High Res and Synology NAS - help please

Is your NAS set up to transcribe files to WAV?  If it is then the latest firmware from Synology will convert all hi res to 16/44.

It looks - and there has been correspondence on this here before which I should have read before updating! - like Synology have completely removed the ability to play high res files at high res, thus rendering their product completely useless for me. I've tried unsuccessfully, so far - to perform a downgrade, but I can't get the instructions to work for me. Alternatively, I note that there's a very recent version of their software 4.1. Does anyone know if that cures the problem?

Thanks

Paul

It doesn't unfortunately.

What format are your hi-res files in because you can simply turn the transcoding off and let the Synology send the native files.  That is what I do with my DS212+ and the NDX plays the few hi-res flacs that I have.

How do you turn the transcoding off in the control panel for version 4? I can't find any audio controls, maybe I'm being dense!

Paul,

there are 2 places for transcoding;

1. In the audio software (Station or DSAudio); transcoding is always on, to wav or mp3 for in-browser playback.

2. In the mediaserver options (main dsm desktop). Where on the DMA compatibility tab, transcoding can be turned off entirely.

Hope this helps, Rex (using DSM 4.1)

Rex

Thanks for that. I've (finally!) found the mediaserver option, turned off transcoding. BUT I'm still getting the same problem, theoretically just using the Synology as a UPnP. I wonder if I need to re-boot the Synology before the setting change works?

Do you know if 4.1 offers any improvements?

Stop Press - got it working. Just needed some patience after turning transcoding off. Now playing at high res! Thanks, Rex - but still interested as to whether 4.1 is much of an improvement?

Great. Usually restarting the mediaserver will do the trick if you don't want to wait for changes.

DSM 4.1: I'm an early adopter, always installing updates immediately. Some things are new, most you don't use regularly.

Audio Station:

- I don't use the new feature of personal libraries, which I suppose can be very cool to some.

- You can now choose multiple streaming devices at once for playing music (handy for me).

DSM itself; all extra software are now somewhat like "apps", which you can upgrade very very easy.

Soundwise of course nothing is different. What's still on the list for me;

- Multiple streaming devices with the same source is great, but I'd like to see this on iphone app as well, also volume control per device.

- Volume control for the ND5XS, so I don't have to use the for me very disappointing nStream app.

- Synology keeps forgetting the upnp high resolution settings for iPhone/iPad.

Hi Rex

i notice your comment on hi res artwork not displaying on iPad. Is this an issue with the synology NAS drive UPnP server?

I have just configured a 213+ and thanks to the wonderful information on this forum it's been straight forward and I'm now listening to my music, both hi res and red book cd.

I have high res artwork in the folders, the artwork displays but in poor quality?

Any advice would be appreciated. Many thanks, Anton

I've given up on the high-res images. The NAS keeps forgetting the settings, so I don't bother with them anymore.

As said above, DSM 4.1 was not able to transcode hi res flac files ( 24/96 and 24/192) to hi res WAV => all the hi res flac were trascoded to normal ( 16/44) WAV.

I have installed DSM 4.2 but onviously the problem is still there. In DSM 4.1 , when "transcode" flac to wav was "on", all the hi res flac files were transcoded as normal ( 16/44) wav and NDX was playing all of them ( just as 16/44 wav files). In DSM 4.2, the hi res flac files are transcoded as hi res wav ( or that's what n-Stream is showing) but they can't be played the NDX ( n-Stream is showing "connecting" and then stops) .So, now the option does't work at all for hi res flac files ?

Did someone experience the same problem with DSM 4.2 ? Does the transcode flac to wav option work for your hi res flac files ?

I prefer the opposite -- keeping the nas out of the room that the hi fi is in.  The nas DOES make some noise, and also for aesthetics I like it better when the nas it out of site.  But of course that requires some sort of network connection; I use wired ethernet.

And someone to share and help on the hi res flac files subject .Did you test transcode hi res flac to hi res wav option with DSM 4.2 ? is it working for you ?

Has any one tried transcoding HI-Res FLAC to WAV on DSM 4.2 and managed to get this to work correctly. Really interested as im still running DSM 3.2 for this very reason

Still nobody else who has tested transcoding hi res flac to hi res wav with DSM 4.2 ?

Running a Synology DS211+ with DSM4.2.

Just tried this for you and 24/48 files that I have show up as 24/48 when playing in native (flac) format but show up as 16/48 when set up to transcode to wav.

Thanks a lot Rich.

Obviously the problem still exists and we should wait for the next update. It's really strange that Synology can't fix this issue for so long.

I wouldn't hold your breath, I seriously doubt whether this is very high up on the Synology developers to do list!

My understanding from the feedback that I have received from Synology on this very point is that they do not consider this behavior as a bug, but is implemented for greater compatibility with other Upnp clients. See below: 

For transcoded audio, it may not have the original audio quality, but it can improve compatibility for playback on certain devices.

This was basically also the same feedback that I received from them for a pre 4.2 release inquiry, so it seems that they  have  made a choice (for compatibility issues) to not transcode hi-res to hi-res...

Pity... I was hoping that 4.2 would change this ...

As sbilotta says, Synology see this as a feature not a bug.  The NAS is designed for the millions of regular users not the handful who own hi res flac files!

Why would you want to have the transcoding switched on in any case can your streamer not play flac natively?

Yes, I can stream flac natively and that's what I am currently doing ( I use NDX as mentioned above). I just wanted to compare the sound qiality of flac vs wav and this was the reason to use the transcoding option. But with all comment till now, it is obvious that I will switch transcoding off and will continue to stream flac natively.

And who knows - may be Synology will change their mind one day ?

This is the reply i got from Synology

"The transcode function works in such way that it may reduce output in order to increase compatibility with multimedia devices.
Our developers are aware of this, and they shall have further analysis on how it might be improved.
However, I don't have any timeline as to when such enhancement may be implemented.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding."

Not really sure i have any understanding, if it worked in 3.2 how hard can it be to get it working in 4.2, thats progress for you

Hi. I don't have a naim streamer so can't confirm if there has actually been a change but when I updated media server on my Synology NAS today I noticed a new option saying "Downsample audio files during transcoding to provide better DMA compatibility" in the Audio transcoding options. Don't think it was there previously.

Presumably leaving this unticked fixes the Hires problem when transcoding to WAV?

John