RipNas or Mac Mini?

Posted by: totemphile on 22 March 2011

Hi

I would like to build up my digital music library using a dedicated storage. Now, I am undecided whether to use a MacMini or a RipNas. I also own a Sonos ZP90 and DC1, so my current plan is that it will serve as a streamer to feed the SuperNait's internal DAC. I quite like the idea of using a RipNas as it is simple to use - slide in the CD, job done - and it uses dBpoweramp to create bit perfect copies. The software seems to get strong recommendations by users here on the forum. Equally it would integrate nicely with Sonos. Long term I could see myself moving to the NDX and as I understand it I could easily keep the RipNas then to feed it.

If I was to choose a MacMini instead, what are the benefits of using it as a dedicated storage? Are there any advantages in using a MacMini Serve, rather than a standard Mini - other than the second HD for back up? Could I set it up in the same way as the RipNas, so that it would automatically rip CDs in a specified file format such as WAV, AIFF or ALAC, etc. and add them to iTunes without me having to do any manual steps in between? The MacMini would be headless, i.e. no screen attached, and I would like to use it that way. Otherwise I might just as well use my MacBook Pro to rip my CDs onto some other NAS.

I do want to use the ZP90 simply because Sonos has one of the best UI and iPad apps, which will be very neat for navigating my music library. Alternatively I guess I could go Hiface/DC1 out directly from the MacMini's USB port but wouldn't I lose the remote application then? Or is there an iTunes app that one can use on the iPhone/iPad for remote control? If so, how does it compare to the Sonos one?

And last but not least, if I went down the RipNas route could I import the ripped files from the RipNas to my MacBook Pro and copy to iTunes? My understanding is that you cannot, at least not without converting the files first or losing the meta data. Has anyone done this and if so, what's the best software to use?

My apologies for the many questions but this is all new territory and there are so many ways to go about setting it all up. Any feedback and/or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you
tp

Posted on: 22 March 2011 by Guido Fawkes

The Mac Mini will work with the Sonus - I have a Sonus and store my music on an Apple Computer. I can play the same AIFF files with iTunes and the Sonus. You can do bit perfect rips with iTunes or Max or XLD. I'm not sure if the MiniMac Server would be a good option as it has no inbuilt CD drive, you're stuck with 500 MB discs (some which is lost to the OS) and you get OS X server, which has a lot of stuff you pay for and don't really need.

The RipNAS is probably just as good as a feed for the Sonus and has a very good ripping engine.
I don't have one so can't comment in detail.

You could equally use your MacBook Pro to rip the files on to any standard NAS such as QNAP and why not? If I were you then I'd use your MacBook Pro for ripping and store your music on a NAS. As you're going to use the Sonus and already have the MBP, this would be a very cost effective. Also if you used WAV rather than AIFF you could potentially use a Naim streamer in the future should you want to (not sure about the tags though), My Sonus has no problem using the artwork/tags that iTunes/Max/XLD attaches to the songs - I use AIFF, but sometimes think I should have used ALAC to save on disk space.

You need XLD if ripping on a Mac because if you rip The Electric Prunes Too Much To Dream CD box set, iTunes can't put the titles on the tracks, whereas XLD has no such problem - it can rip to your iTunes library or you can drop the tracks as you would downloaded songs and they become part of your library. I like iTunes as it files songs neatly artist::album::song - and you've got Doug's freely available Applescripts to manipulate the Library if you feel the need. I'm sure other software does this too.

There are lots of ways of achieving this and all seem to have their own advocates; I think they all produce very similar (in most cases identical) results.

By the way, if you use the hiFace can you not connect it to a digital input on your SN directly and eliminate the need for the DC1 and then simply use a Belkin USB cable (about £15). With my MF VLink you couldn't do that and do need a cable between VLink and DAC - I use a Chord.

All the best, Guy

Posted on: 22 March 2011 by Tog

Both will work well - the RipNas gives you UPnP should you ever want to go down the Naim streamer route later but in that case I would recommend either a UnitiServe or Vortexbox installation (works well with Sonos and slim server ) RipNas is good but you are paying for the fan less case and if you can rip on a computer an AssetNas from the same people is far cheaper and comes with more storage.

As Guido point out the Mac Mini needs a USB convertor to really get the best out of it but you do get to use Remote one of the best control points out there.

Tog

Posted on: 22 March 2011 by totemphile

Ripping from my Macbook to a pure NAS without ripping function is an option of course. The reason why I am considering RipNas is because dealers here still maintain that CDs ripped by a RipNas or UnitiServe produce better sounding results than CDs ripped using iTunes - with the UnitiServe apparently edging ahead of a RipNas server.

I don't want to spend the sort of money the UnitiServe costs, at least not now, so a RipNas seemed like a good alternative solution, especially because it offers UPnP and could be used with a Naim streamer in future. Also, should I opt for one later, I would not have to re-rip all CDs, since it produces high quality rips.

The more I think about all of this, the less I am attracted by the USB port options out there... so it's probably a RipNas or ripping from MacBook to NAS. How about Apple's own Time Machine as a NAS, would that make sense or rather any advantages there?

@Tog - how do you rate the Apple remote vs. the Sonos app, do you happen to know both?

Thanks
tp

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by Tog

Both are good - I prefer the remote app personally as I don't like the queueing approach in the Sonos app.

I'm not convinced that there is much if any difference between a Itunes/Max/XLD rip and dedicated servers. I use Vortexbox a lot and its ripit programme produces excellent files as well. In any case I don't believe that you would notice using Sonos.

Tog

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by AKa

Hi
I had the same topics in discussion whether to go for an Apple solution, based on iTunes/ALAC/mac mini or FLAC/Ripnas.

I finally decided to go for Ripnas/FLAC based on the following...

...FLAC is a free lossless format widely-used and supported by almost all (except Apple)
...Ripnas is using AssetUPNP as music server which is supporting almost any file format
...I can keep my ALAC files as AssetUPNP has the ability to transcode on the fly for making it usable to streamer like UnitiQute or others, I just copied the files to Ripnas and it worked
...Ripnas provides Firefly to integrate into iTunes and supports transcoding FLAC on the fly, I can play all FLAC files straight out of iTunes if wanted
...Ripnas S1000 has 2 HDs that are mirrored and provides external backup via USB too, no worry about data loss

My current set-up is Naim UnitiQute sourced by Ripnas via UPNP using mainly FLAC files, remote controlled by the NAIM stream App. But my family enjoys still being able to use iTunes to stream via ATV2 to the Naim controlled by the free Apple Remote App.

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by winkyincanada

I love the "Remote App". I use it almost exckusively to control iTunes for playback (either on an iPhone or iPad).

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by Guido Fawkes

I think all of the solutions described in this thread will give good results and the Sonus is a superb device for the money. Which user interface one prefers is a matter of taste - a very easy way to play an album on a Mac is to go in to a terminal window, navigate to the directory containing the album music files you wish to play and, assuming all your files are of type .aiff, merely enter

find . -name '*.aiff' -exec afplay '{}' \;

This uses the audio file player "afplay" which comes free on all Mac computers.
Using X-Code and some Applescript you'll soon be knocking together your own user interface. You can easily adapt this to put the file into memory and play it from there. The result is that it sounds really excellent, in fact, indistinguishable from iTunes.

All the best Guy

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by totemphile

RipNas seems to be the more versatile and easy to use option, plus it pulls the relevant metadata from 5 databases (AMG, GD3, MusicBrainz, SonataDB & freedb). I think if I wasn't using RipNas, I would consider Max as a ripping software instead. As I understand it Max only uses MusicBrainz to pull the relevant metadata though. Is that a problem or is it sufficient in almost all cases?

Has anyone compared the sound quality of audio files ripped by RipNas with those ripped by the UnitiServe?

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by winkyincanada

Originally Posted by Guido Fawkes:

Too funny.

Posted on: 23 March 2011 by Tog

Make sure that your interface

1. Repeatedly asks "do you really want to do this ....?"

2. Is called something appropriately silly like Amatricano or Songwizard or Gloveplayer and is retailed at an equally silly price.

3. Doesn't actually work.

4..Repeat as appropriate.

Tog