dc-1 with WD tv live as music server

[soundmaster]

I was wondering if anybody can give me some direction on how I can get the best sound through a music server and the DC-1, such as WD TV LIVE, or if someone has a better suggestion on a better way to access your music on your hard drive I would really appreciated it, as  I'm a newbie in that way to access music......Thanks

[dws6]

I keep all my music and movies on a 4TB server and I access the music by way of a Sonos connect tied into my UMC200. Everything is controlled by the Sonos app on my phone. Works great, and you have access to a lot more then just your music media. Tons of radio stations and music streaming sources. Quality is good too. It will play FLAC files too but only those under 96k.

[moonwolf]

Dec 2, 2014 19:25:40 GMT -5 soundmaster said:

I was wondering if anybody can give me some direction on how I can get the best sound through a music server and the DC-1, such as WD TV LIVE, or if someone has a better suggestion on a better way to access your music on your hard drive I would really appreciated it, as  I'm a newbie in that way to access music......Thanks

I don't have DC-1, but I have XDA-2 and WD TV LIVE.  It's easy to stream music from WD TV LIVE to DC-1. 

First way is to use the default music app in WD TV LIVE.  You can access it on your TV.  So, in this case, DC-1 will be connected to digital out of your TV.  This is the easiest way, but the sound quality can be better.

Second approach is using either a computer or a network player (such as PS3 or Apple TV or Oppo bluray player) to play music by accessing WD TV LIVE.  In this case, DC-1 will be connected to your computer or network players.

I would personally recommend the 2nd approach.  To my ears and all my friends, the default app in WD TV LIVE did not produce a good sound quality. 

I achieved the best sound quality within my system by using High Bit Rate downloads (such as a FLAC with high bit rate) playing through a macbook using an audiophile music player (such as Amarra) connected by a decent USB cable to XDA-2.  I know some people think that an audiophile USB cable is a ripoff.  I do 'partially' agree..  I use Shunyata Venom USB cable because it made an audible difference in my system.  Some of my friends think it made a substantially improvement and some say a very slight improvement.  It's about $125 I believe.  So, depending on how you view it it maybe total rip off or a bargain.  Personally, I thought the improvement was worth around $40-50.  So, I think it is way over priced, but I still kept it because there was no better alternative.

Hope this helps!  

[soundmaster]

Thanks guy's..............I was planning on running it from wdtv live hdmi out to a hdmi switcher than from the switcher's coaxial cable out to my DC-1, does anybody see any sonic disadvantages in this setup, or should this be just fine to play back HD recordings.

[moonwolf]

Dec 8, 2014 20:39:00 GMT -5 soundmaster said:

Thanks guy's..............I was planning on running it from wdtv live hdmi out to a hdmi switcher than from the switcher's coaxial cable out to my DC-1, does anybody see any sonic disadvantages in this setup, or should this be just fine to play back HD recordings.

if you do that, I'm fraid you will be using the default music player of the WD TV, which again in my past experience did not provide the best sound quality.