Native FLAC Player


Are there any receivers that can play FLAC natively? I feel that its a shame that the logitech Squeezebox Transporter is the only native (at least form what I can find) Flac player.

Am I too far ahead of the curve or does anyone else feel let down by Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon etc with the fact that none of their receivers can play FLAC naively?

Some of them will use uPNP to connect to "media servers" but the media server has to stream the FLAC so it down-converts as it transcodes (translates digital info to music) over the network for the receiver to play.

Even the highest high end Onkyo TX-NR906 does not support FLAC through its USB ports. This is particularly confusing because certain reviewers claim that it can play FLAC - well yes it "can" via the "media server" as described above.

Why haven't all the high end audio device makers not seized this opportunity? Is it because the true connoisseurs still listen to loss-less music on analog media (LP) ? What about the rest of us (ok ME) that can't afford the great analog equipment ?

Or... am I completely missing the boat on this? Are there good quality receivers in $2000 range that can play native FLAC?
anuruddhak

Showing 1 response by bgee

Pioneer SC-05/SC-07 play FLAC natively via USB or ethernet to pc media player.

You might also check out Western Digital WDTV - amazing little box plays just about every audio/video format on external USB drive for $100.