Hi, this topic may be a little basic for some, but I would appreciate any thoughts or guidance.
What I would like to be able to do is easily access my library of music via a menu on an ipad, with excellent audio quality. Currently my music is on CD and vinyl, played on equipment that was ok quality in its day, but was bought nearly 25 years ago and is past it's prime. To add context, I may not be stupid, but I have little or no practical knowledge of current technology that may be relevant, save for what I read this weekend, when laid up with a bad cold. And yes, I ripped my first CD today!
So, I may have something of a road to travel on this topic, but one has to start somewhere. Fortunately I have a little money to assist with the project (25 years allows for something to be set aside).
Ok, so I'll jump straight in at the deep end with a quick summary of my thoughts on what might constitute an ideal set-up following my weekend's hard studying. Naim Unitilite (when available), supported by a Synology DS212 NAS (one acronym I have worked out and understand, I think) and Neat Motive 2 speakers. I would of course try to use the highest resolution files I could, although I haven't yet worked out what to do with the vinyl in this regard!
Is this a sensible configuration for someone looking for a robust, high quality system, bearing in mind I may not change what I purchase for some while?!
Thanks in anticipation (and please go easy....)
Posted on: 15 October 2012 by Bart
Nick that sounds like a great solution that should be pretty easy for you to implement so long as you can get the NAS up and running and serving the music. I own that same NAS, and while in retrospect I can say that setting it up and running it is pretty straightforward, at first it may be a little frustrating as the 'user manual' really is not all that helpful. It's simply a matter of installing the hard drives (very easy), getting it onto your home network, figuring out the user interface (pretty intuitive once you've spent some time with it), updating everything, getting the music server running, and then getting your music onto it. All relatively simple, but perhaps not all at once the first time.
(Not that I think any other brand is much easier . . . )
Posted on: 15 October 2012 by sbilotta
Hi Nick,
What Bart says is absolutely correct. Just one extra word that may be of use to get that extra SQ juice with your NAS / streamer: the latest Synology OS (DSM 4 or 4.1) does not allow you to transcode hi-res audio to flac, but DSM 3.2 does. So, should you want to have your audio files stored in flac (for example - as I do) but have it reach your streamer in wav, then you may need to "downgrade" to 3.2 (as I have done).
The procedure requires a very minimum linux know-how (I managed to find the right linux instructions / commands easily on the web, as I am not proficient myself) and the DSM downgrade instructions on the Synology forum.
Just a thought.
All the best
Stefano
Posted on: 15 October 2012 by Guido Fawkes
I'm sure
Naim Unitilite (when available), supported by a Synology DS212 NAS and Neat Motive 2 speakers.
will work, but have a good long audition before buying it ... you really need to have a listen to see if it suits you.
I've yet to hear a digital system that sounds better than vinyl on a LP12: nonetheless you can get very good results from streaming.
Posted on: 15 October 2012 by Bart
Originally Posted by Nick68:
I would of course try to use the highest resolution files I could, although I haven't yet worked out what to do with the vinyl in this regard!
Nick two more things. When you are ripping your cd's definitely rip them to a lossless format such as .flac or .wav. Flac can be a bit easier to deal with because there is a standard way of 'tagging' the files with the info you want to see displayed -- track name, album name, year, etc.
As to vinyl, if I still had records I was interested in listening to, I'd own a turntable. Definitely.
Posted on: 16 October 2012 by jobseeker
Definitely learn about the importance of tagging, particularly in relation to multi-cd albums and compilation albums. If you're into classical, it's even more important, but I'll leave it to a classical enthusiast to talk about that (as I am not).
Posted on: 17 October 2012 by Bart
Originally Posted by sktn77a:
Nick: Sounds like it might be a plan. Just don't forget the basics - does the Uniti have the power to drive your speakers (which model Motive do you have) especially if its in a large room?
Good point; definitely try out the combination of UnitiLite and those speakers. Need to see if the amp has enough "juice" for you.
Posted on: 28 October 2012 by Foxman50
Originally Posted by sbilotta:
"Synology OS (DSM 4 or 4.1) does not allow you to transcode hi-res audio to flac, but DSM 3.2 does. So, should you want to have your audio files stored in flac (for example - as I do) but have it reach your streamer in wav, then you may need to "downgrade" to 3.2 (as I have done)."
Just a thought.
All the best
Stefano
Hi Stefano, i have done just this, however my artwork on nstream is only displayed in very low quality. It displayed fine on DSM 4.0 with a change in a menu to "default with original art". However this does not appear in DSM 3.2.
Wondered if you worked out how to correct it.
Posted on: 28 October 2012 by sbilotta
Originally Posted by Foxman50:
Originally Posted by sbilotta:
"Synology OS (DSM 4 or 4.1) does not allow you to transcode hi-res audio to flac, but DSM 3.2 does. So, should you want to have your audio files stored in flac (for example - as I do) but have it reach your streamer in wav, then you may need to "downgrade" to 3.2 (as I have done)."
Just a thought.
All the best
Stefano
Hi Stefano, i have done just this, however my artwork on nstream is only displayed in very low quality. It displayed fine on DSM 4.0 with a change in a menu to "default with original art". However this does not appear in DSM 3.2.
Wondered if you worked out how to correct it.
Hi Foxman,
I don't seem to have this problem.
I haven't checked the option to have low res artwork instead of the original one, and indeed mine is fine.
Sorry I can't be of help.
Stefano
