Streaming DSD from Linux - Not as hard as I thought!

You might care about this even if you are a Windows / Mac person because Linux PC's are ridiculously cheap, like $100 or less if you go with a Raspberry Pi3.

Since I want to game and do video streaming I didn't go that cheap though. I got a mini case with a mini ITX motherboard and installed Ubuntu 16 on it. The music part of this was super easy. The hard part was getting the video and Steam games set up. This is the reason why I didn't go full miniature server, I want to do games and online video from the PC.

Anyway, I downloaded Logitech Media Server 7.9, and Squeezelite.  Enabled DSD plugin on LMS, and used the -D switch on Squeezelite.  I used a USB 3.0 hub so I could hide the PC in a cabinet, and pull the connection out to the audio gear. Set my Mytek Brooklyn DAC to USB and like Magic, it all works.  I also can use the Android app Squeezer to control it, as well as the Web interface.

I spent around $500 for the complete set up, including an A10 CPU, motherboard, 650 watt power supply, case, 2 TB hard drive, and DVD drive so I can rip CD's.

I may also do a raspberri Pi solution to make the music independent.  One thing that I don't like about my current set up is I have to disable Squeezelite to do video/games. It hogs the audio connection.  Having a mini, cheap player dedicated to music won't sound better, but it will make switching sources easier.

Best,

Erik