New Nas

If you want to use Asset, get a QNAP. People generally seem to find it easier to use than Minimserver, although both servers do a good job. 

I personally prefer Minimserver over Asset. It has a fraction more detail for me. That said, I like the customisable nature of Asset user interface. Asset can be installed on Synology but you need to be quite tech minded as it is easy to get it wrong when manually installing. You also have to reinstall every time there is a firmware update for the NAS. Synology also have their own app, but a bit clunky to use. 

Mr Paws, I have just set-up a Synology DS218J 12TB of WD Reds (but only) as a backup to my QNAP with a JBOD configuration (no RAID).

These clips got me through the whole process:-

Part 1    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmHjlX0KNXA

 Part 2    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZPFi3VR8g

 Part 3    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM4CgQbbNPc

With Synology you have a choice of UPnP media server software preloaded - but not installed ready to run - in the Synology Package Centre.  Synology's own (native) "Media Server" UPnP software is what I use.  Its ideal for audio streaming providing you don't use it for transcoding as it does not handle gapless play well,  but as I store my music in WAV & DSD I have no need for transcoding.  If you are happy to store & play straight FLAC, ALAC etc,  its perfect for that.    Also in the Synology Package Centre  is 3rd party software "Minimserver",  it also needs Java installed (in Package Centre)  Minimserver works as well/better as Syns Media Server as it transcodes gapless correctly & its browsing using art is a bit faster.  I tried it but ran into issues once or twice with Synology software updates, it was soon sorted, but got fed up enough to go back to Media Server.   Also in Package Centre is Plex, its great software, intended primarily for video,  problem is it needs a lot of computer power & your DS218j will struggle.  

As per Chispy's post, Asset can be installed but it needs some IT ability.  Its not supported by Synology so there is no guarantee it will be OK after a Synology software update.  Its a shame because I really like Asset.

YouTube helped me out too. Took about an hour to be up and running. 

Hey, thanks to all of you who have taken the time to help me out.

So far so good (all things crossed) and it’s really quick too. I’ve re-connected my Readynas Duo to start transferring a few albums and I can’t believe how quick the transfer takes. I timed how long it would take to transfer all my Beatles 24/44:1 files would take from USB drive to the new nas and it took 11 minutes !  

Anyway, I’ll soldier on  happy days..

Thankyou..

hey, don't complicate things... use the included software;  just install it as per the initial setup procedure. That way you don't have to think (very much) and it'll work first time.

We have a native version of Asset for the Synology in testing (see the dBpoweramp forum >> Testing >> Asset R6.2 for Mac / Linux)

mrspoon posted:

We have a native version of Asset for the Synology in testing (see the dBpoweramp forum >> Testing >> Asset R6.2 for Mac / Linux)

Hi Spoon, I'll be looking out for it on your forum,  but I don't go there tat often so is there any way you can let us know on this forum when you have a version (post beta) ready to go.  

Good Morning to all,  I transferred some Hi-Res files to the Synology last night and it looks like they’re not playing as they should.  In this case the album is 24/192 but being played at 44:1/16bit.  I went with the Synology Media Player which seems ok to use but I’m concerned it’ll only play standard 16 bit files.  

Maybe there are settings somewhere within the control panel or something?  

Cheers..

Mr Paws posted:

Good Morning to all,  I transferred some Hi-Res files to the Synology last night and it looks like they’re not playing as they should.  In this case the album is 24/192 but being played at 44:1/16bit.  I went with the Synology Media Player which seems ok to use but I’m concerned it’ll only play standard 16 bit files.  

Maybe there are settings somewhere within the control panel or something?  

I play 24/192 (9216kHz) files perfectly OK.  I don't see anything in the control panel settings that can do this.    But whatever I can't understand how it could change to 16/44.1 (1411.2kHz).   I believe Synology might change 24-bit to 16-bit when transcoding,  but that will just change it to 16/192 (6144kHz)          What is actually showing on your streamer display.  

Maybe mine plays correctly because I play WAV & DSD files only & have no need to transcode.     Maybe you could try turning off transcode if you do indeed have your Synology set for that. 

Hi all, Once again thanks to all who took the time to help me out.

Mike B, Thanks to you Sir, I’ve learned a fair bit over the last few days but I’m glad to report all is well regarding playing Hi-Res and transcoding files. I just went into the settings and switched transcoding off and that was it.  

I’ve transferred all my albums from my old Readynas to the Synology and really quick it was too.  I’m not going to use the Readynas for streaming anymore - just as back up only.

The Readynas always had an isssue playing WAV files so mostly every album (1069) is ripped in Flac.  Of course I have ripped a few newly acquired CD’s in WAV with no issues especially Metadata which is all there like it would be the file was ripped in Flac. 

Unfortunately most of my albums were ripped using the basic dB Poweramp/Asset I had at the time but I’ve since purchased Asset Premium which gives me the opportunity to tag artwork etc.  I can’t be bothered re-ripping all my CD’s again although it is tempting.  In any case the Naim App is helpful here.  

As for which server I use,  I’ve gone for Minim Server at the moment although I could use Media Serverif I wanted to.  I notice ‘Spoon’ has been on here recently with some very handy info on Asset for Synology so I may give that a go.

Cheers ????????

Mr Paws posted:

 

........................................

 I’ve gone for Minim Server at the moment although I could use Media Serverif I wanted to.  I notice ‘Spoon’ has been on here recently with some very handy info on Asset for Synology so I may give that a go.

Happy to hear its all worked out for you Mr Paws.  

If you are using Minimserver it should transcode without down sampling or any of the problems we discussed.  I've only used Minimserver for a short while so can't really help,  but I do remember setting up transcoding for high-res was not difficult.  Maybe a Minimserver expert can chip in  

I have recently installed Asset on my Synology,  its in development beta at the moment so any user needs to be prepared for issues.  But so far it been trouble free & all I need to do is learn how to get the most out of it.   Hopefully it will be released in fully functional public form pretty soon.  

Mike, As I have the premium package of Asset on my PC I was wondering if I could download that to my NAS? Mind you, I suppose the new beta version for Synology will be specific to that brand ?  

Also, are you able to do transcoding and other handy things which I get on the premium pack on the Synology?

Mike.. 

The full spec Asset cannot be loaded to a Synology,  each of the different software programs are specific for a computer (NAS) OS type.    The new beta for Synology is specific & covers different OS types that Synology use. 

Yes what I have includes all the transcode & all the other standard configuration & browsing facilities.  Not that I need to transcode as I'm all WAV & DSD.  But it is limited to 30 days trail

Mike,  the current Asset beta on Synology is the "full spec Asset" -- it isn't a cut-down version compared to the Linux or Windows versions, for example. When this is released it will certainly be possible to purchase a premium package license for the Synology platform and I'm sure the Synology version will have the same features and support status as all of the other supported platforms.

The interesting question is what licensing shenanigins caused the delay in support for Synology while QNAP has been supported for some time. I'm sure the engineering effort has really just been a case of cross-compilation and packaging rather than a great deal of porting effort, at least as far as the Intel versions are concerned.

Adrian_P/Mike-B

Are you able to give  walkthrough/guide on how I would get the Asset beta running on my Synology?  Its a DS212J (Marvell ARM 88F6281, single core, 1.2 GHz)

Cheers

Paul

Adrian_P posted:

Mike,  the current Asset beta on Synology is the "full spec Asset"

I realise that Adrian,  I was just trying to say its a beta & it may not be fully spec'd.

pixies posted:

Adrian_P/Mike-B

Are you able to give  walkthrough/guide on how I would get the Asset beta running on my Synology?  Its a DS212J (Marvell ARM 88F6281, single core, 1.2 GHz)

Go to >   https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/f...st-Upcoming-Releases   

>   open the "sticky" Asset R6.2 for Mac / Linux   

 >  click & download ....   Synology: https://www.dbpoweramp.com/beta/Asset-R6.2b6.spk

Go to Syn DSM Main Menu > Package Center > Manual Install .... browse to where you downloaded the .spk file & install.  

Remember its a 30 day trial,   

Cheers Mike!

Pixies, once you have installed Asset you will need to configure it using the Asset web UI. This is exactly the same UI you use when running Asset on any other platform, and the URL has the same format, which will be http://<your-nas-ip>:45537. Just point your browser there to see the Asset home page on the NAS. Tell Asset where your music is stored in the Configure page under Watched Media Folders (usually somewhere under /volume1/music/ unless you have changed the defaults).

Mike-B posted:

With Synology you have a choice of UPnP media server software preloaded - but not installed ready to run - in the Synology Package Centre.  Synology's own (native) "Media Server" UPnP software is what I use.  Its ideal for audio streaming providing you don't use it for transcoding as it does not handle gapless play well,  but as I store my music in WAV & DSD I have no need for transcoding.  If you are happy to store & play straight FLAC, ALAC etc,  its perfect for that.    Also in the Synology Package Centre  is 3rd party software "Minimserver",  it also needs Java installed (in Package Centre)  Minimserver works as well/better as Syns Media Server as it transcodes gapless correctly & its browsing using art is a bit faster.  I tried it but ran into issues once or twice with Synology software updates, it was soon sorted, but got fed up enough to go back to Media Server.   Also in Package Centre is Plex, its great software, intended primarily for video,  problem is it needs a lot of computer power & your DS218j will struggle.  

As per Chispy's post, Asset can be installed but it needs some IT ability.  Its not supported by Synology so there is no guarantee it will be OK after a Synology software update.  Its a shame because I really like Asset.

Yes, Mike-B has it right.  There is no need for third party UPnP on the Synology.  Just use the built-in Media Server and turn off transcoding.  You should be good to go.  All my music is in FLAC so no need to transcode.

I have the DS916+, and once I figured out the above, everything worked perfectly.   I wish I would found a thread like this before figuring this out on my own.  It would have saved me a lot of time and research.

Followed Mikes instructions but am getting a Failed to install “Asset” message in package centre. Does this mean my 6 year old Nas is not up for it?

Pixies, sadly it looks like you are right. While being fine for file serving duties, the 6 year old DS212j is a pretty low-end device with a Marvell Kirkwood SoC that uses an ARMv5 core. I think the Asset beta only supports ARMv6/7. You might try asking whether v5 support is possible on the Asset beta forum but I suspect that generation isn't powerful enough to support all the Asset features. It probably wouldn't be able to do any transcoding, for example.

StoogeMoe posted:

Yes, Mike-B has it right.  There is no need for third party UPnP on the Synology.  Just use the built-in Media Server and turn off transcoding.  You should be good to go.  All my music is in FLAC so no need to transcode.

I'm in an experimental mode at the moment & am trying Asset (the newly released beta for Synology)

To make my position clear on this,  I really do like the simplicity & ease of Synology's Media Server,  however it does have some drawbacks;   It's a bit clunky & somewhat dumb with browsing compared to Minimserver & Asset.  Using the simple Folder View (the view of the HDD 'music' tree) is quick easy & for most all album selection work, is really all you need.     However,  move away from Folder View & into the other browsing paths using the various album art displays & its comparatively very poor,  Asset's art display functions are instant.  Some of the Asset browsing programs are very smart, I'm now finding - Asset is showing me - artists & tracks I never knew I had.    Its early days,  but I might be changing ship on this one.  

We know Media Server's transcoding problems,  it down-samples 24-bit files & doesn't play gapless correctly.   But I've never had need of transcoding as I'm all WAV & DSD.   However StoogeMoe, I do hear a difference between WAV & un-transcoded FLAC.   I hear WAV as better on my NDX,  but a mate with a Linn KDSM does not have a difference that is audible,  so maybe it is streaming player dependant,  but I would have expected you to hear a difference with your ND5xs.