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

Huge posted:

You can get a Synology 115j NAS and a 3TB WDRed drive for £180.  There's no need to pay £350 for a NAS to stream music (it can also hold the backup files for your PC).

Yup, I use the Synology 216(twin 4TB HDD) for the flac library, the iTunes library, and my photographs. Other NAS’s are available.

Suzy Wong posted:

Huge posted:

You can get a Synology 115j NAS and a 3TB WDRed drive for £180.  There's no need to pay £350 for a NAS to stream music (it can also hold the backup files for your PC).

Yup, I use the Synology 216(twin 4TB HDD) for the flac library, the iTunes library, and my photographs. Other NAS’s are available.

 

Indon’t know about Synology, but the benefit of QNAP is silent (no fan), totally so (but expensive) if you use SSDs.

Whilst Mac Mini as a device would be expensive to buy just for use as a NAS, it is virtually silent: it does have a small fan, but so low speed that with mine I can’t hear more than a foot or two away (in quiet room). At the other extreme, my original NSA NAS was as noisy as a typical desktop PC, and worse after a couple of years!

No problem with noise for me. Both NASs live in the old study ...along with two printers, 2300 CDs, 700 LPs and 1300 DVDs....not to mention a telescope and a number of spare boxes with a certain Salisbury address on them.

Even so, the Synology NAS is quite quiet - I’m standing next to it - indeed, quieter than the older LG NAS.

Even at rest, my 555PS and 300DR are each louder than my Synology 112j or the 216j that I set up for someone else (and more recent ones are a little bit quieter than those).

Hi,

Mmm...I don't really understand what a Uniti Core is but i'm starting to think about it. How does this differ to what has already been proposed on this thread so far?

Am I starting to go off the rails here?

I'm rather surprised that no one has mentioned it - the Core that is. And yes, I have been reading other forum members threads and have now managed to become even more confused, which is not hard by the way.

Could I not just get a Uniti Core and plug this into my DAC ?

Use my laptop as a backup and not bother with a NAS? will this not be a cheaper and easier way which will buy me some time until I can get  the ND5 XS2?

Or am I missing something here?

Yes, the Core can be used as a store/renderer with spdif output into a DAC, much as can the likes of Melco, and Mac Mini/Audirvana, etc. It can also be used in a similar manner to a NAS,  across a network to a streamer a bit like a NAS (though an expensive one). It can also do the ripping of CDs.

its sound quality in renderer mode seems to be a matter of some debate, some people saying very good, and others suggesting not as good as through network and streamers and I gatger it has some quirks regarding storage formats and integration of downloaded files vs CDs ripped on it. There is much on these aspects in various threads to read and digest. It above your original budget, but certainly worth finding out more about with a bigger budget.

I've used the Core for about 6 months now.  I use its S/PDIF output into my Dave DAC, then analogue output into my 272, output into a 250DR, then out to my speakers (Burmester B10).  Sounds great, I think better than thru my network by Ethernet.

The Core is rather expensive to use as just a ripper/store/NAS, but it does also have a high quality digital output. So yes, using it into a DAC is a valid alternative to using a streamer. The question, then, would be whether your existing DAC is good enough?

Ok, thanks for clearing that one up.

So it will end up more expensive and will push my system out it's context, not something i'm able to do at this present time. 2K is really my absolute limit.

Cheers guys!

ChrisSU posted:

The Core is rather expensive to use as just a ripper/store/NAS, but it does also have a high quality digital output. So yes, using it into a DAC is a valid alternative to using a streamer. The question, then, would be whether your existing DAC is good enough?

Of course, if longer term budget for upgrade is visible, a DAC upgrade could be left for the future. The question the OP has to ponder is whether Core into DAC X is better than another combined store-renderer, or better than a NAS plus streamer (or separate renderer and DAC), taking into account current and any possible upcoming budget, any possible longer term upgrade plans. Choice of options is great - but makes it more daunting and difficult to decide what is the right thing to do! Hopefully careful study and review of all that has now been offered here will give the OP some clear ideas of what to try to hear, whether taking up HHs offer or some ideas to ask dealers to demonstrate - though I doubt that all options can be heard.

Hi IB,

Yes, this was my initial thinking after reading one of Richard Dane's posts in another thread somewhere regarding the Core. 

I did an initial search on the Core's cost and going through my local Audio T it came up as £1,899 for the unit although I don't really know what else is needed for it to fully function - this is doable for me if it is what it is in the pricing.

For now, l could just use my Arcam irDAC with the Core until later on down the road where I could be in a position to purchase a NDAC too (this is my thinking).

I am visiting HH this evening as I have taken up his very kind offer to do so and i will hopefully be much better clued up than I am now as i'm sure he will fill me in with all the best options that are available to me - I do feel rather privileged to be able to do so, if I must say so myself. Funny, I am feeling a little nervous as well as a little excited at the same time, i'm not really a people person but i'm sure HH won't bite my head off regardless.   

Anyway, thank you IB for your very informative posts.

Kind regards,

Steve

You would need a Seagate pipeline hard drive, easy to fit yourself. The Core comes with the correct screws, you just screw the hard drive into the caddy provided, slide into the Core, fasten with the locking screws provided, done. Depending on the size of drive, about  £100.

Forgot to mention I met Nigel recently, a really nice guy, nothing to be worried about.

Gazza posted:

You would need a Seagate pipeline hard drive, easy to fit yourself. The Core comes with the correct screws, you just screw the hard drive into the caddy provided, slide into the Core, fasten with the locking screws provided, done. Depending on the size of drive, about  £100.

Thanks Gazza.

This is great info, I reckon I could do that. Of course my other Naim option will be to get a ND XS streamer and NAS which is just out of my price range but I think with a little time and patience it is doable too.

If none of the above work out (on functionality & sound per pound quality) then i may start to look at the Mac Mini route as the first alternative instead, similar to IB's solution but without the DAVE.

Kind regards,

Steve

Unlike, say, a stingray, halibut don’t inflict a potentially fatal sting if you get too close or accidentally tread on them, and whilst they are carnivores and potenially could bite, they are not known for aggressive tendencies towards humans - though of course if particularly hungry only a foolish person would offer them fleshy parts to get hold of...    

Given that you are likely to visit a dealer at some stage, I would still suggest that you listen to a Core + DAC in comparison to the NAS + ND5. Both controlled by the Naim app, but with a slightly different feature set. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if you found the Core + DAC to sound better. 

Stephen Tate posted:

Gazza posted:

You would need a Seagate pipeline hard drive, easy to fit yourself. The Core comes with the correct screws, you just screw the hard drive into the caddy provided, slide into the Core, fasten with the locking screws provided, done. Depending on the size of drive, about  £100.

Thanks Gazza.

This is great info, I reckon I could do that. Of course my other Naim option will be to get a ND XS streamer and NAS which is just out of my price range but I think with a little time and patience it is doable too.

If none of the above work out (on functionality & sound per pound quality) then i may start to look at the Mac Mini route as the first alternative instead, similar to IB's solution but without the DAVE.

Kind regards,

Steve

No interest then in a raspberry pi and microrendu + DAC solution?

ChrisSU posted:

Given that you are likely to visit a dealer at some stage, I would still suggest that you listen to a Core + DAC in comparison to the NAS + ND5. Both controlled by the Naim app, but with a slightly different feature set. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if you found the Core + DAC to sound better. 

Core+your DAC, plus compare other DACs

No good for internet radio though. 

Gazza posted:

Forgot to mention I met Nigel recently, a really nice guy, nothing to be worried about.

Phew! 

Innocent Bystander posted:

No interest then in a raspberry pi and microrendu + DAC solution?

Now, for me, this is where it all starts to become really out of my depth as I have not heard of those in any shape or form, only a DAC.

Hungryhalibut posted:

No good for internet radio though. 

Yes, this is also something else to ponder on, I had not even given this a thought.

Stephen Tate posted:

Ok, thanks for clearing that one up.

So it will end up more expensive and will push my system out it's context, not something i'm able to do at this present time. 2K is really my absolute limit.

Cheers guys!

 

Secondhand ND5 XS £1600

Synology 216j or 218j £180
WD Red or Segate NAS drive 3TB £100
Netgear GS105 £25
Ethernet Cables £12
DBpoweramp (software) £25 or EAC (whatever you want to pay)

Total £1942 - i.e. in Budget!

Provided you want the NAS for Music streaming and backup/general file storage a Synology 216j (or 118 or 218) will be perfectly adequate.  The only limitations you may encounter are with transcoding, but the simple answer is to just use WAVE files, the more complex answer is to use Minim Server).  The more powerful NAS drives are intended for use with multiple concurrent users (mote than 10) or for intensive jobs like transcoding video files; for music and domestic use, they simply aren't justified.

Stephen Tate posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

No good for internet radio though. 

Yes, this is also something else to ponder on, I had not even given this a thought.

Or get an Innuos Zen Mini for £700, which is a ripper/store/server like the Core, but has iRadio, Tidal, Spotify and Roon. Plenty of cash left over for a DAC upgrade.