Synology MS Slow Loading Art

Posted by: Mike-B on 08 October 2015

I have noticed Synology using their own Media Server has been loading art pictures slower than normal.  OK it was never fast, but its been a lot slower than normal. Most noticeable is the big picture on the first selected album screen.

Why the change - don't know for sure, but it might be in the latest DSM update 5.2-5592/4 that arrived a few days ago.

 

I think I fixed it by changing a line in DMA comparability.

 ....Media Server > DMA Compatibility > Device List.

(This is a selectable blocking program to stop all your visitors smart phones logging on to your NAS – you should only allow (check/tick) the devices & computers that are associated with your system)

Find your control device (iPad or Android) MAC & IP address and change "Default Profile" drop-down menu to "Default Profile with Original Cover"

- I've also applied the same to the Naim Audio Ltd (my NDX) line & that seems to be an OK thing as well. 

– Apply (Save)

- Clear UPnP cache & Image cache & its done.

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by gert
I recommend to use minimserver on your synology instead. It delivers cover art faster and more reliable than the synology media server. (And has other advantages as well.)
Posted on: 09 October 2015 by hungryhalibut

Indeed so. For some strange reason, Mike is rather attached to the Media Server, which I found virtually impossible to navigate. 

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by Bananahead

He's not the only one.

 

Minim needs restarting whenever you add new music but Media Server doesn't.

 

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by bicela

... and don't list the 'recent added' music!

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by Mike-B
Originally Posted by Hungryhalibut:

Indeed so. For some strange reason, Mike is rather attached to the Media Server, which I found virtually impossible to navigate. 

    I've tried them both HH,  while I agree Minimserver is a little faster out of the blocks I much prefer Synology's MS.    I really do not understand what you mean by impossible to navigate, with the DMA menu set for "Advanced Style"  what's not right? it gives you every search/browse option that I can think of. That said I know my NAS file names inside out so rarely go anywhere except Folder view & the alphabetical order its in - The exception is my own tag editing to make sense of the classical stuff - sort by name/opus/syn#, composer, orchestra, conductor or solo'ist.

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by gert
The biggest disadvantage of the SynMS is that it cannot transcode flac to wav in realtime without loosing gapless playback. Also when browsing by folder structure minimserver shows the cover art already outside an album folder while SynMS does only after entering a folder
Posted on: 09 October 2015 by Huge

Thanks for the tip Mike, worked a treat.

 

And...  I'm with Mike: the Synology Media Server works just fine for me.

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by Mike-B
Originally Posted by gert:
Also when browsing by folder structure minimserver shows the cover art already outside an album folder while SynMS does only after entering a folder

This idea I always find strange, & you are not the only one with it.

The folder symbol Synology use is doing exactly what is says - "Folder View" - when you open the artist, it with show all the album names for that artist as a folder, open the album folder & then you get the art.  

If you view by Album or Artist,  then you get the various art thumbnails as you do with Minimserver. 

Posted on: 09 October 2015 by gert
In afaik every up to date OS you can define an icon for a directory. In case of music directories it is very common/logical to use the cover art as folder icon. At least I love to have it this way. Browsing by folder is the only working way for me as the artist list becomes much too long and unhandy. An using the music genre for browsing does not work in my case because the meta data is not maintained by me.

The one or two times I add a new album per month it is really no problem (for me) to let minim rescan the library. But Simon (the minim developer) does have plans to add automatic rescanning/notifying and a recent folder.

Oh and one really big advantage if you are using another UPnP app than naim, one that supports UPnP searching, is that minimserver supports this. Choosing a random playlist with BubbleUPnp (that requires UPnP search) is a often used feature for me.

But if you do not need more, it certainly is ok to stick with the Synology MS.