I don't have BL90's myself, and those that do may well have experience.

The BL90's have quite a few inputs do they not, both analogue and digital? That''s quite a few options, and some may sound better than others depending on where the DAC is being done.

Judging by the above list of sources, do you actually need to go the streaming route?

How are you routing all those sources to the 90s now - all through the Cambridge / BS3? If that's the case, I'm not sure what is happening to the signal path on its way to the 90s? Possibly not optimal (others may opine), and possibly prompting you sound quality questions?

If I had 90's, I'd get a (more) audiophile streamer (streamer / DAC combo) and add a NAS - there's myriad choices at the high end. Pretty sure that when the 90's were demo'd by B&O a couple of years back, they used one such (from Auralic) to push music to the 90's.

These streamers all tend to have their own music playback / control apps, though most are also Roon ready - Roon seems to be very much the audiophile choice of platforms (seems to do an incredibly good job of integrating your own digital library with your choice of streaming service, be that higher res offerings from Tidal, Qobuz etc). Many who go this route, of having higher end streamers/DACs seem to use the Roon software on their tablet, computer, phone. The B&O app is fine, but a pretty limited experience compared to things like Roon.

As for populating a NAS, can be done across Wifi, but much quicker just to hard wire your MacBook to the NAS, set the transfer going, and come back later. Do-able over wifi, just much quicker wired. 

Not sure if any of that is helpful, but there you go.

politician wrote:

However, I'm wondering whether I'd get better sound quality by connecting an NAS optically to a BeoSound Core and then optically direct to the BL90s. Would that be the case?

If I were to set up my system in this way, could I use any hard drive as the NAS? Would I copy files from my MacBook to the NAS across my wireless network? And to play these files, would I use the B&O app or a different app or program?

Since you are not interested in the streaming options (including the netradio), that a BS Core would offer you, you could stick to your Cambridge device.

The Cambridge CXU is a pretty good playback device.

It is mainly an OPPO with the additional Cambrige audio upsampling capacities - this seems to serve you well now and could be used for your ‘new needs’ as well.

As I understand you, you are looking for a wireless option to play the files that you now copy to the USB (in the CXU, right?

If your MAC is cabable of storing all your files, there would not be a need for a NAS - however it may be wise to have the NAS in case your Macbook is somewhere else or shut down.....

The main thing - with the files either stored on a computer or a NAS -  is the server (uPnP/DLNA) running there.

You can easily - e.g. for a start - install a server on the MAC. There are quite a lot of options there nowadays.

This will make the files visible in the UI of your CXU.

You would also be able to manage the content and the playback from a variety of apps on an iDevice.

Have a look at this information from Cambridge:

Thanks for all the input. As I suspected, it's all a bit more complicated than I thought. I was under the impression that all I had to do was attach a hard drive to the BeoSound Core, then attach the Core to the BeoLab 90s, and I would have a direct digital path to the speakers for my files.

In theory you could do that with your Cambridge - it is just a matter of the size of the USB drive.

But the most important part is, how do you manage these files, how do you navigate (in a comfortable and informative way).

This is what DLNA (or the more proprietary) servers and the control points (e.g apps on a mobile device) is about.

MM

I currently use an Oppo105 and a Bluesound node 2i to connect to my NAS. I am also planning to trial a ROON setup. All good options, and down the line I will probably settle on one of them. 
The Oppo has great sound, but terrible UX. Bluesound/Roon both have awesome UI/UX and feature set...still not sure what path to take. 

I do have a Beosound Core on the way (got it as part of a deal with a B&O shop), and we will see if it will make it way into the setup or not...it may just pop up for sale soon. Time will tell. 

They are all hooked up to BL90s.

:)
D 

- double post - 

Millemissen wrote:

In theory you could do that with your Cambridge - it is just a matter of the size of the USB drive.

But the most important part is, how do you manage these files, how do you navigate (in a comfortable and informative way).

This is what DLNA (or the more proprietary) servers and the control points (e.g apps on a mobile device) is about.

 

MM

At present, I select and play files using the CXU's remote and its user interface on my TV. If I connected the CXU's optical out to the BeoLab 90's optical in, would I still be able to control it using its remote and my TV but get a direct digital signal path to the speakers?

I am rather sure that this won’t be possible (using your BeoSystem 3).

However to be quite sure I would have to ask ‘someone in knowing.

MM