Which amplifier or DAC do I need? Please help!

Audio Gear Amplifiers
1

Hello
I’m very new here and I’m also quite new into HiFi-things, so please be patient …

In about one month I’m moving to a new apartment and I want to purchase a good HiFi system. I’m mostly playing digital audio files from my MacBook Pro (I want to be able to play them via AirPlay), but I also think of purchasing a record player one day.

A lot of research pointed me to old and new amplifiers and D/A-Cs which I don’t want, because they lack some features. … And then I read about volumio.

So, if I understand some things correctly, volumio features AirPlay (I could stream music from my MacBook Pro to it), complete Spotify (premium) integration, I could play music from a file server in my network, it can be controlled via apps or a web-interface and I can use volumio with the new Raspberry Pi 2.

One question at this point alread: volumio also features mpd. So, would it also be possible, that I run a mpd-client like ncmpcpp on my MacBook Pro and connect that to volumios mpd-server to control it?

2

It was new a few years back. RPI 4 is current, with 1, 2 or 4GB memory options.

3

A way to do what you want would be to get a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and a DAC HAT such as the Allo Boss.
The HAT connects to the R Pi via the IS2 connection header and gets its power via the R Pi, Allo make a nice case that will neatly contain the setup.

So that gives you ability to store and play music from USB storage or a network server such as a NAS, also streaming from your computer.
The R Pi connects to your network (cable or wifi). The output of the DAC HAT is via RCA line out and this would connect to your amp and speakers, or to powered (active) speakers. Given your intent to play records in the future, I’d go for a nice integrated stereo amplifier and some suitable speakers. The integrated amp should have a phono input to allow connection of your future turntable.