Unitiserve. Does it need a mouse, keyboard. screen and permanent internet connection?
Posted by: Alan Paterson on 17 February 2011
Does it need all these to function? I realize it needs to be connected to the internet for details when ripping cds but does it need to be connected during playback?
Posted on: 17 February 2011 by GerryMcg
Hi Alan
It certainly does not need mouse,keyboard & Screen. I acces it mostly via the desktop client software, from my laptop, but also with a browser.
Other means of interfacing are with an iPod/iPhone or a streamnet compliant touch screen.
The main reason for the internet connection is for ripping purposes ion order to identify artist/album/tracks etc. As such, for pure playback purposesI believe the internet connection is not essential.
It is useful to attach the Serve to a home network for back up/ additional storage.
I have the SSD version and connection to a home server is essentail.
Gerry
It certainly does not need mouse,keyboard & Screen. I acces it mostly via the desktop client software, from my laptop, but also with a browser.
Other means of interfacing are with an iPod/iPhone or a streamnet compliant touch screen.
The main reason for the internet connection is for ripping purposes ion order to identify artist/album/tracks etc. As such, for pure playback purposesI believe the internet connection is not essential.
It is useful to attach the Serve to a home network for back up/ additional storage.
I have the SSD version and connection to a home server is essentail.
Gerry
Posted on: 17 February 2011 by DeepPurple
Depends on how you connect the Serve to your amp. Mine is in the room with the router, whilst the uniti etc is in the living room. Using Wifi to connect the two devices. Have the n-stream app on my iPod and the client on a PC.
Posted on: 18 February 2011 by catalinmetal
where can we find complatibility of the n-stream app to various devices with touch screen (i am interested in Samsung Galaxy series for instance)?
thank you.
thank you.
Posted on: 18 February 2011 by AMA
Originally Posted by Alan Paterson:
Does it need all these to function? I realize it needs to be connected to the internet for details when ripping cds but does it need to be connected during playback?
No.Posted on: 19 February 2011 by Tog
Originally Posted by catalinmetal:
class="quotedText">
where can we find complatibility of the n-stream app to various devices with touch screen (i am interested in Samsung Galaxy series for instance)?
thank you.
Apple IOS only - iPad, iPhone or Touch
Tog
Posted on: 19 February 2011 by Alan Paterson
How about the HDX? Does it need a keyboard and mouse? I assume it doesn't need a screen as it has one.
Posted on: 19 February 2011 by Alan Paterson
Forgive my ignorance again please but the SSD version of the HDX (just had a quick look at it on the products page), am i wrong in thinking that you just add a external hard drive to it but that it has to have an internet connection to access music stored externally?
Posted on: 19 February 2011 by GerryMcg
Originally Posted by Alan Paterson:
Forgive my ignorance again please but the SSD version of the HDX (just had a quick look at it on the products page), am i wrong in thinking that you just add a external hard drive to it but that it has to have an internet connection to access music stored externally?
Hi Alan,You will need a NAS drive, for ripping the CD's I needs the interconnect connection for ripping purposes i.e. artist/album/etc but not for playback, just an ethernet connection to your router, to access the music on your network.
MY Unitiserve collates music files held on 3PC's, 1 Laptop , and 2 NAS units, all consolidated and presented as a single music collection.
Gerry
Posted on: 19 February 2011 by Alan Paterson
I think i am starting to understand a bit more. The NAS is connected through the router and not direct to the unitiserve or HDX, is this correct?
Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
Posted on: 19 February 2011 by GerryMcg
Originally Posted by Alan Paterson:
I think i am starting to understand a bit more. The NAS is connected through the router and not direct to the unitiserve or HDX, is this correct?
Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
Yes that's correct - direct to the router, and the Serve/HDX finds it instantly (inmy case at least)Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
Not sure about the NDX, having just bought the Serve/nDac I have not really checked it out.
Posted on: 20 February 2011 by Aleg
Originally Posted by Alan Paterson:
I think i am starting to understand a bit more. The NAS is connected through the router and not direct to the unitiserve or HDX, is this correct?
Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
Just to complicate things further what is the NDX?
NDX is a streaming client. It gets its music from a UPnP Server on the network or from internetRadio.
Posted on: 22 February 2011 by Alan Paterson
Forgive me again: the NDX would play music stored on a hard drive connected through a router, is this correct? If so how do you get the music onto the hard drive? Would i need to rip cds through a computer and if so is there any sound degradation doing this compared with ripping with a naim product (serve or HDX)?
Posted on: 23 February 2011 by Alan Paterson
Any thoughts?
Posted on: 23 February 2011 by GerryMcg
Alan,
Yes, the NDX ca nnot rip like the Serve/HDX so you have to use an alternative ripper. I have used dbpoweramp, with my PC, in the past & results are good.
The NDX, by the way can also stream internet radio stations with a large number of presets for storing stations.
Gery
Yes, the NDX ca nnot rip like the Serve/HDX so you have to use an alternative ripper. I have used dbpoweramp, with my PC, in the past & results are good.
The NDX, by the way can also stream internet radio stations with a large number of presets for storing stations.
Gery
Posted on: 16 March 2011 by Alan Paterson
Does the NDX do anything that the HDX can't?
Posted on: 16 March 2011 by Salmon Dave
I like your style Alan - keep battering away with the questions, god knows we've had nothing but jargon about this stuff for five years. Poor communication rather than misunderstanding IMHO.
The NDX is a streamer, which means it picks up digital data from a remote source - e.g. a server, or an internet radio connection.
The HDX is a server/ripper, so it stores CDs on a hard drive (except when it doesn't have one, a real case of Emperor's new clothes if you ask me), and could therefore deliver signal to the NDX. However as it already has a DAC and audio output you're wasting a lot of functionality - which some people seem to want to do.
Where I start to get lost is with the Unitiserve (which is a Naim-branded RIPNAS). It needs some sort of screen if not used with the likes of a Uniti or NDX, but then can be plugged straight into the DAC - which means you don't need a streamer anyway.
I think. No doubt informative corrections will follow.
Posted on: 16 March 2011 by manicm
Originally Posted by Salmon Dave:
I like your style Alan - keep battering away with the questions, god knows we've had nothing but jargon about this stuff for five years. Poor communication rather than misunderstanding IMHO.
The NDX is a streamer, which means it picks up digital data from a remote source - e.g. a server, or an internet radio connection.
The HDX is a server/ripper, so it stores CDs on a hard drive (except when it doesn't have one, a real case of Emperor's new clothes if you ask me), and could therefore deliver signal to the NDX. However as it already has a DAC and audio output you're wasting a lot of functionality - which some people seem to want to do.
Where I start to get lost is with the Unitiserve (which is a Naim-branded RIPNAS). It needs some sort of screen if not used with the likes of a Uniti or NDX, but then can be plugged straight into the DAC - which means you don't need a streamer anyway.
I think. No doubt informative corrections will follow.
Posted on: 16 March 2011 by Mr Underhill
Dear Alan,
I also think your persistence is admirable.
One of the issues with I.T., and other areas, is the 'experts' like to build up a unique nomenclature, to prove to the world that they ARE 'experts'; the 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' HiFi sketch is a beautifully judged parody based on this.
I think I.T. is especially bad, reusing terms time again with different meanings in different contexts.
In general conversation we just use terms willy-nilly. In technical discussions we all should define what we mean by any term in teh context of what we are saying ....but it would make writing any blog tortuous!
One malleable term is SERVER. In one context this may mean a physical box, which is build to be more robust than a PC, i.e. multiple power supply units etc. ; In another context is may mean a piece of software that serves up something for consumption by another computer. In another context it may be a piece of hardware that hosts the server software.
I haven't looked at the NDX in any detail, but it hosts a piece of software that is served up a data stream by another piece of software hosted on another box, probably a Naim server: HDX; NS01/2/3; UnitiServer.
So, to pick your question above:
'....the NDX would play music stored on a hard drive connected through a router.'
NOT directly.
The music will be stored somewhere as files. These files need to be processed and then streamed to the NDX. This process will be carried out by the 'server', which will have to comply with the protocol that the server and client use to communicate.
What is a protocol? In this context it is a standard laying down how the data is broken up, so that whoever programs the client software knows how to stitch what the server is sending back together again.
The NDX I believe handles uPNP, a protocol for moving certain types of data around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play
The HDX, NS01/2/3, UnitiServer will serve up both StreamNet and uPNP.
The uPNP data stream can be collected, controlled and rendered by a computer with the right client software, including the Naim NDX.
Hope this helps.
M
I also think your persistence is admirable.
One of the issues with I.T., and other areas, is the 'experts' like to build up a unique nomenclature, to prove to the world that they ARE 'experts'; the 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' HiFi sketch is a beautifully judged parody based on this.
I think I.T. is especially bad, reusing terms time again with different meanings in different contexts.
In general conversation we just use terms willy-nilly. In technical discussions we all should define what we mean by any term in teh context of what we are saying ....but it would make writing any blog tortuous!
One malleable term is SERVER. In one context this may mean a physical box, which is build to be more robust than a PC, i.e. multiple power supply units etc. ; In another context is may mean a piece of software that serves up something for consumption by another computer. In another context it may be a piece of hardware that hosts the server software.
I haven't looked at the NDX in any detail, but it hosts a piece of software that is served up a data stream by another piece of software hosted on another box, probably a Naim server: HDX; NS01/2/3; UnitiServer.
So, to pick your question above:
'....the NDX would play music stored on a hard drive connected through a router.'
NOT directly.
The music will be stored somewhere as files. These files need to be processed and then streamed to the NDX. This process will be carried out by the 'server', which will have to comply with the protocol that the server and client use to communicate.
What is a protocol? In this context it is a standard laying down how the data is broken up, so that whoever programs the client software knows how to stitch what the server is sending back together again.
The NDX I believe handles uPNP, a protocol for moving certain types of data around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Plug_and_Play
The HDX, NS01/2/3, UnitiServer will serve up both StreamNet and uPNP.
The uPNP data stream can be collected, controlled and rendered by a computer with the right client software, including the Naim NDX.
Hope this helps.
M
Posted on: 17 March 2011 by Salmon Dave
Originally Posted by manicm:
Your first correction - the HDX also streams!
I didn't think it did, at least not primarily. If it does, what's the point of the NDX?
Posted on: 17 March 2011 by Richard Dane
HDX does not stream. It is a server. However, it will replay music files it finds on a connected network. Such functionality may be confused with streaming, but it's not quite the same thing.
Probably time to move this one over to the other room...
Probably time to move this one over to the other room...
Posted on: 18 March 2011 by pcstockton
Originally Posted by Salmon Dave:
what's the point of the NDX?
less expensive, better DAC, only renders (receives) streams from a UPNP Server.The HDX costs more, can rip and tag your CDs properly, serve music to any UPNP renderer (Uniti, Qute, NDX etc...)