Old Man

DavidL, Cebolla,and jriver, Sorry to be so long in responding to you, but Life sometimes has a way of setting its own priorities. Re the powerline connection, I tried such a connection several years ago, and found it lacking. Nevertheless, the technology has advanced and not only has it's own specifications, it's apparently on the third generation of specs. I suppose it's not asking too much to check out a technology once every 10 years. Cebolla, your description in terms of UPnP/DLNA functionality has given me a much better sense of functional purposes and a more appropriate vocabulary to discuss them. As for your point about the DAC function, you are absolutely correct: there's no need for an analog signal until the music is on its way out of digital-land. Jriver, I have approximately 550 CDs to archive to FLAC. Additionally, I have about 400 vinyl albums to capture for inclusion into the collection. This is gonna keep be busy for a long time. As with any long-term project, things will (not maybe, will) change while it's ongoing. About the only things I expect to remain constant throughout are use of FLAC, and ending up with my stereo (and I'm not so sure that the stereo won't change). I really want to get started, so I've decided on the following initial configuration and tools. The database will consist of FLAC files on a 4T networked drive attached to my ASUS wireless router. I will use dBpoweramp running on my Dell Precision T3500 to rip the music. At first, I will use a Dell laptop connected wirelessly to the database. (The first change may be to using a powerline network, if it seems worthwhile.) First I will attach the laptop to the stereo via the laptop's minijack, but soon I will attach a USB soundcard to the laptop (I'm considering the Sound Blaster X-Fi HD) and connect the sound card to my stereo via RCA. I will run either dBpoweramp or MediaMonkey on the laptop in order to access and play the FLAC from the networked database. This is my baseline. I can get it up and running by the end of the week, and go from there as needed. Thanks to you, I have not only contingencies, but a growth path. I'm open to comments and pitches for specific changes (jriver, any comment on dBpoweramp?). Thanks for all your thoughtful comments. I'll probably be posting soon on more limited topics (i.e., the individual pieces).

David, The bridge is an interesting option for the wireless connectivity. But I would expect -- and maybe I'm wrong -- that a network music player would already have this connectivity. As for using my desktop: this is not feasible as it is nowhere near the stereo. Besides, the plan has as a requirement, the need to function independently of my desktop. FWIW, I do not, and -- unless absolutely forced to -- will not use any Apple product. This is my own prejudice, if you will, and will sustain no argument. The big problem really seems to be the navigation of the music archive.

Thanks, David and Cebolla, you both are centering in on my main problem. As far as NAS goes, I'm going to start with the 4T on the wireless router; it's probably good enough for my meager needs, but if not I'll throw an old desktop I've got into the mix for handling networked HD. So now assume that I've gotten the songs ripped to FLAC and they're just sitting there on the networked drive waiting to be played. At this point I can play them on my desktop or any device that can directly access the HD and play FLAC. That means what's left is to put something between the wireless NAS and the stereo. What ever this is (or these are), it must 1) be able to connect wirelessly (ethernet is not an option) to the network; 2) be able to easily access and review the archived music in various ways (by artist, genre, etc.) with support for not only ad hoc play selection, but also play lists; 3) be FLAC capable (this assumes the DAC function to be incorporated into the player); 4) support some sort of connection to the stereo, presumably RCA or optical. A network music player certainly can handle items 1 and 4, and probably 3. However, they seem to be challenged by item 2. Please remember that I cannot use a smart phone to run the network music player. However, if the network music player app can be run on a tablet running Win8.1, then perhaps the solution is to use a network music player for the connections, but run the player (or, rather, control the player) via a tablet. For Cebolla: Computerized Musical Onion? Thanks for the comments.

Thanks for the quick response. Why would you want to connect the HD to the router only to send the files back to the computer and then back to the router and the tablet? Sorry, perhaps I didn't explain this well. Nothing is going back. The purpose of the drive on the wireless router is to have a centralized place to operationally share the data with multiple devices, and to not require any particular device (other than the wireless router) to be on and available. Hence, my questioning the need for the disk to be configured as a media server as opposed to just as another available network disk. My desktop and the tablet are not the only devices that would access the music. Also, the stereo is in a different part of the house, and I cannot run cables to it, so the wireless connection is required. And neither bluetooth or especially the headphones outlet of your tablet would be ideal for connecting to your stereo. Oops. I don't understand why this is true, but, then again, I don't have to. I'm new to this and have asked for help; I'm sure I'll learn eventually. You should buy a network player with or without built-in DAC. There are plenty of options these days. Connect to the router and run a server (Asset Music Server f.x.) on the computer and connect your hard drive with the music files to that computer instead. Hmmmm. I'm not sure I follow you here, so I'll try to restate this so you understand what I'm hearing. 1. Get a network player. 2. Connect the network player to the stereo via cable (e.g., RCA, rather than Bluetooth or stereo headphone cable) and to the router via wireless. 3. Move the drive to my desktop. 4. Run a server on my desktop. Here's more evidence that I didn't explain my situation well. My aim is twofold. First, to establish a shareable, always-available, centralized operational storage (as opposed to backup storage, which is handled separately) for my music files (and perhaps video, someday) that does not depend upon any given device's availability on the network (e.g., I can shut down my desktop and still listen to music on my stereo) except, of course, for the wireless router/ disk. Second, I need a method of connecting my stereo to that centralized operational storage. Looking at the pieces of your suggestion, your solution seems physically similar to mine, except for the network player. Well, I'm open to acquiring the needed gear. The other difference is that you suggest I dump the tablet, and use only my desktop. Sorry I hadn't explained the need for this to work independently of my desktop. I'm not sure I really understand all the functions of a network player, but it seems to me that it provides a wireless connection to a stereo that supports stored music as well as internet radio. Having access to internet radio would be a nice plus. The problem I see (and remember I'm half-blind, here) is that they have only a small dot-matrix screen to work with, and I would like much more robust navigation of my music collection. For various reasons, a smart phone cannot be involved in any way (e.g., to run an app for music navigation); that is the basis for my choice of a tablet running player software. So it seems that a network music player may need to be part of the solution. I'll look into them more closely. I appreciate the advice, and thanks for your quick response.

I've been wading through the process of getting my music from its source to an archive and then to my stereo's speakers. So far this is what I've got figured out (I think). 1. Use dBpoweramp to convert CD's to FLAC. (I've tried EAC, but I prefer dBpoweramp.) 2. Attach 4T of disk to my Asus RT-AC87U wireless router, and configure the disk as a media server in the router. I must admit that I don't really know why I need to configure the disk as a media server in the router: after all, it's just a network attached disk, and the player will attach to it like any other disk. Nevertheless, the router provides this capability so I guess I'll see how it works. 3. Use player software TBD (MediaMonkey, J Rivers MC, FUBAR2000, etc.) that is compatible with my desktop and also a tablet (Win 8.1?). The tablet will be dedicated to its role as a media server/player. 4. Connect the tablet to my stereo somehow (Bluetooth or cable from tablet's headphone jack). Actually this a bit of a simplification: the tablet will really be one of 4 devices (the tablet, a CD player, an iPod, and a turntable) attached to a switch attached to the stereo. Is this plan feasible? Any pieces missing? Is there a better way to do it? Any comments and recommendations will be appreciated.