FLASH DRIVE

It would be interesting if you can link to the article. All Naim streamers and servers, and the dac, allow you to attach a usb drive and play music from the drive. With the dac the userinterface is not very good, at least not with a drive with many albums on.

You can try a search on this forum I remember threads discussing usb drive compared to streaming and even  sound quality differences among usb sticks from diffirent manufacturers.

Until I bought nas, a about a month ago,  I and my downloaded music placed on a usb stick attached to my ns01. I have a plan of comparing the files played from the stick, with the same files streamed from my Ready nas, but I have not tried it yet.

With the new 2 tb unity Serve all files both the ripped cds and downloaded music can be stored on the internal hd in the Userve, that is if you choose the model with a 2 tb drive, and not the SSD model.

Claus

NDS and UnitiServe are enough. These other things are just alternatives (and they only complicate the system which is not necessary if you are not really into IT).

i cant find the article only references to it and quotes from it .I  have chosen the 2Tb Uniti.

present system- CC555+PS-NAC552+PS- NAP500+PS -B&W802Ds

proposed system- all of the above and- NDS + 555PS -UnitiServe

I cannot find a direct answer to these questions:

What is the best route to take from a digital audio downloadable file somewhere on the net to a position where I can play it back , and which type of file is best?

What is the best way to rip my Cds and then  store and playback and which file format is the better one?

I recognise that it may be a stupid question 

Ok now that's a simple solution.i.e. don't ask the question in the first place

Before the updates to the UnitiServe hdd model, you would have an issue as to how to deal with music downloads (such as hi res files) because the original version did NOT allow you to store files on its hard disc that did not come from cd's you ripped.  But now the 2tb version does include the ability to store files that it itself did not rip, so that is all you will need.  You can copy those downloads to the uServe hdd; there is a folder on the drive set up for that purpose.

I have the older 1tb version however, so when I buy hi res music I have to put it on my NAS or play it from a usb stick.  The new system is much simpler. 

(But you still need a reliable way to back up your uServe, and a NAS is a great way to do that.)

+1 

There is no best way, no best format, no best ripper, no best way to stream ... however, there is a Naim way that would seem ideal in an all Naim system where budget is not the #1 factor in determing the route to take. 

When Keith Howard reviewed the Naim DAC he said it was a shame it didn't work with the 555PS - of course, it does: so I'd take what he says with a pinch of pepper. 

Most players don't care whether the file is in FLAC or WAV or some other format that is lossless. Any ripper worth its sort will rip CDs (all those you mention + Naim + quite a few others like XLD and iTunes). Naim is the least versatile as it rips in WAV only, but this makes it easier to use as you do not have work out the format details. Naim players are optimised for WAV ... though I can't hear the difference. So you should feed WAV to your NDS. 

If you are going for the Naim UnitiServe and NDS then as Osprey says, it'll do everything you need ... it'll rip your CDs, store them in Naim's favourite format, stpre data about the songs in a Naim database on the UnitiServe and work with the Naim software on your iPad (nStream for NDS, nServe for UnitiServe). It is very much a Naim way of doing things and not necessarily ideal for those of us who want to use non-Naim components as well. 

KH was probably referring to the Naim DAC ... if you use a USB stick then you effectively feed music directly in to its a buffer ... so in theory it is the best SQ ... a pig to use though. 

USB for you would be via the UnitiServe and should sound no better or worse than using the disks inside the UnitiServe or files collected from a NAS. So not really necessary. The NDS will never know whether the files came from internal disk, USB or NAS ... nor will care, it'll just play what it is given. 

Simplest optimised set-up is US/[wired Ethernet]/NDS /555PS ... if you want to go all Naim. 

[You do need an iPad though as this is effectively the Naim remote control and you need the Internet when ripping so the UnitiServe can get the artwork and track titles and other information for you]. 

A Vortexbox will do what the UnitiServe does and SQ is the same, but the advantage of the UnitiServe is Naim build, service and support. [The downside is the complexity of software updates with Naim, which is why no Naim streamer appears on my wish list - ask your dealer about how updates will work you may find it fine]. 

Well said Guido. I found it very informative.

I am in a situation to try to find any Mac streaming as good as USB stick or Naim US into nDAC. I know they are the best combination in terms of sound quality but can a Mac Mini with optimization achieve close to that performance? How would you rate your Mac Mini achievement against USB stick if sound quality is the main concern (not the interface & flexibility)?

Phil Harris has said on this forum that portable USB hard drives, which can be directly connected to the Unitiserve, don't sound as good as memory sticks because they have noisy USB buses. This will not an issue for the 2tb version as hi res music can be stored its internal hard drive, as mentioned above. Owners of the old version should either use memory sticks or NAS shares.

Keith