Nas drives - adding ultra low noise psu

It might - I haven’t tried it (yet), but one thing I have tried is to plug into a filtered distribution block - that has made an audible difference to me. As my NAS is in a “noisy” area there’s no surprise that I have a difference as a result. (The difference is an improvement in my case - everything is noticeably clearer with no apparent negative effects)

I only used a cheap (£40ish) unit which I had laying around out of use so no outlay - I don’t think you need to spend more, but I’d like to know if anyone else has tried and what their results are. 

Does the WD NAS really have a wall wart ?    That surprises me as all the NAS I’ve seen have the in-line type I assume because of the amp draw.   There is the challenge,  how many amps is the WD load & what voltage.   Then find one that meets or exceeds that. 

I suspect a change to a better psu will help, but only you can tell.   I tried a linear psu on mine & it made no difference,  maybe the Synology psu is already a good one, maybe it’s not sensitive to DC voltage noise or ripple,  maybe it’s because it’s isolated by a UPS

i have changed wall warts on my network switch & it helped a bit,  I could hear a difference but the bat eared person I live with was not convinced.

I did research it ifi do an ipower 12v 1.8a ... the WD psu is rated at 12v 1.5a ............ I may just hold off as i want to move over to a 5 bay Drobo NAS drive ultimately - as my WDmycloud is a low cost single 4TB unit....that requires me to do manual backups.

Good idea to hold off methinks,   never been convince with WD NAS drives, someone I know had one,  but the big killer for him was Twonky media serve software.   Why go for a 5 bay ?,  I assume its for RAID-6.   What media serve (UPnP) software can the Drobo work with.       I would have thought you would have gone with one of the forums trusted favourites like a 2-bay QNAP or Synology & well regarded UPnP software such as Asset or Minimserver.     

Richieroo posted:

I did research it ifi do an ipower 12v 1.8a ... the WD psu is rated at 12v 1.5a ............ I may just hold off as i want to move over to a 5 bay Drobo NAS drive ultimately - as my WDmycloud is a low cost single 4TB unit....that requires me to do manual backups.

It looks like the iPower would be suitable for your WD NAS, but I agree with Mike here - unless you anticipate the need for a huge increase in storage capacity, why the need for 5 drives? If it’s for backup, the drives should not all be in the same enclosure. I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

I am on a mission to get rid of various hard drives scattered all over my house - all with nasty wall warts. This way I can get my music, video, pictures all in one place - backed up all the time. I need about 6 tb for movies and 1.5 tb for music and .5tb for pictures and various. I will probably start with 3 new 6 TB drives - and build it up from there.....phew. The Drobo is really good at allowing changes of drives even of different makes and sizes. See Hans Beekhoven's U tube post on Drobo.

Fair enough - as long as the Drobo will run Asset or Minimserver too, as these are tried and tested, and well supported music servers. Otherwise I would stick with QNAP or Synology. 

ChrisSU posted: I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

Now that sounds interesting - I’m currently backing up over the LAN to a USB drive connected to my main pc by a manual process (though I could use task scheduler to do it I’m not).  Could you give details ? I assume you’ve got a specific piece of software that does that ?

ChrisSU posted:

... I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

Way better solution than RAID 0.

TallGuy posted:

ChrisSU posted: I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

Now that sounds interesting - I’m currently backing up over the LAN to a USB drive connected to my main pc by a manual process (though I could use task scheduler to do it I’m not).  Could you give details ? I assume you’ve got a specific piece of software that does that ?

One of the drives is actually a Unitiserve, which has an automatic backup built in, for which you have to use another NAS. It’s a little bit of a faff to set up, but totally automated after that. I then use a portable USB drive to back up the NAS for extra security. 

If you use a regular NAS rather than a Unitiserve, there are automatic backups that would do the same thing. 

ChrisSU posted:

TallGuy posted:

ChrisSU posted: I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

Now that sounds interesting - I’m currently backing up over the LAN to a USB drive connected to my main pc by a manual process (though I could use task scheduler to do it I’m not).  Could you give details ? I assume you’ve got a specific piece of software that does that ?

One of the drives is actually a Unitiserve, which has an automatic backup built in, for which you have to use another NAS. It’s a little bit of a faff to set up, but totally automated after that. I then use a portable USB drive to back up the NAS for extra security. 

If you use a regular NAS rather than a Unitiserve, there are automatic backups that would do the same thing. 

Ok, I see what you’re doing now. Thanks for explaining. I misread your original note as automatically flipping over on failure. 

As I use a QNAP NAS I guess I just need to robocopy the library from one share to another by scheduled task, then if the live NAS fails install Asset on the second. Though I’d need to buy another NAS first

TallGuy posted:

ChrisSU posted:

TallGuy posted:

ChrisSU posted: I use two single bay units in different rooms, one backs up to the other, and if one fails, the other can take over immediately. 

Now that sounds interesting - I’m currently backing up over the LAN to a USB drive connected to my main pc by a manual process (though I could use task scheduler to do it I’m not).  Could you give details ? I assume you’ve got a specific piece of software that does that ?

One of the drives is actually a Unitiserve, which has an automatic backup built in, for which you have to use another NAS. It’s a little bit of a faff to set up, but totally automated after that. I then use a portable USB drive to back up the NAS for extra security. 

If you use a regular NAS rather than a Unitiserve, there are automatic backups that would do the same thing. 

Ok, I see what you’re doing now. Thanks for explaining. I misread your original note as automatically flipping over on failure. 

As I use a QNAP NAS I guess I just need to robocopy the library from one share to another by scheduled task, then if the live NAS fails install Asset on the second. Though I’d need to buy another NAS first

One drive would not automatically take over from the other if it failed, in a RAID style, if that's what you mean. With a server already set up on the backup NAS, though, you can see it in the Naim app, ready to use straight away if the primary NAS should fail. I'm sure it would be possible to use a similar setup with QNAP/Asset, although I haven't used them myself.

My Qnap Silent NAS runs 2 SSDs (raid 0) powered by a certain Israeli power supply, backed up to a HDD Synology and Samsung T3 SSD elsewhere on the network. I think changing the power supply opened the music up a bit. Swapped it and the original in and out over a couple of months the the difference was subtle, less than Ethernet cable changes.

Richieroo posted:

Hi I use a WDmycloud NAS drive to serve music to my NDS .......... I was wondering if I replaced the standard wall wart psu with a better power supply would that improve things sonically ...... has any one done this???

you can go to computer audiophile site, a lot of members use linear ps with mac mini and nas.

For a clear step in sound quality, you will have to invest in high quality linear ps, like hdplex or uptone audio .  I use the uptone audio with my unitserve and found a clear improvement. With the israeli one,i had before, it was subtle.

The ifi power 12 v is good for little switches, but not enough for a nas.

Perhaps the best solution would be a uniticore or  melco, second hand....

French Rooster .... as a side issue, how are you getting on with your new Rega RP10? 

Mr Frog posted:

French Rooster .... as a side issue, how are you getting on with your new Rega RP10? 

 

very good, fantastic dynamics, quick percussions or drums, a bit more lively than my previous sme20/2a( quite 3 times more expensive).   The sme had more precise soundstage, more body and a bit more confident sound.  But the rega is quicker and i can’t change the lps more easily.

I think it is impossible to find a better turntable for the price!  ( the rp10)

I am waiting for the rigid feet ( they were out of stock) and a leather mat ( also 2mn) on analog seduction site.  This mat would normally improve a bit the sound, specially instruments separation.  It is what i read on forums.... ( around 25 GBP).

I will report when receive .   And you, how you compare now the sound of the p10 vs your digital combo?

Thanks French Rooster .... glad to hear that you are enjoying the RP10 ..... especially if it sounds better than the SME at a third of the cost!

In answer to your question, the RP10 does sound much better than the digital (ND5xs and Chord Hugo) .... so perhaps I now need to look at upgrading the digital source too!

That said, I would be seeking a substantial increase in sound quality (night and day difference) as opposed to subtle refinements (law of diminishing returns etc ...)

Not sure there is anything quite there yet, in the digital domain, unless spending stratospheric amounts - otherwise it’s likely to be small improvements for twice the cost of my current source.

Hopefuly the NDX2 might be an option ????

Mr Frog posted:

Thanks French Rooster .... glad to hear that you are enjoying the RP10 ..... especially if it sounds better than the SME at a third of the cost!

In answer to your question, the RP10 does sound much better than the digital (ND5xs and Chord Hugo) .... so perhaps I now need to look at upgrading the digital source too!

That said, I would be seeking a substantial increase in sound quality (night and day difference) as opposed to subtle refinements (law of diminishing returns etc ...)

Not sure there is anything quite there yet, in the digital domain, unless spending stratospheric amounts - otherwise it’s likely to be small improvements for twice the cost of my current source.

Hopefuly the NDX2 might be an option ????

 

 

Glad too you’re happy with the rp10.  Just to say i don’t find the rp10 globally better than the sme20/2, just quicker and livelier on the drums and percussion aspects. Perhaps a little more engaging also.   But the sme is more confident,  easy going and fluent, with more grunt and body, and better soundstaging and separation of instruments.

But for quite third of the price, the rega is not so far and the difference of presentation ( quickness) is a good thing for me.  But some prefer a more relaxed and assured presentation....  The rega is specially dynamic, the sme is more in the middle side. The nothingham decks are more the opposite of rega, for instance...

For an upgrade of your digital rig, i would also consider the dcs network bridge, said to be a killer on some reviews.   I heard also recently the audiomat maestro streaming dac, half the price of the nds/ 555 dr i have:  the audiomat impressed me.

The dcs is around 4k, the audiomat near 7k.   Of course there will be the ndx2 too.