UnitiQute2, Synology & ASUS Router problem

Super! Nice work!!

Don't fear "doing it wrong", but be aware some choices are farther reaching than others... Living with unintended consequences (most of which can be fixed later anyway) is the issue!

I also started ripping mp3 in iTunes ages ago and continue to do so for iDevices; my iTunes library is in good shape. As I now have a Mac mini connected to my Naim, via optical, a bonus is having "lo-fi" access to everything, including playlists, genius mixes and so on, via the iTunes select / play functions themselves. Excellent bonus, and still sounds grand. 

My own choice to rip FLAC and serve from a NAS was complicated by home network and software logistics while I was still learning. Also, at that time, my original version Qute did not accept Apple Lossless as a streaming format...so, there was no decision required in my case (well, I chose not to rip to WAV as the tags support was not available). Now, of course, people in the Apple ecosystem can do this, and many other threads have tales of success with Apple Lossless files: you will want to factor that in your thinking.

That said, I also wanted separate directories / data stores for mp3 and lossless, in part because I wanted to have easy separation of titles ripped in both formats and in part because I was experiencing "transition issues" (aka chaos and frustration) accessing a single iTunes library (living on a less than reliable NAS and using a flaky wifi connection) from both PC and Mac, and didn't want that messing up my streaming context...this is what I meant by an unintended consequence! Lots of lessons learned, but war stories for another day... Point here, for me at least, was that I didn't want to re-use my iTunes library for a separate purpose; thus I didn't want to use iTunes as my ripping tool and data management environment. You might wish to...but I would encourage you to replicate your music folder in a separate streaming directory as iTunes on the Mac doesn't want to share access, and very bad things can happen when two applications try to use those files simultaneously.

I started using EAC on a PC, switched to XLD when I got the mini. Online advice to configure is great. Post-ripping tag editing is its own sport - but emphasizes that you are not locked into decisions taken early. XLD is not any more complex than iTunes after you create your preferred ripping profiles. I routinely use two: one for regular cd rips, another for compilations.

I discussed this recently in a separate thread: the check box text is now a bit misleading, as Media Server now (latest update) forces transcoding even when streaming to devices that support the storage format. It didn't in V4, but it does now. One thing is a tiny irritant to some: the titles show up with their .flac file extension when being transcoded. You can try it and pick what you like - a true streaming advantage that requires minimal incremental investment or effort..so why not run "everything"?! I use both Media Server and MinimServer and usually have FLAC streamed by the former and WAV transcodes streamed by the latter.

I usually rip FLAC in XLD to my local Mac mini drive using an Asus external DVD player/recorder on USB. In XLD, the metadata (album, artist, song title, year, genre, cover art) mostly comes from FreeDB in the same way iTunes uses GraceNote. MusicBrainz is another such free online album database. I now double check that info and edit as required, then hit the "extract" button. Afterward, I move the album directory into the music directory on my Synology. The native Media Server is automatically triggered to scan the new folder (comes like that, no need for you to do anything), and I manually re-scan for MinimServer via the MinimWatch app running on my Mac. After that, I have backups and am setting up rsync to replicate onto other drives I happen to have...more copies is better I think, but that's a different matter. I've been trying out a variety of tag editors to fix up past mistakes and don't have a strong favourite in this category just yet. The forum brings these to my attention and I download and explore whenever I happen to feel like that sort of task would be relaxing and not frustrating!

No worries, that's what the forum is for, um.... ! Glad you've made such progress. It is a lot of fun and very rewarding for those who like it...and the musical experience is fabulous.

Regards, alan

Hi Alan

Thanks for another info packed reply. Lots to consider there.

Just done a quick test finding my way around XLD, sonically I'd think I'd struggle to pin point the difference between the Apple Lossless, AIFF and FLAC, the point is as you say about having the versatility and future proofing. I wasn't transcoding however.

Yes, adding in the album art etc looks fun!

I went for the UnitiQute2 after lots of reading as it took lots of file formats and offered the most flexibility of inputs and all accessing its DAC up to high resolutions. I don't use the iMac to stream or play from now, only as a ripping tool and library management plus all my other no music based stuff, that was the point of getting the Synology and the Naim so it could work without the iMac being on. I do stream Spotify from my iPad Air to an Airport Express connected  optically to the Uniti.

Still feeling somewhat out of my depth on this and seeking a sensible route through so thanks for all the guidance and sharing your experiences, appreciated.

Simon

That's great news and consistent with several things we've heard in other threads - different compressed lossless formats are all very good, choice of lossless coding algorithm doesn't affect or alter the embedded original signal, and numerical effort is just computational effort.

The main sonic differences are not tied to the embedded digital signal itself, but to the analog conversion and reproduction chain - which starts with the renderer receiving the stream. In a different thread, this is being discussed quite vigorously. For our purposes here, though, it means that when you start transcoding to WAV, you may well hear improvements (due to offloading the computational burden). It is unlikely (IMHO!) that you will notice marked differences in the WAV streams as transcoded from different lossless compressed formats....since those should all be identical. 

Regards, alan