What's my ideal music server? Read and recommend please


Right now I use a MacBook Pro as my server, and it drives my DAC. My MacBook Pro is getting cranky, it's storage is so full I don't have space to do a current Mac update and I am beginning to think better sound quality can be achieved than a MacBook Pro via USB to a DAC. I use JRiver media center, v.27, and right now, my JRiver and MacBook Pro aren't working properly together as I keep loosing the proper MIDI setting and get no audio output.

I'm aware of the Aurender N100H. I know that uses a USB output and I'm starting to wonder if USB is my best bet. Then I see the Aurender N100C which has a digital coax out, but that output is derived from the USB, so what's the point?

My wish list- probably no less than 2 TB storage; got to be easy to use in terms of getting music into it and playing music (downloading music from say HDTracks to JRiver is the bleeding edge of my technical skills); sound quality has to be first rate. I would also be interested in a server that has a BNC output, as a regular coaxial output can never be a true 75 ohm connection but a BNC can be. 

So- what should I have on my short list? Recommend away please, and thanks-
128x128zavato
Ok- you’re not a fan of Aurender then you say you could do better for the money.

Please suggest alternative servers

What is your DAC?

The Innuous Zen recommended above by tump350 is a great alternative for a turn-key solution, as are the Antipodes products. There are also Melco, and some other more esoteric products (Sound Galleries comes to mind).

I think there is a lot of confusion when it comes to computer based audio. My suggestion is to examine the meaning of the word "server", and with respect to music there is actually no inherent difference between "servers", as a "server" simply "serves" another computing device with an index and catalog of files. In a "pure" sense a server simply acts as a storage location for the files.

A server can also host a client, which is a software program requesting file information from the server. Or, the client can be a completely separate device thousands of miles away requesting files from the server. It doesn't really matter.

Where things get complicated, and where the differences really are within digital audio (or video for that matter) is the process between the "client" (the application requesting the files) and the "server" (the application providing the files). Ideally the "server" software interfacing the files to the "client" (receiving device) is transparent, or in other words does no modification to the file before it is transferred to the client. Some servers "transcode" or modify the file data before being sent out.

An Aurender "music server" is actually both a "server", and a "client". The files reside on an internal hard disk and are indexed by an FTP-based server software running on Linux (Ubuntu 14 or something along those lines, a few years ago). When playback is requested by the "client" (music player daemon for Linux), the files on the hard disk are transferred internally using an internal SATA bus to an SSD where they are cached for playback. The Aurender app is an FTP-based control point software which allows you to select which files the Aurender queues from the HDD ("server") to transfer to the SSD. The "client" is also known as the "player" software (in Aurender's case, Linux OS and music player daemon). 

The "client" or "player" is actually the real determining factor here, as it is what translates the file (Aurender cleverly uses the term "render", which is quite accurate) into usable audio playback information to be delivered downstream to possible additional digital signal processing, and ultimately to a digital-to-analog convertor.

Essentially you are already doing the same thing with JRiver using a Mac, which I suppose you didn't need me to explain. There are some nuances to what Aurender is doing, but try a dual-boot to Ubuntu on your Mac with MPD (and no other programs running) with the same files. It's a bit more work, but money saved...

In a sense Aurender is not much different than a typical computer running Linux because they use standard (non-bespoke) bus interfaces and PC componentry which is nothing particularly special. The parts Aurender uses as storage, RAM, and CPU are all off-the-shelf (and quite outdated in some cases); the exception is that they do have a specialty supplier for their own mainboards, which is commendable.

Those of us who have spent a lot of time with digital music playback will be able to elucidate why a better approach is, and has been, to focus on the "client" and not the "server".

Aurender themselves are very aware of this as I would guess a majority of their users have moved to Tidal or Qobuz streaming, meaning the "server" is what Tidal and Qobuz are providing, and their "client" (player) software is still retrieving files in a cache on the SSD. The extra dollars spent on storage are a waste at this juncture. 

What audio and music enthusiasts need to realize is that audio companies packaging computer parts one can purchase from NewEgg or Amazon into their products should consider what they are offering and claiming before doing so. Better architecture already exists, and instead of learning and adapting, companies like Aurender are remaining steadfast in their flawed ideas about what they believe are flawed ideas. (Their refusal to adapt Roon in any meaningful way is evidence of this, and I am not a user nor a fan of Roon in particular). Unfortunately as network topology and implementation improve, the problems Aurender was trying to solve with their customer base will end up backfiring as now a user is stuck with a brick that sounds worse when disks are spinning (this is noticeably audible and demonstrable), thus rendering (no pun intended, surely) the product more or less useless if used in a true TCP/IP "server" manner (UPnP, DLNA, or other Peer-to-peer file transfer). Further the product was never designed to be used in a NAS-like fashion meaning the ultimate reliability is unproven as what I would actually call a "server" (i.e. always on, reliable, immediate).

Why not continue to use your Mac with an external hard disk or USB/thunderbolt storage (sky is the limit there), park it on your network (in other words keep it as a server), install a UPnP software (sounds like you already have it with JRiver), and use a UPnP renderer to deliver digital to your DAC?

Purported sound quality differences between files stored on any number of commodity NAS products or PC/Mac computers while using a true TCP/IP network-based delivery system are negligible, assuming the network, server and client software, and associated components are configured properly.

The main issue with USB is noise. The main issue with SPDIF is clock synchronization. Audio over IP is the real future, just look at the list of manufacturers implementing the Dante protocol into their product.

https://www.audinate.com/meet-dante/dante-manufacturers-list

Aurender has already apparently implemented Ravenna (similar to Dante) which makes their product seemingly even more obsolete - why buy a box with a bunch of useless storage on board if that storage can be remotely located with absolutely no "downtime" due to "spinning disk noise"? 

Besides Dante and Audio over IP, look into Linn, Naim, Sim Audio Moon, Sonore Rendu, Auralic, Lumin, Bryston, DIY Raspberry Pi, BluSound based offerings, and other similar UPnP/ethernet based products. Many of them have SPDIF outputs for external DACs. Most of the built-in DACs on the products which offer them outperform the standalone DACs many people are using anyway (mainly due to elimination of the two problems mentioned above with USB and/or SPDIF). 

I would probably have a more specific recommendation were I to know which DAC and the rest of the system, and network and such as well. 

Anyway feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further, or I can continue here.

Ironlung- thanks for your considered response. I own a Bricasti M1; my entire system is on my profile. 

Ironlung- thanks for your considered response. I own a Bricasti M1; my entire system is on my profile. 

Cool, what a nice piece. I've only heard the Bricasti stuff here and there, but it's quite amazing and I think you should certainly consider a better delivery system. 

I didn't see a BNC connection on that particular piece. If you're using SPDIF i'd suggest a Linn or Naim streamer (used or new, with SPDIF out). Some of the early Uniti products have a BNC connection; and the Majik and Akurate Linn products have SPDIF outputs. 

Forewarning - I don't like the Naim app much, but it works. Linn's apps are a bit better. BluSound options from Sim Audio and NAD are also quite nice and I think just as relevant to your application. Also look at the Bryston BDP-3. 

USB is a little trickier and is only necessary if you want to play files beyond 24/192kHz PCM or DSD. In that case I might suggest looking into a custom/DIY solution or one of the higher end alternatives already mentioned (Innuous in particular).

I just think there are many other alternatives if you take a bit of time to plan things out which will provide you with more musical enjoyment and additional flexibility (i.e. Roon, other control point options, etc.). I wanted Aurender to succeed, at one point, but I think they are getting in their own way now.
My M1 has a BNC connection- 

I seem to have a lot of options. I like both Sim and Bryston and I have a friend who sells both Naim and Linn. I suppose a streamer with an NAS is the functional equivalent of a server such as the Innous 
Have you looked into what the capabilities of the M1's MDx processor module upgrade are?

https://bricasti.com/en/consumer/mdx.php

Looking into the owner's manuals, you can use the Bricasti as a network DAC for a UPnP/DLNA server. 

My guess is that if you discussed this with the folks at Bricasti, I would not be surprised if they consider this the best sound quality option for the M1 DAC, and you can then explore a good NAS option. If you wanted to get "audiophile", the Innuos products would probably work best.

The Innuous products are functionally an integrated NAS without a bunch of storage options on board. There are many Linn and Naim users who host their UPnP server on an Innuos or other products like it (Melco). I would not be surprised to find other Bricasti owners to be using the MDx with an Innous or other NAS using UPnP/DLNA and getting exceptional results.

On this note, this is also to me a huge blind spot on the part of Aurender. There is absolutely no technical reason Aurender could not include a feature to install a DLNA/UPnP media server on any generation of music server they have produced. It's a Linux machine running Ubuntu after all. Why not give a customer the flexibility to use the product in a different way if they decide to move/upgrade from a USB-based DAC to a network-based DAC? It's plainly obvious by now to anyone paying attention that network based delivery, whether it's UPnP/DLNA, Ravenna, Dante, Roon, or whatever comes down the pike, is how DAC manufacturers (including Bricasti) are improving their products and bringing them to the future. An Aurender customer owning an M1 DAC wishing to experience the MDx upgrade will be left sitting on a brick which can't deliver files over a network connection in any meaningful way. Sure, the Aurender software is nice, but there are plenty of easy to use media software apps. Their attitude is actually quite tone deaf, as is shown by their introduction of products which are essentially an Aurender-only, glorified NAS drive with CD ripping (the ACS10 and ACS100). Cornering these products to solely the Aurender ecosystem is a foolish approach, when they have plenty of capability to run a Roon Core or UPnP/DLNA server and give clients much more flexibility.