Qnap or Synology

Excellent - Enjoy !!!

Why not a nice Qnap HS-251 fanless where you can install Assetnas (in my opinion on of the best streaming software on the market. With not more than 500€ you get the complete package including 2 Red SATA 3TB HDD's.

This solution has also the advantage that you can put the NAS directly on a shelf of your rack.

And Minimserver installs as easily as Asset on that Qnap (I know because I own it); you can have both if you want to compare the two.

As the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Especially if you're buying used, there's a lot to be said for just seeing what comes along at the right price, and building a system around it - especially if you have the support of a good dealer. That means a dealer who will present you with different options, and give you time and space to decide which sound best to you at the right price.

Broadly speaking, there are 2 camps here: the Streamers, and the Mac & DAC brigade (other brands are available ). Both of these approaches are capable of producing excellent results, and I would ignore the advice of anyone who suggests that either of these routes is 'the only way to go.'

So if you can find a good HDX, great. Plug it into your amp, start ripping CDs, and you're sorted. If you find a Unitiserve, you can go either way - connect it to either a streamer, or a DAC. Or if you see an NS01, that's a great option too.

If you find a nice streamer (NDX or whatever) you have lots of options. Well, at least three. 

1) Unitiserve. Plug it in, stick CDs into slot, press play. Instant gratification.

2) NAS. As above - except the gratification is not instant, as you have to hook it up to your computer first and figure out how to rip CDs.

3) Put UPnP software on your computer. Use it to store and play your music. A good way to get started at minimum cost. Sooner or later, you will either run out of storage, or realise that a busy, multi-tasking computer is not the ideal source, by which time you might have saved up enough cash to buy a NAS. (Note that with this option, you could also jump ship to the Mac & DAC brigade, especially if you see a V1 at a price you can't resist.)

Note that a streamer or a computer can also give you various online streaming options that open up a whole new world of music discovery that is not available with an HDX, or Unitiserve played directly into a DAC.

Anyway, that's more than enough from me.....any more options, and I'll end up confusing myself! Don't even think about asking me weather QNAP is better than Synology...

Whichever way you decide to go, good luck, and enjoy the ride.

I didn't know DAC was a brand name?

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft had a patent on it 

Is someone actually recommending a used nas?  That seems like pinching pennies.  A basic Synology nas is pretty cheap, and the processors have only been getting more powerful. 

Sorry but I beg to differ:

Generally, there are three primary support areas throughout the world and all are in the equatorial region. The specific areas are Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. National Geographic calls this area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn the "Support Belt" as nearly all of the support in the world comes out of these regions.  These are the supreme support areas because the best support comes from high altitudes, in a moist, tropical climate, with rich soils and temperatures around 70°F (21°C) - all of which the tropics has to offer.

Similar to online sex chat regions however, there are variations on each of the three different support regions as well, which affects the overall flavor of the support. This makes each type of support distinct to its particular region and explains why Starbucks says, "Geography is support," when describing the different support regions around the world.

Definitely +1 from me here too ...

I'm a bad example as I tend to buy kit to have a play with and then pass it on to friends while it's probably even still within warranty but realistically any secondhand NAS is going to be several years old - probably beyond the software maintenance lifecycle of the manufacturers and likely with older kernals (as they're generally all Linux based) and so will be unlikely to take the newer 3Tb or greater drives and even if they do they're certainly going to have older filesystem limitations etc.

I mean, you wouldn't buy a secondhand crash helmet or a secondhand child car seat would you?

If you're *REALLY* having to scrimp to that extent then I think you need to have a look at alternatives or maybe even whether it's the right thing to be looking at doing at this time ...

A ReadyNAS 102 with a couple of 2Tb WD Red drives will set you back about £250 which I'm not trying to say is in any way 'disposable' cash (and it's certainly not the best UPnP server out there) but it is pretty much what I would consider to be the absolute minimum that you should be looking at.

Phil

Quite. I suppose it depends what you want to do with them. As basic network storage you certainly don't need the latest model. My Readynas NV+ is still doing the business at 8 years old. 

...as is my NV+ (and my Duo v1 and v2 which have been passed down to my parents and GF respectively for UPnP server duties) but I know that *I* have to look after them and that if I wanted support for any of from NetGear then none would be forthcoming. Surely if you're just setting up your first NAS and you're uncertain about what you're doing then wouldn't you want to be supported?

I think it's a false economy ... like sticking fuel in your Ferrari from the old can of petrol that you've had in the shed for the lawnmower.

Phil

I'm not disagreeing Phil - it's more the comment about obsolesence of kit but yes you are right about the support aspect.

Lots of choice available, spend to money to start with on some decent kit and it'll cost you less in the long run. 

James

No - and I don't see where I (or anyone else) has suggested that ...

It's just that in buying an 'old' NAS you don't have a warranty or support on it - and you're going to be spending quite a bit of time ripping your discs to it and entrusting your data to it so why cut corners for the sake of maybe £100 (I mean, if you bought a secondhand NAS I assume you'd at least buy new drives to put in it, no?)

But lets agree to differ - I'll shut up now...

Phil

Big difference between having a NAS that's old and buying one that's old. If you've got an oldie and it does the job for you then great, have at it. But buying an oldie that someone's selling is a bit risky for me - for all I know it's been switched off for the last two years or has been sat on the dishwasher.

Lots of moving parts, changes in processor and kernel, Moore's law, Murphy's law, all my precious music . . . to save a couple of hundred quid? Nope, not for me. If I needed a saving I'd get Van Damme Blue speaker cables rather than NACA5, and a brand new NAS, thanks.

As always, it depends …

First, I would recommend against both specified models and go for a QNAP TS-231+ or a Synology DS214play. As mentioned above (RAID 5 useless if the NAS box itself fails), I would get a 2-bay model  vs. a 4-/5-bay model plus an external HD for backup purposes. Both makes have sophisticated backup functions built into their respective OSs.

Generally the manufacturers can be classified as follows:

QNAP - better hardware performance at a given price point

SYN - vastly better OS/software (much easier to use for average users)

(You can try both OSs online as both manufacturers have demo machines running, info can be found on the respective web sites.) 

I would also especially recommend Synology if you're on the Apple side of computing, as the support for Macs and iOS devices is way better).

QNAP, on the other hand, can run the Asset UPNP server, which IMHO is the best audio UPNP server available. It supports realtime "anything-to-WAV" transcoding, which on Naim streamers allows seeking with otherwise non-seekable audio files (like iTunes Store AAC files, MP3s) without the tedious process of converting those files.

I have recently taken the plunge into streaming and bought a QNAP HS-251 and an NDX.

I installed Asset UPnP on to the NAS.

Setting it up was really easy mostly being guided by on screen instructions and a little reading around on the net and it has worked flawlessly since day one about a month ago.

Like Phil has said going into a new area is a little daunting at first but as with learning to drive you soon get the hang of it.

Stick with recommended products and you will be fine... enjoy the new learning experience. 

WD Red.  An easy choice imho. 

WD Reds click and whirr at startup, but then go very quiet as they reduce the rotational speed of the platen at low demand (and even 24/192 playback is very low demand for a disk drive).

How quiet is quiet?  Unfortunately I can't tell you if they are quiet enough for you.

For me WD Reds are fine (my NAS is 2m away underneath a different chair).

Two caveats:

I have some tinitus, so if the disks whine at >12kHz, I wouldn't know (but I don't think they emit much sound at that high a frequency).

I live in an old (not sound proofed) house in a small town, so there's usually a low level of hum of activity from outside - the disk noise form my NAS is less than this, well, unless I stick my head under the chair close to the NAS.  If you have a quieter location than I, it may be different for you.

I hope this gives a better impression of the noise level.  I don't think I can add much else that's useful