nds v non naim solution, which way to go

A Unitiserve is a great solution if you just want to plug it in and start ripping and playing music with no fuss. I'm pretty sure you can get as good a result from ripping on a computer and storing on a NAS, at a lower cost, if you are prepared to get it set up properly. 

You can use a Unitiserve to feed directly to a DAC too if you want - a streamer gives added functionality (different control app, multi-room options etc.) 

Beyond that - let your ears decide...

I'm guessing that an NDS/Unitiserve combination would suit you best.  Using a PC or a NAS as a source won't affect SQ (IMHO having messed around with a friend's NDX/Unitiserve setup), but requires more fiddling to set up and run.  Plus side for a computer front end is it gives you ultimate flexibility e.g. the ability to access any streaming service such as Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify etc.

There will be no sound quality difference.

Lot's of us understand personal computers and networks so they are not scary for us. What I don't know is how well the unitiserve handles tagging. I ripped a new box set (that isn't released for another week) last night that is not yet known by the meta-databases so I had to put in details for 70 tracks by hand. It's a simple typing excercise with a computer but I don't know how difficult that might be with a unitiserve. This will depend of course on how many obscure CDs you have. For me it's around 5%.

There's been lots of comments posted that one can rip CD's via the PC route much more cheaply than by doing so using, e.g. a Unitiserve, HDX, or similar.

As mentioned above though, this does require some setting up, whereas the various options available from Naim render the whole process painless.

I had been considering getting rid of my HDX, which now functions as a UPnP server to my NDS, and is still used to rip CD's, but am hesitant to do so because of the convenience it offers.

The advice I received, both here on the forum, and, more recently, from my dealer, was to retain the HDX, both for the ease of ripping, and also better SQ.

On another thread, Harry has done exactly this, and reckons the improvement in SQ was sufficient to convince him to dispense with his HDX.

So, it comes down to the additional cost of a server / ripper, offering a straightforward solution, against the somewhat fiddly option of a PC + ripping software.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

BTW, there is no mystery about the Unitiserve, it is just a (reassuringly expensive) fanless PC in a Naim box.

I find editing metadata on the US very easy. I don't know weather others find it lacking compared to the alternatives, but it does everything I need it to do. Having said that, I may be less fussy than some - if the music plays, and I can see the artwork, track, album and artist, I'm happy.

I've yet to hear a computer that betters the UnitiServe as an S/PDIF source into a DAC. I've tried... 

I've less experience with the UPnP route into a streamer, but many here seem to find no difference (soundwise) between a UnitiServe vs a NAS running UPnP software, when feeding a streamer (which is a DAC with a streaming client card).

Jan 

isnt the HDX better than the UNITISERVE as a ripper and sdif outputer into an NDS ? What with better power supplies and what have you. 

Given the price difference, you'd hope so, but you only need one DAC so it seems a bit of a waste.

Ripping performance should be the same - they both use WinXP/Digifi as the software platform.  NDS has asynchronous SPDIF inputs (i.e. it doesn't rely on HDX or Unitiserve SPDIF timing) so the power supply differences shouldn't make any odds.  But I'm sure some people will swear they do.

Helvete !

I would not go US or HDX.

With the outstanding NDS I would rip with a PC using dBpoweramp & its excellent programs including AccurateRip error correction, is very easy/simple & will give you your choice of options for filing & tagging,  also worth getting a better/faster off-board USB CD/DVD read/writer if you have a lot of CD's to rip.

All rips & future high res downloads saved to a quality NAS (Synology, QNAP etc) using your choice of UPnP Media Server  -  all this is far more flexible, easy to use & has many more options for now & in the future.

I agree with Mike's post, there is no mystery to ripping or ethernet streaming.. However if Mike's post reads as double Dutch to you then a Unitiserve may be the ripper for you.

Yes streaming servers and platforms can, in my reasonably varied expierience, sound slightly different, but we are very much in the area of extreme subtlety.

Hello Trev,

I'm lucky enough to have a NaimNet NS01 server. This has 2x 2TB drives (one acts as an internal back-up of the main storage drive), it also has a drawer loading mechanism, so doesn't mark your CDs.  And it has a fan for cooling! I think it's pretty much the same as an HDX without the screen, which you don't really need since it can be fully controlled with an iPad or on the Desk Top Controller software on your PC. It is a very good solution. Since I got it to replace a UnitiServe, I also have a NAS which acts as an automated second level back-up and a 2TB USB drive which acts as a third back-up when I get around to doing it.  The 4th back-up is provided by the CDs themselves. I also keep any hi-res downloads on my PC.

However, all that said, I would listen to a 555PS on your CDS2. It's a tremendous improvement over the XPS and I think sounds quite natural. Then with the money you save you could buy a high spec turntable, which would sound even more natural, of course!

CB

For the reasons I stated above, this cannot be concluded.  Connect your Dell laptop via USB to a Dragonfly dac and there will be no sound quality difference?  I envy you if you can conclude that as it will save a LOT of money!!

Maybe as an SPDIF source.  But I've not heard an HDX side by side.

I really can't accept your assertion that ripping via iTunes is in any way less than good quality or that other methods are any better. I've been through all the rigmarole of ripping via the so-called "better" alternatives but the results sound no different.

Just get yourself a Mac Mini and Hugo, rip CDs into iTunes and all will be good. Challenge the detractors to do a blind comparison!

+1 

Also add Audirvana 1.5 then you can play FLAC and other hi res formats not supported by iTunes.

Ripping via iTunes is ok assuming all your cds are in pristine shape.  I've had some that rip --> static/soundless gap filled files.  Those same cds sound fine to me after ripping via xld. [xld tells you there was a problem and you can then try to clean the disc or whatever]

If considering the NDS, the best thing is to get your ears on one. The result is not a foregone conclusion but it is possible that having heard what it is capable of, how you serve it is of minor importance. An HDX did pretty much all my CD collection but more recently I've had to retag the whole lot again because Naim's approach to tagging WAV files leaves them essentially untagged. This won't be a problem for playback on servers which are not Naim but it may irritate if you dispense with your Naim server, as I did recently. Looping back to where I came in, the horse that goes in front of the cart is how a streamer handles your music collection. Musical enjoyment tops everything and the NDS is  a strong contender here. Everything else is logistics - just another form  of fettling. We went streaming for sound quality. Convenience was a happy coincidence. Compared to the care and ritual of vinyl, CD playback ain't exactly inconvenient in the first place.

Hi All

Very many thanks for your replies - the mists are clearing.

How does a DAC differ from the NDS if the NDS has a Dac? Does this just mean that the NDS as its a streamer can be seen by a network, whereas a DAC cannot?

Many thanks again

Trev

Yes, the NDS has a DAC, and yes, a streamer can be seen on a network, but a DAC alone can't.

Trev, a dac is simply a digital-to-analog converter.  It's like asking how does a Kia's motor differ from a Porsche's motor -- both cars have motors.

You can buy a dac for $49.00 or for $80,000.  And all points in between.

If you use an NDS (for example) you put your music on a NAS, which is the server. The NDS is the streamer, and it grabs the music from the NAS. You connect both to the network.

If you go the computer and DAC route, the music lives on the computer. You tell the computer to play the music, which comes out digitally, goes into the DAC, comes out analogue and goes to your amplifier. This setup does not use the network to play music.

If you have an NDS, you use the Naim app to control it all. If you use the computer and DAC route, you use some other app to tell the computer what to play.

Hope that helps.