Extra RAM in the NAS

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...97#63232625813147197

Wonder what's going on to result in CPU running at 60%.      My Synology has 512MB DDR3 & 1.066GHz CPU. When playing a 16bit/44 the CPU is running around 1% to 8% & RAM is 18 to 20%.   Playing 24bit/192 the CPU still shows the same 1% low level but will go up to 15%,  RAM is pretty constant with the same 18 to 20%

Bart posted:

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...97#63232625813147197

 

Good point Bart - server jitter (was that a new phrase?)

Yep, could be the reason why the OP hears a difference from their media server..certainly sounds plausible from what I have heard and analyzed.

To the OP, can you get a break down of the CPU load? Is a high proportion of the CPU wait state? That means if there is a bottleneck some where such as I/O then the CPU 'load' is driven higher (taking more time) because it is waiting for data. Having said that under normal usage conditions the NAS shouldn't be showing significant waiting unless perhaps the hard drives are very slow and/or fragmented.

I would expect reducing wait states which can be achieved sometimes by increasing memory (assuming it's fast enough) and therefore increasing buffer sizes would improve the inter frame timing of the media sent onto the network, and therefore sound (subtly) better on the consuming streamer, not totally dissimilar to having a more stable transport clock sending SPDIF audio frames.

Simon

Apologies - typing error on my part. RAM use was around 60% when I just had 512Mb of RAM. CPU use was around 10%. Now with 8GB RAM (4Gb x2) it's down to 7% RAM use and <2% CPU. The drives are x3 SSD's of varying storage size.

The main point of my post was how a RAM increase can effect the sound and whether anyone has some knowledgeable answers. I can understand that there's less noise in the system if the NAS isn't having to work as hard but beyond that, the technical stuff isn't an area I know much about. Still, I'm very happy with the sonic results.

Ahh - ok that sounds better - as I said it shouldn't have had a high work load or high wait states  in doing normal duties. However the increased RAM is helping if you-can definitely hear a change and its not a placebo effect -  and if so as I say it could be helping with the timing and reduced CPU load. Without analysing i can't be sure - but in my opinion if there is a change at all it will most likely be in this area. So hopefully your OP has been answered or at least there is one possible plausible answer - albeit from an engineer.

Another thing to listen out for if you are feeling neurotic. Rip a WAV file of a track you know and love, and rip the same to FLAC. Set your media player to transcode the FLAC. Get someone to play the files  through to the end a few times - but with out telling you what they are doing (so as to remove expectation bias) - be interesting to see if if you can hear and appreciate a difference. The effects do vary from media server to media server and platform  and I have no experience of yours - but its interesting none the less as one of the many avenues we follow in our immersive music enjoyment.

Simon

Thanks Simon. FYI - I did the Flac v WAV test a few months ago before the RAM upgrade and altered Minimserver to transcode from Flac to Wav on the fly as a result- found it to be the best all round solution to sound v storage. BTW equipment was Minimserver - QNAP 4512 NAS into bare NDX via Chord cables and 4-way Netgear switch)

Hi - good, yes FLAC does give a good benefit in reduced storage. By the way as you might have noticed there is a choice of two libraries you can select  on MinimStreamer for on the fly transcoding subject to them being installed in your OS - a few of us on the forum have found ffmpeg library as the stream converter in System Setup on MinimWatch sounds marginally better, again I suspect for the reasons I mentioned above.