John
Options. In speccing a Wyred 4 Sound Music Server we get the choice of an i3 CPU with 4GB of RAM (US$2999) or i7 CPU with 16GB RAM (US$3999). On internal storage, the former starts with a 2TB HDD and the latter a 1TB SSD, both of which can be optioned upward to a 2TB SSD. Your call.
As its name suggests, the black (or silver) box from California can serve digital audio files to a home network. For those streaming mega libraries to numerous zones simultaneously and with back-end upsampling, the i7 might be the wiser choice. For people like me with less than 10,000 albums and only one or two zones in play at any one time (and no upsampling), the i3 is more than enough.
However, this server is no one-trick (Roon) pony. The Wyred 4 Sound unit can also serve files via Bubble UPnP, Minim UPnP, Sonos, Squeezebox, MPD, Plex and even features Bliss — one of the best artwork and metatag server managers currently available.
The smarter (IT) guys in the room will have already pegged that a standard PC or Mac could be fitted out with the same software complement. And they’d be right.
Where EJ Sarmento’s design kicks goals is on sound quality when direct-connected to a DAC via USB, TOSLINK and especially coaxial and I2S. Now it’s a streamer to rival other similarly priced units offering AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Roon ‘Readiness’, UPnP, MPD and Squeezelite.
So — why not do both? Put the Wyred 4 Sound server in a hi-fi rack, connect it to a DAC, and have it serve files to itself but also to other network zones (streamers)? Now it’s a server-streamer.
Options are what make the W4S server such a potent proposition and in this video, we bring its numerous possibilities to life:
Further information: Wyred 4 Sound
Camera: Olaf von Voss | Editor: Jana Dagdagan
