Up till I moved 2 months ago, my main system was in the house - a desktop computer as the primary source going out USB to my Outlaw integrated amp with a built in DAC then to my Definitive 8040 speakers.
Since we moved, I am keeping my desktop computer in the house and moving the audio system to our detached garage. I want to get an inexpensive "source" substitute with similar quality as my desktop was to use in the garage. A $200 tablet would fill the bill because it has a decent size screen to search/cue music, digital storage, access through wifi, and digital output. Ideally, I am seeking a moderate priced tablet with a USB port (mini or otherwise) that functions as a digital output and not just as a charger port. Or with an HDMI jack.
Here are related cabling questions. I understand digital audio can be conveyed from a tablet either via USB or HDMI jacks. For audio, is the bit stream from each identical? Do they both require a DAC on the receiving end? For HDMI out on a tablet, would a cable with HDMI on the sending end and a USB on the receiving end work?
HDMI requires decoding and conversion because part of its original design goal was to prevent copying of the signal and USB needs a device that will accept the signal because it's just digital data.
Again, it's not necessary to use the tables to store the music and many apps & programs exist to allow it to control your streaming or force you to leave it in close proximity to the system. If you store your music on a hard drive and the DAC can be controlled so it sends the music to some kind of amplification, you can select your music from any place that's on the same network
as long as the signal strength and throughput are adequate but for control, the demands on the network are far less than if you were actually streaming the music from the tablet itself
. Your budget will determine what you can use.
I'm using a Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast piece and it sounds pretty good, can be controlled via IR , IP or the phone app, has USB, optical and analog inputs and if the USB is used, it works with many popular audio formats. I saved some music on a thumb drive in .wav and it works great. I can create playlists, queue the songs and play/pause/stop/skip forward or back and control the level. If I decide that I want to use Pandora, Spotify, Napster, Sirius, internet radio, AirPlay, Bluetooth, the analog input, the music on the hand-held device or an actual server, the buttons are on the app. If you want to use an outboard DAC, it has digital coax and optical outputs.
If you want to go higher up the chain, companies like Aurender make interesting pieces, too. I think that the claims made about the super high-end stuff van be very dubious, but I did notice that the sound from my Request server was different in a good way from some of the original CDs.
