streaming Virgin, please be gentle!

Hmh don't get me wrong, but you might go another route imo.

1. Get a NAS and as much s7torage as you need/ can afford. Why? Because you may get beyond the Naim server solutions limit of max. 100k songs faster than you can think of now. Since exchanging hard drives can become expensive better get the large ones from the beginning. 

2. Get an aio Naim Nova or Star (if you keep some CDs) - whatever is within your budget - and you are done. If necessary get rid / trade in all/most of your old stuff. Why? Because when streaming (in the broader sense of listening to music via digital files) you better use the latest technology instead of the old Naim platform which has been developed almost ten years ago. There has been A LOT of improvement in the handling/reproduction of digital music over the last couple of years. Ten years in that respect is quite an eternity...  

3. Use your PC and the EAC or dbpoweramp software in order to rip your CDs. And/or directly start to download new stuff. 

Just my 5c of course. 

ChrisSU posted:

SuffolkIan posted:

Mort2k posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Mort2k posted:

SuffolkIan posted:

Mort2k posted:

 

....One thing that appeals with unitiserve + streamer is it avoids an ethernet switch which I am led to believe can give a significant sound quality improvement, all be it a possibly pricey one.....

 

........bypassing the switch is a good move, avoids noise getting into the system..........

I'm not sure I understand your point here - all these devices need a network connection, possibly via a switch. A good quality switch with a decent PSU shouldn't degrade sound quality.

Does the uniti serve not allow direct connection into the streamer ? If not then I apologise for mis Info. Also another plus for the Melco/Innuos Options. 

It does, but both only have a single ethernet port so a switch is required as far as I can work out to connect back to the network??

Ian

The Unitiserve, and its successor, the Core, have an Ethernet connection, allowing them to be used as UPnP servers to play music to your streamer over your network. Unlike a regular NAS, they also have an SPDIF output. This allows them to play directly to a DAC. The DACs built into Naim streamers can accept this connection too, as they have SPDIF inputs, although this then makes the streamer section redundant, so it might be more cost effective to invest in a standalone DAC instead. In any event, both the streamer and server (Unitiserve, Core or NAS) will likely use a network connection. Depending on your network configuration, in may well be that you use a switch to provide suitable ports to connect all your devices, but I am still at a loss to understand exactly why this switch is being singled out as a problem here?

The Synology NASs don't have an S/Pdif connection, but they do have a USB connection and can play audio through a USB DAC (or USB to S/Pdif converter) plugged into the USB port.  This can be controlled on a tablet using the web UI for the Audio Station application on the NAS.

The QNAP TS-269H does have an S/Pdif output.

These output options are available in addition to being able to use them as UPnP /DLNA Media Servers with Ethernet.

And don't get hung up about network switches degrading the signal - the effect is very small and no worse than the degradation effect of some S/Pdif cables, or the limitations of using optical S/Pdif instead of electrical.

Innous Zen Mini 2TB >> NDAC.

Thanks for all the advice, I think I am now much clearer on the path to take!

Ian

ChrisSU posted:

Romi posted:

All this streaming is like having a use of a library but you have to pay for it each month by direct debit.  With Cds it is yours to keep after single purchase, the sound quality is at least decent, and now have become cheaper thanks to the competition of streaming!

The OP is looking for a solution that will enable him to rip his CDs and stream them. Web streaming is just an addon facility for many, enabling you to limit your CD purchases to albums that you know you will like. 

Presently I rip my Cds and play them .  Is the act of playing the ripped Cds called streaming?

Yes (as is accessing music from an internet-based source, eg Spotify).

nickpeacock posted:

Yes (as is accessing music from an internet-based source, eg Spotify).

Thats now really confusing.  I am not connected to any internet - based scource except for Internet Radio.  So the process of ripping Cds, storing music on a hard drive and then playing the music is not streaming since there is no internet based scource?  However if I were to place image (of album cover of ripped cd) from internet would that be streaming?

Romi posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Romi posted:

All this streaming is like having a use of a library but you have to pay for it each month by direct debit.  With Cds it is yours to keep after single purchase, the sound quality is at least decent, and now have become cheaper thanks to the competition of streaming!

The OP is looking for a solution that will enable him to rip his CDs and stream them. Web streaming is just an addon facility for many, enabling you to limit your CD purchases to albums that you know you will like. 

Presently I rip my Cds and play them .  Is the act of playing the ripped Cds called streaming?

I don’t know what hardware you use, but generally, yes, if you store music on a NAS or networked computer, running a UPnP server, which streams music files to a Streamer. 

Web based services such as Spotify or Tidal are also ‘streaming’ as is iRadio, and arguably, all other forms of radio, depending on how far you want to stretch the definition. 

Both are streaming.

Streaming refers to the fact that a "Media Server" turns the data from a file (e.g. originally from a CD or other digital source) into a data stream for playback.
The "Media Server" can either be on your local network or across the internet - the location doesn't matter!

Thank you all for your replies.  I use a Cocktail Audio X10 where I place the CD in the component, press Rip and music Stored on Hard Drive inside the component.  Then I play the music via the component connected to speakers.  So this 'Media Server' process is operated from within the Cocktail Audio X10?

What [@mention:36201736971392588] said.

Ian, just over half a year ago I was in a situation similar to yours.

I started with a ND5 XS and a pretty simple NAS, both of them simply connected with a standard ethernet cable to my router. Some months ago I added a nDAC.  This was my plan from start since I was told (by Naim and others) that this would give me better SQ than a NDX. 

I'm perfectly happy with this setup. Like you, I have 52/SCap (but 250).
SQ is very good, I have copied about 1000 cd's to the NAS (mostly as wav) and there's plenty of space left. Apart from that I have 35-40 internet radio senders with acceptable SQ on the presets, giving me a lot of free music of all sorts. 

So I can only recommend the ND5XS + nDAC route.
I can add that both my units were bought s/h, with Naim I find it pretty foolproof to go that way. If buying from new, it might be wise to check out the new range first. 

Claus

Hi Claus,

Thanks for your reply, I am pretty certain this is the route I will be taking. The DAC arrives today  and I have ND5 XS and an NDX lined up to see and hear later today

Out of interest, did you enquire whether NDX with DAC was better again than ND5 XS with DAC?

Ian

Ian, I certainly did 

When contacting Naim I was told that ND5XS + nDAC would outperform NDX, and that the improvement to NDX+nDAC would be very small.  Anyway, ND5XS+nDAC was the limit for how much I wanted to spend.
I may have been told, that if I should want something better, then NDS would be preferable to NDX+nDAC. 

Claus

Claus posted:

Ian, I certainly did 

When contacting Naim I was told that ND5XS + nDAC would outperform NDX, and that the improvement to NDX+nDAC would be very small.  Anyway, ND5XS+nDAC was the limit for how much I wanted to spend.
I may have been told, that if I should want something better, then NDS would be preferable to NDX+nDAC. 

Claus

I would agree with this. The missing link in the above is the PSU on the nDAC - that does make a big difference

Rob

Rob, given that I have no intention of adding a PSU to the nDAC, then that last part of your reply was not what I wanted to hear... 

Claus