Android tablet audio server.

Dervious · 18 Sep 2011 at 21:37

OK, so i`ve had one of my "thinking of spending a little money on some cool gadgetry" moments.

I'd like to do away with my CD player and rip all my CDs and store them on a cheap Android based tablet. What I'd then like to be able to do is play my music from the tablet via WiFi to my stereo amp.

Is there software/hardware that can do this ? I'm thinking of some Network media player that can receive it's data stream from a tablet or laptop via my WiFi network and output it to a DAC (I'm thinking Cambridge DacMagic).

Any ideas ?

PS. I want the tablet to control the choice and playback of music, the network media player will just take the stream and convert it to a bitstream for the DAC.

Dervious · 19 Sep 2011 at 01:08

RickST said:
Would the tablet have enough disk space?

wouldn't it make more sense to buy/build a media server and just use the android tablet to control it.

A tablet with 160gb of disk space would be enough to hold my modest CD collection. If getting a tablet with enough capacity is a problem, then I could use a NAS enclosure to hold the files.

I think it would make sense not to use a media sever, as the cost and power consumption would be a bit OTT for purely music playback.

The idea is to have my complete music collection (around 50 CDs) on a tablet. I could take the tablet with me when I'm away, so I can listen to my music anywhere, but enjoy high quality audio when at home. It would also save having to keep swapping CDs in my player.

Dervious · 19 Sep 2011 at 09:42

GeX said:
Not gonna happen for a while yet

OK, what about a media device that uses NAS for storage, that can be controlled from a tablet ? (As mentioned by memyselfandi).

Dervious · 19 Sep 2011 at 18:31

Thanks peeps.

Something for me to investigate, think about, then decide I don't want to spend the money !

Although given the appropriate alcohol intake and a few busy days of work, I might treat myself.

Dervious · 19 Sep 2011 at 18:41

Do I have to get a squeezebox touch (~£200), or could I get away with a squeezebox reciever (~£100) ?

According to the blurb that I`ve read, I'd need a squeezebox duet (or something like that) to control the reciever, but I'm wondering if I could use squeezebox commander to control it.

I am slightly suprised that there is no (cheap) product that isn't readily available that meets my requirements, ie a networked media player that is controlled from a remote location on the network via a windows/apple/android app.