First Rip

Hi Dave,  welcome to the krazy world of streaming  ........ 

Your Synology has its own UPnP Media Server loaded,  & it also has Minimserver & the Java required to enable it to run Minim.  

Its a mixed opinion on what is the better UPnP.  I prefer Syn's Media Server for its ease of use, simplicity & because I play WAV files.  And playing WAV is where the divider comes in:   If you are ripping to FLAC - & I'm not getting into the pro/con's about WAV v FLAC v a.n.other  -  you will find FLAC sounds better when transcoded to WAV.  Syn's Media Server does not do a good job with transcoding FLAC to WAV as it does not play gapless that reliably - it does however play straight WAV with gapless perfectly.     Minim does transcode & plays gapless faultlessly.

But look out for the Synology updates - the current series DSM-5 updates come along quite regularly - but in the near future the new DSM-6 series will be released & I understand it includes a better transcoder.   I dare say forum'ites will be posting about it so look out for that.

The first rip...it's the deepest you know!

I know the challenges you have in front of you and the pain of ripping many cd's. Please have a look at the posts with tips on how you can do the tagging, this can avoid a lot of rework later on.

I can't speak about mimserver but I do have good experiences with Asset as server.

You can't use Asset on Synology, so Minim is the one to go for. Rip to FLAC, transcode to WAV, and don't forget to buy a portable USB drive such as a WD my passport to do the backup. As you rip each album, get the metadata right using the boxes at the top of the dbpoweramp screen, and make sure you get a nice album cover. If you choose a 600 by 600 it will be nice and clear in the Naim app. Dbpoweramp is normally very good and should do this anyway. 

+1 about backup.

Thanks all. I know this is a new path but inevitable I feel. I was starting to look for some better furniture to store the CDs. Why bother. This was the tipping point in the end. Seemingly trivial but it did it for me.

I posted here about a year ago about ripping basics and got 80+ replies. That thread is where I got the ripping savvy from. Most at the time recommended transcoding flac to wav on the fly and this is my plan. I have ripped about 20 now and DBP seems to be very idiot friendly. I did plan to rip to both NAS and an external drive initially but could not find how to do this and the missus left the drive in the office. I assume that simply copying the files to external drive will give me the archive copy I plan on? 

I will get a separate device for back ups. 

I have a music library from a friend. Only MP3 but I guess I can copy this to NAS also and see the files? Is there any problem having music files in several folders on the NAS?

Whilst the current rip is ongoing, I'm only on "A" on female artists, I must say my CDS3 is sounding terrific. I hope it is worth the effort. In the end I could not contemplate buying a Cd555 head unit in 2016. So just an NDS to acquire. And some new speakers. Then I'm done. For sure. No more upgrades. Ever. Honest.

Dave

Just keep your Mp3s in a seperate folder for ease of knowing which are which if nothing else.
Multiple folders on a NAS are not a problem but you will have to "point" to all folders you want included for being available for playback.
For example, I have all my FLAC rips in a folder called "MQ" (the default that the HDX rips CD's to) and all "Downloads" including odds and ends not ripped from CD's are in a folder called "Downloads".
I use a QNAP NAS and I simply told the QNAP via the browser interface to include both folders, so the Naim app shows all music in both locations.

One thing I have learned retrospectively since moving to Roon is to be very fussy about classical box sets ( or any box sets for that matter). 

You want to have  disc x of y and make sure that each album has the same title and artist.

I was  surprised how many had something like 

Bob Dylan - Basement tapes cd 1

Bob Dylan and the Band - Basement tapes cd 2 

for classical, composer and conductor are often transposed for various CDs in a box set. 

Rip 20 or so CDs, then stop and listen to them for a few weeks to get a better idea of how your tagging is going, then get back to work tagging. 

My 2c. 

SJB

blythe posted:

Just keep your Mp3s in a seperate folder for ease of knowing which are which if nothing else.

All devices already have a separate folder specially for MP3s. It's called the Trash folder. 

Create a share on the Synology drive called something like "Music" and then you can subdivide underneath that as you see fit.  For instance I split into Classical, Rock and Pop and Soundtracks with then underneath artist or composer then album title.  You could just as easily have a separate directory for MP3s etc if you wish.

If you're ripping to FLAC I'd recommend that you go for compression level 0 (i.e. none).

Before you go to the additional complexity of trying to install minimserver (I haven't) I'd suggest you use the existing Synology Media Server and listen to native FLAC playback and then the same transcoded to WAV.  If you prefer WAV then go ahead and install minimserver if gapless play back is a priority for you, otherwise it would be easier to stick with the Synology Media Server.

I don't see the point of separate folders to split codec & music types,   music is music.

I have a small number of those infamous 1960/70 compilations ripped to MP3,  but they are still filed according to the album name.  The rest (99%)  is WAV or DSD,   I don't care what I listen to but have added the sample rate  (e.g. 96kbs) to the album folder name if its WAV 24-bit,  the same for DSD,  David Elias albums are named ( e.g. Windows (DSD) )   I don't add anything if its 16-bit. 

Beethoven is stored under his name & the Beatles under that name. The trick, especially with classical, is to be sure the tagging (metadata) is right so the UPnP server can sort & display by artist, orchestra, conductor, composer, etc

I don't see the point in dividing the music folder, other than by the album artist. It has no impact on how things show up in the Naim app, which is wholly driven by metadata. 

If one is interested in identifying their hidef music, this can now be done in Minim without changing any of the tags. Just a tweak to the setup and they can be shown separately if you want. Like this:

Hungryhalibut posted:

I don't see the point in dividing the music folder, other than by the album artist. It has no impact on how things show up in the Naim app, which is wholly driven by metadata. 

 

Not if you choose the option to "Browse by folder" within the Naim app - which is what I always select.  Then it IS based on the file system structure which can be easier to maintain than editing metadata.

I'm not suggesting it's the only way to do things as clearly it isn't as both you and Mike-B have indicated.  Just offering a further choice to OP.

Thanks all for the handy practical tips. As I have now begun, more simple and pratical queries arise. It's fine to have the road map at the start but once you set off, you really need to get into the details.

Is there any way to check my tagging so far - I have no device to play the rips as yet?

I did manage to find the "multi" utility in DBP so the last few rips last night were to 2 devices in different codecs, WAV and FLAC.  It will be interesting to hear if I have a preference.

I did hit one snag, one CD was copy protected according to the case. It took me 4 goes to get an accurate rip. Any tips for this issue going forward?

Dave

Ah yes, Graham, that's true. As you say, another option, though one I've never used. 

ChrisSU posted:

blythe posted:

Just keep your Mp3s in a seperate folder for ease of knowing which are which if nothing else.

All devices already have a separate folder specially for MP3s. It's called the Trash folder. 

You are of course quite correct!

Assuming dbpoweramp is installed, you just right click on the ripped track in windows explorer and you will see the metadata. 

Mike-B posted:

I don't see the point of separate folders to split codec & music types,   music is music.

Yes, music is music to a point.
However, when I wish to copy music to my iPod for listening on-the-go, I need the Mp3 versions, as the iPod won't play FLAC files.

The built-in Syno media server is perfectly good. I prefer Minim, but it's marginal. On ripping to FLAC, I've tried various levels of compression from none to maximum and I can't hear a jot of difference, either native or transcoded. Just in case, I usually rip to the default of 5. The joy of lossless ripping is I can always change my mind later.

On using an iPod, I've found the simplest option is to throw it away. As you watch it spinning though the air on a trajectory for the bin/eBay, you will feel the uplifting sensation of no longer being beholden to Apple's megalomania. My Android phone cost a third of a new iPhone and will play FLAC, no problem, stored on a 32Gb SD Card. My portable devices have to work for me, not the other way around.

Solid Air posted:

The built-in Syno media server is perfectly good. I prefer Minim, but it's marginal. On ripping to FLAC, I've tried various levels of compression from none to maximum and I can't hear a jot of difference, either native or transcoded. Just in case, I usually rip to the default of 5. The joy of lossless ripping is I can always change my mind later.

On using an iPod, I've found the simplest option is to throw it away. As you watch it spinning though the air on a trajectory for the bin/eBay, you will feel the uplifting sensation of no longer being beholden to Apple's megalomania. My Android phone cost a third of a new iPhone and will play FLAC, no problem, stored on a 32Gb SD Card. My portable devices have to work for me, not the other way around.

I agree about Apple and iTunes.

If you have a Synology NAS, the DS Audio app for on an iPhone / iPad and Android works well if your music is all on your NAS. It is a great replacement for the Apple Music app  and means you don't need to use iTunes for transferring music to the portable device.  It will work with FLAC, ALAC and WAV and it will transcode to MP3 when you download tracks from your NAS to your iPhone if you would rather not have them stored as lossless on your iPhone.

I've been using it successfully for months now and don't miss iTunes one bit. Ripping and managing two files for the same track -  MP3 and FLAC - is not a great idea as you will waste hours ripping files just in case, waste disk space and run the risk of maintaining two sets of meta data in future.  That would be enough to drive me nuts!

Eloise posted:

The first rip...it's the deepest you know!

Eloise, I beg to differ. I'm now done with "female vocal" and moved on to Groups. The first was easy peasy but later when I found copy protected CDs and something like Werthers toffee on others, these were the deepest. Well longest. I need to buy a player soon. Any advice?