Please recommend proper device

[Hollywood]

Hi,
I am new here. I'm old school with a home CD player and RCA cables going to my amp. I have ripped my extensive CD collection to FLAC files on my computer and have for years accessed my library in my car from it's head unit via a thumbdrive by Artist, Album, Track, something we could only have dreamed about when I was a kid.

My reason here is to find one of the little boxes that I see all over Amazon that will help me achieve my goal at home.

I wish to have my library on an SSD and plugged into the device with a USB3 cable, the unit would have a DAC and preamp or optical digital output. I wish to control content selection (Artist, Album, Track, along with artwork) from an android tablet or phone. I can stream from my phone or tablet now, but that's not what I want, I want a device that is USB wired like I explained, but be able to control it via Bluetooth from my Android device.

Is there such a device or can you only choose content from a device you are playing or streaming from?

Thanks! I hope I explained it correctly!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

There is a myriad of options for what you ask. Most applications (free or paid) for PC/Mac/linux boxes as well as packaged streamers that will support tablet/phone as their interface/control app. Consequently, I find it hard to make a specific recommendation. (FWIW, USB3 is acceptable but unnecessary for this task.) Try to say more about your needs and wants.

 

[Hollywood]

There is a myriad of options for what you ask. Most applications (for PC/Mac/linux boxes) as well as packaged streamers will support tablet/phone as the interface/control app. Consequently, I find it hard to make a specific recommendation. (FWIW, USB3 is acceptable but unnecessary for this task.) Try to say more about your needs and wants.

As an example, after asking my question, I found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Preamplifier-Multiroom-Radio-Arylic-S50-Pro/dp/B083ZR4SKR/ref=sr_1_9?crid=BAX2Y696VDW5&keywords=Wireless%2BStreamer&qid=1680296936&s=electronics&sprefix=wireless%2Bstreamer%2Celectronics%2C128&sr=1-9&th=1

There are two models that are at a price point I would like. I expect good sound quality, but at my age I am not able to appreciate the difference an expensive DAC would make.

Drives and memory are cheap, but I would not be opposed to storing my library on a USB drive connected to my router. I have four or 5 locations I would like to have music, a few are just for background, and others for just listening.

Regardless, I want to be able to bring my Android tablet or phone to one of the areas I have a stereo, say my living room, and be able to sit on the couch and select and play music on the tablet that is stored on the hard (SSD) drive or network drive connected to the "streamer" which is connected to the stereo (not stream from the tablet).

Right now I have a few apps on my phone that I can play music from my phone's memory. The apps read folder/files AND tags in the music files. These apps are exactly what I want except I want to play music stored on the net drive or device attached drive.

It appears the example I listed above does all I want but I am not sure if it shows my library from tags or just folder/file view. "Tags" allow for album artwork and better search functions. If the above device allows me to access my library from my tablet via tags it would meet all of my needs, but I can't confirm this (although I did see the folder/file search function on a menu in a youtube video).

Like I say, this device would suit my needs is it can select music from a tablet via a gui with tags. If not do you have any devices that will do what I want?

Thanks for your reply!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I have no knowledge of that device, so I cannot comment beyond what I see on the referenced page.

That said, I see that it supports " USB flash drive, NAS" and that will allow you to access your source files. I see that it has analog and digital outputs that will allow you to play through a directly connected amp and/or DAC. It also has an app that allows you to "control playback, set EQ, control multiroom/independent playback, select preset content." How competently it does the latter or anything else is beyond my knowledge.

BTW, do you have a computer that you could directly attach to your amp or DAC? If so, then an app is all you need.

 

[Hollywood]

I have no knowledge of that device, so I cannot comment beyond what I see on the referenced page.

That said, I see that it supports " USB flash drive, NAS" and that will allow you to access your source files. I see that it has analog and digital outputs that will allow you to play through a directly connected amp and/or DAC. It also has an app that allows you to "control playback, set EQ, control multiroom/independent playback, select preset content." How competently it does the latter or anything else is beyond my knowledge.

BTW, do you have a computer that you could directly attach to your amp or DAC? If so, then an app is all you need.

It seems like accessing your own files does not seem popular anymore. It's all about streaming now. I do have several video streaming services and my internet company never complains about usage, but I just like having my own music library. The apps I have on my phone for the music on my chip are amazing. The sorting by Artist, Album, Song, and search, and artwork are what I want in an app.

Currently I have several Bluetooth speakers and receivers, and a few old phones with microSD cards just used for my music. It would be nice to have all of the content on one network drive that I could update once and be available to all my players.

I think the device I listed will at least let me access the music as files, but hopefully as tagged files with art too. I guess I will order the cheaper model and hope it does that. If so I could order more units and the better model for my primary stereo(s). If not, not a lot lost.

I had Laser Eye Surgery a year ago, so using my phone rather then a tablet is no longer an issue. Life is good that these are my issues.

I don't want to go the computer route, just a "streamer" at the locations I listen to music at. I hope this goes well. I will let you know.

Thanks again!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

It seems like accessing your own files does not seem popular anymore. It's all about streaming now.

Depends on who/where you ask. I rarely stream and, then, only to discover new releases. The vast majority of the time, I listen to what is in my own library of ripped or downloaded files.

The apps I have on my phone for the music on my chip are amazing. The sorting by Artist, Album, Song, and search, and artwork are what I want in an app.

There are similar apps for a computer/server (which can be controlled from your phone/tablet) that are vastly more powerful for sorting, organizing, displaying and tagging your files than phone-based apps. In fact, there are some that will run from a suitable NAS keeping everything on the network and in one box.

 

[Hollywood]

In fact, there are some that will run from a suitable NAS keeping everything on the network and in one box.

Can you point me to a few of those Android apps that will work with a NAS?
Thanks.

 

[mtemur]

You can use roon for this purpose. Additionally roon has a new feature that lets you stream your files from your computer or storage on the go. I mean you can stream music from your house via roon to your phone while you’re basically anywhere in the world.

Another option with a much better sound (at least for my taste) is Audirvana. It has a remote app for ios and android. It has two options one is for streaming files stored on a drive other option extends it’s functionality by adding streaming from a service.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welcome to WBF, Hollywood!

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Can you point me to a few of those Android apps that will work with a NAS?
Thanks.

They are not Android apps. They are apps that run on the NAS which can be controlled by the phone. For example, I run can JRiver on my QNAP NAS and control it with an Android or iPhone. There are other apps like Roon and Plex that will also run on QNAP or other NAS drives.

 

[Hollywood]

You can use roon for this purpose. Additionally roon has a new feature that lets you stream your files from your computer or storage on the go. I mean you can stream music from your house via roon to your phone while you’re basically anywhere in the world.

Another option with a much better sound (at least for my taste) is Audirvana. It has a remote app for ios and android. It has two options one is for streaming files stored on a drive other extend it’s functionality adding streaming from a streaming service.

I tried those per your reply but it asked to join my PC share, not my network drive. I probably didn't understand it. I think I need a dedicated streamer device, and I tried one yesterday which was a major fail! I will post about that below in another post. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Hollywood]

They are not Android apps. They are apps that run on the NAS which can be controlled by the phone. For example, I run can JRiver on my QNAP NAS and control it with an Android or iPhone. There are other apps like Roon and Plex that will also run on QNAP or other NAS drives.

hmmmm..... I will google those. I appreciate your help and suggestions!

 

[Hollywood]

Welcome to WBF, Hollywood!

Thanks!

 

[Hollywood]

As an example, after asking my question, I found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Preamplifier-Multiroom-Radio-Arylic-S50-Pro/dp/B083ZR4SKR/ref=sr_1_9?crid=BAX2Y696VDW5&keywords=Wireless%2BStreamer&qid=1680296936&s=electronics&sprefix=wireless%2Bstreamer%2Celectronics%2C128&sr=1-9&th=1

There are two models that are at a price point I would like. I expect good sound quality, but at my age I am not able to appreciate the difference an expensive DAC would make.

OK, I ordered and tried the $80 device (S10) and just returned it.
It met ALL of my needs and initial sound quality was fine, but I just tested it for a short time. I was easy to install and found my network drive library via the app. The device was not meant to have physical contact for daily usage, but the build quality was fine. It had 1/8" plugs for the analog I/O and that indicates it is not meant to be audiophile quality.

I wanted to access my music by Artist>Album>Track with artwork, and it allowed that (from the network drive). I have a lot of content, but there was no way to jump to an alphabetic section, just strolling. Once I chose a track to play, it played as expected, but pressing on other tracks were unresponsive most of the time. I was persistent and don't know if it worked after 30 seconds or more, OR if because I stopped the current track. OR left the screen section and returned, but it was buggy and unusable.

I also tried to access the music on my phone. It was even worst! Slow, but showed Tracks as default instead of Artists. That screen did have a A-Z index on the right side of the screen, but I could not choose anything to play. I played with this long enough to allow for it to index that library IF that was the problem but there was no indication it was doing that.

While on the phones local files, I eventually got it to list Artists, but they were listed Z-A with nothing showing how to list ascending. Ultimately I never got my phone's tracks to play.

Under Settings, the only option was to submit Feedback.

Getting back to using the network drive library, you can browse while playing music, but it was slow, didn't work or was buggy. But on the Player screen (screen showing current track) you could press NEXT or PRIOR track and it changed the track as fast as expected and consistently, so I know it is not my network SSD or router.

Bottom line, the device was well thought out, and although the app was very underwhelming, it had the necessary functions, It just didn't work.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I tried those per your reply but it asked to join my PC share, not my network drive. I probably didn't understand it.

Probably. You can access the NAS by a number of different labels and you do not need another device.

 

[Hollywood]

Update: I installed streamers at 6 locations around my house. I initially tried Arylic and had issues (see post #14). I then tried the WiiM Pro. It had the same issues, but after about 1.5 hours, I tried it again before returning it and it was mostly working properly.

I had a spare router and plugged it into the back of my primary router. The 2nd router just has the USB SSD attached with my music library to be used as a dedicated server. Also since I installed it, the WiiM device got a firmware update. Between the two, everything was now perfect.

I have 3 WiiM Pro's and a WiiM mini in the house. For my bathroom and garage where I don't need high end audio or features, I used AudioCast brand that were only $39 each! The best part they all can be controlled with the one WiiM app (I did need the AudioCast app to do the initial setup on those 2 devices), including playing the same music in more then one location. Most 3rd party apps did not have that feature.

I don't know why I had such a bad time with the Arylic and WiiM app at first. Perhaps it took an hour or more to index the music files? I don't know, but it really was unusable. Now that it works, it is actually very good and well thought out.

I was able to control the 6 devices with other apps, BubbleUpNp, Hi-Fi Cast, and MediaMonkey. They all had some good features, but missing others. All in all, even though I actually paid for those 3 apps, I find myself using the free WiiM app exclusively.

I came here to be steered in the right direction. I achieved my goal. I now have all of my music in one location, can control it (including the volume) from my phone or tablet, and playback is not disturbed by calls or notifications.

Thanks to all that helped here!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C1ZS1L3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJDY6D1W?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HC5GRKY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details