If you’ve made it to this page, you’re probably somewhere on a spectrum I know very well: maybe you have a large CD or vinyl collection and don’t want to keep flipping discs, maybe you stream everything and just want it to sound better, or maybe you’re simply tired of choosing between “convenient” and “good sound.” I’ve been building and rebuilding music servers since 2001, and this page exists to point you toward the right place to start, instead of dumping everything on you at once.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: a “music server” in 2026 doesn’t necessarily mean what it did a decade ago.
What a music server actually means today
Back when I started, this meant one thing: rip your CDs to a hard drive, store the files somewhere reliable, and find a way to get that digital signal to a DAC without your computer’s cheap onboard sound card getting in the way.
That’s still a completely valid approach, and I still keep a local library of ripped and downloaded files myself. But most of my listening today comes from streaming services like Qobuz and TIDAL, not from files I own. For a lot of people starting out now, “building a music server” really means figuring out how local files, streaming services, your DAC and your control app all fit together, not necessarily building a dedicated computer at all.
Some readers will want a proper, always-on server that manages a serious local library and streaming in one place. Others will be perfectly happy with a modern streamer that handles everything itself, with barely any building involved. Both are legitimate paths, and I try to be honest in my articles about which one actually fits a given situation instead of pushing everyone toward the more complicated option.
Where to go from here
Rather than repeat everything in a single page, here’s how I’d point a friend toward the right article depending on where they’re starting from.
If you’re not sure whether you even need a dedicated DAC, or which one actually matters for your budget, start with my DAC Buyer’s Guide. It covers how DACs actually work, which specifications are worth caring about, and which ones are mostly marketing — plus concrete recommendations across every price range.
If you’ve decided you do want to build a proper dedicated server, my Building an Audiophile Music Server guide walks through the hardware options — from a small fanless mini-PC to a NAS to a repurposed old laptop — and what each one is actually good for.
If you’re trying to figure out which software should run on that server, or whether you need dedicated server software at all, Music Server Software Compared breaks down Roon, Audirvana, Volumio, moOde, Lyrion and a few more specialist options, and tells you honestly when the simplest answer is “just use the streamer you already own.”
If Roon is the direction you’re leaning toward, Getting Started with Roon Labs is the guide I keep updated as things change, covering everything from server hardware to endpoints to Roon ARC for listening away from home.
And if you’d rather skip building anything and just want a streamer that works out of the box, my WiiM comparison and Eversolo DMP-A8 review cover two of the products I actually use and recommend for exactly that.
A word about local files vs. streaming
If you’re still deciding whether to rip your CDs and keep everything locally or just lean on streaming, my honest opinion: do both, if you can. Streaming services solve discovery and convenience; a local library protects you from a service raising its price, changing its catalogue, or disappearing entirely. You don’t have to choose one system that does everything — you just need the pieces to work together without becoming a part-time IT job.
That’s really the whole philosophy behind this site: build something that gets out of your way and lets you listen to music, not something you have to maintain like a hobby of its own.
Pick whichever guide above matches where you’re starting from, and go from there.
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I’ve been looking at creating a dedicated Music Server and found your site – great information. So that said, some questions I hope you’ll be able to address (i’m not tech savvy, but have done some research).
Here’s the target:
1. It’s tiny
2. It lives by the Stereo (connects to a DAC and Integrated Amp directly, no NAS)
3. It holds all music, in all formats (m4a, mp3, flac, wav, ogg, etc)
4. It plays 24bit/192kHz without any downsampling – HD Audio Codec (Realtek ALC269 or better)
5. It syncs wirelessly with other machines (i.e. for running back-ups, managing additions, editing the library), preferably via WiFi rather than bluetooth. (802.11 b/g/n)
6. DNLA compliant
7. The operation is controlled via remote, from another machine, Android phone, etc. (PC, Mac or other) – WiFi (Bluetooth isn’t ideal – the construction of my place seems to limit the range)
8. It uses an already existing free music app for management, play, remote control, etc – e.g. musicbee, foobar2000, vlc, etc so I can keep using what they like. Nothing bespoke.
9. It offers 2+1 USB (two 3.1 type A and one type C) for connection to an external DVD/CD burner and whatever other device (USB key, external drive, phone, iPod, Android phone, etc)
10. TosLink S/PDIF for connecting to a DAC (or DAC/Amp). Option for mini-TosLink/3.5 audio jack out.
11. Coaxial option for connection to a DAC (or DAC/Amp).
12. Low or no noise components, so SSD drives. Small fan, if any.
13. Has capacity for 1Tb memory. These should be easy to swap out, so accessible.
14. Includes LAN port for hardwired net connectivity – Network RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps ethernet
15. Low power (it’ll be on all the time), at or below 25W/year
16. Video port is an option, but not critical. HDMI?
These are a few options that hit most or all of the above:
Option 01 – Micro VortexBox
http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/Micro-VortexBox-vbMicro.htm
Option 02 – Dedicated Laptop
* Chromebook, Lenovo 100S – http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/lenovo/chromebook-series/100s-chromebook/#tab-tech_specs 32Gb/4Gb RAM $299
* Lenovo Ideapad 100 – http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/ideapad/100-series/100-14-inch/ 500Gb 2Gb $399
* Western Digital My Passport 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive – $120
Option 03 – Custom Unit using Ultra-Compact PC Kit
Gigabyte Brix, model: GB-BXCEH-2955 $170
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4860#ov
* Intel Celeron 2955u 1.4GHz
* Supports 2.5” thickness 7.0/9.5mm Hard Drives (1 x 6Gbps SATA3)
* Ultra compact PC design at only 0.52L
* 1 x mSATA SSD Slot
* 2 x SO-DIMM DDR3L Slots (1333/1600 MHz), 16GB max RAM
* IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0 Mini-PCIe card
* HDMI Plus Mini DisplayPort Outputs (supports dual displays)
* Intel® HD Graphics
* 4 x USB 3.0
* Gigabit LAN Realtek RTL8111G
* Headphone jack with S/PDIF, Realtek ALC269 (All DACs supports 44.1/48/96/192kHz sample rate, SPDIF-OUT support 16/20/24-bit format and 32/44.1/48/88.2/96/192kHz rate)
* VESA Mounting bracket
* Dimensions: 42.8 mm x 107.6 mm x 114.4 mm (1.69″ x 4.24″ x 4.5″)
Zotac ZBOX CI323 NANO-Plus Barebone Mini PC
https://www.zotac.com/ca/product/mini_pcs/zbox-ci323-nano-windows-10-home#spec
* Intel Processor Intel N3150 quad-core 1.6GHz, up to 2.08GHz (better chip than Gigabyte Brix Celeron 2955u )
* 2GB DDR3L (two slots up to 8GB, one slot occupied)
* Wireless 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0
* Ethernet 2x 10/100/1000Mbps with antenna
* Onboard 32GB M.2 SATA SSD
* 1 x 2.5-inch SATA SSD/HDD (Samsung 850 Pro Series Internal SSD, 2.5-Inch, 1TB SATA III, 3-D Vertical)
* CIR Infrared Port
* Audio: Stereo output, Lossless Bitstream via HDMI, Combo mini-optical S/PDIF / analog stereo
* USB: 1 x USB 3.0 type-C (front), 2 x USB 3.0 (1 front, 1 back), 2 x USB 2.0 (back)
* Card Reader: 3-in-1 (SD/SDHC/SDXC)
* 127mm x 127mm x 45mm
Option 4 – Raspberry Pi 2 B + HiFiBerry Digi+
https://www.hifiberry.com/digiplus/ $40 (HiFiBerry Digi+ transformer version)
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/ 4 USB ports, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5mm Audio, Micro SD card slot, 1Gb Ram, $60
https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/usb-wifi-dongle/, Edimax 150 Mbps Wireless 11n Nano Size USB Adapter (EW-7811UnR2), $17
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/raspberry-pi-western-digital-pidrive-1tb-hard-drive-kit-unveiled-10-09-2015/ Western Digital PiDrive Kit, $80
Micro SD Card (32Gb minimum, SanDisk Ulta $16)
Samsung 850 Pro Series Internal SSD, 2.5-Inch, 1TB SATA III, 3-D Vertical, $612
Total: $40 + $60 + $17 + $80 + $16 = $213 + memory ($612) = $825CDN
Software
http://www.raspyfi.com/
https://www.hifiberry.com/guides/hifiberry-installer/ (https://www.hifiberry.com/guides/setting-up-volumio-to-get-great-audio/)
https://volumio.org (audio optimized alternative to Raspbian) https://volumio.org/get-started/ for set-up instructions
http://moodeaudio.org/ Audio player for Raspberry Pi
Alternate: Pine A64+ ($32, $19 + CDN) – http://pine64.com/
* ARM Cortex-A53 1.2 GHz Quad-Core 64-Bit
* 2GB SDRAM
* MicroSD up to 246GB
* Ethernet 10/100/1000Mb
* 802.11b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0 (Optional)
* 2 x USB 2.0
* 4K x 2K HDMI port
* 5Mp Camera Port
At the end of the day, if it works and can be there reliably, all is well. I’ll just add that the NAS option is out because audio-over-WiFi seems to be a problem in cities with all the competing devices both at home as well as neighbouring equipment. Controlling via WiFi is ok, just not streaming the music itself. For me, what’s happening is that music keeps cutting out, regardless the size of the buffer settings in any player app I’ve used.
So that’s perhaps somewhat detailed, but perhaps you’ll have some opinions to share on how to narrow this down.
I’ll add that I’m using a Schiit Modi Uber 2 DAC (http://schiit.com/products/bifrost) to an integrated amp.
Cheers
[…] Source: Why You Should Build a Music Server […]
Thanks for so many options. The Zotac Z box looks interesting. Since
it runs on Windows, could Spotify and Pandora also be utilized ? I now
use an old HP laptop with to store files with jriver and stream my music
via usb to a Schiit Bifrost dac. Having a dedicated server/streamer would
be ideal.
thanks for you time,
James
The Zotac I’m using has Windows on it as it’s primary OS. Aside from running an app like MusicBee, it’s also running VLC, Foobar2000 and through Google Chrome it also runs SoundCloud. Given that, I’d guess it could handle Spotify and Pandora.
The way this machine is built, the OS lives on a rather small drive (32Gb) so keeping it lean with respect to apps will be in your interest. Using SyncToy, the 1Tb drive the Zotac has for the library is backed-up to another machine. Any new music gets added via the sync routine and the music app scans either when it starts up or it’s told to. Because there’s no monitor attached to this little thing, I use an Android phone to control it. The music apps have a remote tool, otherwise you’re going to need an app like LogMeIn or whatever you prefer. I’ve had this set up for about 3 months and so far, so good. No clipping, drivers allow for 24/192 so no down-sampling from the DAC.
cheers
Hi Dieter,
I would like to do something like the Zotac or Gigabite Brix option running JRiver and remote controlling from my Android smartphone. I’m not great with computers/software but I get the basic idea for these headless systems. For initial setup I presume a monitor, keyboard and mouse would need to be plugged in. What about ongoing system maintenance and adding files to the on-board music library etc.? – Ideally I would like to be able to do this remotely via WiFi using a laptop (utilising it’s monitor and keyboard/mouse/touch-pad) . Could this be done ? … If so how?
My solution (which sounds FANTASTIC):
Fujitsu Futro S550 thin client (fanless, HDDless = no moving parts). Has CF card inside instead of HDD. Bought 2nd hand for less than $20 on Ebay.
Daphile software – is the whole operating system, therefore the only thing on the machine. I run it from a USB thumb drive. Daphile can handle 24bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 but my current DAC only goes up to 24-192 and DSD128 but then again I have no 384kHz or Octa DSD files so I don’t worry about that. Free from Daphile.
Music files sit on LaCie external hard drives. These can be any NAS or directly connected to the Futro.
Controlled from my Android phone (or anything else with web access) via web interface.
I also have an UpTone Audio USB REGEN device between the computer and the DAC. By far the most expensive new component at $175 but totally worth it.
When I put the system together I also bought new USB cables which are ‘audiophile’ but relatively modest in price ($30 – $40). UpTone suggest that what the USB REGEN does drastically reduces any audible impact that ultra-expensive cabling might have.
So you don’t have to spend a lot to get a fabulous sounding dedicated music system, especially if you already have things like external HDDs and a DAC. OK you will have to spend a bit more on a good DAC if you don’t have one already but hopefully I’ve made my point.