RSP-1068, decoding Apple Lossless?

[Stevebez]

Hi there .... Been away for ages, and now have all my CD's on a NAS (compressed to Apple lossless) and wondering if I stream the lossless files to the RSP will it decode it? Also, I have not figured how to send it the data yet .....

Saves me form getting another DAC setup...?

[srb]

The RSP-1068 does not have streaming capability or an Ethernet connection. You would have to use some kind of streaming device with an optical or coaxial digital audio output and connect that to one of the RSP-1068's digital inputs.

The streaming device itself will need the capability to decode Apple Lossless files and in turn will send a standard PCM audio stream to the Rotel's DAC.

There are a number of different ways to get your NAS library played back into the Rotel:

1. A standalone streaming device with its own controls and display like a Logitech Squeezebox Touch, Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30 or Marantz NA7004, etc.

2. A streaming device like an Apple Airport Express, Apple TV or WD TV, etc.

3. Playback directly from your computer's iTunes using your computer's digital audio output (if it has one) and accessing the NAS storage location share as an iTunes library location.

If you don't want to have your computer on and if your NAS has audio software it can probably stream to a UPNP/DLNA compatible streaming device, but you will still need some kind of portable device with a web browser to control it, like a laptop, iPod, iPad, or other smartphone or tablet.

It will depend on what you want to accomplish - the kind of control interface, if you need multiple zones, wired or wireless connection, etc.

Steve

[Stevebez]

Thanks thats very helpfull. I have ATV so I will try using the toslink output to test this out. Now a couple of questions re the ATV's output.

Can I set it to output PCM for AAC & Apple Lossless?

Any thoughts on the marantz "server"? But this seems a bit OTT to decode lossless if ATV can push PCM over optical to the RSP?

[srb]

Thanks thats very helpfull. I have ATV so I will try using the toslink output to test this out. Now a couple of questions re the ATV's output.

Can I set it to output PCM for AAC & Apple Lossless?

There is no setting needed. The ATV will output the the PCM stream and will play any file format that iTunes can play. The Apple TV (and Airport Express) will limit your resolution to 48KHz and the latest generation ATV apparently upsamples everything to 48KHz, however many people think it still sounds just fine, but some of the purists prefer the Airport Express or previous generation ATV to keep playback of the file bit perfect without any upsampling.

As far as the standalone streamers like the Marantz, I see them more for people who want to control playback on a local box without the use of a computer, but the functionality and feature set rarely matches that of iTunes, with the detailed song information available on the computer screen, playlists, smart playlists, iTunes DJ, etc.

Steve

[Stevebez]

Yup at mom got analogue coming into the Rotel need to get the toslink sorted out.

Thanks again!