QNAP native DNLA server transcoding?

The "native" server on the qnap is a twonkey. But you can install a minimserver which will abe to transcode flac to wav and can also be installed on the synology. 

About the wakeup-function I can't help because my qnap run 24/7.

Thanks, Reinibert. I may stay with Synology, then - its native server transcodes without any problems. And I always prefer to use the native app than a 3rd party. Ockham's razor

If anyone could explain the "wake-up on LAN", I would appreciate it... My DS214play has such function, but it was turned OFF by default and yet it was going to sleep nicely and waking up the moment any computer (or the ND5XS tried to access it). I don't understand it.

Wake-up LAN, simplistically, is a capability for when the device is sleeping it still monitors it's LAN port. A specific 'wake-up' frame can be received by the sleeping device identified by its MAC address by another device/application and will activate or wake up the sleeping device. 

Simon

Makes sense, but in such case why the lower-end models of e.g. Synology wake up and spin up their disks when a computer tries to access them, even though they don't have the "wake-up LAN" feature (it's only available starting from a little higher-end models)?

Assetnas will do all of that brilliantly although I'm not sure if you can get ssd, or how big an ssd you can get to be honest

Gajdzin, it could be the devices just spin down the disks after a while of no use , but other than that the NAS is fully enabled. This is quite common in consumer NASes. However Wakeup on LAN if setup correctly can reenergise a NAS from standbye, a bit like pressing the power switch.

Ie Wakeup  on LAN (WOL) feature is quite separate from the discs simply spinning down after a period of no use. If WOL is activated and the device is on standbye or sleeping, unless it receives it's special Wakeup message it will stay on standbye and you won't be able to stream from it or use it.

Simon

Just went to their site... way, way, way too expensive for me. 1995 Euro? No, thanks. A Synology or Qnap with 1TB SSD disk will cost one third of that.

Hi Gajdzin

Are you aware that Synologies "Media Server" will only transcode at low res. it converts all 24/96/88.2/176/192 to 16/44.1 when it transcodes to wav.

Graeme

Thanks for pointing that out, Graeme - yes, I've read about this here, but right now I've done a lot of work to digitize my 1000+ CD library which is of course all 16/44.1. One day, if I find some hi-res music I'll want to buy, I will think about installing some 3rd party DNLA server for Synology. For the time being the built-in solution is good enough. I like things that fulfill my needs without having to download/install/buy/learn how to use/troubleshoot/swear/post on the forum/be ashamed to find out it's already been discussed a million times/finally get it to work with yet another tool

Hence my original question in this thread. I guess the answer is "no"...

Ripcaster uk do an assetnas for around 500 pounds (if this is breaking any rules I apologise) which will cover your needs. I see went down that route because I specifically wanted to use asset upnp and to transcode to wav

Thanks - I'll certainly look at asset - based solutions, too.

I'm trying to think through your proposal . . .

If I understand it, you want the new nas to be the server for your UPnP system, and you want it to be a backup for your primary music storage . . . and silent and on the rack with your hi fi.

SSD's are still quite expensive.  Not a solution most use for backup duty for that reason.  Most go the opposite way -- an inexpensive drive for backup duty, as it's not used other than when you update your backup (once a week?), or if you actually need to recover from it.  You have a somewhat novel proposal, but paying ssd prices for a backup drive seems silly to me.

How will you connect this new nas to your existing nas?  Wifi, or with cabling?  If wifi . . . you may not get the reliability you need.  If cabling . . . you should just connect the cable directly to the NDSxs and forget the intermediate / "new" nas, IMHO.

I'm just trying to kill a flock of birds with 1 stone My main NAS is powerful and big (2x4TB), but too noisy to be located in the living room, where the audio system is. So it's stashed under a desk on the other end of the flat. Now the 1000+ ripped CDs (FLAC) on that NAS occupy less than half a terabyte. I wanted to have a backup on another device. At the same time I would rather have a NAS near the audio gear, behind a separate little switch, with only 3 short ethernet lines connected to it: ND5XS, NAS and wi-fi router (for nStream). Such topology was recommended several times on this forum.

So if I buy a small, fanless NAS with an SSD disk, it can both become the main music NAS benefiting from proximity to the music system (allowing connection with short run, high quality cables like my AQ Vodka) and at the same time provide the required music data security by having the big 2x4TB NAS serve as the music data backup.

Regarding SSD prices: the popular Samsung 840 EVO SSD 1TB disk costs 430-450 Euro here. Add to this 150 Euro for a single disk NAS like Synology or Qnap and at 600 Euro I get a totally silent, low power consumption, reliable, super-fast 1TB music NAS that costs less than my main Synology DS214play /w its 2 4TB WD Red. Or to look at it another way: 600 Euro is much below the price of most dedicated solutions like the AssetNAS recommended above.

You ask how it is connected - all of our 7 computers, 2 NASs and several music players at home are on the same LAN, cabled with UTP CAT5 running in the wall, soon to be replaced by STP CAT6e or even CAT7 (the CAT5 cable is 13 years old and starts to cause problems).

Given the cable in the wall, just plug the cable into the ND5XS.  I don't think that anyone here recommended the nas and switch be physically close to the player in the way you proposed; a run of ethernet cable is just fine.

Then just use a usb drive to backup the nas. 

You're right -- this could be much simpler (and cheaper) for you!

You are right, nobody recommended that they have to be close - what many folks recommended is that the "last mile" (the cable connecting the Naim network player to a switch or router) is of supreme importance. So I bought 1,5 meters of AudioQuest Vodka from a friend. I could afford 1,5m, esp. 2nd hand, but I definitely wouldn't be able to afford AQ Vodka from my network player all the way to the main switch on the other end of the flat (20 meters or so) - I would have to re-mortgage the property

So I have to have a special switch within 1.5m of my ND5XS just because of that Vodka. Also, several folks recommended to section-off the audio portion of the network (server + streamer) by putting them behind a dedicated switch. This way the traffic between various other devices on the network doesn't go through the cables between the server and the streamer.

Have you sat next to a sleeping NAS and heard the racket it can generate when woken up? I'd rather have it purring all the time. Just a thought.

That racket is made by the hard disks. No hard disks (as in: SSD) - no racket.

I expect my SSD-based NAS to be completely noiseless. Unfortunately my favorite NAS manufacturer (Synology) does not make a fanless NAS. I even wrote to them to ask if the disk is SSD, will the fan still turn itself on? They replied: yes, because it's needed to cool the motherboard. So I'll have to look at other manufacturers, there must be some fanless NAS enclosures out there.

I think that you're chasing a dream.  But so long as it's fun, and it's in the budget . . . no one will get hurt.

No, it's just that people in this country read fewer and fewer books every year, so a writer, even one with 3 bestsellers to his name, can't afford a dedicated, plug and forget solution. My 2 NASs (one with SSD), AudioQuest Vodka, recabling the whole flat in STP Cat7, extra ethernet switch and even a dedicated power spur, are all together still much cheaper than one Unitiserve!

You don't NEED a UnitiServe, and you definitely don't need a switch and nas within 6 feet of your hi fi.  Or recabling in Cat 7.  IMHO you have read 'suggestions' from many folks here and come to the conclusion that you should adopt all of them.  But I feel that my comments are not going over well, and will bow out.  We all focus on what interests us and what we enjoy.  Enjoy!

True. I also don't NEED a Naim system (I have lived happily for 47 years without one) nor to be on this forum

This is not about need but about the hobby of chasing the best possible sound

PS. Cat7 in the wall is simply because the price difference from Cat6e is very small, it's likely to be more future-proof, and anyway my company pays for it, because I have an official "home office" and every month I save my company something like 500 Euro by not sitting in our main office building in the city center. So they are happy to pay for my house's recabling, it's nothing compared with the savings I bring by not using a desk in the office.