Hifi music streaming

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Elwood

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#271701 23-May-2020 07:09

I’m looking to upgrade to a home hifi music streaming/network setup. Keen to broaden my music experience through using Spotify but also keep playing my existing digital music collection (currently on an iPod connected to my amplifier).

I’m assuming this requires a form of Internet-enabled hard disk component... grateful for any thoughts on what I should look for!

jonathan18

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#2489899 23-May-2020 07:43

A bit more detail may help, as the options available are fairly wide, and the costs even wider! Does it need to be multi room? Do you have a NAS or a computer that could act as one? Do you want a one-box solution that includes hard drive storage for your current music?

At the relatively basic end is adding ‘smarts’ to your existing setup, which is what I’ve elected to do. We have Chromecast Audios attached to six stereos in different rooms. This enables any music to be sent to any combination of these, controlled by any phone, tablet, laptop or Google Home device. Music source can be pretty much anything that can be cast, but of course apps like a Spotify have Chromecasting built in. I use an app on my phone called Hifi Cast to play ripped audio sitting on a NAS, but equally that could be from a computer fulfilling the same role, or just stored and streamed from a phone.

There are lots of advantages to this sort of approach, including it’s easily scalable (we just added Chromecasts over time), it’s cheap, doesn’t require replacing existing equipment, it’s easy to use, you can elect to let guests use it via their own phone, it can easily be voice controlled...

billgates

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#2489920 23-May-2020 07:58

Sonos.

Do whatever you want to do man.

robbon44

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#2489935 23-May-2020 08:58

HEOS.

I also have a portable hard drive plugged directly in to my amp. I can add music to the drive over wifi. If i buy anything new.

I tend to just stream music now tho. Spotify.

Having HEOS based equipment means I can also choose where to play the music, bedroom, lounge, patio etc.

cyril7

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#2489941 23-May-2020 09:18

Hi, so to add another name, I use Musicast which is a Yamaha product. On my main HiFi setup (well HiFi for my ears) I have a Musicast WXAD10 adaptor which provides full musicast features to my older/analog HiFi amplifier, but from the link you can see you can get Musicast built into a wide range of products. I also have a couple of Musicast20WX speakers for taking outdoors.

As with Sonos, HEOS or other similar products you can operate each Musicast device on its own with different music or music sources played at each site, or you can link them to give you full house sound from a single source, linking and unlinking is a single button action. Musicast is controlled by a Muscast app on iOS or Android, when you use a service like Spotify it actually uses the Spotify app on your phone and cast in a identical manner to Chromecasting.

To feed the Musicast system I have a DLNA server running on a Ubuntu server in the basement, however unless you are particularly Linux savey you might instead elect to go with a Synology NAS to provide that service. I recently Rip'd over 300 CD's that I have collected over the years using FLAC to my server, in addition I can steam from Spotify or Tidal, or for me most often I stream the BBC Radio3 HD feed, which is an AAC 384kb/s service and the sound quality is impressive for a radio service.

Edit: just a point, I have used EasternHiFi simply as its website indicates NZ pricing, I have no affiliation with them, and as for the Synology, you would need to add a couple of WD Reds or Seagate IronWolfs in Raid 1.

Cyril

jandal160165

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#2493146 27-May-2020 20:25

https://shop.max2play.com/en/hifiberry-amp2-bundle.html

Pedro
Huawei P20, H96Max, Smart Modem 3, HiFiberry, Pi3b+,

bendud

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#2493186 27-May-2020 21:46

Can you give us more of a steer on what you are after?

i.e. I assume you don't want to leave iPod as storage but want to run an app on your phone that allows you to control remotely from a server? I also assume all your existing music is in MP3 or ALAC on the iPod rather than e.g on a networked computer?

Do you have anything on the iPod that isn't on Spotify? If not, just use Spotify :-) at this point all you need is a way of getting Spotify on to your existing hifi. Lots of cheap Sonos Connects available on the second hand market at very low prices, as they don't run the yet-to-be -released Sonos 2 software, but they will continue to run Sonos One (which is still excellent) for the foreseeable. Connect Connect to your hifi by optical or coax and you are sorted.

Depending on your existing hifi, I guess you may want to spend between $50 and $5000+ on a streamer for Spotify. There's a huge range. If you have a really good hifi then the new Audiolab streamer is well priced for more audiophile gear; the Cambridge Audio ones similarly. Go nuts and buy a Naim ND5! More realistically there are streamers on sale at all sorts of places. A budget range would help :-)

If you don't want to use your existing amp and speakers it's easy: Wildash (on the usual market site ) have some well priced Bluesound units if you want a separate speaker, or get a $278 Sonos 1 SL, or most of the above suggestions re Heos.

cheers

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Dunnersfella

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#2493251 28-May-2020 00:06

I will add... Not the Audiolab, for the love of all things holy, not the Audiolab.

PlayFi is not an eco-system I would be recommending anyone investing in.

Sure IAG (the parent company who buys defunct or struggling audio brands to then re-market them) pays What HiFi? an arm and a leg for good reviews... but it certainly won't make it a decent investment IF anyone is dumb enough to import the brand into NZ again.

Apart from that - without a budget and more info on the current rig owned by the OP, this question won't really ever get answered.

bendud

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#2493338 28-May-2020 08:41

I wasn't expecting to touch quite that nerve! I agree about IAGs magical hold over WHiFi's content but am well disposed to Audiolab based on an (admittedly very old) 8000 series pre/power combo that was great. I suspect "they aren't what they used to be", from your response!

For audio "mesh" I think one of Sonos, Heos or Bluesound would be the proprietary ecosystems I would recommend - especially Bluesound if Roon is important to you (at which point Tidal not Spotify probably the way forward). The only problem is the kids would revolt if I dropped Spotify, and the Naim app is better integrated with Spotify than Tidal too. It was all so much easier when you bought the big thing of vinyl and then taped it to give to your mates... :-)

From the Antarctic Riviera

JimmyH

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#2494380 29-May-2020 14:56

I picked up a bunch (seven in fact) of Panasonic's streaming units in sales a couple of years ago. They use the Qualcomm Allplay protocol which other manufacturers also use. The ones I have All1C bridges that connect to existing speakers/HiFis using RCA jacks), as well as stand-alone speakers (the All3, Alll8 and All9 models), and a battery powered portable one (the All5). The hardware and sound quality are first rate (both the the speakers and DACs are first class) although, in vintage Panasonic style, while the hardware is great the app is a bit clunky. They:

connect to the network wired or wirelessly, and can connect to a local source via a wire (3.5mm jack) or bluetooth;
group well - including allowing a bluetooth/wired connection to one speaker to be re-streamed to the rest; and
support playing music off local devices (phones), network attached DLNA servers, and internet sources like Spotify and TuneIn Radio.

I also have a Chromecast Audio connected to one of them, which lets me originate content using Google Assistant or casting from an App, and re-stream it around the house if I want to.

I'm not sure if they are still available. But if you see one on sale at a decent price I recommend them.