New HDX owner needs advice please

I have 555 tracks in the encoding queue, presume that this would be conversion from wav to flac ? The queue has stopped. Does the HDX automatically rip to flac ? How do I see the recording format for all the previous rips on the hard drive ? 

Hi Nic,

If you have changed the settings to rip your CDs to FLAC instead of WAV, I believe it will then automatically convert all your previously stored rips to FLAC too, in slow time.

Its been a while since I had my HDX, but if you can get into the desktop client, you should be able the stop the conversion if you wish, but if you want all your new rips in FLAC, why not have all the others in FLAC too?

It is reversible too, so if you want, it will convert them all back to WAV if you select that at a later date.

All the best.

By the way, read up on the WAV vs FLAC debate (by searching on the forum here) to get some idea what you want to do.  Naim is optimised for WAV and the higher up the chain you go, the more you will notice the benefits of WAV over FLAC.  FLAC is more versatile, it stores all the metadata neatly within the file, which WAV doesn't do very well generally, and it takes up less space.  Ultimately though, WAV sounds better to most, including me.

Try both and see what you think.  Whatever you choose, the HDX is versatile enough to do the hard work for you, it just takes a bit of time that's all.

Thanks for the help. I think I have stopped the queue to convert wav to flac. Really pleased with my secondhand HDX, never expected to find 450 albums already loaded, very much akin to having an instant music library !!

I think you will find you can tell your NDX to transcode from FLAC to WAV on the fly, ie when you stream an album. This is how many people use them. There is no advantage, and possible disadvantage, meta-data wise in transcoding permanently to WAV before you stream.

best

David

NIC NAP posted:

Thanks for the help. I think I have stopped the queue to convert wav to flac. Really pleased with my secondhand HDX, never expected to find 450 albums already loaded, very much akin to having an instant music library !!

Enjoy it Nic, it's a great machine.  Just make sure you set up a back up for your music.  Don't want to lose it all now!

Another question, having downloaded the Nstream ap for my HDX. I can see all my 450 albums on the device tab, but at the top where it shows albums there is a wider range of music and albums which I understand are being streamed. Is this music that the previous owner of the HDX has streamed ? 

Can you supply a screen shot of your app? I don't understand the description.

As to storage - to remember that HDX can be connected to a NAS and rip to an 'external store'. So no need to worry about disc capacity by ripping to WAV.

Do you have another NAS connected to your network or a PC/Mac with music on?  It might be picking this up?

When you say "n-stream app", which app do you mean? There is still n-stream for Mac but it's the naim app for IOS or Android. I don't know what area on the app you mean but you may be using an app I don't know.

best

David

Nic, I too am not sure what you are seeing.  A screen shot, as suggested above, would be helpful.  Also, the app to use with the HDX is nServe, not nStream, unless the apps have been changed to allow universal control of streamers and servers?  Haven't had my HDX for a while now, so maybe things have changed?

Yes of course Jason is right. It's n-serve (not n-stream as I said before) which is available for Mac and also IOS, but not Android. You use the naim app (IOS or android) to control a streamer which is streaming stuff off the HDX, but if it's a direct connection then you have to use n-serve. (Naim haven't merged the apps).

best

David

Sorry for the confusion, I am running Nserve on my ipad pro. I can see all my 450 albums on the device tab but at the top under the albums tab I can see additional albums and content. Would these have been downloaded by the previous owner of my HDX ? Another quick question, is the correct sequence to switch off the HDX first by pressing the red shutdown button on the remote, then switch off at the back of the machine, then switch off at the mains ?

Looks like you have some albums left over from the previous owner. Can you try to play them? If you don't like them you can always delete....

If the leftover albums show up in the n-Stream app under ALBUMS they must also show in other sections like Artis, Performer, etc etc...

As to a power off / power on sequence - NAIMs generally are not meant to be switched off.  If, however you need to shut your HDX completely it is best to refer to a manual. Can be downloaded from the main website...

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/hdx

Scroll down and open: Manuals & downloads.

I think the previous owner must have downloaded much more content. I can see all the existing 450 albums on the hard drive but looking at the the albums tab within the top of the Nserve app I can see much more content downloaded, possibly another 150 or so albums plus loads of individual tracks. Looks like I also have about 20 Beatles albums downloaded. I presume that this extra content was downloaded onto my HDX hard drive ?

Thanks for the advice about shutting down, I have downloaded the HDX manual which gives advice. Last night I shut down the machine first by pressing the red button on the remote then switching off the mains at the wall, rather than secondly switching off the mains at the back of the HDX ( and then thirdly off at the mains at the wall ).

If the nServe app shows content it is there on thr hard drive. Is it playable?

Why did you need to shut down your HDX? Something went wrong?

If you select the HDX in n-serve then you will be able to see the albums ripped by the HDX and also albums downloaded to the HDX and saved into the downloads folder. But if you for example look in the albums view, you should see all of the albums in alphabetical order, regardless of which folder they are stored in. You should be able to select and play any of these albums. You will find that you can edit the metadata on albums that have been ripped and not on downloaded albums.

On turning off, as Adam says you should just leave it on as it is designed to be used that way. But if you do want to turn it off for whatever reason, you must shut it down properly. This is described in the manual as Adam says ( I have just looked myself, to check if it is the same as on my Unitiserve. It is.)

The reason for the shutdown procedure is that the HDX contains a computer running embedded Windows XP and if you don't shut it down properly, you may accumulate errors on your hard disc that will eventually prevent it starting properly and you will then be in for a service trip for your HDX back to Salisbury.

best

David

Yes, all the downloads are playable. Looks like I have 38 Beatles albums !!. I presume all this is permantely stored onto my hard drive. I need the mains sockets for my television so leaving the HDX on all the time is not an option at present.

It doesn't matter whether you turn off on the back of the unit or not providing it's shut down properly. It won't restart without the mains supply being interrupted so either at the wall or using the switch on the back. Whichever is easier is fine.

best

David

If you select the Device option in the main n-serve screen, you should see the HDX and its downloads folder listed separately.  You can select either and see the albums that each contains.

best

David

The HDX did play up this morning, would not play any content. After two power on and off routines it seemed to work fine. Not sure whether to convert to wav, the HDX states it will take six days to convert !!. I presume that this would occur in stages in the background. Must admit I am very pleased to find some much music already stored onto the HDX by the previous owner. In some ways the value of the music stored exceeds the value that I paid for the machine.

Get a power strip - switching the HDX off and on each night will eventually lead to data loss. You've already seen what happened this morning.

Yes, that is an idea. I plan to attend the Bristol Hi Fi show next month and a six gang mains block is on my shopping list. I presume you mean leaving the HDX in stand by mode, with the mains still connected. The other issue is having to drape my Ethernet cable across the carpet until I obtain a new longer 15m run. I understand that the Chord Ethernet cable is well regarded. And thanks to all the previous posts for their help and advice.

Nic,

Leave the HDX switched on all the time - there is no standby mode as such. 

You can set the display to switch off after a period of non-use and that will prolong its life. 

Personally I would maintain FLAC as the primary format for storage as the sound quality hit (if you can hear any) will be minimal but the convenience of metadata embeded in the files and more free space on the internal drive(s) will be a welcome bonus.

Enjoy. 

As others have mentioned, best to leave the HDX powered up all the time.  Backup your music ASAP.  Hard drives are fickle beasts and prone to failure.  Had mine fail recently on the HDX and Naim service (Plurison here in Canada) had to replace it. I do have a backup as at the time the HD failed I had ~ 1000 albums ripped to the beast.  Setting up a proper NAS on the network as well.