Chopsrr Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 I've been searching around for information on this, and haven't quite found anything useful yet. Anywho, one of my brothers gave me a NIB Asus Chromebox PC and I would love to use it with a Schiit Modi or even my well broken-in Bifrost (temporarily) on my headphone rig in the bedroom. Right now I've been streaming my FLAC files from my NAS to an old iPad which works great and sounds pretty decent considering, but I want better. I want to use a good quality DAC in this system and just can't do it with the old iPad. My questions... 1) Does anyone know if there's any possible way of accessing the network or even the NAS and streaming those FLAC files to the Chromebox? 2) Are there any specific "apps" that can be installed that will allow this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and many thanks in advance! Digital Sources: Bluesound Node 2 w/ iFi SPDIF iPurifier | Roku Ultra NAS: Synology DS215J running MinimServer Preamp: PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC Amplification: NuPrime STA 9 x2 Loudspeakers: Sonus faber Venere 1.5 Subwoofers: JL Audio e110 x2 Remote Control: Apple iPad Mini 2 w/ BluOS Power Conditioning: APC H15 | Blue Circle Cables: Wireworld | AudioQuest | Pangea Link to comment
Chopsrr Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Anyone care to chime in? Digital Sources: Bluesound Node 2 w/ iFi SPDIF iPurifier | Roku Ultra NAS: Synology DS215J running MinimServer Preamp: PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC Amplification: NuPrime STA 9 x2 Loudspeakers: Sonus faber Venere 1.5 Subwoofers: JL Audio e110 x2 Remote Control: Apple iPad Mini 2 w/ BluOS Power Conditioning: APC H15 | Blue Circle Cables: Wireworld | AudioQuest | Pangea Link to comment
unsleepable Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 So basically what you want to do is use the Chromebox as a media server, accessing the files from the network, right? Maybe something like Plex would do, and there is also an app for it. Link to comment
Cebolla Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 So basically what you want to do is use the Chromebox as a media server, accessing the files from the network, right? Maybe something like Plex would do, and there is also an app for it.To me it sounded like the OP required the Chromebox to act like a network streamer/player/renderer (so play the music files itself), rather than a media server (which provides the media files for other devices on the network to playback). Chopsrr could try installing the BubbleUPnP Android app - I've heard Chrome OS can run Android apps natively. You can use the BubbleUPnP app as a UPnP renderer, so long as you have a UPnP server running on the NAS to supply the FLAC files. Unfortunately, don't know much about Chrome OS and whether it can even playback FLAC files. Does it even support USB audio for output to the Schiit DACs? We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us. -- Jo Cox Link to comment
unsleepable Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Yes, that's what I meant—a full media server, also to play media files. Plex would do that. Link to comment
Chopsrr Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 Thanks for the ideas, guys! I went ahead with Plex, using one of my laptops at the server and of course the Chromebox as the client. Once I mapped the NAS to the laptop, I was able to start loading up the library with all of the FLAC albums. I've been listening to them in the bedroom on the Chromebox for the past hour or so now with no issues. Considering it feeding my amp via the headphone output, it sounds pretty good. Definitely a step up from the iPad headphone output. The last thing I have to do now is just get the Schiit Modi DAC and a short USB cable and I should be good to rock n' roll! Digital Sources: Bluesound Node 2 w/ iFi SPDIF iPurifier | Roku Ultra NAS: Synology DS215J running MinimServer Preamp: PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC Amplification: NuPrime STA 9 x2 Loudspeakers: Sonus faber Venere 1.5 Subwoofers: JL Audio e110 x2 Remote Control: Apple iPad Mini 2 w/ BluOS Power Conditioning: APC H15 | Blue Circle Cables: Wireworld | AudioQuest | Pangea Link to comment
Chopsrr Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 So does anyone here have any experience with Plex? Any tweaks or anything I should know about? I'm just using it strictly for music, so streamlined for audio is all I need if there's anything that can be done. Is there any kind of repeat feature to repeat an entire album if I want? Many thanks! Digital Sources: Bluesound Node 2 w/ iFi SPDIF iPurifier | Roku Ultra NAS: Synology DS215J running MinimServer Preamp: PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC Amplification: NuPrime STA 9 x2 Loudspeakers: Sonus faber Venere 1.5 Subwoofers: JL Audio e110 x2 Remote Control: Apple iPad Mini 2 w/ BluOS Power Conditioning: APC H15 | Blue Circle Cables: Wireworld | AudioQuest | Pangea Link to comment
lkong Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 If you know how to crouton or dual boot it would be an awesome stream box. There are plenty tutorials online for that. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now