirelessly, then I'll be in a good position to add a Nas, or at least an external hard drive, to the system and start downloading some high-resolution WAV and FLAC files. At that point, I'll really be where I want to be and will be able to build a library of hi-res songs/albums to really take advantage of the Oppo's capabilities.

Once I get a better handle on all this, I'm currently thinking I'll add a NAS system consisting of the following:

Synology DS-112 or Qnap TS-119PII single -bay (diskless)NAS. For my needs, I didn't think a RAID multi-disk NAS was required. I love my music but I can get by without it for a few days if a drive conks out. I narrowed it down to one of these NASes due to their reasonable price ($170-180 without drives) and they both have USB 3.0 ports (much faster read and write than USB 2.0 ports) for attached external hard drive backups.

Western Digital 'Red' 2TB($99) or Seagate 'Barracuda' 2TB ($88) 3.5" internal hard drive.

Seagate 'Backup Plus' 2TB external hard drive ($99) connected via USB 3.0 NAS port for automatic and scheduled file backups.

As usual, please don't hesitate to offer your thoughts and advice. Until I gain more knowledge and experience in computer audio, I can use all the assistance and advice I can get.

Thanks,
Tim
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
Tim - not sure what your expectations are regarding quality of the different sample rates.

I've found it depends on the quality of the engineering and not the sample rate.

e.g. I downloaded a Melody Gardot album as MP3 - the engineering is superb and I do not find it any worse quality wise than my CD's or the 24/96 and 24/192 tracks I have downloaded

The 24/96-192 tracks are all superbly engineered so they can sound better than many CD's these days. But if you had the same album in all formats it would probably sound the same.

But this depends on your DAC and how it handles the different sample rates and whether it up-samples or not.

The Seagate Constellation line of drives are "enterprise drives" as I mentioned above
- yes, they are more suited to raid, but that's because RAID is hard on drives and they are a workhorse
- they will last much longer than other drives
- They may be a little more expensive and a little slower, but they are still the best drive for this application.
- I have friends with a computer store that only uses these in their servers (and the computers they sell me) because their failure rate is so low.

Question - do you know if the Oppo buffer the data before conversion?

That would be a bonus :-)

Regrds...
pokey77
604 posts
 
Tim/OP,

You should check out the Oppo 105 owners thread over on AVS forums. http://www.avsforum.com/t/1439524/official-oppo-bdp-105-owners-thread/8940 You can get your questions answered over there. Also, be aware, that there is a new 105D model that is now one or two months old. It has the Darbee technology in it. Basically it has better video capability. You should definitely give that some consideration as well, especially if you have a projector.

I have a 105 and use it for 2-channel though a McIntosh MA 6500 integrated into Martin Logan Vantage speakers and it is a nicely resolving piece. I very much like it and it does all duties in my system including Bluray (via 55" TV), which it really is quite spectacular at.
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
1,093 posts
 
Pokey77,

Thanks for the heads-up on the AVS forums. I've read many of the numerous posts on the 105 and find it very useful but haven't yet discovered solutions to my particular situation. In fact, this forum was a key reason I decided to buy the 105. A computer savy friend is helping me out tomorrow to assist in system setup solutions.

Steve/Willie,

I've read many reviews recently confirming the positive attributes of the Seagate Constellation hard drives. I am still considering these even though they cost more, thanks.

A far as my expectations of hi-rez 24/96-192 downloads, I have sampled a few sample tracks from Bluecoast Records through my former Dacmagic mini 100 DAC and was very impressed. I could definitely notice its superiority over cd.

And, yes, I do understand the importance of quality engineering in the final results. I've also learned that downloads recorded in 24/96-192 will sound better than regular CDs just placed in a 24/96-192 'container'. Bluecoast has many recordings recorded in hi-rez but the artists, although usually very good, are not the tracks currently most in demand. Hopefully, the more popular artists and recor labels will start recording in hi-rez. Seems to be likely but you never know.

Once I start actually buying and listening to computer downloads, the quality of the engineering and overall sq will become my next area of focus.

Thanks again,
Tim
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
1,093 posts
 
Steve/Willie,

Forgot to answer your question on the 105's buffering of music data. I pulled the following info from Blu-ray.com:

3. "OPPO BDP-93/95 has 2GB of built in flash memory compared to only 1GB of built in flash memory for the new OPPO BDP-103/105: The BDP-93/95 has a total of 2GB of flash memory reserved for internal storage. 1GB is used for BD-LIVE persistent storage and 1GB is used for buffering streaming services. According to my communications with OPPO Digital INC the new OPPO BDP-103/105 will only have 1GB of internal flash memory (512MB is used for BD-LIVE persistent storage and 512MB is used for buffering streaming services). To meet the Profile 2.0 specification a USB external storage drive that is 1GB or larger is required. This is a disappointment since all prior OPPO Blu-ray players had 1GB of internal storage reserved for BD-LIVE. The new OPPO BDP-103/105 cuts the internal storage in half for both streaming services and BD-LIVE."

So, it looks like the 105 has 512mb of storage devoted to buffering.
Do you think this will be adequate for FLAC, WAV and CD playback?

Meeting the USB 2.0 Profile requirements seems assured since I'll use 2 TB drives and a 2 TB backup drive However, the Oppo , my NAS and backup drives will utilize the faster USB 3.0 ports. So, do you know if USB 3.0 Profile requirements will be met?

I only have a rudimentary knowledge of how buffering affects sq. But I know it's related to sending the musical data to the DAC in an accurate and timely manner and, if the data is not completely accurate and timely, sq will suffer.

Thanks,
Tim
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