So, I already have a home server running FreeNAS for filesharing, syncing, backup, etc.
What I was hoping to do was have my music stored on it too, and be able to play music direct from the server to my hifi.
It seems clear to me that one option is to get a network audio streaming hifi component, which will simply stream the music from the server/NAS directly.
However, I was wondering if there's a way of playing music directly from the server to the hifi. Obviously, this would need a soundcard or some form of USB to SPDIF converter for the server on the hardware side. But on the software side, is there any software that supports this by allowing some form of "remote control"? I don't mean streaming the music from the server to a device, e.g. phone, and then transmitting the stream to the hifi. I mean using the phone (in the absence of any other remote?) to play music direct from the server to the hifi.
Hope that makes sense
I'm sure someone will say, why don't you just do option 1, but then that's not so much of a challenge... 
What I was hoping to do was have my music stored on it too, and be able to play music direct from the server to my hifi.
It seems clear to me that one option is to get a network audio streaming hifi component, which will simply stream the music from the server/NAS directly.
However, I was wondering if there's a way of playing music directly from the server to the hifi. Obviously, this would need a soundcard or some form of USB to SPDIF converter for the server on the hardware side. But on the software side, is there any software that supports this by allowing some form of "remote control"? I don't mean streaming the music from the server to a device, e.g. phone, and then transmitting the stream to the hifi. I mean using the phone (in the absence of any other remote?) to play music direct from the server to the hifi.
Hope that makes sense
I'm sure someone will say, why don't you just do option 1, but then that's not so much of a challenge... 
