man

Thanks eclectic - do I need or download and/or install something in dietpi to get Spotify Connect running?

eclectic - I have RoonBridge on dietpi running on RPi3. I would love to use Spotify Connect also. Is it possible to have Roon and Spotify Connect running (available to use) at the same time? Or do you need to shut one down somehow to use the other?

I enjoyed my Caps with Sotm usb card connected directly to various dacs for several years. I recently repurposed the Caps as a Roon server feeding a RPi and Allo Digi. I am getting better sound quality now with this combination than I ever did using the Caps to feed via usb to dacs.

Allo DigiOne board and $5 monoprice 75ohm cable.

Thanks. So what would the preferred method be for my setup, to keep Media Server turned off and boot into Media Center, or turn on Media Server and and boot into Media Server only?

I have a CAPS headless running JRiver, music files are on a NAS, and I control JRiver with either JRemote on an iPad or Gizmo on a Android tablet. CAPS in connected directly to Bifrost DAC via USB. Simple, works great, and fiddle free. For a long time I have had JRiver set to start in Media Server only on windows boot. I recently discovered that instead of starting in Media Server mode I can set JRiver to start in Media Center only on windows boot. My question is - does it matter which mode of JRiver it boots into? It seems to function exactly the same either way from what I can tell when running headless and controlling via my tablets. But I think I have noticed a little better sound quality when it is running Media Center, vs. just Media Server. Is that just my ears playing tricks on me?

I felt fairly confident about my digital audio knowledge until I read this thread..

Agreed. Minimserver does its job perfectly on my Qnap NAS. I've also used BubbleUPNP Server which allows access to music on your NAS when not connected to your home network as long as you are using the BubbleUPNP as the player on your mobile device.

Not sure about your specific questions, but FWIW I used the Music Station and Q Music apps with my Qnap NAS and didn't find them to be worth the trouble. I've had much more success and stability using other solutions like JRiver, Foobar, JRemote, Gizmo, PlugPlayer, and BubbleUPNP.

Would the Teradak X1 8.5V DC out power a SOTM usb card properly? Looks like the cable included with it will fit the SOTM, and the voltage is right in the range of the SOTM. I'm not sure about the amps since the SOTM specs aren't really clear. Has anyone tried it with the SOTM or have an opinion if it should work?

John and rikhav, Were you able to purchase with Paypal or did you use a credit card? I tried to go through PP and the vendor was not able to accept payments. thanks

rikhav - Are you using the Teradac that you linked to with a pi? And did you need to make any adjustments to it, or just plug the pi into the 5V usb power output and that's it? - Thanks

Agreed that there is no right answer to your question, really boils down to what you want to do. I built a CAPS server a couple of years ago and have enjoyed it completely. I'd never built a computer of any kind before, and a combination of wanting to have a "high end" music only PC plus just the curiosity of wanting to build one made me dive in. Have done a few hardware and software tweaks on it since then and it has been a central point of my music system. Since then, again out of sheer curiosity I bought a RP2, dac+, and digi+, and have been amazed how such a simple and inexpensive setup sounds so good. Also bought a Chromecast Audio, again just curious to see what $35 would perform, and with toskink to my DAC even this thing sounds pretty darn good. If I could go back and only spend the money on one of these solutions, I don't think I would. It's been the journey of building/buying/testing that was intersting to me. If I had to choose best performance for least money - would probably be the RPi2 with Digi+. But right now the CAPS is downstairs with the main system, and the RP2 is upstairs with the headphone rig, so i'm happy with both.

Introduce a youngster to how good their digital/streaming music sounds through a dac, amp, and speakers.

I have compared my RP2/Moode/Hifiberry Dac+ running into my Brio R vs. my CAPS/Sotm usb/Bifrost uber into the BrioR and under very careful listening I cannot determine a difference. Both sound very good, and i thought for sure the Pi setup would lose out in the comparison it did not. Has anyone compared the Dac+ to the Digi+? I'm curious if the Digi+ into the Bifrost would be any improvement over the Dac+.