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Why a digital media player instead of a dedicated computer?

I’ve been trying for some time now to better understand the value of adding a digital media player to one’s system. This is of interest to me because I listen to music entirely from high-resolution digital files. I keep reading glowing reviews of digital players like the Bryston BDP-2 but I must be missing something, because if you have a computer and a good piece of software I fail to see what the media player adds to the equation. But if there is some kind of advantage to be had, I’d like to know!

I currently store all my high-resolution music files on an external hard drive, which I then connect to a dedicated Macbook Pro running Audirvana Plus. The Macbook outputs the files to an external DAC via USB, then on to my preamp and the rest of my system. I’ve been very satisfied with this arrangement, and it can handle almost any type of file I throw at it, from 16/44.4 to DSD 5.6.

Other than being able to control the playback wirelessly, what would be the advantages, if any, of using a digital media player instead of a dedicated laptop? Is there any sonic improvement to be had over my current arrangement? Or is this simply a matter of convenience and not having to tie up a computer in my music system?

Thanks!
zm
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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,454 posts
 

Any computer will do fine and deliver top notch sound if you connect using wifi (to avoid wired connections from your hifi gear to potentially noisy computers) and are comfortable using computers including things like maintaining backups.

I use a Gateway laptop that’s about 10 years old or more and newer Seagate USB drives for storage and backup.

Bluetooth streaming is even another viable option these days, even from portable devices running applications capable of CD or higher resolution streams via network connections to a server or other good quality music streaming source. Companies like Audioengine make affordable and well received gear for Bluetooth connectivity to hifi systems.

Definitely rip and stream CDs with good quality software for higher res files and use lossless format.

I use DBpoweramp to rip and mostly older Squeeze and newer Plex systems for playback from music servers.  Plex can be run on a multitude of affordable common hardware platforms both home and mobile.

Also of course find a DAC that is to your liking.



erik_squires
16,375 posts
 
Well, you can make a very cool server out of a Raspberri Pi 3 and Ubuntu, so why not? It certainly has very low power consumption so it can be left on all the time, and has USB 2.0 ports as well.

Add Squeezelite with a Logitech Media Server 7.9 and you'll have high resolution includind DSD playback. :)

I actually think it's worth most audiophiles attempting this.  It will certainly de-mystify a lot and help reduce the perceived value of a lot of what are essentially the same idea with expensive cases.

Best,

Erik
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