Asset UPnP and QNAP questions

Yes, you can transcode on the fly (I do this)

Asset allows search using "album by release", which is the date you have in the metadata for an album

No idea, mine's still in the box in the loft (I think it's for the media player software, but I don't have that enabled as I've only got Asset enabled for any music functions so I didn't bother with it). It offers no useful function if you're only using Asset and copying files to/from the NAS.

If you aren't going to have the NAS in the listening room, or one you spend much time in, there's no point paying extra for the fanless 'feature' - the tower device has a smaller footprint so is easier to find a space for.  If it's going to be in your listening room, bedroom or a quiet office then the "silence" is what you'll be wanting (though the disks make a noise too so it isn't actually silent unless you use SSDs).

Hi [@mention:1566878603880329]

I have recently started streaming and I went for the HS251+. It’s a neat little box that looks at home on my rack. As it is fabless it does get hot, so positioning it with plenty of space around it is something to consider. You can transcode flac to wag on the fly. I can see that you can search by date though. The remote I personally don’t use, but I imagine it might be useful if you’re connecting to a tv via the hdmi. As I said I’m pretty new to streaming, but for me it’s been easy to use and reliable. Other will give you greater insights I’m sure. 

Finkfan posted:

Hi [@mention:1566878603880329]

I have recently started streaming and I went for the HS251+. It’s a neat little box that looks at home on my rack. As it is fabless it does get hot, so positioning it with plenty of space around it is something to consider. You can transcode flac to wag on the fly. I can see that you can search by date though. The remote I personally don’t use, but I imagine it might be useful if you’re connecting to a tv via the hdmi. As I said I’m pretty new to streaming, but for me it’s been easy to use and reliable. Other will give you greater insights I’m sure. 

I just love some typos - fabless, and wag files have two of the best I’ve seen, and both in the one post! 

My posts tend to be full of them, trying to type fast on an i-thingy that when I don’t simply hit the wrong spot either mis detects, or mis-guesses - but rarely as good as these, and sometimes barely decipharable.

OK thanks Tallguy. I have the option to place it in either the hifi room (inside a cabinet) or in a spare office room (where my synology currently sits).

Finkfan, do you use SSD drives? If HDD drives I guess you can still hear some noises/click?

Innocent Bystander posted:

Finkfan posted:

Hi [@mention:1566878603880329]

I have recently started streaming and I went for the HS251+. It’s a neat little box that looks at home on my rack. As it is fabless it does get hot, so positioning it with plenty of space around it is something to consider. You can transcode flac to wag on the fly. I can see that you can search by date though. The remote I personally don’t use, but I imagine it might be useful if you’re connecting to a tv via the hdmi. As I said I’m pretty new to streaming, but for me it’s been easy to use and reliable. Other will give you greater insights I’m sure. 

I just love some typos - fabless, and wag files have two of the best I’ve seen, and both in the one post! 

My posts tend to be full of them, trying to type fast on an i-thingy that when I don’t simply hit the wrong spot either mis detects, or mis-guesses - but rarely as good as these, and sometimes barely decipharable.

I’d have thought that with the amount of times I use these words, the iPhone would have learnt. They’re not as clever as they think! 

pixies posted:

OK thanks Tallguy. I have the option to place it in either the hifi room (inside a cabinet) or in a spare office room (where my synology currently sits).

Finkfan, do you use SSD drives? If HDD drives I guess you can still hear some noises/click?

I use 1TB HDDs. I can only hear occasional faint noises when the music stops. As I only use it when I’m in my music room I put it in sleep mode when I’m not using it. This keeps the temp down. I may change to SSDs one day 

I use a QNAP TS251 and am very happy with it. As others have said, it does transcode and Asset runs as well as it does on my laptop. I increased the RAM to 8GB which was quick, cheap and easy - not sure if it was necessary but I use it as a Roon Core with SSD running from a usb port and it handles that very well. I did initially set it up as RAID 1 but have now just configured it as one virtual disc since I use an external USB disc for backup.

I also have it hooked to my TV via HDMI and use it as a monitor for iPlayer, YouTube and anything else of high quality I want to watch off the internet. it really is like having an extra media PC.

I use WD Red HDDs which can be a bit noisy when backing up etc. but they don't make much noise in normal use - the fan is next to inaudible. 

Thanks again for the helpful replies and I have lots to consider.  To those who have made the move to update there NAS to better models is it mainly about speed of response ie when using UPnP for music that is a key benefit?

We have four QNAPs now. Not quite sure how that happened! I can't add any more wisdom to that already posted, which seems to have covered off your questions, with the possible exception of the remote control? On some models (maybe all models by now?) you can stream video over HDMI. The software which does this is supplied by QNAP and playback and basic functions are controlled by the remote. We've never tried it. We use Ethernet into an Android box.

Four! Now that’s just greedy ????

It's like policemen and busses. Unexplainable yet predictable.

pixies posted:

Thanks again for the helpful replies and I have lots to consider.  To those who have made the move to update there NAS to better models is it mainly about speed of response ie when using UPnP for music that is a key benefit?

I think it's more that you can have more drive bays, hence more storage, more memory so you can run more things simultaneously or what I think is the biggest reason: updating to a device that can run a better upnp server (eg Asset) than the one supplied withe the cheaper devices which probably can't be replaced (for example, going from a WD "My Cloud" type of device to a QNAP, or similar, device). By 'better upnp server' I mean one with more search options, can convert formats on the fly and generally has more (useful) features.