Hard drive for Oppo 105 and Sonos

I believe that the Sonos needs to pull files from a file server, of sorts, that is on your network. It won't pull files off of a USB hard drive. I don't think it will, anyway.

I believe that the oppo will also play content from over your network.

Using an external USB hard drive is something that many do, but I found it rather inconvenient. Every time you want to add something to it, you have to unplug it and plug it into your computer.

I'd propose one of two things. If you have a router with a USB port, plug the USB drive into that. The better way of doing it would be to get yourself a Synology NAS. They do make a single drive model that is under $200. Throw a hard drive into it and you'll have a drive that you can assess from your Oppo or Sonos via your network and you can access the drive from your computer.

I have my rig setup so that dbPoweramp rips directly to my Synology NAS. I don't even have to think about it. Once the files are on the Synology, I just update the databases on my Touch and Sonos.

I was assuming that the point was not to have to leave a computer on all of the time to play music. Otherwise, you can just create a shared folder and put your music into it. Now that I think about it, that's how I started.

Oh, if you are fairly computer savvy, you might also want to try to locate a used Squeezebox Touch. I know that most are taking advantage of the fact that they are no longer made, but I have seen a couple of deals here on Agon that weren't too bad.

The downside to the Touch is that it takes a bit more setting up to get it running and pulling files off of a server. The upside is that it will play files directly from a USB drive and it is IR remote capable.

I like the remote capability, mostly because I use a Harmony 900 with RF. I can quickly move through my play list without pulling out a remote device, like an iPad or iPod, and can control the volume too.

Pardon the expression, but the Sonos is truly idiot proof. It is far easier to setup and maintain than anything else I've seen in the price range.

I have a little single drive NAS and I have it set to back up to two separate drives. One is just a little USB drive that is plugged into the NAS and the other is on a desktop.

Tboooe's solution is more bulletproof, but it isn't cheap.

Whatever you do, don't cheap out on the ripping software. I know that there is stuff out there that works well and is free, but I don't think I've found anything as refined and easy to use as something like dbPoweramp. Save yourself some headaches and spend the $30.