UPnP from PC to NDX

Hi Wadkri -

Congratulations on your new setup, and welcome to the forum!

IMO, Asset from Illustrate (same guy who developed dbpoweramp) is the best UPnP server software available today.  Try the free version -- just point it towards the music directory on your local drive. The rest of the config options are well-documented on the Asset web page.

If your NDX and your laptop are on the same network, the NDX will recognize Asset on startup.  Using the remote to walk through menus and choose music works fine, but if you can get a good deal on an iPad, it is a big step In usability.  For example, so long as classical music is not your steady diet, nStream's info button works very well (providing access to the online Rovi database).

Good luck!

Hook

Wadkri when you say that you want to stream "directly," are you contemplating a direct connection from the pc to the NDX, or just a network connection on your home network thru your router / switch?  I'd recommend the latter, so that the router will assign an IP address to the NDX.

Welcome!

Dear Hook and Bart,

Thanks for your answers, just what I was looking for! I'll download Asset then and try it out. A NAS and an iGadget is on the purchase list, but I need to take one step a time :-).

The NDX and the PC will be on the same network so the NDX will get an IP. Sorry for not being clear. When I said "direct" I meant streaming within the same network directly from the PC to the NDX without a NAS.

Hi Wadkri

Could I offer an alternative suggestion to Hook’s excellent advice? If you are to use your system for some time before purchasing an I-device you may find as I do, that this is a very usable solution.

Take a look also at J. River Media Centre 18. Now this is a full-blown media centre suite, but the good news is that you can strip out everything else leaving only the Audio element should you wish.

The huge advantage from my point of view is that you can build and play your own playlists as well as the many built in smartlists and follow each track showing as many or as few details on the playing track as you require on your computer screen. You select which information is displayed in the on screen window.

You would use the program exactly as Hook described i.e. build your playlist then select if from the front screen of the NDX using the remote or buttons. You can of course select music directly, as you would using Asset

If classical music is your thing then you may find that this is a very worthwhile alternative.

Good luck and welcome aboard, enjoy your experimentation and let us know how you get on.

Regards

Peter

Smartlist – is a system generated playlist who’s parameters are infinitely variable by you should you wish. Or, build you own from scratch.

+1  for J River.  It is unparalleled as a Server and a Media Player.  And not only for music, although the audio handling is stellar.

It is worth every penny of the $50 price tag.  You can install one license on all of your home PCs, sync libraries and share everything everywhere.

With the JRemote iOS app you can take all of your music on the road with you.

-Patrick

I too am considering an NDX or Sonos into nDAC.

Unfortunatly I will need to go wireless as the router is in a different room to the hifi and I will not be able to put a cable between the two. My questions is, will the SQ be degraded by going wireless ?

It depends.

The good news is that the throughput required for streaming is small - more like a dripping tap than a gushing river.

The bad news is people often set up wireless poorly, use bad kit, expect wireless to travel through multiple walls or have lots of interference from other networks.

Sonos has its own proprietary network. Either NDX or Sonos will be fine in my view if you watch out for these boring details.

Do you foresee any issues based on your place?

Marky Mark,

The signal will have to travel 5 feet, but through a studd wall. There are no other networks in the house. The router is a TP-LINK. I could drill a hole in the wall if it was,nt for the fact that it has kitchen cabinets along its length.

It is impossible for anyone to give you a 100% guarantee as each environment is different. For example those kitchen cupboards may be full of tins of beans. On the surface of things it sounds promising though.

What you might do is get the router in position and then run multiple speed tests on a laptop from the other position using some of the many internet download/upload speed-checker tools. The results will give you a sense of what to expect by way of perfomance in terms of response time and throughput if streaming from online services such as bbc radio or spotify.

If streaming from a NAS or similar home network device you can move files around to the same effect. A FLAC file is usually 40-50 MB for example. Personal experience is I can consistently download one of these from the web in < 5 seconds using wired or wireless so am not stressed about either response time or throughput.

You need to test for drop-outs and inteference from the networks of neighbours too. This is the third dimension of reliability. If you can consistently produce good results I think you will likely be fine.

The more tests at different times of the day etc the greater your level of confidence before buying. You can always buy a better router or do some drilling if need be. Another option is to bounce wireless to a router near the door of the room with the cabinets and then onto the one where the player is. A bit OTT but you can do this easily and Sonos actually have a bridge for exactly that purpose.

HTH a bit.

My Sonos sounds better when my MBP is connected via Ethernet as well. AFAIK the Sonos needs to be connected to Ethernet anyways... better check.

IMV NDX into nDAC is overkill for any entry to mid range system.

And apparently J River are working on an OS X version.

This is true - thanks for clarifying TP. In the OP's case they will need a bridge wired to the router and then the connect or whatever on the 'other side'

One advantage of Sonos (no I don't hold shares) is that it can index a shared drive on your network be it in your laptop or a NAS.

This means you don't need a media server. Personally I prefer it operating against the file system rather than having a server running but you may have reasons to prefer the latter.

Hi Peter,

do you know if JRiver can convert flac to wav on the fly? I just installed a demo version of JRiver MC 18 and didn't find that feature.

Thanks, mipi

I don't know if JRiver will convert on the fly. One thing you have to do is actually set the output from JRiver - unless you change it, the output will be MP3 and not whatever you put in eg: flac

IMO this is very confusing. I think you need to look at Options/Media Network/Client Options/Audio Conversion/

There is a DSP section but I'm not sue if that converts on the fly. If it is possible to convert from flac to wav, I would be interested to know how.

Regards

Huw

Hi again,

Have the NDX home now for a trail. Didn't manage to connect via UPnP due to a firewall installed on my PC (by my company). Just to get an idea of the sound I've copied all my FLACs to an external USB hard drive (which I had to convert fo FAT32 btw...). So after several hours of work arounds I can listen to web radio and my CD collection. FUrther I've installed the nStream app on an iPhone and that is very slick indeed...

Now to my concern. I've connected my old Denon CX3 SACD plauer via std RCA and put it head to head with the NDX (which plays the same FLAC files via USB) and I must say I'm a bit disapointed with the perfomance of the NDX. TI find more details and warmth (?) from the Denon than the NDX. Strande when comparing a 6 year old 1300EUR CD to a brand new 3800EUR streamer, isn't it?

Based on that I have the following thoughts:

Could it be someting wrong with the NDX? (It has burned in for at least one week)

The sound quality via usb is not at the same level as when streaming via UPnP?

The NDX is over priced and over rated and designed for an external PSU, which would make it too expensive for me

It is not connected correctly?

Now don't get me wrong, the NDX sounds good, but for that kind of money I expected something that kicked the )&&¤#"¤ out of my old SACD player.

Comments and thoughts are more than welcome.

My system: 200/202/NAPSC/Non-Naim PSU/PMC Fact 3

Yes.  Go to Options>Media Network>Audio Conversion

Hi mipi & Huw

Sorry, I missed your posts until Patrick answered.

All my files are WAV, but as Patrick say’s Tools/Options/Client Options/Audio Conversion will get you where you need to be. Click the ‘Conversion’ button and select ‘Always convert Audio’ – Then click ‘Encoder’ button and select ‘Uncompressed’

Peter

Forget the price or the "good deal": either the sound is immediately convincing or it is not. 

Sometimes we read on the forum some people reporting that it took 6 months for the sound to "open up" on their new component. I believe this is delusional.

I just upgraded the SW from version 3.6 (must be VERY old) to 3.17. Wow, that's a huge difference. Did the head to head again and this time it wasn't that much of a competition. Strongly recommend to do this update if you have an older SW version installed. All I needed was a USB to serial converter and two ethernet cables. Probably Naim's cheapest upgrade ever, lol.

Back to the subject, a NAS will be bought end of this month and I'll use the nStream app on an iPhone. I read an earlier post by Hook on how to stream Spotify from the PC using Asset. Can this be done using a NAS? I havent found any Spotify service for NAS...

Peter_RN, do you know if JRiver offers a slick way for Spotify streaming to NDX?

I guess I'll have to wait for the next SW upgrad including AirPlay ...

Hi Wadkri

Sorry, I have to admit that I don’t really know what Spotify is or does, and have never felt the need to find out; put it down to age.    However, it does seem to get mentioned regularly here and if Patrick reads this I think he might well be able to advise you.

Regarding Airplay, I am of the opinion that if it were just a case of Naim implementing it you would have got it before now. I believe it may be more to do with Apple than Naim that you are still waiting. This is my opinion of course.

ATB, Peter

Wadkri - from what I read Spotify and JRiver are unlikely to play together - there's a useful thread here:

http://getjamcast.com/Forum/ya...gin-with-JRiver.aspx

Pity imo, though JRiver have something called PerformerStore that might be better than nothing.

Spotify you can run through your iPhone/Apple TV/AE. Stream from your iPhone your Spotify account to ATV/AE and use the optical output from ATV/AE into the NDX or similar (I am using the NDS).

This works for your iTunes collection if it is on your iPhone. Might help?

Regards

Dan43

Hi again,

Peter, likemusic: Ok, then it's as I expected. Pity!

Dan: I've been thinking about the AE solution as well. How do you find the sound compared to UPnP streaming?

Thanks!

Wadkri,

Still finding my range with the kit, so far lots of plugging in and testing still.

On first listen today the iRadio sounded fantastic and Spotify, on first pass, sounded great. iPhone and MabBookPro (streaming now to NDS) all sound great.

Need this weekend to start fully listening deeply, positioning the kit exactly where I want it and so on, but so far so very good. Optical in works. ATV was only £99 from Apple so worth it as it also allows me to stream from the laptop which is connected to NAS with the full iTunes ALAC library on it.

Best

Dan43