Best NAS solution for Sqeezebox + File Format

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by angi73, Jun 22, 2011.

  1. angi73

    angi73

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2003
    Messages:
    268
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Essex/kent
    Hi, I've been dabbleing with my squeezebox duet for a while now and want to move the game on a little.

    Can anyone recommend a resonably priced, quiet and stable hardisc solution for it?

    So far QNAP products look pretty good, I might get a twin bay one and add a couple of 1TB Hardrives.

    I then want to try listening more to lossesless, what do people reckon is the best format for this? Flac?

    I only have MP3 files at the moment and have a lot of CD's to rip!

    Thanks
     
    angi73, Jun 22, 2011
    #1
  2. angi73

    Colin2040

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2007
    Messages:
    437
    Likes Received:
    0
    I can only tell you what I did , Lacie 2TB which seems fine and has been stable enough,very neat and are available at good prices if you look about. I used different types of files and even although I did not particularly like itunes library /storage I ended up using apple lossless and itunes.Once I got used to it its simple and I cant say I could hear much difference between the file types.
     
    Colin2040, Jun 22, 2011
    #2
  3. angi73

    Tenson Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Messages:
    5,947
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    You can get routers that accept a USB hard drive and serve it up on the network. This gives the option of connecting other drives in the future, or USB pens that you want to access etc, from the network.

    I'm not sure they are quite as fast as a proper NAS drive though, mine seemed a tad slow like it was using USB 1 or something. Rob's Apple router seemed to do the job well for him though.
     
    Tenson, Jun 22, 2011
    #3
  4. angi73

    RobHolt Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Messages:
    4,126
    Likes Received:
    9
    Airport Extreme.

    Takes a USB drive and servers it up.

    You can also get the Time Capsule version which contains a hard drive. Intended for back up but I guess you can use it in the normal way.

    For file formats, Id say Apple Lossless if you intend using Apple products and specifically iTunes, or FLAC if not.
     
    RobHolt, Jun 23, 2011
    #4
  5. angi73

    zygote23

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2006
    Messages:
    310
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    My house!
    Flac.....rip with EAC for accuracy......job done (though a little time consuming)
     
    zygote23, Jun 23, 2011
    #5
  6. angi73

    Tenson Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Messages:
    5,947
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    Does FLAC have ID tags and stuff? I seem to remember maybe not. So I like Apple Lossless as it helps software find all the cover art, track names and track order etc..
     
    Tenson, Jun 23, 2011
    #6
  7. angi73

    Robert Edgar

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2003
    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Northern Scotland
    Been a long time since I posted here
    But I have been lurking quite a bit :)

    Try http://www.synology.com/us/products/DS211j/index.php for a NAS

    I have the 4 bay version of this one and have a squeezebox server installed on it so no need for a computer to be on just the NAS

    I use Apple lossless as well
    I can't really hear a big difference between Apple lossless and Flac

    Cheers

    Bob
     
    Robert Edgar, Jun 23, 2011
    #7
  8. angi73

    RobHolt Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2004
    Messages:
    4,126
    Likes Received:
    9
    FLAC does support ID tags.
     
    RobHolt, Jun 23, 2011
    #8
  9. angi73

    zygote23

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2006
    Messages:
    310
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    My house!
    In order of Reactivity

    WAV
    Flac
    Ogg
    MP3 (and it's myriad variations)









    Somewhere in the swampy gutter!




    Scuba gear needed.......




    Bottom of barrel


    Anything apple :p


    All IMHO of course.
     
    zygote23, Jun 23, 2011
    #9
  10. angi73

    Tenson Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Messages:
    5,947
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Kent, UK
    Reactivity?
     
    Tenson, Jun 23, 2011
    #10
  11. angi73

    Colin2040

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2007
    Messages:
    437
    Likes Received:
    0
    Not sure what reactivity is but I found WAV ok but did get errors frequently with titles etc and eventually real problems with corrupted wav files. Flac and lossless apple were ok but ultimately much as I wasnt a great fan of Apple I have found that once understood its pretty bomb proof /idiot proof.
     
    Colin2040, Jun 24, 2011
    #11
  12. angi73

    Crashhot

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2009
    Messages:
    8
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    South Coast
    I have pretty much exactly what you have described in your opening post.

    I've been using a QNAP 209 II with 2 ×1 TB drives

    Apart from the slightly laggy nature of the response you get every so often (not all the time by any means) it does the job very well. The lag I experience is due to squeezebox server not running very fast on relatively low powered QNAP, I usually only get this after leaving the machine playing for a very long time and then trying to change tracks and expecting it to wake up and do it immediately (which of course it doesn't).

    The only difficulty is getting squeezebox server to work if you are not reasonably technically savvy (I'm okay with IT but it still took me most of an evening to actually get it working the first time), although once you do it's fine.

    Flac is what I'm using and it's perfect, there is no audible difference to any of the other lossless formats really so it's up to you, all the tags are present and it all works pretty faultlessly.

    One thing I would say though, I used DBpoweramp to rip as it seems to be better than EAC for me although that may just be personal preference? I like it because I can rip to MP3 and flac at the same time (I use one for the iPod and one for the squeezebox)

    The only thing you may need to watch is the noise of the QNAP if you're intending on keeping in the same room as your hi-fi, although the fan can be set to auto and doesn't need to run all the time and the discs can spin down after a certain period (user-defined) it can be a little noisy when running although with all these small form factors you're going to get something like that.
     
    Crashhot, Jul 3, 2011
    #12
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.
Similar Threads
Loading...