Which QNAP for NDS?

Thanks everyone, that is all very helpful. 

Peter W - what file format are you using

I've been told by the very helpful chap from Bliss that his program does not do what I had hoped, but can deal with FLACs.

Next is to work out what to do about the FLAC/WAV debate...anyone any relatively non-controversial comments here in the context of NDX or NDS......

Re FLAC vs WAV the easy way is to store in FLAC and get a UPNP server that transcodes to WAV on the fly - best of both worlds.

Pev, does that mean that the wav file sent to the NDS/nstream app will have the right metadata?

@ Oscarskeeper

Yep - works for me. Nstream (older version as  my iPod Touch won't work with the new version) shows correct track details and artwork. Both SU screen and Nstream say stream is WAV 44.1. I mostly use BubbleUPNP as that is Android and it works on that too.

I can hear a difference when playing FLAC direct via SPDIF versus transcoding to WAV over UPNP - small but noticeable difference in clarity and air in WAV's favour. Of course it may be down to my inexpensive cable hampering the direct connection, but if the transcoding is done by the server and sent over ethernet I can't think how that would sound different from streaming native WAV.

I rip in WAV for jazz / classical music, and FLAC for rock /pop to save HDD space. To these ears WAV files definitely sound better.

Only WAV files require MediaMonkey re-saving. FLAC files can be handled by Twonky right away.

Recently I have downloaded some AIFF files which neither Twonky nor MediaMonkey will read. Just convert AIFF to WAV with Audacity. Sounds tedious, perhaps, but each track takes less than 10 secs to convert, and in theory both are uncompressed format so there should be no loss in quality.

I have not tried transcoding FLAC to WAV on the fly, but this inevitably means extra work for the server. When playing FLAC the server also need to do extra work but this time it is uncompressing files on the fly. Some say this is such a tiny workload even an ancient CPU can handle so it will not affect sound quality. But we are talking NDS level here. I believe even the tiniest issue will have some impact on sound quality. So my compromise is to use WAV for "serious" music, FLAC for "not so serious" music.

I will not enter into the bloodbath!

BUT - and this is for you, oscarskeeper, in order to sort it out for yourself:

Both WAV and FLAC are LOSSLESS formats, so the information contained in the files is identical.

Flac files, however, may be compressed to a certain degree, making the file smaller. The processing capacity required to decompress flac files is minimal, only a fraction of what it take to compress it on creation of the file.

Make up your own mind, if you want to BELIEVE that WAV will sound any different from FLAC ....

There is no need for anybody to enter into any bloodbath. Most people just want to enjoy music and get the most out of our systems. Try out different formats, choose the one(s) you like and enjoy. Period.

Some listeners / audio systems are more capable of detecting / revealing differences than others.