Thoughts on 3 music server implementations (aurender, sonare, ps audio), help please

[firedog]

I'm understanding that if you get the Aurender, part of your collection will be on its 2TB drive and part on your NAS? If that's the case, I'd make sure that you will be able to see both collections as one unified Library. Otherwise it will be a PITA, IMO. I'm only mentioning this because I don't know enough about the Aurender to know the answer.

 

The DS Junior has the bridge built in, which makes it a very attractive solution, as you don't need a separate server/player, per se - just the NAS. Again, I think that's a great solution, with 2 conditions: a) that you like it's DAC as much as the other DACs; b) that you test the PS Audio Bridge-NAS solution to make sure you like how it works.

 

For me, the user interface is just as important as any other aspect of the setup. Am I comfortable with it, and does it let me run my collection and listening as I'd like? If not, I won't buy it, even if it is "better" according to some.

 

Schiit and PS Audio are committed to giving purchasers upgrade paths - you don't have to purchase a whole new unit to upgrade. Plus, the DSJ is firmware upgradeable, no? That gives you a "new DAC" when they release OS ugrades.

 

I'm sure the Aurender setup would sound great. I think it is the least future proofed of the three, of course partially dependent on what DAC you get with it. The DSJ solution gives you the advantage of both network and USB implementations of high quality - so you can switch implementation in the future if for some reason you wish to - or use both of them at different times.

 

Personally I wouldn't get too caught up in the issue of SPDIF, I2S, USB. These devices all have very good implementations. If you can, audition and see if you prefer one of them for either convenience, sound quality, or better UI.

[firedog]

Checked the site.

 

They don't seem to have anything Core or Server for a NAS either. I've a Synology with Intel CPU that would have been a nice fit.

 

Seems I need to bring in my Windows PC or laptop. Might try it over the weekend, but it defeats my purpose of eliminating everything PC and Windows from the chain.

 

The only other route seems to be with h/w like Auralic or Sonore.

 

Roon is now being successfully run from some QNAP and Synology models. `i think there are links to how to do it both on this site and at the Roon community.