Is there a wirelessly controlled DAC (not wireless audio streaming)?

[Xylenz]

It seems like every audio product that has wireless capability is focused on streaming audio wirelessly. But what if you dont need or want that? What if your hard drive is right next to your amplifier and all you need is a DAC that you can control wirelessly with a smartphone, tablet or laptop? You want the DAC to be able to expose the tracks to an app on your tablet allowing you select what plays and how loud. But the audio data itself streams over a wired connection.

 

I know that a netbook can do this but I am not looking for another computer to maintain. I am looking for a dedicated piece of hardware that does this. Even a wirelessly controlled player that outputs digital would be fine. I already have a DAC. My HD is a RAID NAS drive.

 

Is this possible? Does such a thing exist?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[1audio]

There are products from Bryston, Sonore and Auraliti that match your needs pretty precisely. The NAS integration will be a little more difficult than just connecting a drive but possible.

 

[ted_b]

a computer at heart, so your requirements are a bit too narrow if you won't allow a computer to fit the bill. A dedicated maintenance-free music server that connects to a DAC and allows a NAS for music storage, and allows wireless navigation? Yes, I built an Alix Linux (Voyage MPD) music server for $150 and it does just that. It connects to a NAS via ethernet, connects to a DAC via USB, performs ONLY music serving (no display, no apps, no nothing except music serving), and is maintained and serves music via wireless clients like mPod (iPod), mPad(iPad), Minion (Firefox), etc. All free (or $2-ish).

 

The wonderful sounding Bryston BDP-1 is basically a Voyage MPD Linux computer dressed up and ready for prime time. The only downside is that it currently doesn't support NAS connections, only local USB.