My first Naim system

Adam,

Correction, I found the QNAP HS-251 Silent NAS with 2x3TB WD Red drives on a well known online retailer. Just ordered.

Thank goodness you've gone for the QNAP, as they are very good. The My Cloud things, on the other hand.......

You seem to be making great progress.

Two things to be aware of re storage of ripped Music (and future downloads):

1) Depending where it will be located, beware NAS noise: I speak from a bad experience, my original NAS (Zyxel NSA325) was obtrusively noisy in the listening room where it was located to minimise cable length and avoid data sharing on the cable, due to its internal fan - which started out annoyingly audible when music wasn't playing, and gradually got noisier so as to be clearly audible over quiet music passages. I now use it for back-up purposes only, on the landing, where it is tolerable but turned off most of the time.

That was the driving force behind my seeking a silent NAS like the Qnap (then settling on the Mac Mini as effectively silent but with another function as a bonus)

Hard drives can also be noticeable, particularly if background noise is quiet, which was my reason for choosing SSDs, but often they are less intrusive than the fan, and will depend on the player's functionality (Audirvana actually loads each whole 'song' into memory before playing, minimising disc access - I dont know what the 272 does).

2) By the time you've done a lot of ripping, or downloaded music, it would be prudent to have a backup copy - not a RAID duplicate, which only covers disc failure, but off-line so cant be damaged if the NAS or its software does something catastrophic. Frequency of backing up needn't be high unless you're constantly adding new music. Some people with valuable collections keep a copy off-site - in some ways That might be seen as overkill, exceeding the protection you might have for a physical collection, but then when it comes to insurance it may be easier to prove the pre-catastrophe existence of a CD or LP collection than something invisible taking virtually no space.

HungryHalibut/ Innocent Bystander,

I went for the QNAP HS-251 as it doesn't have any fans. Hopefully the noise from the hard drives won't be too intrusive in my living room.

My backup will be the CD's in the attic if there are any problems with the RAID duplicate!

I just need to purchase DBPowerAmp now, and I'll be able to start ripping CD's at the weekend.

Good choice with QNAP HS-251. It is almost silent - the hard drive working is still audible, but it's ok.

As to keeping a separate copy (suggested above by Innocent Bystander) - I see it as an absolute must.
I run my QNAP in Raid mode and keep two separate copies on drives, which are disconneceted from the network. One is locked in a fire-proof safe and the other one is my working copy. Might seem over the top, but once you start purchasing a lot of hi-res musi, there is no physical copy available.

Lanesra posted:

HungryHalibut/ Innocent Bystander,

I went for the QNAP HS-251 as it doesn't have any fans. Hopefully the noise from the hard drives won't be too intrusive in my living room.

My backup will be the CD's in the attic if there are any problems with the RAID duplicate!

I just need to purchase DBPowerAmp now, and I'll be able to start ripping CD's at the weekend.

Once you've ripped 500 albums, you certainly won't want to do it again! Added to that, you will almost certainly start to download music. All you need is a little WD USB portable drive, which cost about £70. Plug it into the nas and you can back up the whole collection very easily. The nas will have a backup utility to do this. 

Ripping 500-2000 CDs is no bad thing... You can spend the time dossing on the Naim forum.

It's a good idea to get into the habit of checking the metadata for each rip as you do it, even if it's just a quick check that the artwork, genre etc is correct. It feels simple when you do each album as you rip it, rather than leaving it so you have a second huge, tedious task to confront (or not) at the end.

Chrissu,

Thanks for the advice. Anything to make a tedious task easier.

ChrisSU posted:

It's a good idea to get into the habit of checking the metadata for each rip as you do it, even if it's just a quick check that the artwork, genre etc is correct. It feels simple when you do each album as you rip it, rather than leaving it so you have a second huge, tedious task to confront (or not) at the end.

Also, before ripping and doing your tagging, try to decide things like how you are going to name composers, do you want artists to be sorted as LastName, FirstName or FirstName LastName, if you are a classical music fan consider any extended tagging you might want - consider separate Work/Composition and Movement tags for example as well as Conductor and Orchestra tags.

Lanesra posted:

HungryHalibut/ Innocent Bystander,

I went for the QNAP HS-251 as it doesn't have any fans. Hopefully the noise from the hard drives won't be too intrusive in my living room.

My backup will be the CD's in the attic if there are any problems with the RAID duplicate!

I just need to purchase DBPowerAmp now, and I'll be able to start ripping CD's at the weekend.

Just make sure it has space around it for air flow to cool the hard drives.   And as others mention a backup Hard Drive is key.

There are plenty of other threads here to enjoy reading on ripping et al.

Before you start ripping your Cds I would recommend spending some time on computeraudiophile.com.  The site has a great tutorial on ripping Cds including information on software like dbpoweramp.  It also covers storage and backup strategies that are potentially useful. It's a quick read and worthwhile. Good luck. 

Eloise posted:

ChrisSU posted:

It's a good idea to get into the habit of checking the metadata for each rip as you do it, even if it's just a quick check that the artwork, genre etc is correct. It feels simple when you do each album as you rip it, rather than leaving it so you have a second huge, tedious task to confront (or not) at the end.

Also, before ripping and doing your tagging, try to decide things like how you are going to name composers, do you want artists to be sorted as LastName, FirstName or FirstName LastName, if you are a classical music fan consider any extended tagging you might want - consider separate Work/Composition and Movement tags for example as well as Conductor and Orchestra tags.

Eloise,

I didn't have any classical CD's until I inherited my Mum's collection last year. I need to give this some thought.

Guy007 posted:

Lanesra posted:

HungryHalibut/ Innocent Bystander,

I went for the QNAP HS-251 as it doesn't have any fans. Hopefully the noise from the hard drives won't be too intrusive in my living room.

My backup will be the CD's in the attic if there are any problems with the RAID duplicate!

I just need to purchase DBPowerAmp now, and I'll be able to start ripping CD's at the weekend.

Just make sure it has space around it for air flow to cool the hard drives.   And as others mention a backup Hard Drive is key.

There are plenty of other threads here to enjoy reading on ripping et al.

Guy007,

Fortunately, I ordered an extra shelf on my rack for a future power supply. My NAS drive will fit in there.

Lansera - Congrats on a great choice of system.  A NAC-N272 is on my wish list. Re your NAS, I have purchased the QNAP TS-251+ from (probably) the same well known online retailer. I am really pleased with it.  The advantage of QNAP and SYNOLOGY over WD MyCloud (which I also have) is that UPnP servers such as Asset and MinimServer, have versions that can be installed onto it (apologies if there are versions for WD)

@FANGFOSSFLYER - Maybe see you in the Carps for a beer sometime! 

Ask the guys at SO to bring Spendor, Neat and B&W speakers with them (assuming you and your partner like the look of the B&Ws of course).

@LANESRA,, in due course it will be interesting to learn whether you manage to persuade a dealer to take several speakers to you for home demonstration (I've assumed not, given the £1000+ commercial Steam Packet cost and inevitable overnight stay). I'm guessing they'll allow exchange if you what you choose doesn't sound right at home, but for you to meet cost of carriage.

sunbeamgls posted:

Ask the guys at SO to bring Spendor, Neat and B&W speakers with them (assuming you and your partner like the look of the B&Ws of course).

Sunbeamgls,

I've already asked to listen to Neat Momentum SX5i's and was hoping to listen to Ovartor S400's, but they don't seem to stock them anymore. Also, they're always trying to sell me Linn equipment.

I'm not sure which speaker by Spendor is going to compete with the SX5i's, but I did prefer the Neat Motive SX2's to the Spendor A6R's.

Unfortunately, I don't like the look of B & W speakers.

Ideally, I'd also listen to competing Proac and PMC speakers, but they don't stock these items.

Innocent Bystander posted:

@LANESRA,, in due course it will be interesting to learn whether you manage to persuade a dealer to take several speakers to you for home demonstration (I've assumed not, given the £1000+ commercial Steam Packet cost and inevitable overnight stay). I'm guessing they'll allow exchange if you what you choose doesn't sound right at home, but for you to meet cost of carriage.

Innocent Bystander,

Yes, the Steam Racket is called that for a reason. It's also why I'm unable to get a major discount. They should hire or borrow an estate car to bring everything over, to avoid paying commercial rates.

Spendor D7 worth a listen...

Singlespeed posted:

Spendor D7 worth a listen...

Singlespeed,

I'm returning to the Sound Organisation in just over a week to listen to speakers. Two of the options are Spendor D7 and Neat Momentum SX5i.

I may also listen to competing speakers by Linn and B & W.

Be interested in your thoughts on them bud, good luck on your journey

I have an update:

Yesterday I returned to the Sound Organisation in  York to listen to Spendor D7's, B & W 805 D3's and Neat Acoustics Momentum SX5i's. When I went into the demo room, the Neats were already running off an LP12/ Stageline/ Hi-cap/ N272/ 250 system. The first thing we did was switch the LP12 to my Manticore Mantra/ Musician/ MB6/ Goldring GL1042 turntable and discovered another annoying hum (this time it appeared to be from the tone-arm). The hum was tolerable as long as we avoided acoustic music. First track played (after discovering that I'd brought my unplayed white vinyl "Unplugged in New York" by Nirvana instead of my normal vinyl version) was Your Ghost by Kristen Hersh (Michael Stipe on guest vocals) through the SX5i's and Spendor D7's. I then asked to switch to the Neat Motive SX2's that I preferred during my last visit and found that both the D7's and SX5i's were much better than the small SX2's.

After further listening, another option was suggested: B & W 805 D3's. so the 805's were hooked up to the system. I quite quickly eliminated them though, as I found that although more detail could be heard through these than either the SX5i's and the D7's, I found my mind was wandering to other things instead of just enjoying the music, so I rejected them quite quickly. Back to the SX5i's and D7's, which to me both sounded pretty similar (in purely hi-fi terms the D7's had a tad more detail but the SX5i's sounded slightly "tighter" and their "timing" was better) when we started playing Robbie Robertson's "Somewhere Down the Crazy River" and American Roulette". I then realised that the SX5i's were just more enjoyable to listen to. So I decided I there and then I preferred and thus purchased the SX5i's.

Yes, I did bring them home and they are a brand new pair that the SO assure me they purchased just for the demo. Unfortunately, they're still in their "coffins" as I'm worried sick about lifting large, heavy and very expensive 'speakers when I didn't get home from York until 6am this morning and then having a leisurely (and rather boozy) lunch with my wife after watching a very dramatic football match between Arsenal and Leicester.

I'll be interested in hearing how my current Cyrus 6 amp copes with driving them while I wait for my Stageline/ Hi-cap/ N272/ 250 to be installed! But I really do think I've purchased a superb new system

A few other points:

1. I had to leave my Mantra behind at the Sound Organisation so they can sort out the hum from my turntable. Unfortunately, the recent power supply service didn't resolve this issue as the hum appears to be coming from the tone-arm. Hopefully, the SO will bring it back home when the come to install the new amps;
2. Despite the hum, I'm delighted that my Mantra sounded superb as the main source in my new system. I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing by just getting it working right instead of replacing it with an LP12.
3. After the demo, I had lunch in a nearby pub before having a browse in the two record shops near the SO. I hadn't had the pleasure of doing this for years, so I ended up spending £175 on new LP's to add to my collection! As I had to wait until near closing time to have my new speakers loaded into my car, the SO were kind enough to connect an LP12 back through "my" amps and a pair of D7's. When I played "Wake Up and Make Love to Me" off my newly purchased copy of "New Boots and Panties", my first comment was wow! It really was a close call as to which speakers I wanted to buy.
4. I really cant wait for my new amps to arrive. Apparently, it's my new rack that takes the time.
5. Sorry for waffling!

Made it to the end

Do give us an update when the new gear is in place!

Excellent, well done. I had a hunch that if you liked the Motive then the Momentum would be similar but better. I'm sure it will all be wonderful once it's installed. Hopefully the stand won't take too much longer.