RIpping CDs into NAS using iTunes : metadata support

Posted by: Philippe CHESSEL on 09 December 2015

Hi,

As anyone experimented with music storage on a NAS with ITunes and managing the associated  metadata ?

I have a Naim Unity device that i am happy with . I have recently added a Synology NAS system on my network. After the setup was done, everything was fine and i can use the Naim App on my iPhone to drive the Naim to read music from the NAS.

Then came the question of what options would i use to store my CDs and music on the NAS : WAV, FLAC or ALAC.

One pre-requisite is that i would like to keep the capability to synchronize some of the music on the NAS onto my iPhone or iPad, then keeping iTunes as the interface to the ripping (iTunes as a nice option to allow to copy music play list in chosen preferred format like .mp3 to save space on the phone.)

So i started to make some tests :

1. WAV. put CD tracks on the NAS as .WAV. Fine with iTunes, but the problem is that no metadata (cover, compositors, ...) is kept on the .wav file, it is kept and exposed only by the iTunes Library  so then you lost lots of functionnality and metadata when using other interfaces like the Naim App for example.

2. FLAC : you can not encode CDs into FLAC format from iTunes from what i know (?)

3. ALAC. : Then ALAC was my only choice at then end. Encoding in ALAC from ITunes onto the NAS allows me to reach all of the metadata (artist, album, compositor, ...) as it looks that the information is then stored in the ALAC file itself.

A trick , that i still need to go through is that each time i import a CD as ALAC , i need to remove the cover added by default and reimport it from an image file .jpg. It looks like when you re-import the cover image it gets then really stored in the ALAC file itself so other apps like the Naim iPhone App can display the cover :-)

Regarding the sound quality , i don't see any difference between WAV, ALAC and FLAC as at the end of the day the ALAC or FLAC is decoded in the same digital stream as the original WAV. So i am a bit amazed that some people in the forum mention they hear difference between WAV and FLACor ALAC storage ?

Philippe

Posted on: 09 December 2015 by Borders Nick

Philippe

Ive been through much same process as you but without a NAS.  I keep the iTunes library on a PC with a back up on a WD My Passport running all the time.

Yes - I eventually also resorted to the same manual process as you to get artwork to show up on the Naim App.  There is an thread somewhere on this forum that points to a "Doug Script" that can do the work for you if you have a Mac rather than PC (I couldn't find anything similar for PC)

I run Minimserver on the PC and now transcode ALAC to WAV on the fly.  I experimented comparing ALAC, WAV rip & WAV transcoded.  I couldn't tell the difference between the two WAV formats but to my ears the WAV versions sounded "better" (more open and airy) than the ALAC.  System is SU + B&W 683S2.

A NAS is a project for 2016 for me.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: 09 December 2015 by feeling_zen

Not only in the formats but also in the same format depending on ripping software.

Technically, WAV, FLAC, and ALAC should resolve to the same data. Assuming bits are bits, the difference heard is the noise generated by unpacking at the Uniti end. I definitely hear this on the NDX and Naim have confirmed their units are optimised for WAV. As a solution, many choose to use another piece of software to read the iTunes library and transcode to WAV so that whatever the file format, the Naim gets a WAV stream.

As for rips, since CDs store digital data but not as files, the bits are bits argument falls apart here. Most ripping software is optimised for speed and fault tolerance and generally a faster rip is more easily able to cruise through scratches without them affecting the tracking of the laser. I actually found the difference between WAV files ripped in different software larger than the difference between a 16/44.1 WAV and a 24/192 Hi res file of the same track. You might want to experiment with software that supports both Accurate Rip and Secure Mode with hardware specific drive offsets. If you play with this and don't hear any difference then fine. But I am betting you do.