Synology nas transcoding

I use FLAC:WAV24 too and can't say the sound is better quality or not but it does appear to have more fluidity to it.  I prefer it that way.

Jota, yes i dont think there is any more information coming through but your description, fluid is exactly what i mean when i say more natural. Its very hard to find the correct word for it. 

Hi Dave

Your not by any chance using Avast antivirus on your pc. I do and ive found that it causes all sorts of issues with Minimwatch. I have to disable it when i start Minimwatch.

Minimwatch is definitely the key to getting the packages installed.

Graeme

Hi Dave

Try this; Right click on the icon for MinimWatch, select properties and change the target to read C:\Windows\System32\java.exe -jar "C:\Program Files\MinimWatch\lib\mwatch.jar" assuming that your java and MinimWatch are installed in the same places as mine (they probably will be). Apply and OK or just OK then when you double click the shortcut MinimWatch should start. There will be a DOS window open all the time it's running but there should also be an icon in the system tray and it's the right click menu on that which you need.

Cheers Sorren, got it sorted now. I remember when music playing was as complicated as choosing which tape or record you wanted on ! You've got to love modern technology

Dave

I know what you mean. I do have a bit of an advantage though as I'm a Java developer by trade 

The latest Synology DSM beta (5.0) has usable transcoding options again - worth having a go with this if you don't fancy wrestling with Minim and Java.

Hi Orangutan, that's good to know. Can it send hires album art too? These are the only 2 things that I missed from the Synology server.

I don't know for sure.  My UPNP setup is a little complicated by using Naim and non-Naim clients with different requirements.  I don't actually use the Synology transcoding at present, but did notice that it had been improved in the latest releases.

I use Playback on my Mac to serve up my iTunes collection in native ALAC and AAC format with working artwork to my Qute.

I use Asset on my Mac to provide the same content but transcoded to mp3 to serve a more basic kitchen streamer.

Finally, I have the Synology DiskStation Media Server running on a backup of the same files from my Mac and also serving up some hi-res FLACs.

Sorren, i believe there was a patch or the latest DSM 4.3 had a setting for Naim to allow for full res album artwork. Ill certainly have a look at DSM 5 at some point to see if it performs correctly. Thanks for the heads up Orangutan

I have a UnitiServe SSD and s Synology DS212j NAS. Am I correct in understanding that the UnitiServe SSD is doing all the transcoding (or not) duties and I don’t need to worry about the NAS doing any transcoding? I have the Enable Transcoders NOT turned on in the Synology Media Server DMA Compatibility settings. When I play a file from the NAS I see the file type (FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF) as well as the sample rate on the n-stream display while the track plays. 

The Unitiserve owners manual states: 

Compatibility: Select Compatibility to specify the audio data Stream Format that the UnitiServe-SSD will stream to the UPnP playback device and to switch CD artwork transmission to the playback device on or off.

The Stream Format options available are Native, 44.1kHz WAV, WAV Decode, 24bit / 96kHz Max and Best Compatibility:

Native: Streams audio files in the same format as they are stored.

Note: Native stream format offers the highest potential audio quality. The appropriate choice will depend on the capability of the playback hardware. Select Native initially and check that the playback hardware operates correctly with all stored file formats. If it fails to operate at any time select WAV Decode. If it still fails occasionally select Best Compatibility, 24bit / 96kHz Max or finally 44.1kHz WAV.

Based on the above I have my UnitiServe set to Native which is why I see the file type (FLAC, WAV, ALAC, AIFF) as well as the sample rate on the n-stream display while the track plays. 

Which begs the question, why all this discussion about transcoding to WAV when the UnitiServe owners manual says “native stream format offers the highest potential audio quality.”

This discussion must not apply to systems with a UnitiServe? Pardon my ignorance. Just trying to understand all this techno talk. 

I'm in the process of converting all my WAV files to FLAC. I'm doing this for two reasons, firstly to reduce the size of the library and secondly so that the backup on the NAS will also be in FLAC. Then, should the UnitiServe go wrong, I'll be able to stream more easily direct from the NAS, which I'm led to believe may not be the case is they are in WAV. It's something about metadata from US rips not being available on the NAS in such a way that you can stream from it with full information.

I initially tried streaming in FLAC, with transcode set to native. I then tried it with transcode set to decode. It sounds much better that way. My understanding is that if the Serve does the transcoding, the streamer has less work to do. Whatever, it sounds better, so I recommend that you try it. You can always switch it back again.

DSM 5.0 Beta for Synology DS213+ does perform transcoding. My ND5XS shows "44.1 kHz 16bitPCM Linear" when enabled and ALAC files are streamed. The problem is it doesn't seem to work with hi-res files: you can select the files to be streamed, but they won't play.

Is this intentional or perhaps a bug to be ironed out?  Is there a thread dedicated to DSM 5.0 Beta on their website for informing Synology of issues?

This problem has existed since DSM 3.2 and they call it progress. How they cant resolve this is beyond me