NAS vs TIDAL

Finkfan posted:

Where do you get the Paul Pang gear in the UK. [@mention:1566878603916814]? 

i had mine from jplay audio, Poland.  From avtech it is more expensive.   But i finally preferred the cisco 2960 with a good quality power cord and lan isolator before the cisco.

After it is a matter of preference, but this switch is also better than common cheap switches.

If i had not the acoustic revive before the cisco, i would prefer the paul pang tcxo with a good linear ps. ( ifi power is a minimum....).

nigelb posted:

Mike, did you by any chance have the spare iFi iPower from your old  (Netgear?) switch, which I assume has become redundant from the move to a Cisco switch? And if so is this iFi iPower the correct rating for your BT Home Hub (6?). 

Hi Nigel,  I have two iFi iPowers, one on the BT the other on the Cisco switch:  my Cisco switch is not the catalyst type that the forum is so keen on, its a small unmanaged type similar to the Netgears & others in that price category  https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...-audiophilia-nervosa  & has a wall wart type SMPS,  so it too has an iFi iPower.  

I did not detect any change with the iFi on the previous BT HH5 or current HH6, & yes the iFi has reserve watts.  All BT hub SMPS's are "reputed" to be noisy (not me saying that) , so why not give it a go,  you never know.   FYI my UPS powered SMPS array looks like this ...............  

Crikey, is is complicated ! At the moment my office is the start of my internet network, so my set up is BT router > apple extreme > Uniqute.  All by cat 5e cables, I could plug my iMac into the AirPort Extreme and then put my Uniqute into the back of the BT router and avoid going via the apple box

The AirPort Extreme then feeds the net gear switch under the stairs. I don't use the wireless from the BT router just from the AirPort Extreme (I have four of these networked throughout the house) in the office

as I am not using a NAS yet how could I improve TIDAL with this set up, I looked at Paul Pangs site and lots of interesting stuff, are ethernet cables as different as interconnects !?

It's not complicated, it's a good idea to have a UPS with a NAS to maintain NAS power & manage a safe power down during power failures.   All I've done is fine tuned the basic UPS - NAS setup with ferrite & also taken BT hub & phone power from the UPS

Thanks for the information Mike.

Mike, thanks, so in my installation a UPS to the phone and BT and apple Extreme might make sense, possibly the IMac as well (all in the office). I'll try plugging direct into the BT Router as opposed into the back of the airport extreme. Good quality ethernet cabling to the Uniqute worth exploring ? (Perhaps a good Cat 6 of the correct length) all my patch chords are super cheap e-bay 

I have just bought an NDX which has replaced an HDX. I use Tidal Hi-fi subscription which provides FLAC content. I am very impressed by the quality and have tried, unscientifically, to compare SQ coming from a second HDX on the network. I think the NDX/Tidal is better than I was used to with the HDX. Bass is more controlled and tighter.  As to the extent of coverage of musical genres in Tidal I don't agree with the comment above that range is limited. It's fantastic. I listen to classical, jazz and rock music.. The only question remaining is whether Tidal is sticking with its current level of resolution

IWC Doppel posted:

Mike, thanks, so in my installation a UPS to the phone and BT and apple Extreme might make sense, possibly the IMac as well (all in the office). I'll try plugging direct into the BT Router as opposed into the back of the airport extreme. Good quality ethernet cabling to the Uniqute worth exploring ? (Perhaps a good Cat 6 of the correct length) all my patch chords are super cheap e-bay 

I use the UPS to power the NAS & to give it a safe shutdown with a power failure.   I additionally power phone & broadband to enable any PC/Laptop work to be finished & saved & a phone call to be continued or made during the power out.  I additionally power the LAN switch off the UPS to use its isolation & C&D mode transformers & help suppress some noise.   

A lot of forum talk about high end ethernet, it always ends up in arguments so to avoid upset best say I use Meicord 'Opal' Cat-6.  To me it improved SQ a little on the Cat-7A that it replaced,  it has a TIA/ISO conformance test certificate issued with each cable & I understand how its engineered.   

In my set up I don't perceive Tidal to be inferior to NAS playing (I have on several occasions compared tracks) despite a WiFi connection between router (AE) and the switch NDX is connected to. This (lack of perceived sound degradation) makes my like much easier :-).