Server for NDS

Been there. In the first instance the HDX worked superbly with NDS and it would have stayed that way if the HDX hadn't needed to go back to base. Installing Minimserver as a stop gap, the improvement in musical communication was remarkable. The HDX never went back into the system. You don't have to convert your WAVs to FLAC if you don't want to. Doing it is the easiest way to put tags in the files but check if you can hear a difference first. WAVs and FLACs are easily interconvertible. If you can't, then by all means convert.  I could. So I spent a few months retagging using dBpoweramp. Now my precious music collection is catalogued exactly how I want it.. I now run Asset as my primary server but I keep a copy of my collection on another NAS running Minimserver for the DSD capability.

As regards sound quality, I think you will find people on the forum here who will argue that one or the other sounds better and others who will say it makes no difference. It certainly is very close.

But you should have a backup for the files on the HDX and a very convenient way to do that is with a NAS.  So if it were me in this position and assuming I didn't have a NAS already, I would buy a NAS, backup everything to it in FLAC, install a upnp server on it as you suggest, transcoding to WAV on playback, and then see which one I preferred through the NDS. My bet is that you will be hard pushed to hear a difference, but you will anyway have the comfort of having your music backed up in a very convenient way.

best

David

 I know that I can't play the HDX ripped WAV files on the NDS direct from the NAS hence the conversion to FLAC, but you seem to be saying that I can re-tag the WAV files on the NAS using dBpoweramp so that they can be read directly by the NDS. If that is the case can you tell me what's involved and if each file has to be retagged individually (which could be a very long process).

Thanks

J

Not in any sense contradicting Harry's advice above, (he came to my assistance when I had the exact same query..........I just haven't summed up the courage / enthusiasm / energy to take his advice.............yet!), but I've retained the HDX as a server to the NDS simply because it's a convenient and pain free solution.

All my music is ripped by the HDX to a NAS, (backed up elsewhere), mainly because I don't really want to involve my laptop running 3rd party software, and because, imagination or not, I feel that I can hear a difference between WAV and FLAC..................odd really, since I'm perfectly happy streaming via Tidal.

I'd be interested to hear how painless you found the whole procedure, should you decide to go with your second option, as I can't really expect Harry to go through the whole procedure again, since I've ignored his kind advice last time round!!!! 

Dave.

You can play HDX ripped files through the NDS just fine. From a NAS or from inside the HDX. No problems at all. If using a different server such as Minimserver or Asset they won't appear so nicely laid out and will be missing cover art, but artists,  albums and tracks therein will display and play.

It is time consuming to insert tags for track names but most others are batch processes. I suppose it depends on what you are after. I won't sacrifice anything for convenience. My music collection is a life long labour of love and the opportunity to go through it for errors and tag it exactly as I wanted it presented to me was too good a chance to pass up. If I had converted to FLAC I would have gone through every file a tag at a time in any case. I found hundreds of  errors in the limited tag  HDX ripped collection.

Trying to get the correct cover  art  to display, or weeding out  errors  that bugger  the   indexing using the DTC is cumbersome and long winded compared to tagging with something like dBpoweramp. This app (although there are plenty of alternatives) also gives you fine control over ripping and tagging while ripping. It will also clear tags with the efficiency of industrial weed killer. Useful when you download something and it is full of useless tags which won't edit.

Dave's response above illustrates a point which should be a disclaimer inserted into all conversations. If the network and the hardware on it are stable and working without errors (as will be the case for most of us) you can pretty much please yourself. Streaming frees you to explore a multi faceted wonderland. As long as it  sounds good - which   won't be in any doubt through an NDS. HDX isn't too shabby  either! But big  fun awaits  you.

Jonn posted:

 I know that I can't play the HDX ripped WAV files on the NDS direct from the NAS hence the conversion to FLAC, but you seem to be saying that I can re-tag the WAV files on the NAS using dBpoweramp so that they can be read directly by the NDS. If that is the case can you tell me what's involved and if each file has to be retagged individually (which could be a very long process).

 

Thanks

J

You can play the wav rips -- no NEED to do anything with them.  The problem is that those files do not include the typical data (tags) that allow another server to organize them by title, artist, album, etc.  That won't be satisfying!  One option is to add that data to your wav file collection using a program . . . as Harry did (it can be a relatively tedious task!).  You cannot do this with the files while they are still in the Store created by the HDX; you'd want to copy them to a new directory (folder) on the nas first.  

Or you can have the HDX convert the files to flac first.  These flac format files will then contain the basic tag data I was referring to above.  The HDX will incorporate this data as part of its conversion process.  This is what I chose to do when I owned a UnitiServe.

Harry

If you're using a QNAP NAS then the beta version of Asset (currently R5 beta 11) can stream native DSD files. It's available to download from the Asset forum under Other Topics/Test Upcoming Releases/ Asset R5 beta for OSX/Linux.

Harry posted:

Dave's response above illustrates a point which should be a disclaimer inserted into all conversations. If the network and the hardware on it are stable and working without errors (as will be the case for most of us) you can pretty much please yourself. Streaming frees you to explore a multi faceted wonderland. As long as it  sounds good - which   won't be in any doubt through an NDS. HDX isn't too shabby  either! But big  fun awaits  you.

Phew, I don't feel quite as guilty now, having ignored your past advice, and continuing with the HDX / NDS setup.

Mind you, assuming that Jonn goes down the route of NAS / NDS, and finds the procedure trouble free, I really must get off my a... and give it a try, since you did report a noticeable improvement in SQ. 

So, please Jonn, let us know how you get on.

Dave.

Dave, I had the opportunity to move on from the uServe, and haven't regretted using a $300 nas running Asset in its place.  But I don't hear any difference one way or the other.  

Bart posted:

Dave, I had the opportunity to move on from the uServe, and haven't regretted using a $300 nas running Asset in its place.  But I don't hear any difference one way or the other.  

You're simply encouraging my inherent laziness! 

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a few test files to see if there is any difference in sound quality when using the NAS as the server for the NDS (using retagged WAV, FLAC and FLAC transposed to WAV) compared with using the HDX as a server for HDX ripped WAV files.

"know that I can't play the HDX ripped WAV files on the NDS"

Not sure if this is a problem anymore. I used to run a very basic NAS running Twonky server and in the later versions (2.7+) even twonky supports WAV tagging. On my current NAS I run both Minimserver and Twonky (and occasionally ASSET UPNP) - all of them show metadata (including album art) in the Naim app.

I prefer minimserver as it allows for not only real time transcoding (my library is mostly in FLAC format) but also real time re-tagging (example: I dynamically prefix each track with the "composer" field, useful for classical albums with non single composer). 

The simple solution for you would be to keep the HDX and perhaps short term the best advise, ..... However I assume you can still sell your HDX for some money so then the alternative route could be to get a QNAP or a Synology. For a considerable better sound look at thinks like a Melco or the other alternatives.....

I do not know how dbpoweramp converts, but since Naim rips have the title of the track in the filename, mp3 tag, can convert filenames to tags,  and that could be an option, asuming you are  using a Windows pc.

DrPo posted:

"know that I can't play the HDX ripped WAV files on the NDS"

Not sure if this is a problem anymore. I used to run a very basic NAS running Twonky server and in the later versions (2.7+) even twonky supports WAV tagging. On my current NAS I run both Minimserver and Twonky (and occasionally ASSET UPNP) - all of them show metadata (including album art) in the Naim app.

I prefer minimserver as it allows for not only real time transcoding (my library is mostly in FLAC format) but also real time re-tagging (example: I dynamically prefix each track with the "composer" field, useful for classical albums with non single composer). 

Hi DrPo, Naim ripping software traditionally has not taken advantage of the wav file meta data structures and instead stored the metadata in a seperate database. Therefore using another media server to play the wav file will result in the streamer seeing no metadata, as there wiould have been none stored in the Naim ripped wav file.

if you let the Naim software convert to FLAC then the software writes the metadata into the file. You can then use many software packages, dbpoweramp is an example, to convert back to WAV and have the metadata correctly inserted into the WAV file. This will allow quality media servers to present metadata from wav files to the streamer.

with regard to the OP, I have found and been able to deterministically measure differences between different media servers, operating systems, and functions and correlate to subjective SQ. I will update here more fully one of these days. My advice for now is use a media server on a platform like a NAS where no or minimal other functions are additionally taking place whilst you stream, also I have found best not to perform on-the-fly transcoding for ultimate SQ (with Naim streamers) whilst streaming. So best store in the format you wish to playout. Having said that these differences are subtle, but noticeable on headphones and/or revealing systems. ( PS, it is nothing to do with the actual digital data itself, but the interframe timing variations of the transported data on the network... not totally dissimilar to SPDIF transport frame jitter)

Simon

Claus-Thoegersen posted:

I do not know how dbpoweramp converts, but since Naim rips have the title of the track in the filename, mp3 tag, can convert filenames to tags,  and that could be an option, asuming you are  using a Windows pc.

That won't work. I just tried it again, to check. No go. But have a go at an HDX ripped album or track on your PC. Mine might be different for some reason.

sjbabbey posted:

Harry

If you're using a QNAP NAS then the beta version of Asset (currently R5 beta 11) can stream native DSD files. It's available to download from the Asset forum under Other Topics/Test Upcoming Releases/ Asset R5 beta for OSX/Linux.

I've been waiting for this. Thanks for the direction, I will have a look into it.

dave marshall posted:

having ignored your past advice, and continuing with the HDX / NDS setup.

 

Always a wise option. I sometimes employ it myself.