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DIGITAL HIGH-RES AUDIO SYSTEM -HELP PLEASE

I need your expert advice on building a 24 bit/96Khz, 24/192Khz max, computer based home audio system I'd like to integrate into my home audio/ht system. I'm not totally clueless on what I need but I could definitely use some advice and direction as well as helpful tips. I have a fairly good audio system I currently use for ht and music playback. So, I'm not starting from scratch but want to incorporate computer audio and WAV and FLAC file streaming and storage into my system. Video streaming and storage can wait for a future time.

My current system consists of the following:
Plasma HDTV
Full 5.1 surround setup (5 spkrs and 1 subwoofer with in-ceiling surrounds).
Three separate stereo amps that power the main l/r, subwoofer/ center and l/r surrounds.
Directv satellite source (box has HDMI and digital audio output)
Older DVD/CD player as source used for movies and music.
Surround sound processor (older unit with just coax and optical audio inputs/outputs, no HDMI or USB inputs/outputs).
Separate tube preamp with HT Passthru. I'd run computer analog outputs to this for 2-channel listening.

For computer audio I already have some components:

Newer Laptop with 4 USB2.0 ports, dual core processor, 2 GB RAM and 110 GB internal hard-drive that can be solely devoted to a computer audio system(only 35 GB free on HD, however).
Wireless high-speed LAN with smart HDTV already attached and streaming Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Amazon Prime to the tv and laptop.
JRiver v19.0 media player installed but no downloads yet and only a handful of cds ripped.
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 24 bit/192khz DAC.

My current budget is only about $1,500 and was thinking my next steps should be to:
A. Buy a new or used Oppo BDP-103 or, preferably a BDP-105 to replace my DacMagic and Sony DVD,CD player and get at least into 21st century technology.
B. Buy a NAS next to connect via USB to my laptop when more funds become available.

So, please let me know the following:

1. Am I thinking correctly and on the right path with buying an Oppo followed by a NAS?
2. Is there a method to connect my laptop, and future NAS wirelessly to the Oppo? I'm currently running a 12ft USB cable from my laptop to my DAC. I know cabled is better than wireless but curious how much better.
3. Any suggestions for a good, affordable NAS?
4. Does the Oppo BDP-105 have internal surround sound decoding capability that would allow me to run analog cables to my 3 HT amps directly from its analog outputs and substitute for my Parasound processor?

Thanks in advance for any advice and guidance.
Tim



128x128noble100
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
2,419 posts
 

Woops, just realized the Synology is $199 and without hard drives. 2 hard drives would cost another $200 plus. This would drive the total cost to about $1,600 which may be close enough. I don't want to skimp on quality since excellent sq is very important to me.

Thanks,
Tim
gz3827
232 posts
 
If you do buy a 105 (which is a great value product no matter how you cut it), one thought to avoid going over budget might be to put the Synology NAS aspect of your plan on the back burner for the time being and instead just buy two external USB harddrives for a total outlay of $150 or less. This would be a less costly way to "get your feet wet." Who knows, you may find after delving into this brave new world that you prefer dealing with physical CDs rather than digital files.
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
If you are going NAS then make sure you implement a Raid Mirror - I've had to re-load all my CD's because of disk failure - a raid mirror will protect against a single HD failure and recover from it without any re-loading - just replace the defective hard drive!

Is off-ramp critical? - I do not believe so, since I do not have it in my digital layback system (but I'm looking into it :-)

It can be added later, it really depends on how good YOU want your digital music to sound?

Get your feet wet first then look into refinements.

Regards...
noble100's avatar
noble100 OP
2,419 posts
 

Hi Williewonka,

Thanks for the info, I will definitely implement a Raid Mirror. Is this something you can implement on any NAS or is it only available on certain NAS units? Sorry, but I'm a rookie at this right now.

Thanks,
Tim
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
The spec on the NAS will state whether it has RAID quite clearly - you only
need "RAID 0" - the ability to mirror.

The D-Link NAS supports Raid and are very easy to setup.

You might want to go to a good computer store since there are better
quality drives suited to raid - only a couple of bucks more, but will last
much longer that drives suited to desktop computers

The Seagate Constellation line of drives are "enterprise drives" suited to
Raid. They are not as fast as other drives but very durable - 2 Tb $135 or
thereabouts. Take a look at the seagate site for details

Regards
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