Hi Guys,
I have some new found time on my hands, and was considering building a music server for home. I'm pretty happy building pc's from parts/messing with OS setups. My current setup is Sonos --> Remedy Reclocker --> Arc DAC8 --> amp/speakers. It sounds fantastic don't get me wrong, but I don't like having to downsample some songs/albums just to have them play on sonos.
I was looking at being able to use Roon or Jriver as an interface, so that I can control via PC or android, and if I wanted to use the USB input on my DAC it would require a windows or osx based operating system as ARC doesn't have class compliant drivers. I was thinking along the lines of a headless PC with windows/audiophileoptimiser/Roon. Or could use Linux but would need a coax output in that case.
I do like my DAC/amp so am not super keen on changing up the DAC (next step up would be directstream, and thats a bit too pricey for me at present - unless someone wants to offer me a whole lot for the dac8??). I have considered an Aires, but dont like a few things about it, and aurrender is fairly pricey though I understand people say its worth the money. Other newer options would be say the new SOTM server, or a microrendu, but i'm not sure if they compete on quality?
So where to start? I tried reading through some of the long server build threads, but they are not easy to follow! I'm happy to build a fanless motherboard/enclosure etc, but guess which parts/powersupply to use etc is difficult to know?
Would love any advice or direction!