The Music Server Site
All you ever wanted to know about the world of media servers
The core of any multi-room home music system is the music server. This may be a PC running music server software or a dedicated device typically made by a hi-fi manufacturer. We have a page dedicated to music servers together with an overview of their specifications.
The music server is connected to various hi-fi systems around the home acting as a music source, just like a CD player, tuner or turntable. The way this connection is made varies according to the server. Some servers connect directly to a conventional hi-fi system, whereas others connect via a digital music player (also known as a client)- the function of the player is to control the music played by the server; typically several players can connect to one server, which can play several pieces of music at the same time to different rooms in the home. At the same time, the server will usually be connected to the Internet, so that it can look up CD titles and track information and display them to the user - this service is often provided by the Gracenote Media Database. Other music servers have their own database; in some cases this is accessible via the Internet, whereas in others the database is built-in to the machine, with periodic updates available for download.
Let's look at the arrangements for connecting the music server to the hi-fi system(s) in more detail:
In this configuration, the music server is directly connected to the amplifier of a conventional hi-fi component system. It may be connected to one or more "zones" (each zone is typically a room containing a hi-fi system). A typical set-up (this one with three zones) is shown in this diagram.
The most conventional, straightforward connection is an analogue connection using a standard phono cable terminated with RCA ("phono") connectors in the same way many hi-fi separates are connected. The advantage of this set-up is that most hi-fi amplifers - even older models - can accept such inputs. The downside is that it can be difficult to run such long cables around the house, and they are susceptible to picking up noise over long distances. In fact, when running longer distances, experts recommend using a "balanced" connection to filter out noise. Such a connection would typically be terminated with XLR connectors. However, only higher-end components generally support balanced connections.
An alternative wired arrangement is to connect the music server to a digital S/PDIF input on the amplifier, either via a co-axial or optical (TOSLINK) cable. Again, there are difficulties with this if the cable is of extended length.
Another issue with the use of this kind of server is how the server is controlled - it is not a simple matter to control the player when it is located in a different room from the one where the listener is sitting. In this case a full wireless remote control is necessary, rather than the usual infra-red remote control supplied with most equipment (infra-red remote controls work only if there is a line of sight between the remote and the equipment being controlled).
Note the optional connections - some music servers can "daisy chain" to other servers of the same kind to store a larger amount of music. Or they can retrieve music stored on a PC or NAS (Network Attached Storage) on the same network.
Like the direct arrangement, this set-up requires wired connections between the music server and a conventional hi-fi system. But in this case, another new component is interposed between the server and the existing system. This is known as a digital music player (or sometimes as a client of the music server). The function of the digital music player is to control the output of the server, and also to convert the output from the server (which may be in a compressed format like MP3) into a format which a standard hi-fi system can accept as an input.
The configuration of a typical layout is shown in this diagram.
Note that the connections between the music server and the digital music players are generally carried over an Ethernet LAN.
The outputs from the digital music player will typically be the same as those available with a direct server connection: analogue RCA, or digital - either co-axial or optical.
One advantage of this configuration is that the player, and its associated remote control, are placed in the same room as the listener. There will usually be one such player per zone (each room containing a hi-fi system is usually referred to as a zone). Thus each listener is able to independently control the music they are listening to. Most servers are able to output independent streams of music to several zones at the same time.
We have a page dedicated to digital music players.
This configuration is fundamentally identical to the wired set-up described above, except that the connections between the music server and the digital music player are wireless, usually over a home wireless LAN. This has the great advantage that no long cable runs across the house are required.
The only wired part of the system is the short run from the digital music player to the hi-fi component system; just as in the two configurations above, this can be either analogue or S/PDIF digital. A typical wireless configuration is shown in this diagram.
One disadvantage of a wireless set-up is the limited bandwidth available - whereas a wired server can easily serve music to many zones via an Ethernet switch, a wireless player soon runs out of bandwidth to serve more than one zone - especially when playing music at uncompressed, CD quality. The Yamaha MusicCAST, for example, can serve only one wireless client when playing music in CD quality, but up to seven using 160 kb/s MP quality.
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