New NAS

I use dBpoweramp to rip as flac level 0 using standard settings. These go directly to the music share on my DS214play and I don't have any problems with tagging. I use both Minim and the Synology server and both provide the structure that you want.

If I were you I would put the DS214play next to the Qute with a switch between. It's silent and enables a wired connection.

I can't comment on the Qnap or Synology, but I recently added a DLink 320L to my network (I had a spare 1TB external USB drive from which I transferred the disk).

I found it relatively easy to set up once I worked out how to install and run the provided third party UPnP server apps on it - I use MiniDLNA but also tried Twonky, both worked fine.

MiniDLNA allows me to set which folder I want to share for each type of media, so my Qute 2 can see the music media without having to navigate further down the folder tree, if I'm searching by folders as I typically do with the remote. Alternatively I use the Naim app or BubbleUPnP for control from my android devices (Bubble allows volume control of the Qute2 but the free version limits the no of tracks in a playlist).

I have all network devices connected via Cat5 to a switch, this removes stress from the wifi router and allows streaming to work even if the router falls over or is switched off. New music I add to the library is also immediately accessible to the Qute.

This setup has worked really well for me although I still have to restart the Qute every two weeks or so as it occasionally loses connection to the library. I have only had to reboot the NAS once in around 6 weeks since I installed it.

+1 on Bananahead's recommendation to place the NAS+switch near to the Qute in order to enable a wired connection between streamer and disk..

Regarding ripping I use Fre:ac to rip from CD to FLAC and I have had no problems so far. But would dbPoweramp offer me any greater quality or advantage?

Thanks Bananahead and DC71.

First to Bananahead....why use a switch and not couple the NAS directly to the Qute?

To DC71....I bought dBpoweramp on my dealer recommendation when I bought the Qute. Rips well most of the time, although the Qute does not see all the CD's...the main culprits being compliation CD's ie. 'various artists'. I had one of the 'NOW' series CD's given to me which for the life of me wont rip properly...it just has all the tracks strewn individually by artist on the Qute...hey ho!

However on the whole it seems well received.

Forgot to say Bananahead....nice to see you have the same setup I propose and it works well

Also DC71...how did you install MiniDLNA on your DLink?

A work around with compilation albums is to tag the album artist ss 'various artists'. Uour qute should then see the album as a whole but will still see individual songs by artist

Only 450 CD's? You wont need to fully compress them.  5 is plenty.  Why are you re-ripping them all?  You could transfer them from the disk in your current NAS.

Compilation albums!  I use the free software MP3Tag and select the compilation option.  That stops you getting each track from showing up as individual entries.

I've tried the homeplugs with my Qute2 and to be honest didn't notice any difference to the currently hard wired situation.

Thanks Jota...the homeplugs seem ok to me too..

I have MP3tag...will look at it again as not used it properly really...

For MiniDLNA installation there are downloads of the app available via here on the sharecenter forum (both 320 an 325 available) http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=61326.0 (I hope I'm allowed to post that link in here, otherwise just google 'dlink 320L apps' and you can find it in the sharecenter forum under 'searchable list of apps'.

On 320L, first I had to install the latest firmware, then in the dlink NAS admin panel (enter NAS IP address in browser), I went to Management>Application Management>Add-ons where I select Choose file, and find/select the downloaded MiniDLNA app.

Once it's installed, go to the Applications area and click on MiniDLNA. From there, set your media file paths, then hit full rescan. Once the scan was finished, I went back to Management>Applications>Add-ons and hit the start button.

I'm not sure if the dlink 325 admin panel is identical, but hope this helps.

Dylan

Because that's not really how networks are configured.  Both the nas and the Qute have to be on the home network so that both can not only 'talk' to each other, but so that both can access other network services, such as DHCP to get an ip address, and the external internet.  If you connect the two directly with a patch cord, none of that happens.

+1 @Bart      The streamer is NOT designed to be directly connected, but should go via a switch (a switch is better).

What level of FLAC compression you use seems to make no discernible difference to SQ. Maybe others can tell, but I certainly can't. The premise would have to be that the work involved in processing/decompressing the file is greater if it's more compressed, and I'm not sure that could affect SQ even if it's true. If you're getting Synology then the better answer anyway is to put Minim on it and transcode everything to WAV, so it won't matter at all what the compression level is/was. The default is 5, and I usually go with that, but storage is cheap so go with 0 if you prefer. 

The Synology default is to store music in a file called 'Music', which seems simple enough. You'll only see the Folder structure if you select that view. If you use Media Server (the Synology home brew) or Minim as a UPNP server you'll be presented with artist, album, track, in a conventional way (though they differ slightly). I found it beneficial with Media Server to use the Album Artist view, which means that tag has to be set, usually to the Artist's name. If it's a compilation then I set that tag to Various Artists. This seems to work, but requires a small amount of tagging effort after a rip or download.

Thanks Bart for that explanation. Current setup is that NAS is connected directly to my router in an upstairs room with the Qute downstairs connected via homeplugs. The DLink NAS is a bit noisy in use. 

Cheers dayjay for your suggestion which I will try :-)

Also thanks to DC71 for the link and explanation. I will look at that later. 

Solid, your paragraph will be invaluable to me when sort the Synology. Much appreciated..