Audio server for hifi streamer

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Steinwerck

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Hi,


I recently upgraded to a Naim Nsc222 streamer, Nap 200 and Focal Sopra 2. Now I want to rebuild my lossless music collection to stream to the Naim Streamer / preamp.

I listen to Tidal, Spotify and vinyl and don't expect to be ripping much or anything at all. So I don't need that functionality. Basically all I need is a music server and some software

Now I used to have Synology NAS and am tempted to go that route since its easy, low energy and versatile.

I don't plan on putting it near the hifi gear so it seems a noisy power supply is not so much of an issue.

Since the streamer contains the DAC and I expect to use wired networking, what effect will a server have on sound quality?

Will a good NAS suffice? What can I expect from a purpose built device from Innuos or Naim over a simple NAS? They're much more expensive but since I have a streamer I don't know if there are any gains to be had.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S916B met Tapatalk
 
Steinwerck said:
Hi,


I recently upgraded to a Naim Nsc222 streamer, Nap 200 and Focal Sopra 2. Now I want to rebuild my lossless music collection to stream to the Naim Streamer / preamp.

I listen to Tidal, Spotify and vinyl and don't expect to be ripping much or anything at all. So I don't need that functionality. Basically all I need is a music server and some software

Now I used to have Synology NAS and am tempted to go that route since its easy, low energy and versatile.

I don't plan on putting it near the hifi gear so it seems a noisy power supply is not so much of an issue.

Since the streamer contains the DAC and I expect to use wired networking, what effect will a server have on sound quality?

Will a good NAS suffice? What can I expect from a purpose built device from Innuos or Naim over a simple NAS? They're much more expensive but since I have a streamer I don't know if there are any gains to be had.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S916B met Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You say that you want to a) rebuild your lossless music collection to stream to your Naim streamer preamp, b) that you don’t expect to do any ripping, and c) that you listen to Tidal, Spotify and vinyl.

You might be aware that both Tidal and Spotify cannot stream in lossless quality. Tidal’s highest quality streams are MQA which is lossy; Spotify streams at below CD-quality. Of course, that could change (at least with Tidal) since Tidal announced that they will be moving away from MQA. Of course, you cannot stream your vinyl either.

Unless I am misinterpreting what you want to accomplish, it is not clear to me why you would need a server or a NAS at all. Most people would use a NAS to store their ripped CD collection. But since you stated that you do not plan on ripping your CD collection, then what would be the purpose of the NAS?
 
A NAS can run music server software - Roon, MinimServer, and usually some sort of included upnp and/or DNLA server. Success might depend on the specific processor your NAS has. The stronger the processor, the more likely you can convince it to do what you want.

Look into the NUC server thread here. Lots of ideas on the small server motif. The commercial version being the Roon Nucleus product. Lumin has a nice file server as well L2.

Many people decommission an older PC to server duties.
 
Bones13 said:
A NAS can run music server software - Roon, MinimServer, and usually some sort of included upnp and/or DNLA server. Success might depend on the specific processor your NAS has. The stronger the processor, the more likely you can convince it to do what you want.

Look into the NUC server thread here. Lots of ideas on the small server motif. The commercial version being the Roon Nucleus product. Lumin has a nice file server as well L2.

Many people decommission an older PC to server duties.
Click to expand...

Agree that some music servers can run within a NAS, but if the OP has no plans of ripping his CD collection, then what would be the purpose of the NAS?

Neither Roon or Minimserver work with Spotify. And considering that the OP does not plan to rip his music collection, the value of Roon (which is not cheap) or Minimserver drop substantially.
 
In the basic I love my Roon server in a nuc. See the other topic. But there are more good ways to stream music, with a dedicated streamer you already have

However, you already make use of a synology nas. That works too. What is your goal changing a good working nas?

I would advise to change to Qobuz first.
 
Alkyogre said:
In the basic I love my Roon server in a nuc. See the other topic. But there are more good ways to stream music, with a dedicated streamer you already have

However, you already make use of a synology nas. That works too. What is your goal changing a good working nas?

I would advise to change to Qobuz first.
Click to expand...

I agree with you that there are more good ways to stream music and will also advise to the OP to consider switching to Qobuz (lossless). BTW, the OP said the he USED to have a NAS; I do not think that he has one anymore.
 
Bones13 said:
A NAS can run music server software - Roon, MinimServer, and usually some sort of included upnp and/or DNLA server.
Click to expand...

I don't recommend people to use NAS for Roon Core any more. There is a much higher chance of getting into trouble this way (due to various reasons), and many NAS are underpowered for the purpose of Roon Core anyway.
 
nicoff said:
You say that you want to a) rebuild your lossless music collection to stream to your Naim streamer preamp, b) that you don’t expect to do any ripping, and c) that you listen to Tidal, Spotify and vinyl.

You might be aware that both Tidal and Spotify cannot stream in lossless quality. Tidal’s highest quality streams are MQA which is lossy; Spotify streams at below CD-quality. Of course, that could change (at least with Tidal) since Tidal announced that they will be moving away from MQA. Of course, you cannot stream your vinyl either.

Unless I am misinterpreting what you want to accomplish, it is not clear to me why you would need a server or a NAS at all. Most people would use a NAS to store their ripped CD collection. But since you stated that you do not plan on ripping your CD collection, then what would be the purpose of the NAS?
Click to expand...

Tidal offers both CD quality (not lossy) and MQA (a "superior" sound but lossy), but Spotify is still all lossy.

Qobuz is arguably better than Tidal as it offers CD quality and genuinely High Definition quality - both non-lossy.

The OP has said he already has his music on a hard drive of some sort,but is unlikely to need to do more ripping. Same as me - ripped 1500 CDs years ago and no new CDs to rip as streaming services offer just about everything ever recorded!

If his streamer recognises a NAS drive and the control app can dig into his music library to select music to create a playlist, thare seems little point in going down more costly routes.
 
I don’t think Peter is against file storage on a NAS, but rather running the music server program on the CPU/memory inside the NAS.

There is also the possibility that the latency of file recovery from a NAS vs SSD access locally (PCIE/SATA/USB) may affect the sound quality. Despite the whole 1s and Os things (bit perfect concept) there are many that describe sound variations via different server / Ethernet configurations.

I noticed improvements first when I used a microRendu vs my PC plugged into the DAC via USB, and then again, but less, using a fiber optic link, and etherRegen between my home network and renderer. I did not hear much sonic difference between the various music servers I have tried. The NAS version was slower running Roon. I could not tell the difference accesses the music files vs NAS vs attached storage.

My NAS had an i3 chip, and was used primarily for music file service. Any back up function for the household computers was found to be too difficult for the local denizens, and USB back up disks are easy and cheap. NAS OS (QNAP) are very clunky, and arcane, for general use. I’m sure all that stuff (redundancy/security) is super important for the usual application of a NAS, not so to the rest of us. And as would be expected, the NAS usually are powered (CPU+memory) for their intended purposes, which tend to be behind the normal PC performance.
 
No, streaming services don’t offer anything recorded. Read my topic about “what happened to Qobuz” in the general section. More and more albums and individual tracks are disappearing from streaming services

This is the reason a Nas is useful. You can either rip or buy via for instance Qobuz sublime and put it there. This is the reason why ripping does not mean not storing. You must leave your bought albums also somewhere.
 
Alkyogre said:
What kind of troubles? And what is then the right way to store thousands and thousands of music files?
Click to expand...

I was referring to the special case of Roon Core (not the music library) on NAS. You may run Roon Core on a computer (not the NAS) that accesses your music from the NAS if you want to - this is fine. However, it is a bad idea to run Roon Core on that NAS directly. Both QNAP and Synology have their own quirks when running Roon Core. One example is that QNAP by default does not allow Roon Core to play AAC so as to avoid paying for AAC license - that prevents playback of some internet radio stations and the compressed quality of Tidal (in AAC). For more information see:
QNAP/Synology NAS - Roon Labs Community
 
wklie said:
I don't recommend people to use NAS for Roon Core any more. There is a much higher chance of getting into trouble this way (due to various reasons), and many NAS are underpowered for the purpose of Roon Core anyway.
Click to expand...

+1
 
So I basically have my digital collection but it's not available since my NAS died some time ago. So I am looking for a new solution.

I am a bit puzzled about the advantages of dedicated audio servers. Things like Innuos or Melco sell. And this rabbit hole turned me to the existence of 'audiophile switches'.

Now I clearly hear the sound quality improvement with a high quality streamer, hence the NSC222. But will a audio server really improve SQ?

I have a few more upgrades in mind and am curious how much impact these are expected to make.


1. Isoacoustics Gaia 1 decoupling feet for my Focal Sopra 2 (<1k eu)
2. A hi-fi rack for decoupling (<2k eu)
3. Audio server?
4. Naim NPX 300 power supply (7K!!!!)


Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S916B met Tapatalk
 
Steinwerck said:
So I basically have my digital collection but it's not available since my NAS died some time ago. So I am looking for a new solution.

I am a bit puzzled about the advantages of dedicated audio servers. Things like Innuos or Melco sell. And this rabbit hole turned me to the existence of 'audiophile switches'.

Now I clearly hear the sound quality improvement with a high quality streamer, hence the NSC222. But will a audio server really improve SQ?

I have a few more upgrades in mind and am curious how much impact these are expected to make.


1. Isoacoustics Gaia 1 decoupling feet for my Focal Sopra 2 (<1k eu)
2. A hi-fi rack for decoupling (<2k eu)
3. Audio server?
4. Naim NPX 300 power supply (7K!!!!)


Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S916B met Tapatalk
Click to expand...

With respect to your list above, in my experience (which was quite a surprise for me) the item that will have the biggest impact is the audio server. Elberoth sells a very nice one for a price that is a very good value proposition, just reach out to him.
 
I don't belive server quality will make much of a difference while streaming via the Ethernet. If you were using the USB interface to connect the server to your streamer/DAC - that would be another story.

Get a simple Roon Nucleus (or a clone @ $500-750), buy Roon lifetime licence, and call it a day. You can spend $200 extra on a linear PSU if you want to place your Nucleus next to your audio equipment (those switch mode PSUs are quite nasty - can ruin the sound of everything around them).

Spend the money saved on other parts of your system.
 
Elberoth said:
I don't belive server quality will make much of a difference while streaming via the Ethernet. If you were using the USB interface to connect the server to your streamer/DAC - that would be another story.

Get a simple Roon Nucleus (or a clone @ $500-750), buy Roon lifetime licence, and call it a day. You can spend $200 extra on a linear PSU if you want to place your Nucleus next to your audio equipment (those switch mode PSUs are quite nasty - can ruin the sound of everything around them).

Spend the money saved on other parts of your system.
Click to expand...

That's a very sensible recommendation. And while it does not work with Spotify, it is relatively inexpensive and satisfies most needs of the OP.
 
All NAIM streamers have Spotify Connect app and can play from Spotify natively. The only disadvantage is that Spotify will not be seamlesly integrated into Roon as TIDAL and Qobuz are - you will need to change inputs in a NAIM app.
 
Elberoth said:
I don't belive server quality will make much of a difference while streaming via the Ethernet. If you were using the USB interface to connect the server to your streamer/DAC - that would be another story.

Get a simple Roon Nucleus (or a clone @ $500-750), buy Roon lifetime licence, and call it a day. You can spend $200 extra on a linear PSU if you want to place your Nucleus next to your audio equipment (those switch mode PSUs are quite nasty - can ruin the sound of everything around them).

Spend the money saved on other parts of your system.
Click to expand...
Why would ethernet not make a difference vs USB? That is not clear to me. And what would you recommend for optimal SQ?

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S916B met Tapatalk
 
Because better ethernet does improve sound quality. Look at switches, it is already proved that audiophilic switches sound better then normal consumer switches. Now use a server with a lan output. Why does this cable connection not matter anymore?

To my ears a better server does improve SQ, even when a second streamer is used connected via lan.
 
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