Hello,
Can someone please help me determine which options (networking or other) would produce the "theoretically" best sound quality on my Muso? I say "theoroetically" because even though my ears might not know the difference, my mind will.
My music files are either FLAC or WAV (have not decided yet...disk space is not an issue):
(also please excuse my ignorance with these relatively new concepts to me. Feel free to correct me):
1. NAS on a wireless network (seems simple to set up but I am concerned that in theory, the sound quality will degrade).
2. NAS on a wired network
3. Plug an external harddrive (2TB or more) into the USB port on side of Muso. I have done this with an 8GB stick and there are no latency problems. But have not tried an External Hard drive which might require Muso to power it.
4. UpnP (I'm not sure exactly how this is different from NAS)
5. Others?
Thanks,
Posted on: 25 September 2015 by Bart
A networked solution, properly implemented, SHOULD sound as good as a usb device.
Wifi SHOULD sound as good as a wired ethernet connection, but it may suffer drop-outs. Wired is very likely to be more robust/reliable.
A NAS is just a storage device. To use it as a server, you need to run a UPnP server on it (such as Asset, MinimServer, or a server package supplied by the NAS maker such as the Synology Media Server). That's how UPnP relates to NAS. If you go this route, you can use the Naim App to control playback via an iOS or Android device.
You need to find out if the Mu-so can provide (enough) power to power an external usb hdd. You can always try; I don't think that you can harm anything if you have a hdd that tries to suck up more power than the Mu-so wants to provide.
Posted on: 27 September 2015 by nudgerwilliams
Given you have to have the Muso on the network to be able to control it, I would go with wired and a NAS running a uPnP server. Running wirelessly the Muso is limited to 24/48khz so if you have any hires files at 96k or 192k sample rates you have to be wired. Store the files as FLAC for easy meta data management and have the uPnP server transcode to WAV.
Even if the USB port will power an external drive (and I suspect to won't) in theory it will reduce SQ. I think the streamer products like Uniti can switch off the power tot the USB port when an iPhone is plugged in for this reason.
David
Posted on: 27 September 2015 by nudgerwilliams
Given you have to have the Muso on the network to be able to control it, I would go with wired and a NAS running a uPnP server. Running wirelessly the Muso is limited to 24/48khz so if you have any hires files at 96k or 192k sample rates you have to be wired. Store the files as FLAC for easy meta data management and have the uPnP server transcode to WAV.
Even if the USB port will power an external drive (and I suspect to won't) in theory it will reduce SQ. I think the streamer products like Uniti can switch off the power tot the USB port when an iPhone is plugged in for this reason.
David
Posted on: 04 October 2015 by miJ.24
Thank you for clearing this up for me.
What brand/features of NAS should I look for? I would probably want to ingetrate the entire home network (non-music files, documents, home business files).
Or...should I have a stand-alone NAS that is dedicated to Mu-so only?
Thanks,
JC
Posted on: 04 October 2015 by David Hendon
I use a Synology NAS with Western Digital Red drives. You would probably want two drives and the Synology NAS would by default set them up in a RAID configuration, whereby they are always mirrors of each other, so if one fails, you should be able to plug a new disc in and it should sort itself out (i haven't had to do this myself yet). There are other suitable NASs too of course.
As to whether to keep it just for music or put everything else on as well, from a sound quality point if view you don't want to be pulling a video off the NAS at the same time as you are streaming to your mu-so. The purist in me says keep the NAS for music and if you want other stuff then put that on a different NAS, but it's your choice.
best
David
