Do I have to use a streamer/renderer to play music from an NAS?


I apologize for the basic question. But, I can’t seem to find an answer online. I would like to put all my CDs on an NAS and play that music through my system. I have a Rotel RC/RB-1590 set up. I know some NAS boxes come with DLNA software installed, and I am looking at Synology because I read their software for finding and selecting music to play is pretty good. Eventually, I will probably end up with something like a Cambridge Audio CXN or 851N to stream tidal and digital radio, as well as the music on the NAS. But, do I have to have the Cambridge or some other device to just play the digital music from the NAS to start? I would like to do the purchases in steps so I can get better units as I can afford them.  Also, any advice on alternative solutions would be much appreciated. Thanks.
kumakahn
Posters that don't understand the importance of jitter will never get there.  Posters that think all you need is some server that outputs USB and that will deliver audio nirvana are wrong.  Posters that believe all USB inputs on DAC's are the same are totally wrong.  Posters that believe that reclocking inside a DAC eliminates the need for a low-jitter source are totally wrong.

Most of what makes digital sound good has to with low jitter, and I mean really, really low jitter, a few picoseconds.  It's ALL ABOUT JITTER, period.

The other thing that audiophiles must realize is that every poster is coming from a different place in the quest for the best SQ.  Even most reviewers systems are nothing to get excited about.  I've been there.  There are very few posters that have any technical knowledge either, although some think they do.  The challenge is to find some that you trust.

It's a lot like deciding what news organization to trust.  Too many people trust poor organizations with dubious motivations.  Too many people believe propaganda on Facebook from Russians.  Be careful who you trust.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Post removed 
Steve,
It’s ALL ABOUT JITTER, period
I was under the impression that jitter was handled by “modern” DACs or by using an external master clock.  Having said that, I have zero experience with external clocks.

I have a Mytek Liberty DAC.  It’s specs have, “Clock generator: Low noise with 10ps of jitter.”  Realizing 10 is more than a few, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being really bad, where would you rate “10ps of jitter?”

@OP.   Please forgive me for diverging from your original question.  Many of these responses have been educational for me.  I’m posing questions to better understand and learn.

Johnnie
10psec is a bogus spec IME.  It's generally the specification for the oscillator before it's installed into a circuit.  In the circuit, the jitter from that 10psec oscillator usually translates to 500 psec, sometimes even more.  I've measured these things on my bench many times.  It takes an experienced, educated designer with clever tricks to get 10psec of jitter from any device, including a USB converter, Ethernet converter or a reclocker.  Nobody else comes close to 10psec that I get from all of my products.  7psec from my Synchro-Mesh.  I continually have customers and other vendors bringing over things to test on my bench.  All disappointing.

No matter what your digital source is, the jitter can be lowered by using a Synchro-Mesh reclocker and a good BNC cable.  If you DAC does not reclock, this will still improve things, just not as much .

As for USB, I recommend this regenerator with LPS:
https://sotm-usa.com/collections/sotm-ultra/products/copy-of-tx-usbultra-regenerator-1 

Even with USB, the best scenario is usually an outboard USB converter with LPS feeding a BNC coax to your DAC.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio