Recommended Components

Because The Black Box is designed as an “open” system, you can use it with the peripheral components of your choosing. However, that is not to say that we are without our recommendations. Many of our recommended components we can also provide along with The Black Box™ as a way to simplify your purchasing experience.

Like any other digital front-end source, The Black Box™ will need supporting components for a complete system including an external Digital-to-Audio Converter (DAC). In addition, it required the use of an external display device and an external storage device. Below, you will find a list of components which we believe can maximize your enjoyment of The Black Box™. We would be happy to assist you with the purchase of these products, or simply to answer any questions you might have.

Network-Attached Storage (NAS) Device: The Black Box™ relies on an external hard drive for storage of all media files. Although this can be accomplished in a number of ways, we recommend the use a Network-Attached Storage (NAS), which allows multiple computers (including the Black Box™) to access media files. 

We recommend the HP MediaSmart Home Server, which allows for up to 8TB of data storage and can be setup for redundant storage for an extra level of data protection. Learn more.

Display Device: The Black Box™ does not use an on-board display and needs an outboard display unit to navigate the interface. While any display device can work, we recommend the TouchScreen by ELO or the Dell SX2210T Multi-touch Monitor.

Digital/Audio Converters: At Blue Smoke, we have auditioned many electronics and we consistently come back to MSB Technologies as designing the some of the finest DACs, even when compared with products significantly more expensive. The engineering and design behind the MSB product line is impressive, to say the least. Users can choose from the MSB Power DAC or the new Platinum DAC IV (also available with the Signature upgrade). Learn more from MSB Technologies.

Cables: We recommend using our proprietary Black Box digital cable to connect to the DAC of your choice. Alternatively, you can use a high-quality S/PDIF cable, readily attainable at major electronics stores, or a Toslink or AES/EBU digital cable. For connection of the Black Box™ to your NAS, we strongly recommend a hard-wired (ethernet) connection.