Streaming internet radio from NAS to ND5XS
Posted by: Gajdzin on 14 February 2015
My ND5XS is a great for playing CDs from NAS, but useless as Internet Radio, because most of my favorite stations won't play on it (runs out of memory every few seconds, esp. on a Greek classical music station 'Audiophile Baroque', while my low-end laptop or even an old iPhone plays that station with no breaks).
So I was looking for ways around it and some users suggested streaming the radio station from NAS to ND5XS. There's a M3U file kindly posted by Laxton Yeo HERE. I copied the contents into a new *.m3u file and put it in the Music share on my NAS. Now if I open the Synology Media Server or the MinimServer from the Naim App on my iPad and go to "Playlists", I can see the new file. However, when I open it, it's empty.
What am I doing wrong?
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Nor can i - Gajdzin was asking about the logic of a switch in one of his posts hence my reply.
The only reason he was asking was that someone actually suggested that adding a switch might help 
Ah yes. Reading right back i see where that's come in ! - give it a few hours and we'll be adding ferrites and expensive ethernet cables to sort it out 
No logic to adding yet another switch. In your setup but if you can simplify it in this way then it can help.
NAS > switch > ND5XS
|
Router
Unfortunately I can't, because the NAS and 6 other devices are on one end of the house, while ND5, router and 3 other devices are on the other end. There is only one run of shielded Cat6 cable (ca. 25m) in the wall between the two ends. To do what you propose I would have to hack the walls again and lay down a second run of ethernet cable. However, if the objective is simply to have the NAS talking to the ND5XS not via something else than the router, I could do this:
Switch1 ------------------------ Switch2 -- Router
| | |
NAS ND5XS ND7
ND1 ND8
ND2 ND9
ND3...
(Where "ND" is a network device, like a PC, internet radio, TV set or WiFi access point).
However, I don't see the benefit, because the router also contains a switch with 4 ports, so how is the switch built into the router different form a standalone switch...?
I see, i've always found keeping the audio 'network' in my case now NAS and Macmini , on a separate switch rather than using the internal switch in the my wireless router has given me a very stable network - the Switch, a Data logger and my Sonos bridge hang off the other router ports. Even at Christmas with a load of kids (and adults !) hammering my wireless network no glitches at all in audio playback. This probably wont solve your internet radio issues (unless your router is doing strange things. As bananahead mentions a few replies back, if you've no present issues with streaming then leave it alone 
Streaming is fine, it's the internet radio (some stations) that runs out of buffer memory all the time...
To isolate my audio network on one switch I would have to either run another 25 meters of ethernet cable in the wall, or move the NAS to the listening room (no - too noisy with its 2x4TB WD Red HDD), or buy a second NAS with SSD disks and install it next to audio gear. That last option is very tempting, except I can't afford it right now, I would need e.g. QNAP HS-251 fanless NAS + 2x Samsung EVO 1TB SSD disk (my music is already 1,4TB in FLACs), for a total cost of almost 1000 quid...
OK, I'm off to try Transcoding as suggested by Bananahead.
Just tried this with a plain old MAC Mini - Audiophile Baroque - and it is a perfectly acceptable stream. [USB to DAC V1].
The lesson might be to get a MAC Mini and tune in via the webpage?
Simples.
ATB from George
+1
Since UQ2 has been updated to the latest f/w iRadio issues have become sporadic. They were definitely worse before. Still –mostly- 320k stations give a hard time to UQ2 (fluctuating buffer levels, dropouts etc). Last night, I could listen to Naim Radio (320) as well as Linn Jazz through my iMac and McBPR with no problems whatsoever while UQ2 was dead in shallow water in that regard. FWIW, Spotify Connect has so far worked superbly on the Qute.
I’m going to say it again. It’s better to leave web radio streaming to the proper computers. Btw, Audiophile Classic is another decent sounding station.
I tend to disagree, in principle - the core feature of very expensive Naim network players is to enable streaming
But let's keep focus on the OP topic, it was about internet streaming from a NAS. It would be very interesting to get a clear answer, if one exists ...
Bobby
Bobby
Streaming is fine, it's the internet radio (some stations) that runs out of buffer memory all the time...
To isolate my audio network on one switch I would have to either run another 25 meters of ethernet cable in the wall, or move the NAS to the listening room (no - too noisy with its 2x4TB WD Red HDD), or buy a second NAS with SSD disks and install it next to audio gear. That last option is very tempting, except I can't afford it right now, I would need e.g. QNAP HS-251 fanless NAS + 2x Samsung EVO 1TB SSD disk (my music is already 1,4TB in FLACs), for a total cost of almost 1000 quid...
OK, I'm off to try Transcoding as suggested by Bananahead.
Gajdzin, please let us know how you implement transcoding and what NAS and software you use
Txs
Bobby