Will the NDS sort all *.wav files connected by ethernet into appropriate respective artists?

Jon, I think you are confusing what a network player does.. Any sorting, metadata, album art, searching etc is down to theI upnp server. The network player ( NDS, NDX etc) simply plays what is sent to it.

Its also like Nstream, that is called a control point, and whose functionality is again governed by the upnp server.

As you can see the upnp server is a critical component for the functionality (as opposed to SQ) of network players. Some people use upnp servers in thier network attached storage boxes (NAS).

The HDX is different.. That is more contained and simply looks for media files and plays them as files, as opposed to requiring them to be streamed by a upnp server.

Simon

I think I see what you mean, Simon.

Does that mean the main computer has nStream installed on it and I can access nStream wirelessly through an app and it is the computer that has the files organised and the NDS receives files from this???

Cheers

Jon

Jon - you've ripped your CD's. The resulting .WAV files reside on its hard drive. The NDS can't see these directly. You run an UPnP server on your computer which makes your music files available to the NDS over your home network.

 nStream is a control application that runs on an iDevice (phone / pad etc). It talks to the NDS and the UPnP server on the computer and allows you to browse your ripped CD collection and choose and play tracks (amongst other things).

If you are going to go down this route, you may want to consider your library strategy now. In the above example, the computer where the music resides needs to be on if you want to play music.

You may want to consider a NAS device which runs its own UPnP server. This runs all the time and only requires you to use your computer for ripping duties.

Do you want a self contained unit that combines the NAS / Server / Ripping function into one box. Here you have the choice of the Vortexbox, Ripnas or (rather more expensively) the Unitiserve..

James

Jon

James' summay is good. Nstream runs on Apple ios devices. It allows the listener to tell the upnp sever on thier network  via Nstream (on the wireless part of one's  network) what to send to the network player. There is also a network connection between nstream and the network player to allow progress update on media playback (progress bar), web radio, input selection, and administration management of the network player.

Simon

J River

As long as you don't want to use the PC for anything else then Vortexbox .... it'll get rid of Windows and replace it with a very good music server that does UPnP and lots more, but don't expect to see any of your Windows stuff again as it annihilates it with more vigour than a Dalek encountering a Cyberrman on a wet Saturday afternoon in Cardiff ... 

I think J River is less disruptive, but sounds much cooler to say I have a Vortexbox ... 

Asset UPnP works well with Naim. AFAIK, it also allows you to transcode just about any codec to WAV on the fly. That way you can rip to AIFF or FLAC, benefit from metadata tagging and serve your files up as WAV to a Naim streamer of your choice, if that's important to you.

Also you will like most people run into issues with wav, rip to flac.

+1 Asset.

I rip to WAV usually and have no problems with tags etc, but some on this forum do so your mileage might vary. You could rip to AIFF or FLAC and transcode to WAV using asset. The reason I use WAV is that it is an open file structure so you add your own  metadata or other data.. Perhaps too esoteric for most.. And FLAC and AIFF are shrink wrapped and more consumer proof.

Simon

Seriously Jon, you were talking about moving to a smaller place to finance a 552, and now you're also contemplating an NDS? Be careful it doesn't all end in tears (again).