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Question about network a/v receivers

Yesfan70

Yesfan70

I'm famous now bitches! vvvvv
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What are the benefits of a network ready a/v receiver (or pre/pro) besides a direct way to keep the firmware updated? Can you stream music straight to it? If so, how does it compare to a Squeezebox or similar item? For those that have them, how is the metadata displayed? Navigating a music collection, etc? What are some of the other benefits?


No I'm not going to replace my Onkyo just yet, but thought I would ask about the value of having a network attached a/v receiver or pre-pro.
 
Yes, you can stream straight to it. However, home network and media storage technology have been advancing faster than A/V component makers have been keeping up.

I have a Denon 3808CI... when I bought it, it was a top of the line streaming receiver... but that was six years ago. It streams only music and requires a DLNA compliant host to serve up the music. It did work pretty well; it would show the artist and song title on the TV and the menu system for browsing wasn't too bad at all. I would expect modern networked receivers to be even better but I would strongly recommend someone know exactly if it will work in one's own setup (such as being able to answer what streaming server would work) before depending on that feature.

I'm not sure there's any real benefit to streaming to the receiver over some other component (Blu-ray player, gaming console, HTPC, Apple TV, Squeezebox, etc.)- so long as the desired video resolutions and audio formats are supported.
 
From your post, looks like a display would be needed too. That would be bummer if true.
 
Yesfan70 said:
From your post, looks like a display would be needed too. That would be bummer if true.
Click to expand...

You could probably work them by the receiver's front panel display but it wouldn't be quite as usable.
 
A display is not needed if you have a smartphone. Most network receivers have Apple Airplay capability (Onkyos don't). You can stream your music from any iOS device without having to turn on your TV. Android devices will also work with network receivers. Either stream music directly from the android devices or from your PC or NAC.
Network receivers can also stream music without the use of a smart phone but you need a display to do that. If you have a smart phone/device then you can use the manufacturer's app to control your receiver without a display.

I have a Marantz 6008 and the receiver will show the album cover only if the .jpg file is in the album folder where the songs are.
Navigating the music collection is still kinda primitive (at least on my Marantz).

For me the network feature is worth it because I have have a pair of speakers on the deck and I use Zone 2 of the receiver to stream music to. All controlled from my phone. No need for a display. It's very convenient.
If you have a media streaming device like Roku, then the network features of a receiver are not really needed.
 
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