NAS and Minimserver

[DavidL]

If you are seriously considering moving to a NAS as your music source the most effective setup would be to buy a NAS with a sufficiently powerful cpu to run MinimServer (& MinimStreamer), together with an ethernet-to-SPDIF/I2S renderer. Adding an optical fibre element in the ethernet leg immediately before the renderer/DAC can improve performance.

 

Not sure why you posted this question on the Sonore thread as they (currently) do not make this type of renderer - their focus is on USB, as it is for your system. Both approaches can give excellent sound quality AFAIK, but the non-USB route is less complex, easier to manage and makes playing music independent of your computer. You will still need to use the computer for curation of the music library of course.

 

When I started out streaming from a NAS in 2014 I bought the original Sonore Rendu ethernet-to-SPDIF renderer, which is no longer available (though Jesus has hinted at a new potential product in this area).