Audio Streaming and Music/Movie Network Storage

[petmotel]

Thanks for the suggestion Sheep (it would be nice if you were to sign your posts with your name so we need not refer to you as Sheep) that sounds like a reasonable idea.

I decided I don't want to support Starlink, not a fan of thousands of low orbit satellites bathing the planet with megawatts of electromagnetic radiation.

Surely there must be some computer pros on this site that might be able to guide my path towards a cost effective and well performing NAS machine. I've built plenty of high performance gaming PCs in the past, nothing like a music/movie server though.

Jay

[curtis]

Gaming PC is tougher than a music/movie server.

That said, for a NAS, you can start here:
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best...torage-devices

Personally, I use an older Synology two-bay unit. It's got be 7-8 years old now, and I should probably replace it. I ran its health check app recently, and it checked out fine. Famous last words.

[petmotel]

Gaming PC is tougher than a music/movie server.

That said, for a NAS, you can start here:
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best...torage-devices

Personally, I use an older Synology two-bay unit. It's got be 7-8 years old now, and I should probably replace it. I ran its health check app recently, and it checked out fine. Famous last words.

Thanks Curtiss, we can always count on you to help if you can, and you usually are able.

Jay

[curtis]

Thanks Curtiss, we can always count on you to help if you can, and you usually are able.

Jay

No problem...just remember to back up your stuff. If your data isn't on two different devices/media, it isn't backed up.

[JustaSheep]

it would be nice if you were to sign your posts with your name so we need not refer to you as Sheep
Jay

There are some who call me...Tim

Edit: Weird. Signature didn't take. My name is Dan.

[petmotel]

There are some who call me...Tim

Edit: Weird. Signature didn't take. My name is Dan.

Good to meet you Dan! Do you use any type of local streaming device?

Jay

[curtis]

Jay, also have a look at JRiver.
https://jriver.com/

[JustaSheep]

Good to meet you Dan! Do you use any type of local streaming device?

Jay

You too, Jay.

At the moment, just a usb networked drive, not to be confused with a NAS with a processor and software. It is there for ease of use on material where quality is of no concern. To access it, I am using a Roku file app which is not great. Reminds me of the early days of Plex, but it gets the job done.

It has been years, but I had plex and kodi running on a diy home-theater/gaming pc. I will probably fire it up before buying any new hardware, NAS or otherwise, and see how I like it now-a-days.

At the time, it made a lot of sense as I was running the PC to my avr/tv and playing games from the couch using Steam's big screen mode(mostly with an xbox controller) with Ascends/Rythmic 5.1 surround. I was also recording OTA tv via Kodi until the tv guides got all wonky. Using a usb IR dongle and a driver, I could use a harmony remote to navigate the gaming and tv viewing apps easily.

Edit: For music streaming, I am currently just using AirPlay, but as others have mentioned, it is compressed. We're still getting settled in a new house and priorities were significantly shifted out of our control.

[JustaSheep]

No problem...just remember to back up your stuff. If your data isn't on two different devices/media, it isn't backed up.

I 100% agree with this which is why I always wonder about use of RAID in a media server NAS. What is the point? That is a legit question and I am not saying there is no use for it. I just don't know what it is.

[curtis]

I 100% agree with this which is why I always wonder about use of RAID in a media server NAS. What is the point? That is a legit question and I am not saying there is no use for it. I just don't know what it is.

The idea of RAID is the keep the system in production or get it back into production faster rather than wait during the time it takes to restore. RAID can also help with performance.