NAS + MinimServer and adding Unitiserve?

Well...

As I see it - there are plenty of advantages. Ease of ripping, cataloguing, usage interface. I use it for exactly those reasons.
If you install a UnitiServe it will also act as a UPnP server, making MinimServer redundant.
Generally - I like my UnitiServe SSD and I run it with QNAP NAS>

There are forum members who will advise against buying a UnitiServe and I'm sure they will present good arguments too.

Adam

No.

Honestly, I would say you're better off with the QNAP.  Use a PC or Mac to do the ripping and copy the files on to the QNAP. It isn't that hard to do. The US will add complexity, cost a lot of money, and there's a growing club on this forum of owners of dead Unitiserves.

Against all good financial sense, I've retained my HDX, which was originally my source, coupled with a Naim DAC, and it now is used solely as a ripper - server to my NAS / NDS.

Lots of folks on here have explained how straightforward it would be to make the move to ripping using my Mac, but, as Adam says, as with the Unitiserve, it quite simply takes the pain out of the whole process.

CD's are ripped into a format which the NDS recognises, without the need for transcoding, and yes, I am convinced that I can hear a difference between WAV and FLAC.

The HDX seems to have fallen out of favour somewhat, and there are plenty of pre-owned ones out there at reasonable prices.

Solid Air posted:

No.

Honestly, I would say you're better off with the QNAP.  Use a PC or Mac to do the ripping and copy the files on to the QNAP. It isn't that hard to do. The US will add complexity, cost a lot of money, and there's a growing club on this forum of owners of dead Unitiserves.

And I founded that club And I still use my UnitiServe.

I don't think US adds complexity - I found it simplifies the process for me.

Ripping on a PC / Mac does require some specialised software - relatively inexpensive though. 

dave marshall posted:

Against all good financial sense, I've retained my HDX, which was originally my source, coupled with a Naim DAC, and it now is used solely as a ripper - server to my NAS / NDS.

Lots of folks on here have explained how straightforward it would be to make the move to ripping using my Mac, but, as Adam says, as with the Unitiserve, it quite simply takes the pain out of the whole process.

CD's are ripped into a format which the NDS recognises, without the need for transcoding, and yes, I am convinced that I can hear a difference between WAV and FLAC.

The HDX seems to have fallen out of favour somewhat, and there are plenty of pre-owned ones out there at reasonable prices.

Good points from Dave. 

HDX is a good solution too, especially a used SSD version. 

I still don't understand the sense in the SSD versions, especially given the higher price. The slightly cheaper HDD version can still see other music stored elsewhere on the network, in addition to playing from its own storage, so why would you 'pay more for less?' My dealer couldn't come up with an explanation for this, and I haven't read one here either........

+ 1...................oops, sorry, ....................... I completely agree!

If, as in my case, it's being used to rip directly to a NAS, I can't see the advantage of the more expensive SSD version either, and as I mentioned above, there are some pre-owned bargains out there.

ChrisSU posted:

I still don't understand the sense in the SSD versions, especially given the higher price. The slightly cheaper HDD version can still see other music stored elsewhere on the network, in addition to playing from its own storage, so why would you 'pay more for less?' My dealer couldn't come up with an explanation for this, and I haven't read one here either........

Hmmmmm..... Yessss.... Foud one...

One thing less to break (i.e. Hardrive) and less electrical noise in the small enclosure

dave marshall posted:

Against all good financial sense, I've retained my HDX, which was originally my source, coupled with a Naim DAC, and it now is used solely as a ripper - server to my NAS / NDS.

Lots of folks on here have explained how straightforward it would be to make the move to ripping using my Mac, but, as Adam says, as with the Unitiserve, it quite simply takes the pain out of the whole process.

CD's are ripped into a format which the NDS recognises, without the need for transcoding, and yes, I am convinced that I can hear a difference between WAV and FLAC.

The HDX seems to have fallen out of favour somewhat, and there are plenty of pre-owned ones out there at reasonable prices.

I'm also using an HDX to rip CDs to a NAS and as a server to a NDS. Simple set up that works. The HDX is also used in a second system and sounds great so good value for money as far as I'm concerned.

If someone is starting out I can see the attraction of a UnitiServe, albeit perhaps not the SSD version, and that's how I was started because I was scared of the nas solution. Now I no longer have a Serve and use a Qnap. 

So if I was you, why might I get a Serve?

1. I want something that is less flexible in terms of the way it presents albums

2. I want my system to sound worse

3. I like to own things that keep breaking down

4. I feel the need to buy something that adds no value whatsoever

5. Nobody had told me that for the price of a Serve I could swap my SuperUniti for a 272 and a used 200, which is a real shame because I could have made my system sound miles better

6. Nobody told me that ripping CDs on my computer was really easy and that dbpoweramp finds really good album art, whereas the Serve very often finds low definition junk

7. I like things with a Naim badge, even though they are completely pointless. 

I completely disagree with point 2 from the above 'slightly' biased summary. Based on my experience running a QNAP with MinimServer and a UnitiServe SSD I hear no difference between the two.

As to point no 1: HH could you please explain what you meant here?

Adam

I was referring, not very well, to the way the albums appear on the iPad. 

Even if the Serve sounds no better, rather than worse, that's still no justification to get one. 

Of course I'm biased. As are those who own one and say buy one. It's of no consequence to me what the OP does, but there are many far better ways to spend £2,500. 

I agree with HH. A Unitiserve is a very expensive way to serve music, and does nothing that can't be done just as well or better by far cheaper alternatives. If you have that money to spend, get something that will improve the sound, or more music, or a holiday or whatever, but not a Unitiserve. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

One thing less to break (i.e. Hardrive)

All hard drives die eventually, so the more you have, the better?!

ChrisSU posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

One thing less to break (i.e. Hardrive)

All hard drives die eventually, so the more you have, the better?!

There is no hard drive as such in the US SSD. So that's why there is one less thing to go wrong with it.

Of course NAS drives will fail, but swapping them is a DIY job, as opposed to changing a UnitiServe hard disk,.

Nice to see so many replies ... think I might stick with what I have ... but if a secondhand UnitiServe SSD pops up ... 

Klout10 posted:

Nice to see so many replies ... think I might stick with what I have ... but if a secondhand UnitiServe SSD pops up ... 

Some appear on flebay. But.... Given the experiences I've had with my UnitiServe, I'd be very weary of buying a second-hand unit with no warranty to support it.

Please have a look at this thread:

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...-unitiserves-society