Newbie alert
Posted by: Lee Piercy on 20 February 2011
I have just bought a Unitiqute and so far I am very happy with it. I have it hard wired to my network and use Mac and itunes (also hard wired via ethernet). Everything works well apart from Flac files?
I have tried it with Media link, eye connect and majestic (majestic works best so far) But I cannot play any of the flac files?? If I connect the external drive directly via the front usb port they play with no problem? When the hard drive is connected to my mac and configured to share the Naim can't see the files at all, I put a few mp3's on the same hard drive and it can see them and plays just fine.
What should I be doing for this to work? I have searched but cant find anything.
Thanks in advance!
Lee
May I ask, are you fully committed to Flac? I know many in this forum are strong believers in open source software and have a strong allegiance to Flac (for good reasons). But I am perfectly happy with Apple Lossless and/or WAV format. I have my ATV connected into the Digital 2 input using a fairly cheap Toslink. I have no complaints with the sound.
But will it play Apple Lossless or WAV files? It should, provided you are connected into one of the digital inputs and it is not being sent via a router. We tested Apple Lossless here and it would not stream through my router, only if connected directly.
I dont know how the various UPNP servers work on a Mac and I know even less about how this would work in conjunction with iTunes.
I would suggest you try a different media player that supports FLACs, e.g. Play, Songbird, or Cog. Then send the music along to your UPNP server software.
Sorry I cant help more, but I have NO IDEA how UPNP software works. With both Foobar and J River you dont do anything other than run the media player. They can be UPNP servers in and of themselves.
It seems with Mac's you run a media player AND a server. No clue how that works. But I am guessing it is the crux of the biscuit with your issue.
-Patrick
On the other hancm the qute doesn't support the apple lossless format, so in a way, you NEED a Upnp server. This can be a piece of software installed on the Mac, or alternatively, a nas with Dona server support (synology or qnap or a number of others will do)
After you put hard disk in those nas, format hard disk, setup password and enable dlns/media server following the step by step instruction that is not too hard, the remaining step usually involve copying the flac files into a music directory/drive and the qute should be able to access them nice and easy.
I think this is the most common and easiest way
This means that Mac UPnP servers are a bit crap as you have probably found. I'm a Mac head through and through but for me UPnP & Naim seem to provide a better sound than streaming from a Mac.
Some ways forward.
1. Forget UPnP and go the Mac way - connect your Mac via optical out into the Qute - or connect an Apple TV and use Airplay to stream. - Use ALAC or Aiff.
2. Hope that a decent Mac based UPnP Server will come along soon.
3. Forget using the Mac and buy a good NAS drive - many threads here will help and many come with their own UPnP servers. Most will prefer you to use flac which may be a plus for you.
4. Get a Nas which also rips - RipNAS is excellent (Asset UPnP is IMHO a superb windows based UPnP server - and Naim have tested the RipNas )- it's expensive but may be worth it and it also likes flac. Vortexbox is the linux equivalent and is freely available to download and install on a old pc or as part of a bought Vortexbox appliance. I've run several versions, the most recent using a low power atom based PC server - and it loves flac.
5 Run Asset UPnP using Crossover Mac (Windows emulation software) or bootcamp or VirtualBox on your Mac - tried Crossover Mac using a trial version and Asset works fine.
My suggestion would be to try Asset on your Mac (they provide instructions on their website) or buy a good NAS - Synology / AssetNAS or RipNAS
If you have loads of money there is always the UnitiServe.
Good luck and welcome
Tog
As for Apple Lossless I hoped to use it but with Majestic bit it transcodes at 192?? this is with it set to high? What am I missing/doing wrong? Or is there a better upnp server?
Thanks in advance!
Lee
On the other hancm the qute doesn't support the apple lossless format, so in a way, you NEED a Upnp server. This can be a piece of software installed on the Mac, or alternatively, a nas with Dona server support (synology or qnap or a number of others will do)
You are correct, the Qute does not support Apple Lossless when streaming audio and especially if passed through a router. However, it WILL play Apple Lossless perfectly, provided it is sourced from a Mac product and passed to the Qute via Toslink. I do this myself using an Apple TV. But when we tried streaming it (through a router) the message about unable to read data or similar appeared on the Qute display.
@Lee Piercy: As you are using iTunes and a Mac, surely it would make sense to use Apple Lossless and try connecting into one of the Digital inputs, instead of streaming. Failing that, I suggest converting all your music to WAV format. So far as I know (but not tested it myself) WAV will stream and is supported by iTunes.
Just my tuppence worth.
So far as I know (but not tested it myself) WAV will stream and is supported by iTunes
WAV will work in iTunes. But given how iTunes stores tags/metadata I dont think you will appreciate it.
Just move away from the Mac so you are less hampered by these restrictions.
-patrick
So far as I know (but not tested it myself) WAV will stream and is supported by iTunes
WAV will work in iTunes. But given how iTunes stores tags/metadata I dont think you will appreciate it.
Just move away from the Mac so you are less hampered by these restrictions.
-patrick
The one great and often ignored advantage of the Mac system is: it just works.
No offence intended.
Success!
I have installed eyeconnect server although it’s slower than Majestic and there is no artwork shown on the app, it will transcode at the full bit-rate for Apple Lossless. As for the NAS drive I purchased the 4gb Lacie 2big to use Raid 1 (I don’t want to build a collection only to lose it!) Anyway I have finished the set up, enabled UPnP, dragged a couple of files over and it works!
Very happy indeed, just waiting for my new speakers now........
The one great and often ignored advantage of the Mac system is: it just works.
UPnP is a bit of a mess - even with DLNA compliance it doesn't always work - Apple control the hardware and software - they know if something works or not.
Linux / Open Unix has tens of thousands of people trying to make things work - harder than with OSX as the hardware permutations are huge - oddly most of the time they get it right possibly because the underlying architecture of Unix based software is so strong.
Hats off to spoon and his palls at Asset - they have managed to get a Windoze UPnP that works.
Even Naim stuck to their own UPnP for their streamers - they know what life is like out there in the PC "Wild West"
So yes - Apple are very paternalistic but few things work as well as OSX
Tog
Further more I have stated time and time again a UPNP server that will work just fine, its called XBMC, its free, yes its a full media centre, never the less you can hide the window and let it do its thing in the background.
A number of other checks that must be carried out for UPNP to work to its potential:
1. I don't know why or how but I found that sharing your music folder out on SAMBA helps a great deal.
2. Make sure your home router has UPNP turned on. Its not always on by default.
3. Try each UPNP server seperatly and ensure there is not more than one running at anyone time on the same system.
4. Make sure your network is up together. Mine for instance on average is transferring data at around 50MB/s computer to computer/nas etc. Plenty of bandwidth thanks to a decent switch, All wired. I did this myself and total cost for 16 ethernet ports in the house was around £300 with the switch, worth every single penny.
5. Don't have a BT home hub.
I have sort of the same problem.
I just got a Qute...haven't even paid for it yet, while deciding whether to keep it. If I do I will need to get a power amp (NAP155 or NAP200).
Anyway, I have a MacBook Pro and all my iTunes music is in AAC or Apple Lossless. That's not a problem as I'm using EyeConnect and it streams everything fine to the Qute. I have an AppleTV2 connected to the Qute as well, but that doesn't sound as good as streaming directly.
However, I started re-ripping all my CDs into a directory on a RAID 0 drive, separately from iTunes. I started ripping in FLAC, but switched to WAV. EyeConnect streams all the WAV just fine, but for any directory with FLAC encoded songs, it just shows up as <empty> on the Qute. This is clearly not an iTunes issue since the FLAC and WAV music is not part of my iTunes library.
I will probably continue ripping my music to WAV for streaming to the Qute. However, I did purchase some 24/96 music from HDTracks and that comes in FLAC format. I am not able to stream it to the Qute. I can convert it to WAV, but would prefer to be able to stream the original FLAC files.
I think this is an EyeConnect problem, but I don't know how to solve it.
It would be nice if iTunes just used sidecar files for tagging WAV. Then I could just integrate the WAV files into iTunes and have it down-convert them for syncing to iPhone/iPad,rather than maintaining two libraries.
My answer will not be appriciated but I would recommend you migrate away from itunes.
Use XLD on mac for ripping.
I take it the raid drive you speak to is USB? If its networked ie a NAS you should be able to turn on a UPNP service within it, i.e. not rely on Eyeconnect
My RAID 0 is FW800, but has USB support. It is attached directly to my MBP. I plan to get a Mac Mini later as a dedicated media server to host my RAID (which also has ripped DVDs/BRDs for streaming via AppleTV2).
I don't intend on using iTunes for streaming audio. I am using MAX for ripping CDs (it's like XLD, but I like it better). I downloaded Twonky and will try that as a UPnP server instead of EyeConnect. I think it is supposed to support FLAC. In any case, MAX does a quick job converting FLAC to WAV. It's not an ideal solution, but it works.
I don't want to spend money on a NAS (gotta save for my NAP200 after all).
Success!
I have installed eyeconnect server although it’s slower than Majestic and there is no artwork shown on the app, it will transcode at the full bit-rate for Apple Lossless. As for the NAS drive I purchased the 4gb Lacie 2big to use Raid 1 (I don’t want to build a collection only to lose it!) Anyway I have finished the set up, enabled UPnP, dragged a couple of files over and it works!
Very happy indeed, just waiting for my new speakers now........
Don't equate RAID 1 with backup. It isn't. You have three points of catastrophic failure. If the RAID controller fails, and a replacement is even slightly different (hardware-wise, firmware, etc), you can end up loosing the data on both mirrors if it doesn't recognize the existing set. This scenario can and does happen.
I have two 4 TB RAID 0 for better performance, and do periodic backup from one to the other.
RAID 1 mirroring should be used in addition to a solid backup strategy, not instead of it.