I’m fairly well committed to dive into streaming now I have my vinyl setup dialled in (for the moment!) I’m waiting on a demo NDX2 unit from my dealer before making the commitment and am happy to pay a subscription for Tidal/Quboz. Right now everything is going through a SN3.
My question is what is the best route to take in terms of clearing my CD collection? It’s not the biggest ~300 discs but I’d like to be able to access them if the internet goes down, which being rural it does from time to time. It looks like a cheap option would be to rip to FLAC and they should all fit on a 512GB usb drive. Plug it in the back of the NDX2 and sorted! Is that too simple?
I doubt I’d be buying any/many new CDs in the years to come, but there is some appeal to running a Daphile PC/media server in terms of browsing experience/UI and future proofing.
Ideally I want something that is super easy to set up, simple to use and reliable to use with the NDX2. Any recommendations?
A £20 USB stick in the NDX2 will work fine. View it through the Server input, not the USB input, and you will get a better browsing experience.
The built in server in the Naim streamers is basic, and may not suit you if you have a classical collection, but I would certainly try it before you start using other, more complicated solutions.
Of course you will need to rip the CDs, but any computer running DBpoweramp, XLD, or even iTunes/Apple Music, will do that. Another option would be to run a UPnP server on your computer, or on a NAS.
If you have a lot of cds that don’t exist on Tidal and Qobuz, you can rip them in Wav and stock them on a little Nas.
Or if you prefer convenience and also sound quality ( however some say that a Nas sound the same), you can buy something like an Innuos zen mini, it will rip your cds, stock them, and stock also hirez albums you could buy sometimes.
Hirez files streamed from a good Nas sound better, generally, vs the same files streamed online ( Qobuz and Tidal), even if the difference is not big.
Hi, the NDX2 is a great streamer… it along with the other current new architecture streamers removes any difference between local or remote streaming… although WAV vs FLAC sonic replay differences can be noticed by some. Cloud vs local was very noticeable in the first gen streamers for many due to limitations in the network stack, but Naim being aware of this completely redesigned the architecture to remove this issue.
It’s worth noting that cloud lossless streaming uses FLAC whilst local streaming often uses WAV, so a difference can be heard sometimes here.
So proxy servers and media converters like Roon can work very well with the NDX2… and they blend local and cloud streams together, so unless you specifically look for it you are not aware of source, and Roon transcodes to uncompressed PCM, so again levelling media to the same encoding replay quality. Local streaming can be provided by a regular common or garden UPnP media server… if you don’t want Roon… there are plenty to choose from such as Naim, ReadyDLNA, MinimServer, DbPoweramp etc etc.
The other consideration with the NDX2, of course the other new architecture streamers do this, is that it has two modes of operation. (But can’t do both at the same time due to the system being optimised for one or the other). It can operate with analogue signal output or digital SPDIF output. If you use the latter it opens up a whole world of wonderful DACs to use with your NDX2.
This is what I do… and it potentially allows your NDX2 to provide you with a system capable of some of the best audio replay currently available.
The NDX2 is truly a wonderfully versatile work house… and a real gem for the music lover and audio replay enthusiast. Enjoy.
And most of what Simon has described is equally applicable to the nd555 and ND5xs2 machines. Their digital side is very similar. Clearly the power supply may limit the ND5xs2 over the NDX2 on the digital side. The anologue side is a completely different matter.
Must admit I’ve not really tried plugging in a usb stick to mine. Might load up some random and non random stuff and see what it makes of it.
Yes I use a USB memory stick on mine to often play my own music that I copy a master onto the USB memory stick. Works fine and for that sort of task it is convenient and sounds top class.
I kind of treat the USB memory stick as the digital equivalent of the C60 cassette tape.
Thanks for the insight! It sounds like a couple of USB sticks will suffice. I have a mates spare NAS on loan right now but that seems like overkill for my small(ish) CD collection. I also like the ease of use element - not much can go wrong with a solid state USB drive!
In terms of networking is there a tangible benefit in SQ by running Ethernet cable from my router to the NDX2 vs WiFi? I’m planning to add a decent TP-Link router to my rather shoddy BT home hub to remove some dead spots around the house so there is budget to get the latest router tech. I am planning to run a couple of radial circuits to the HiFi soon so can add a run of Ethernet at the same time if there is a big advantage…
Most CDs ripped to FLAC are well under 500MB so you won’t need huge storage capacity. Best to leave it connected if possible, otherwise the streamer has to rescan the drive every time you insert it.
I would definitely run an Ethernet cable if you can. I’m not going to comment on the network sound quality rabbit hole, but’s cheap and generally more reliable than WiFi.
To improve wireless performance I would look at a Mesh type solution rather than adding a different brand of router to your network. The BT discs seem to have a pretty good reputation, so I would probably use them given that you have one of their routers.
I’m in the same position as you and have about 5-600 CDs to Rip. I’ll be using the Ripping method that ChrisSU suggested, but I’ll be getting a Synolgy Nas from Amazon for $249 cad to store it and easily access the music.
I believe that the Nas and associated software will allow for organized metadata to help ID the music files.
Don’t quote me on this, but I also believe that the Synolgy NAS will show up as a selection on the Naim App, which would be great for me.
I am very happy with my set up for streaming FLAC…
Naim 172XS, QNAP TS-251+ running MinimServer. I no longer have a CD player but rip media to FLAC using EAC and mp3tag when needed.
I enjoy running with a ethernet cable from my router to a switch which I then have ethernet cables running between both my NAS and NDX 2 that connects to the switch.
I grabbed a SSD usb drive and ripped some CDs to FLAC to try in my Arcam CDS50. SQ edges HiFi quality on Tidal so that’s good - only downside is that you can’t browse the USB via the Arcam app so have to use the device UI which is terrible!
Is the Naim experience better? Ie can I use the Naim app to browse the connected USB? If so could anyway do me a favour and post a picture of what the UI looks like? Really interested to see if this is a viable long term solution. Certainly it’s quick easy and good SQ. Pretty much sure I don’t want the hassle/overkill of a NAS unit - although Roon does look rather nice…