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Best configuration to stream music from the network

post #1 of 7
3/10/11 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
I have a Synology NAS device on which all of my media files are stored. Note that this NAS unit has USB ports that can ouput to "USB speakers" (just an external soundcard, really). I also have a WD TV Live that I use to watch movies and listen to music on the TV in the living room. Most of my music are FLAC files.

I'll be moving into a house in a few weeks and I want to buy an A/V receiver that will allow me to listen to my music with the highest sound quality for my money. I have thought of three ways of doing this:

1) plug the WD TV Live in the receiver with an HDMI cable. Will the WD TV Live simply decode the files and redirect the audio output to the receiver without altering it? That would be the least expensive way of doing this as I wouldn't have to buy anything else.

2) buy a networked receiver that can connect to a DLNA server. I wouldn't have to buy anything else either but is there a large premium to pay for such a receiver? It would also be nice to buy a receiver that can be controlled with an iPad application.

3) buy a standalone USB DAC (such as the High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer II) that plugs into the USB port of my NAS and into an analog input (RCA) of the receiver. Would I loose sound quality by converting to analog before getting to the receiver? Synology already has an iPad application for this.

I know the good side of each configuration, but what would be the disadvantages? Do you have other ideas?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 7
3/10/11 at 7:21pm
Only top end receivers seem to get DLNA these days. So you will be paying for a lot of other features when you get it.
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post #3 of 7
3/10/11 at 8:18pm
Have you checked out a Sonos setup?
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post #4 of 7
3/15/11 at 8:06pm
Thread Starter 
I checked the Sonos, seems pretty expensive. I don't mind "cumbersome" solutions if it saves me a lot of money and the sound quality is there.
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post #5 of 7
3/15/11 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnoyeB View Post

Only top end receivers seem to get DLNA these days. So you will be paying for a lot of other features when you get it.

Not true. Look at some of the newly announced receivers from Onkyo and Pioneer. The 609 from Onkyo and the 1021 from Pioneer all do DLNA 1.5 for around $500 which IMHO is a great deal.
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post #6 of 7
3/15/11 at 10:17pm
Maybe another option if you have or want to get a PS3. If you have an available PC on your network, you could use something like PS3 Media Server or maybe Windows Media Player to serve your media files (movies, music, etc.) to your PS3 to view on your TV and play through an A/V receiver. I actually have 2 PS3s, each in a different room, and I use PS3 Media Server to serve up my stored DVD movies and CDs that I own to either location. Just a thought.
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post #7 of 7
3/15/11 at 10:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by guilheb View Post

1) plug the WD TV Live in the receiver with an HDMI cable. Will the WD TV Live simply decode the files and redirect the audio output to the receiver without altering it? That would be the least expensive way of doing this as I wouldn't have to buy anything else.

Yes. If WDTV can decode your audio format you are good to go.

Quote:


2) buy a networked receiver that can connect to a DLNA server. I wouldn't have to buy anything else either but is there a large premium to pay for such a receiver? It would also be nice to buy a receiver that can be controlled with an iPad application.

DLNA reliability varies from machine to machine. And user interface can also vary from good to bad. So if you like the WDTV UI, it will be a better option.

Quote:


3) buy a standalone USB DAC (such as the High Resolution Technologies Music Streamer II) that plugs into the USB port of my NAS and into an analog input (RCA) of the receiver. Would I loose sound quality by converting to analog before getting to the receiver? Synology already has an iPad application for this.

If your NAS can work with USB to S/PDIF adapters, you can stay in full digital domain. Alas, I don't know of any cheap devices here that work any better than your HDMI solution.
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