[jamesmdo]

Hello,

I really have tried finding an authoritative answer to this, but can't.

I want to run XBMC on a low cost box. My media will be on a NAS, and I want to stream audio to a DAC and thence to my Hi-fi amplifier.

90% of my requirements are for playing music, but don't want to have a separate setup for Video (mainly netflix et al). Hence XBMC on an android or raspberry pi looked like a good option.

However from what I'm reading XBMC does not support USB audio, and thererfore the only way to get listenable quality music would be via HDMI? Which would then require that I bought an AV receiver, which I don't need as (a) I already have an amp and (b) I don't need 5.1

So on that reading, xbmc is basically not appropriate as a networked music player.

Correct? Or can I just connect a USB dac (e.g a DacMagic) to (say) a xios box and I'm away ?

And if I can't use xbmc...what can I use? Don't want an actual pc, don't want to spend £500 on a mac mini

Thanks all

[sarcophage]

I've had a huge amount of luck with iTunes, an Airport Express for audio (can connect over wi-fi or ethernet and can do analog or digital optical out), and an iPhone with the Apple remote app for control. IMO this is more straight forward than XBMC if you're mainly doing it for audio.

a bonus is that if you add a second or third (or 5th, as I've done) Airport Express, they will auto-sync to one another and you can have multi-zone audio. Pretty damn impressive.

[youngman]

I run XBMCbuntu 12.0 through USB audio into a Fostex HP-A8C DAC - it runs beautifully.

Note that to use USB out, of the various options (HDMI, Optical/coax, Analog) you would normally just choose "Analog". Then under audio output device, select your USB DAC.

If using XBMCbuntu (or any other Linux variation), ensure the DAC you choose is USB Audio Class 2.0 compiant - it'll then run out of the box. (If it has Mac OSX drivers available it probably isn't as OSX has the USB Audio 2.0 drivers built in, whereas Windows does not and will therefore require a driver for the DAC. I.e if OSX needs a driver you'll likely have a hard time getting one for Linux!)

I've no experience with the android or raspberry pi versions - these may be limited as per your description?

[mulluysavage]

I run XBMCbuntu 12.0 through USB audio into a Fostex HP-A8C DAC - it runs beautifully.

Note that to use USB out, of the various options (HDMI, Optical/coax, Analog) you would normally just choose "Analog". Then under audio output device, select your USB DAC.

If using XBMCbuntu (or any other Linux variation), ensure the DAC you choose is USB Audio Class 2.0 compiant - it'll then run out of the box. (If it has Mac OSX drivers available it probably isn't as OSX has the USB Audio 2.0 drivers built in, whereas Windows does not and will therefore require a driver for the DAC. I.e if OSX needs a driver you'll likely have a hard time getting one for Linux!)

I've no experience with the android or raspberry pi versions - these may be limited as per your description?

Does USB Audio Class 2.0 mean USB 2.0?

[youngman]

Does USB Audio Class 2.0 mean USB 2.0?

A device that is USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant will be USB2.0 BUT not all USB2.0 devices are USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant.


From here: http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/H..._Async.htm

USB Audio class 1 is limited to 24 bits/ 96 kHz maximum.

This is what fits into USB Full Speed mode so 12 MHz (USB 1).

To play higher sample rates the High Speed mode (USB 2, 480 MHz) is needed.



From mid-2010 on both OSX and Linux supports USB audio class 2 natively.

If the DAC is USB audio class 2 compliant it will play up to 32/384 on these systems without the need to install additional drivers.

Microsoft doesn't have a native mode USB Audio class 2 driver. You need to install a third party Class 2 Audio driver at the PC side.

That link also has a bit of info on a number of DACs if you wanted to see what is out there (although many are on the higher end)... not all listed are compliant mind you!

[youngman]

A few compliant but not listed models that I was also looking into before I made my purchase were the Fostex HP-P1, RME Babyface and RME UCX. These last two are actually AD/DA as well - so they have the ability to record from analogue to digital as well as the more usual XBMC requirement of digital to analogue... vinyl conversions anyone?

[DDDamian]

A few compliant but not listed models that I was also looking into before I made my purchase were the Fostex HP-P1, RME Babyface and RME UCX. These last two are actually AD/DA as well - so they have the ability to record from analogue to digital as well as the more usual XBMC requirement of digital to analogue... vinyl conversions anyone?

Be careful - phono inputs are not the same as line inputs