Asset for Beginners

Posted by: The Man With Nonaim on 14 June 2012

I have asked what is the difference between wma 9.2 and wma 9.2 lossless but cannot find an answer of the web and sadly none of the forum members are able to help.

 

My plan now is to see if asset can be used to "read" wma 9.2 lossless files so I can do some sound quality comparisons with "ordinary" 9.2.  Downloading asset is straightforward  but how do I install it on my golfex nas (which already has upnp software) ? Do I need to disable the upnp software on the nas and how do I do it ? The goflex works with wma 9.2 but does not work with wma 9.2 lossless !  Naim are unable to advise on this and a trawl on the web proves to be of no help.

 

I have just downloaded dBpoweramp and am impressed by its capabilities (ie it can rip to 9.2 and 9.2 lossless).  However, until I can compare the 2 file types I will always have that nagging doubt that lossless is superior.

 

Regards

TMWNN 

Posted on: 14 June 2012 by The Man With Nonaim

When I say that the goflex works with 9.2 and not 9.2 lossless, I might be correct in saying that n-stream is unavailable with 9.2 lossless.

 

Regards

TMWN

Posted on: 14 June 2012 by Dungassin

What operating system does the Goflex run?  I suspect it is Linux, in which case you can't install Asset on it.  Assuming you have a Windows PC, just install Asset on your PC and run it from there.

Posted on: 14 June 2012 by Dungassin

Just did a little bit of research.  As far as I can tell, your Goflex runs Linux.  Asset is only available ot run on MS Windows based hardware.  As I said, just install Asset on your Windows PC and run it from there.

Posted on: 14 June 2012 by The Man With Nonaim
Many thanks for your help. If I run asset from my pc I'm assuming that I will need the pc running when I'm using n-stream. Is that correct or am I making a wrong assumption ? Also, how do I get asset to work ? I'm a total newbie to this ! Regards TMWNN
Posted on: 14 June 2012 by Dungassin

Well, I'm still a newbie as regards Asset, too!

 

Yes, you will need to have your PC running when using Asset with your current NAS.  I have to have my Laptop (with Asset installed) running when I want to use Asset as my server.  All I did was follow the instructions.  Basically : install it, tell it which directory contains your music files, and then carry on.  On nStream, at the server level (keep going "back" until you reach this level) pick ASSET_NameOfYourPC, then proceed as before.  I would suggest not changing any of the Asset configuration options until you are happy with using it as it comes.  Good luck.

Posted on: 15 June 2012 by Phil Harris
Originally Posted by The Man With Nonaim:

When I say that the goflex works with 9.2 and not 9.2 lossless, I might be correct in saying that n-stream is unavailable with 9.2 lossless.

 

Regards

TMWN

 

No - n-Stream gets its "lists" from the Naim Streaming Product ... the Naim Streaming Product gets its "lists" from the UPnP server ... as in this case your Naim Streaming product is not listing the files (as opposed to listing them but not being able to play them) the I would suspect that it is the UPnP server application of the NAS that is unable to work with WMA lossless files.

 

I believe that you have already contacted Steve Hopkins about this yesterday and my reply to him was to contact Seagate to find out whether the GoFlex UPnP server supported WMA Lossless however a quick Google turns up...

 

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/F...WMA-audio/td-p/39569

 

Where one of the posts in that thread is...

 

"Seagate support finally got back to me.  WMA will play but not WMA lossless or WMA Pro."

 

So there you are - your GoFlexs' UPnP server doesn't support WMA Lossless - I'd convert them to FLACs or something similar if you want to stick with your GoFlex as your UPnP server - it seems silly to run your data on a NAS but have to have your PC turned on to run the UPnP server application.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Posted on: 15 June 2012 by Dungassin
Originally Posted by Phil Harris:

So there you are - your GoFlexs' UPnP server doesn't support WMA Lossless - I'd convert them to FLACs or something similar if you want to stick with your GoFlex as your UPnP server - it seems silly to run your data on a NAS but have to have your PC turned on to run the UPnP server application.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

I originally intended to use the Twonky built into my QNAP NAS, but rapidly came to realise its failings.  Hence I now use Asset on my laptop as my upnp server and accept the inconvenience of having to have my laptop turned on when streaming to my NDX.  This also has the potential advantage (if you believe it worthwhile) that Asset transcodes my FLAC files to WAV while streaming, so taking that load off the NDX.

Posted on: 15 June 2012 by Phil Harris
Originally Posted by Dungassin:
 

I originally intended to use the Twonky built into my QNAP NAS, but rapidly came to realise its failings.  Hence I now use Asset on my laptop as my upnp server and accept the inconvenience of having to have my laptop turned on when streaming to my NDX.  

 

 

It's a good use for an old laptop or low powered small box PC ... I'm sad enough to have a little "stash" of such units that can be pressed into doing menial tasks when needed (not sure whether I'll ever use that old G4 Mac Mini again though...)

 

Originally Posted by Dungassin:
 

This also has the potential advantage (if you believe it worthwhile) that Asset transcodes my FLAC files to WAV while streaming, so taking that load off the NDX.

 

 

Absolutely - I'd agree with that...

 

Phil

Posted on: 15 June 2012 by The Man With Nonaim

Dungassin and Phil, many thanks for your help.  I've worked out how to use asset for wma 9.2 lossless from my pc so will now be able to compare wma 9.2 from my NAS with wma 9.2 lossless from my PC.  This is going to take some time but I will post my findings here.

 

Regards

TMWN 

Posted on: 15 June 2012 by Phil Harris

I'll be really concerned if you find that a lossy compressed file sounds better than a lossless file...

 

Phil