Question About External Storage...

[Moosbrugger]

Can an external drive send a signal directly out to a DAC?

 

My quest for a Mac Mini seems to be a failure. My goal is to find a way to eliminate the Apple TV from my system. Currently, I've got MBP/iTunes, streamed wirelessly through old Airport Extreme, connected to Apple TV, with optical out to Peachtree Nova.

 

If I got an external drive to host my music files, could I put that on the network so that it could be hardwired directly to the Peachtree or perhaps through the router to the Peachtree?

 

Or am I just confused.

[mwheelerk]

My understanding and I do not claim to be expert on the matter is you need a playback software to play the files which requires an OS and the files must be converted from their native format (FLAC, ALAC etc) to PCM for playback. There are Music Servers that direct connect but they essentially have there own OS and DAC to facilitate playback.

 

If this was not the case there would be little point in any of us having a computer in our system.

[Moosbrugger]

Well, I've got a MBP to run it all. But I guess the signal has to come out of the computer and directly to the DAC/Amp? How is a networked drive connected to the system? Through the router to the computer and out to the DAC/Amp?

[phatoldsun]

Well, I've got a MBP to run it all. But I guess the signal has to come out of the computer and directly to the DAC/Amp? How is a networked drive connected to the system? Through the router to the computer and out to the DAC/Amp?

Yes, you could connect a NAS via Ethernet to your AirPort Extreme, or connect an external drive to the USB input on the Extreme and put all your music there. MBP, would still connect to DAC/Amp. FWIW, I tried storing on a USB drive connected to my Extreme, and it didn't work well... Too many drop outs when on WiFi. I'm using a NAS now and it is fine, no drop outs, even with 192/24.

Some NAS have an iTunes server built in. So your Apple TV could access your music directly and be served by the NAS without the MBP. I don't think this is the solution you are looking for though. Bottom line is you need something to play the music, the drive won't do it alone.

There are refurb Mac minis on Apple.com if you are still on that quest.

[baddog]

And some NAS drives, for example some made by Synology can output directly to a DAC via USB using one of their bundled music packages. Would have to consider the viability of the control software for your purposes.