UnitiServe has thrown a sickie, is there a plan 'B' ?

Vortexbox can act as a ripper, tagger, server, and can be connected directly to a DAC and controlled via iPeng or similar on your iPad without the need for a dedicated streamer. Go to their UK website - great service and back-up, I had one for years with no issues whatsoever. 

I'm not sure I would want my Vortexbox in my listening room. It is not as noisy as a PC or as my Netgear NAS, but it is noisy enough to warrant me putting it elsewhere and accessing the files over the LAN. Good tip though for those equipped with a DAC and iPad though

you can get all sorts of variants including custom build and SSD versions but yes running via LAN preferable.

Harry: My dealer spoke to Steve Hopkins today, apparently it's the way the UnitiServe rips and tags the WAV files. If they are ripped to FLAC, then it's not a problem.

Focalist: I'm going to do just that. Will the VB plug directly into my Supernait?

HTM_1968: The VB could go where my NAS is, in a cupboard under the stairs, with a 10 metre Cat6 shielded Ethernet cable back to the router.

@Meerkat. Our VB is next to the fridge in the kitchen. We use powerline ethernet at present to connect to the router.

Simples

(sorry)

Thanks for that clarification Kat. Not good and definitely worth knowing. Shame you got the info the hard way. It's a bloody stupid state of affairs but I suppose, since the files are on a NAS you could batch convert with something like dBpoweramp?

Just a thought - did your faults start when you started Powerline Ethernet adapters. It happened to a colleague at work, he started having several device failures when he started using PLAs, including NAS power supplies.

As far as UPnP and WAV, a few UPnP servers can read either of the WAV metadata chunk formats.

£35 gets you a Raspberry Pi - £5 for a plastic cover, (about the size of a large box of matches)  and you have a superb UPnP server using Asset or similar - and sounds better than any NAS UPnP server I have heard.  A very basic ability to use Unix is required - not dissimilar to occasionally venturing to the console on your Mac OSX system to remove software / drivers etc.

However transcoding the files from Naim WAV format to general WAV format is less encouraging, as Naim don't use either of the WAV metadata chunk constructs and store the metadata in a seperate bespoke database - unless Naim can recover your database such that you save the files as FLAC including metadata you might need to re-rip.. ouch

Simon.

Simon: I haven't got Powerline Ethernet adapters, just cat6 shielded cable. 

It was just an idea, that when the UnitiServe comes back repaired, that I change all the ripped WAV files stored on the Qnap NAS to FLAC. That way the files will be able to be read by other player/servers. I have some 96/24-bit FLAC files downloaded from Linn, and they sound great.

Guys, you're confusing things. 

Naim WAV rips = special rips that only Naim servers can decipher, i.e. the metadata is stored in a separate folder only locatable by Naim servers. "Ordinary" UPnP servers can't find it, i.e. can't read and allocate the metadata. 

Hence: Naim WAV rips require Naim's UPnP server to be served up logically to the renderer!

So, you had better not sold off your Naim server, if you wanted your WAV files to make any sense in future.

The twists and turns of a closed in system.

Naim do it better or so they say.

And of course: "You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!" 

it can connect via usb, so you will need a usb dac to connect to Supernait, such as a M2Tech hiface usb DAC - very neat solution. contact vortexbox uk direct they are very helpful and can instal correct drivers for your dac if necessary pre-order or do it remotely

Totemphile: You are totally correct. Whilst the UnitiServe was being repaired on the first occasion, I demoed a ND5 XS. It was unable to read the WAV files correctly, that had been ripped by the UnitiServe. I was absolutely stunned, I could understand if perhaps, if I was trying to use a cheaper different make, I just assumed they'd all be singing from the same hymn sheet?

The UnitiServe is an excellent, first class ripper/server, but if it's unreliable at £2,500 (I have the SSD version) then perhaps I should try something else. Having to re rip my CD collection using a different machine, or software on my Mac, will be a real pain, but at least that way I won't be held to ransom by the UnitiServe. (BTW,Hotel California in 96/24-bit FLAC is fantastic, it blows the original CD out of the water!)

Wat: I think the recent software update on the UnitiServe (That's another bloody story!) allows you to convert from WAV to FLAC and also rip to FLAC. No idea what it would sound like though, definitely not going to start the WAV/FLAC discussion! 

I was looking at the various VBs until late last night, I looked at the rear of the machines and couldn't see how they would connect directly to Naim amps/DACs, other than via a USB? I couldn't see any RCA/Coax/Opitical outs, did I miss something? Or, does a VB have to be paired with an ND5 or similar?

Meerkat - you've confirmed my worst fears in that moving away from the U/S would be a disaster and feeling frustrated about the Hotel California situation!

I understand your frustration.  It wasn't that the ND5 couldn't read them, it was that the server you were serving them with wasn't sending along the right info.  The trick would have been to find another server that could read the language that the previous hymnal was written in  

As others have said, Naim (1) have long preferred wav format, and given that, (2) use a way to store metadata for wav files that is not what 'ordinary' UPnP servers are looking for.  The flac and mp3 files created by the uServe do use the 'standard' tagging conventions for metadata.  (Remember, to a large extent, there is no standard for wav file metadata, or at least there wasn't when these systems were developed.  Several years ago Naim concluded that wav sounded best and chose to make that first the only, and today the default, format to which their servers rip.)

But yeah, the end result is that a disk full of Naim wav rips is not immediately useful if your Naim server is not available.  That IS a disadvantage to Naim wav rips.

"I exchanged my userve for a NAC172XS, now I stream from my nas to the 172. I copied all the files from the userve while I was waiting delivery on the 172, it was a long process but at least it also transferred all the metadata too. In hind site it would have been as quick to re rip to flac. Any new music I buy gets ripped to flac with dbpoweramp Or downloads I drag and drop to the nas".

Maze...That sounds quite interesting, just had a look at the spec of the NAC172XS, but not sure how it would fit in with my Supernait and HiCap. What server are you using, to serve the music from the NAS to the 172? Also, how did you get around the fact that you need the UnitiServe to read the the WAVs you had previously ripped, or did you change the WAVs to FLAC?

There are two ways you can do this with your snait, either use the 172 as a streamer only using the line out of the 172 into your snait, or use the 172 as a pre/streamer into your snait, so using the snait as a power amp only.

I had a snait and userve, when the userve was problematic I traded both for a 172 and nap200. While I waited for about three weeks for 172/200 it gave me time to copy all files to a my book live nas/server, a long process so if I had to do it again I would just re rip everything with db poweramp to flac.

Finacially I lost out a bit, but at least I don't have the problems I was having with userve. I cannot hear any difference between userve and nas, I wish I had gone this route first and saved a load of time and cash.

The system is now sounding great, it took about 6-8 weeks for it to open up. It has now left the option for me to upgrade to anything naim bring out in the future that may have a pre/streaming option, like a 272 or whatever it gets called.

You won't need the hicap as the 172 has no power supply upgrade option. You can use it as  a power a stageline if you have one, or use it as part of the trade in.

I have no regrets, but try and hear the options if you can..

If you go with my book live buy the one with dual drives for backup.

Thanks maze for your detailed reply. If the userve came back and I didn't have anymore problems, then all well and good. However, I've got bad vibes about this one. The first thing I'll do when it comes back, will be to convert, or re rip my CDs to FLAC, then if it goes wrong a third time, it's in the bin!