Hello, I am audiophile since years, I walked through DIY approach to manufacture two speakers and a power amp. My source has always been loseless files on a nas streamed by a netbook to a USB DAC (iDAC ARCAM). Last but not the leas I lean toward low budget options. Since the day I have a family I have less occasion to listen to music without headphones and so I am less exigent. Unfortunately since some months a strange distortion appeared during listening session. I replaced the netbook with a MAC powerbook and it disappeared. I think my very old netbook reached its substitution point: too slow to startup, no CPU power to run itunes, forced to use linux which I do not like at most.
I've been out fro the audiophile community since a while and I am not familiar with the latest evolution. I am looking for a cheap but sweet decent source, possibly keeping my ARCAM iDAC. Options I considered:
- Sonos connect or similar network streamer, but I lose the USB input of my DAC, isnt'it?
- Mini-pc assembled by myself
- Raspberry + Volumio or similar
I would not pollute this forum with generic questions, so better that advices, can some of you indicate me some treads where I can find up to date information? I repeat, I am not interested in spending thousands of €/$, but to find something cheap and effective. DIY does not scare me. I can also think about trading my iDAC for some integrated alternatives, but What I like about the iDAC is the fact that it connects to a DVD player and to the optical output of the television, whereas the USB input is connected to the computer.
I really thank you for any usefull hints.
Bye
Glicioto