Playing Hi-Rez/mp3 music from USB/PC/NAS to distant pre-pro

[allyn22]

Hello Everyone.

I am newer to Emotiva and am on the waiting list for an XMC-1, which will be my HT and general listening hub. I have no Hi-Rez music at present as my NAD T763 serves as my current pre-pro and does not have that capability. AFAIK, my Denon 3800 only plays mp3 from the SD slot. My PC is 40 feet away from the location of the pre/pro. Adding another or moving my current PC does not look like it will be a reality in my house, so not an option. I imagine I would need to run some type of cable under the floor. I can do that if it turns out as the best option. The PC has optical out, USB 2.0/3.0 and there is an HDMI out on the GT 570 video card, but I do not know if it sends audio only over HDMI reliably. If I understand correctly, the ~40 foot distance could pose a problem for any of these options. I do not know if there is an HDMI to HDbaseT converter available or if it would even work.

All of my current mp3 collection is housed on my Synology DS212+ NAS and would be the best place to securely hold any Hi-Rez music.

I lurk in the forum daily to see what is going on with the XMC-1, so I saw mention of work on USB stick and possibly hard drive playing capability direct from the XMC-1, but it is not out yet and I don't know what the capability will be. I don't know if playing from a Synology unit will become a reality in the near future or not. The NAS has a permanent home near my PC. These would probably be the best scenarios unless there are technical hurdles inherent in HDMI or USB I am not aware of.

After the XMC-1 purchase, I will probably not be making any bigger purchases due to my daughter starting college this September, so an Oppo will not be approved by my purchasing department anytime soon.

If the USB stick/local USB drive/Network connection will be the preferred method, does anyone have more info to share about the upcoming feature specifications?

If this preferred method (above) does not look like it will pan out to be the best solution , I am looking to see what others have done to solve this distance problem.

Thanks for your attention.

[ÈlTwo]

There are a couple of guys with Synology devices, and they've been trying to get their Synologys to work with the XMC-1 via the USB.link link2

[AudioHTIT]

In speaking with Lonnie last week he indicated that both USB and Network 'file players' were in the works (no date given). If you have a wired network in your house you'll want to add the XMC-1 to that anyway for Dirac, once that's done you may be able to play material directly from your NAS.

[allyn22]

Thanks and happy Birthday, BTW.

I am not going to assume that the firmware upgrade to play from the network is going to be done anytime soon. I was too caught up in checking the forums every day waiting for the XMC-1 shipping announcement and I don't want to go back to being like that again. It was like an addiction.

I hope the Synology members will chime in, but I didn't think Synology has native m2ts playback capability (thinking about playing home video at some point as well).

Anyway, for now, I'd like to run in the interim with a PC in the basement directly below my home theater location, close enough for an HDMI cable to reach to achieve the desired results. I saw an HDMI to HDBase T transmitter / receiver combo from SnapAV.com, but that looked like an expensive solution. I would have enjoyed working with that, but college tuition is severely curtailing my expenditures.

Since my daughter is away at college with a new laptop, I don't feel bad about commandeering her 2009 Dell XPS. It has a GeForce GT 220 hat has an HDMI connector, but I am not sure if it will support bitstreaming. I can probably swing $70 for a new video card (GEForce GT 630?), but this brings up a number of questions that maybe some of the lounge members may have already conquered.

1) Will I be able to use a Logitech wireless keyboard / mouse that I keep in the home theater location to turn this on from upstairs?

2) Is someone using this setup between floors (standard wood construction) - wondered about the reliability (range ~ 10-15ft)? 

3) What mode do I put the Win 7 box in (normal, hibernate or sleep) so I can boot from this keyboard / mouse?

4) Is there any special setup to allow the keyboard to boot, wake up, etc.

I was planning on using JRiver 20

Thanks,

Al