So many options so little answers

[stefano_mbp]

I should go for a raspberry solution, cheap and effective.

Get a nas (Qnap or Synology) to store your music. The Qnap Ts251+ is fine, for example.

Install Volumio or moOde on raspberry (pi4 4GB ram is ok)

Connect the raspberry to your dac (raspberry must be connected to the network)

If you want a better solution (raspberry based too) you could go for an Allo Usbridge Signature Player with the Allo Shanti linear power supply. You can run Volumio or moOde on it as well.
The Allo Usbridge Signature Player will come with the on order selected software and is plug&play

With this last solution you’ll still stay in your budget and you’ll get best price/performance solution.

From your smartphone/tablet you’ll be able to manage Volumio or moOde without any trouble.

Take care of the backup recommendations from the other contributors.

 

[stefano_mbp]

I should keep a nas in your project, it is versatile and the backup is very easy, just connect an usb drive to it. If you have to remember to make the backup, disconnect the drive, go downstairs, connect it to your pc then wait until the backup ends ... you’ll end to never do any backup.

That said, I own a SOtM sms200 Neo and I’m very happy with it.

I installed Minimserver and Bubbleupnpserver on the nas and control SOtM with Lumin app. MinimServer, a good tagging strategy, SOtM sms200 and Lumin app are a killer combo. Bubbleupnpserver is due to make Lumin app compatible with SOtM, but is a very easy setup, configure it and forget it.

Project S2 ... is good but you are forced with a customized version of Volumio, this could be fine or not, it depends on your taste.

I don’t like the Zen mini solution, it’s my taste, as an internal hdd is always a constraint and hdd sooner or later they break ... too complicated...

[stefano_mbp]

@bluesman just connected a Khadas Tone Board dac to my SOtM sms200 Neo and it works fine.

Khadas Tone Board can be powered only by usb ...

[stefano_mbp]

@audiobomber @bluesman one or two usb buses...

just tried to connect two dacs to my SOtM sms200 Neo

the first on the “audio specialized “ usb connector (vertical one)

the second on one the two other usb ports 

... SOtM sms200 can see both ....

then configured MPD to use the second (Khadas Tone Board) .... rebooted

... it works 

 

[stefano_mbp]

it seems to me that the OP is quite scared ...
the simplest and most immediate solution could be a nuc8i3beh headless (the high one) with 8gb ram and a 250gb ssd for the operating system (windows10) and an internal 2tb hdd for music .
You can install Audirvana or JRiver and control everything from your smartphone with Audirvana Remote or Gizmo.
All for less than $ 500.
And if you want a backup hdd add $ 100
Wifi is sufficient for sw updates and license checks

[stefano_mbp]

@bluesman my intention was just to demonstrate that they both work.

If there were actually to buses one of them specialized for Audio I would have expected that the second dac could not be used nor configured in MPD  ... but I can mistake, obviously 

[stefano_mbp]

@audiobomber Qobuz is broken on SOtM sms200 (and in every MPD based system as you can read here  https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/upmpdcli/upmpdcli-manual.html#upmpdcli.qobuznotes ), I did verify it with May from SOtM when they released the last firmware update (4.91)

To have access to Qobuz you need to use a control point like Bubbleupnp or MConnect and do not enter Qobuz credential in eunhasu, just enter them in Bubbleupnp or MConnect