Dipping toes into the NAS (world) with no clue and getting rid of the CD player

Hi all,

now that I think I have transferred some music over to my NAS, I have now gone into Asset which Richard (Tricky Dickie) kindly added for me and although it says a tally of the number of tracks as well as albums in; when I go into artists or songs or whatever I choose, all the menus appear blank. 

What do I do here? 

I can't see the artists in the menus or whatever in Asset, although it's all there because the figures tell me so

Stephen Tate posted:

Hi all,

now that I think I have transferred some music over to my NAS, I have now gone into Asset which Richard (Tricky Dickie) kindly added for me and although it says a tally of the number of tracks as well as albums in; when I go into artists or songs or whatever I choose, all the menus appear blank. 

What do I do here? 

I can't see the artists in the menus or whatever in Asset, although it's all there because the figures tell me so

oh god, i will prey for you!   nas= not as simple 

Stephen Tate posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Once you get a streamer, I think you’ll find it’s a good way to access your music collection. I had no prior experience of this stuff, but now I understand the basics of how it all works, I wouldn’t go back. 

Having said that, you still have options. Instead of spending say £2k on an ND5XS, that would buy you a very nice DAC to use with your computer, and I would suggest that you listen to something like that to see if you prefer it to the sound you get from a streamer. Naim’s V1 DAC is designed for exactly that purpose, and there are alternatives from Chord and others. The NAS would still be a good way to store your music if you do this. 

Hi Chris,

Do you think it's worth considering the Naim NDAC as well?

Actually, you may have thrown in a curve ball here, I have always fancied a DAC V1, I could add a NAP200 for good measure?

Thanks

Yes, you could use the V1, but it would mean fiddling with the computer to get music playing, which was what you wanted to avoid. Now that the nas is sorted out you need the streamer. It’s a case of waiting for the ND5XS2, or getting one of the legacy products now and living with the reduced functionality. 

Yup, thanks for reminding me here Nigel, you are bang on the money.

I'm going to stick with my original plan and wait for the ND5 XS 2 to come along. Something spiritual is telling me that this new range is worth waiting for and that's what i'm going to do.  My original idea was to have simplicity as well as functionality, and I don't want power supply upgrades in the way either, as well as my laptop being tied up for music, so....?

I'm not sure that a computer/DAC source is necessarily more complicated than a server/streamer. Using a computer with Audirvana, for example, you can still control everything with an iOS app as you would with a Naim streamer. I am, of course, playing devil's advocate to some extent, having gone down the streamer route myself. Still, in terms of sound quality, what would you expect to sound best? A £2k streamer with built in DAC, of a £2k DAC playing from a computer? I think it would be worth keeping an open mind until you have had a chance to listen to some of these options.

Hi Stephen

It looks like the metadata (artist, album.track titles etc) is missing from the files you copied from your laptop. Have you tried getting Asset to perform a rescan of your music library?

Asset relies upon metadata to produce the Artist, Album etc menu views. Meantime there is a Folder/file view option within the Asset configuration which you could set up so that you can at least see and select your files to play them.

Do you have a metadata editing program e.g. mp3tag is free and has a function to find the metadata from the internet based upon the album track filenames.

I think you may be confusing Stephen, I would recommend that db power amp rips directly to the nas drive, thus saving the hassle of copying the music files from the local laptop / pc to the nas drive.

French Rooster posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

Hi all,

now that I think I have transferred some music over to my NAS, I have now gone into Asset which Richard (Tricky Dickie) kindly added for me and although it says a tally of the number of tracks as well as albums in; when I go into artists or songs or whatever I choose, all the menus appear blank. 

What do I do here? 

I can't see the artists in the menus or whatever in Asset, although it's all there because the figures tell me so

oh god, i will prey for you!   nas= not as simple 

Yay,

I have managed sort it!

I think it's just a natter of getting used to a new operating system. 

Am I right in thinking that the Qnap uses Linux as it's operating system?

sjbabbey posted:

Hi Stephen

It looks like the metadata (artist, album.track titles etc) is missing from the files you copied from your laptop. Have you tried getting Asset to perform a rescan of your music library?

Asset relies upon metadata to produce the Artist, Album etc menu views. Meantime there is a Folder/file view option within the Asset configuration which you could set up so that you can at least see and select your files to play them.

Do you have a metadata editing program e.g. mp3tag is free and has a function to find the metadata from the internet based upon the album track filenames.

Hi,

I am ripping my CDs using dBpoweramp straight into the laptop and sorting the metadata as I go along, then i copy & paste to a Qnap drive. I think Richard sorted it for me in that it all sorts itself into Asset ready for when I get the Naim streamer.

I have managed to find it all in Asset now, I'm not really sure how but after playing around all my music is listed under artists in alphabetical order, which is great.

Thanks

ChrisSU posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Once you get a streamer, I think you’ll find it’s a good way to access your music collection. I had no prior experience of this stuff, but now I understand the basics of how it all works, I wouldn’t go back. 

Having said that, you still have options. Instead of spending say £2k on an ND5XS, that would buy you a very nice DAC to use with your computer, and I would suggest that you listen to something like that to see if you prefer it to the sound you get from a streamer. Naim’s V1 DAC is designed for exactly that purpose, and there are alternatives from Chord and others. The NAS would still be a good way to store your music if you do this. 

Hi Chris,

Do you think it's worth considering the Naim NDAC as well?

Actually, you may have thrown in a curve ball here, I have always fancied a DAC V1, I could add a NAP200 for good measure?

Thanks

Yes, you could use the V1, but it would mean fiddling with the computer to get music playing, which was what you wanted to avoid. Now that the nas is sorted out you need the streamer. It’s a case of waiting for the ND5XS2, or getting one of the legacy products now and living with the reduced functionality. 

Yup, thanks for reminding me here Nigel, you are bang on the money.

I'm going to stick with my original plan and wait for the ND5 XS 2 to come along. Something spiritual is telling me that this new range is worth waiting for and that's what i'm going to do.  My original idea was to have simplicity as well as functionality, and I don't want power supply upgrades in the way either, as well as my laptop being tied up for music, so....?

I'm not sure that a computer/DAC source is necessarily more complicated than a server/streamer. Using a computer with Audirvana, for example, you can still control everything with an iOS app as you would with a Naim streamer. I am, of course, playing devil's advocate to some extent, having gone down the streamer route myself. Still, in terms of sound quality, what would you expect to sound best? A £2k streamer with built in DAC, of a £2k DAC playing from a computer? I think it would be worth keeping an open mind until you have had a chance to listen to some of these options.

Hi Chris,

I hear what you're saying and it may well be worth exploring the separate DAC route as well. It's just that when I visited Nigel and had a listen to his fabulous system I remember saying that the laptop made my current setup look all a bit scruffy with a USB lead sticking out of the JitterBug and trailing all over the place. Looking  at Nigel's neat setup seems much more appealing to me with all the Hi Fi neatly stacked in the rack, the Qnap in another room (which i'm able to do too) and just being able to use an I pad to control everything. Also, I can have my laptop back for general use again, which does seem a no brainer to me. As for sound quality comparisons between that and the laptop way, who knows? I don't really want to complicate things too much.

Have you tried the Naim streamer route and then later on moved onto a laptop and super DAC? I would be interested to know if that's the case.

Thanks

Stephen Tate posted:

I am ripping my CDs using dBpoweramp straight into the laptop and sorting the metadata as I go along, then i copy & paste to a Qnap drive. I think Richard sorted it for me in that it all sorts itself into Asset ready for when I get the Naim streamer.

I have managed to find it all in Asset now, I'm not really sure how but after playing around all my music is listed under artists in alphabetical order, which is great.

Thanks

That's good news.

At the moment Stephen doesn't have a backup drive so is ripping to the laptop and then copying the files over to the NAS, retaining the copy on the laptop.  This is why he isn't ripping straight to the QNAP.

As he doesn't have any streamer at the moment I installed Asset Control on his laptop.  Asset Control is a control point that is very useful for browsing the UPNP server on a computer.  I did this so Stephen could review the impact metadata changes have as he goes along so when the streamer arrives everything is sorted and ready for use.

Richard, wrt the Asset Control thingy you’ve got on Stephen’s Qnap, is it the one from the dBPowerAmp people?

Suzy Wong posted:

Richard, wrt the Asset Control thingy you’ve got on Stephen’s Qnap, is it the one from the dBPowerAmp people?

Asset Control is not installed on the QNAP, it's a control point that is installed on a PC.

It allows you to browse UPNP servers, thus giving the ability to validate how Asset (the server) presents metadata without needing a streamer.

I have this installed as I find it useful as well, it's great for quickly checking what music you already have as I am prone to double purchasing!

trickydickie posted:

Suzy Wong posted:

Richard, wrt the Asset Control thingy you’ve got on Stephen’s Qnap, is it the one from the dBPowerAmp people?

Asset Control is not installed on the QNAP, it's a control point that is installed on a PC.

It allows you to browse UPNP servers, thus giving the ability to validate how Asset (the server) presents metadata without needing a streamer.

I have this installed as I find it useful as well, it's great for quickly checking what music you already have as I am prone to double purchasing!

But it is part of illustrate’s Asset uPNP suite?

My interest is because the product webpage mentions Raspberry Pi/Synology, and I’ve got a Syn NAS & four RPis streaming audio

trickydickie posted:

Asset Control is not installed on the QNAP, it's a control point that is installed on a PC.

I have this installed as I find it useful as well, it's great for quickly checking what music you already have as I am prone to double purchasing!

Is that because you buy the exact same CD by accident - been there, done that - or you buy the standard edition, the extended edition, the remastered edition, the deluxe edition...........

Just how many editions of Quark, Strangeness & Charm do I need

Stephen Tate posted:

fatcat posted:

As your dipping your toes into the world of NAS, why not try a squeezebox touch.

They’re available second hand for under a ton. Dead easy to set up, rock solid, works perfectly every time. Sound quality not fantastic, but it has digital output, (spdif and usb), so you can add a Naim DAC if you want.

Hi,

Would you consider this a forward step from just using a laptop into a Arcam irDAC via JitterBug & USB?

Just noticed you’re using a qnap nas, I think a SBT might not be a good idea. If I remember correctly, it’s not possible/easy to load the logitec media server onto some qnap devices. I’m unable to load the most up-to-date LMS onto my qnap NaS.

trickydickie posted:

Suzy Wong posted:

Richard, wrt the Asset Control thingy you’ve got on Stephen’s Qnap, is it the one from the dBPowerAmp people?

Asset Control is not installed on the QNAP, it's a control point that is installed on a PC.

It allows you to browse UPNP servers, thus giving the ability to validate how Asset (the server) presents metadata without needing a streamer.

I have this installed as I find it useful as well, it's great for quickly checking what music you already have as I am prone to double purchasing!

Hi TD

If Stephen is using a Windows PC then his UPnP servers will also show up in the “This PC” section of Windows File Explorer allowing him to see how Asset will present hs browse views and to drill down to individual albums and tracks.

I suppose all I can do now is wait for the new ND5 XS 2 streamer to come along. Has anybody heard of any dates yet? 

I'm still along way off from finding my way around a Qnap NAS I know, but it just feels like I should be doing something else in a funny sort of way. I am still ripping CDs to the laptop and transferring them to the NAS once I have stockpiled a good batch as it were but is there anything else I could be doing in the meantime (as in the set up side of things)?

P.S. I have been listening to some CDs this evening which I have to say were sounding very nice indeed, although I can't help thinking to myself 'onwards & upwards as they say'! 

fatcat posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

fatcat posted:

As your dipping your toes into the world of NAS, why not try a squeezebox touch.

They’re available second hand for under a ton. Dead easy to set up, rock solid, works perfectly every time. Sound quality not fantastic, but it has digital output, (spdif and usb), so you can add a Naim DAC if you want.

Hi,

Would you consider this a forward step from just using a laptop into a Arcam irDAC via JitterBug & USB?

Just noticed you’re using a qnap nas, I think a SBT might not be a good idea. If I remember correctly, it’s not possible/easy to load the logitec media server onto some qnap devices. I’m unable to load the most up-to-date LMS onto my qnap NaS.

This was my experience and I ended-up selling my QNAP because I wanted to stay with LMS. I'm now using a Vortexbox Media Server.

Dave

PS An interesting thread but not the route I would have recommended to the OP.

dave4jazz posted:

PS An interesting thread but not the route I would have recommended to the OP.

Hi Dave,

I am quite interested in your alternative approach, would you be able to elaborate a bit more?

What would you recommend and why?

Stephen Tate posted:

I suppose all I can do now is wait for the new ND5 XS 2 streamer to come along. Has anybody heard of any dates yet? 

I'm still along way off from finding my way around a Qnap NAS I know, but it just feels like I should be doing something else in a funny sort of way. I am still ripping CDs to the laptop and transferring them to the NAS once I have stockpiled a good batch as it were but is there anything else I could be doing in the meantime (as in the set up side of things)?

P.S. I have been listening to some CDs this evening which I have to say were sounding very nice indeed, although I can't help thinking to myself 'onwards & upwards as they say'! 

 

 

can you borrow a streamer from your dealer ?   in the waiting for this probably late summer nd5xs2 arriving....

French Rooster posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

I suppose all I can do now is wait for the new ND5 XS 2 streamer to come along. Has anybody heard of any dates yet? 

I'm still along way off from finding my way around a Qnap NAS I know, but it just feels like I should be doing something else in a funny sort of way. I am still ripping CDs to the laptop and transferring them to the NAS once I have stockpiled a good batch as it were but is there anything else I could be doing in the meantime (as in the set up side of things)?

P.S. I have been listening to some CDs this evening which I have to say were sounding very nice indeed, although I can't help thinking to myself 'onwards & upwards as they say'! 

 

 

can you borrow a streamer from your dealer ?   in the waiting for this probably late summer nd5xs2 arriving....

Actually, you have just given me a really good idea here. Thanks FR! 

Stephen Tate posted:

dave4jazz posted:

PS An interesting thread but not the route I would have recommended to the OP.

Hi Dave,

I am quite interested in your alternative approach, would you be able to elaborate a bit more?

What would you recommend and why?

If I understand where you are currently why  don't you put the NAS to one side for the moment and concentrate on your laptop as source for your Naim amp. I assume you backup the laptop files? What DAC did you say you were using? Continue ripping and/or downloading files to the laptop. This is how I started by using a Windows PC as a media server for different audio players around the house.

USB audio has come a long way in the last few years. Lots of options available but not something Naim appear to be embracing.

Dave

PS Thats the short answer.

@Dave4jazz

I must admit, when I first connected my laptop to my Arcam irDAC via a JitterBug and Chord Silver Plus USB cable and then started streaming from Qobuz it did hit me for six how good the sound was/is. I mean, compared to my CD5si with a Hi-Line or Grey/lavender lead, there isn't that much in it. I will say the CD player is a little heavier in the bass and maybe a little richer but that's about it. I am expecting a dedicated Naim streamer and NAS to blow both of those out of the water. Do you think i'm in for a little disappointment in that it will not?

Regards,

Stephen

Stephen Tate posted:

I must admit, when I first connected my laptop to my Arcam irDAC via a JitterBug and Chord Silver Plus USB cable and then started streaming from Qobuz it did hit me for six how good the sound was/is. I mean, compared to my CD5si with a Hi-Line or Grey/lavender lead, there isn't that much in it. I will say the CD player is little heavier in the bass and maybe a little richer but that's about it. I am expecting a dedicated Naim streamer and NAS to blow both of those out of the water. Do you think i'm in for a little disappointment in that it will not?

Regards,

Stephen

I can't answer your question but let's just say there's nothing that makes me want to go down the Naim streamer route.

Dave

I guess one way to find out for sure is to visit my local dealer and hear what they can advise or demonstrate to me. I have this Friday off from work so will pop in and see them then, hopefully they'll cast some of their magic on me and refuse to take no for an answer!

Thanks 

Best way Stephen - you've had plenty of advice so it's time to get listening and make some decisions