Best way to connect Atom and Core?

Absolutely! We love ours (and we have a Nova as the main system, also amazing)… Sounds like you are in for fun in next days and weeks.

You don’t need to / cannot do this with the Atom, since that step is related to the ripping and storing functionality of the Star. In fact, to add extra rips, you will need to remove the external drive from the Atom, and move to the computer.

This is where I’m a bit weak, so definitely worth checking… but you for sure want the UPnP “local” rather than the USB “local”… access and functionality via the app is light years better from the Server rather than the USB key …

Enjoy, you have a great plan!

Regards alan

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Philippe is correct, server mode turns on the built in server to make USB attached music discoverable by other devices. To play it on the same device, it’s not required. It’s still best to access USB attached music through the Server input though, as you can browse the metadata that way.

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Asset is a Upnp server not ripping software.
To rip you need DB poweramp either Windows Apple or Linux
Or XLD for Apple is also recommended by forumites
Other ripping software is available with varying steepness of learning curve

Hope that helps

After a break while I grappled with my Atom having a set of firmware issues - not happening any longer, thank heavens - I have returned to the issue of trying to work out how best to rip and play my CD collection.

I followed the advice of allan33 (thank you very much) and used dBpoweramp to rip several CDs to a portable HDD which I then plugged into the Atom and played via the ‘server’ input on the Naim app on my iPad.

The CDs were:

  • Beethoven string quartet 132 by the Alben Berg Quartet (one CD)
  • Rolling Stones, Out of our heads (which was a CD I made from downloaded tracks)
  • Complete Mozart Sonatas for violin and piano (set of four CDs)
  • Extracts from Aida (one CD)
  • Complete Barber of Seville (three CD set)

I started by setting up folders on the HDD for the different genres as I define them, and I’m thinking that may have been a mistake.
Then I used dBpoweramp to rip the CDs, editing the metadata before the rip, adding in my chosen ‘genre’ etc,. Looking for artwork, etc.

I found I had quite a lot of work to examine and change the metadata and target folder for every CD. I thought the ripper would get most of this right without my help. Perhaps I was “helping” it when I should have let it do it’s thing.

When I played the HDD on the Atom, the Rolling Stones had the correct art work on the Atom display, but the iPad app was showing a picture of the Alben Berg Quartet! No idea why.

The three and four CD sets (of the Opera, and the Sonatas respectively) all showed up with the same artwork and same title for that set, so it was impossible to see which album was which in the series without selecting each album first. I could fix that I suppose by adding an album number at the start of each album name - but a hassle.

Finally the app seemed to be overruling or adding to my genre selections and making things look a bit of a muddle.

I got the feeling that two systems (the ripper an the naim app) were fighting each other, with me unwittingly adding complexity. Could that be it?

For Core users (and I suppose dBpoweramp users as well), do you need to define a folder structure to contain the files by genre, or is that done for you by the database software on the Core? Would the Core do better at showing four distinct CDs for the sonatas in the example above?

I am wondering if I am making this more difficult than it needs to be. Do you just rip every CD and leave the rest to the software?

Thanks in advance,
Peter.

A UPnP server is intended to use metadata to allow you to browse in a much more effective and versatile way than navigating folders. If you really want to browse folders, some servers such as Minimserver do allow this as an option, so you can always try it.

The original Naim server on the Unitiserve etc. was seen by many as somewhat basic, especially with Classical music. The Core is a little more primitive, having dropped a few features of its predecessor, and the version that runs on the Atom is a little more basic still. If this is going to frustrate you, better, I think, to get it right from the start, by choosing a server that you are happy with. Asset, Minimserver or Roon are probably the best options to consider, and you can run them on a wide variety of devices, but not, of course, on the Core.

Great work to get started, to learn about ripping and metadata, then to get your first local streaming up and running on your Atom. Huge step, don’t forget to relish that experience even though you have already identified the next things you’d like to learn!

How did it sound? Are you happy with the most important part of the experience? If so, keep experimenting and learning, a handful of CDs at a time.

As ChrisSU says, the folder structure has limited utility when playing: the search and list functionality on the server is all derived from the metadata rather than the physical path. Often the ripper is preconfigured to put things into a folder structure based on the “artist” and “album” tags, such as x:/RollingStones/OutOfOurHeads or whatever. Personally, I have an even “flatter” folder hierarchy, with every album (or set) sitting directly in my /music folder… doesn’t matter, I almost never use “folder” view (although MinimServer offers this option, and many like and prefer it).

So, test ripping session number two is to understand how dBPowerAmp (apologies for saying the wrong app name before, I use XLD or EAC!) creates the directory and file naming rules. Maybe just go with the defaults for your same 5 test CDs, try that, and then edit the rules to get something you prefer for a third ripping cycle if you think you want to go that way or can’t live with the defaults.

Album art is a bit tricky, and sometimes does not get embedded in or read from the metadata… so here is a spot where knowing the file folder structure is important (as you add a .jpg alongside the .flac files) as well as the characteristics of the server (since the file name is usually fairly specific, such as folder.jpg or cover.jpg or the like). This is one place where it can look as if the two apps are fighting each other - especially if the ripper embeds the .jpg in the .flac metadata, but the server is looking for a separate folder.jpg file or whatever.

Multi-disc sets are also a tricky thing, so it’s good you are encountering that early. Again, something to master in Asset: there will be a tick box of some sort for “multi disc”, and spaces for “disc number” (increasing for each disc in the set) and “total number” (constant for all, and equal to the count). I don’t know what the screen actually shows in Asset, but as you are ripping through the set you should see some indication that you are on “disc 2 of 5”, or whatever; this gets built into the metadata for each track, and is often added to the file name to help with less sophisticated servers that, for example, play in alphabetical order.

I’m only slightly surprised that the automatic metadata looked up for you and used to pre-fill the tags before starting the tip let you down here; this is an area to watch and adjust as you go through your collection. Last things I ripped were box sets - Kate Bush remasters and Tangerine Dream iirc. I noticed (esp for Kate Bush) that the default metadata corresponded to the original release, but I chose to edit in such a way that the “Album” was the Box Set name, I gave an appropriate “disc number” and “disc title” and used the box set artwork to have it show up as a collection (I don’t think I bothered with track-specific artwork for while it is playing… but you can drill as deeply as you wish once you get into it) It’s cool. But it’s manual… and I tried the default first then adjusted to meet my own preferences.

Similarly, the whole “Various Artists” issue is something to work out early, as the default tag may have only “Artist” or “”Album Artist”, and you will want to settle on your convention for specifying the track artist or the sort artist or whatever… best way to learn here would be to just add a collection to your test group of five CDs and see what happens, and watch for where you edit tags to get things looking the way you want before heading off to the races.

Good luck, keep going, practice and learn to use the tools you’ve chosen to achieve the results you want and expect. Have a little celebration that your very first attempt worked so well that you already have a learning plan. And remember that re-doing the test group a few times to learn, understand, and develop your longer term workflow was always your intention… this is going exactly according to your master plan, so keep going!

Regards, alan

Thanks ChrisSU and alan33. I don’t get any credit for getting local streaming to work - it really was as simple as just plugging it in and controlling it from the app. Full credit to Naim on that. I have no particular interest in using a folder structure - it’s just something I thought was necessary. My next session will be as you suggest, to see what happens when I just put every thing in the root folder of the HDD using defaults as far as possible.

I don’t think I’m looking for more features. I have seen a little of Roon and I’m not interested, just now at least. (In fact I was quite surprised at what the Atom could do in the way of finding more information on line and adding it to the rips.) All I really want is to be able to find an album/track quickly and for it to sound good.

I haven’t given up the idea of getting a Core. I would be interested in hearing from those who have one, on what they think about ease of use in general (how often do you really need to edit metadata for example), and what is the sound like.

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I wouldn’t put everything in the root folder of the HDD. Apart from anything else it will become unmanageable once you have a few hundred or thousand albums there. The folder structure that the UnitiCore uses is a folder with Artist Name then a folder with Album Name and then within that folder the music files and the artwork.

You can do it anyway you want though, because the metadata will govern how the album appears, not the file structure, as has already been said.

But putting everything in the root is just not good practice.

Best

David

Glad you are moving forward @cephas

As David says, best not to go directly into root directory (esp as some file systems have limits on count). My (overly?) simplified approach is to use a main directory, located in root, and then jam everything in there on a per-album basis. If I “run out of room” in /music, I can add a “second” /music2 main directory, and tell the server to scan and use both… something to consider, but trivial to adjust later. I did this because I was ripping on a pc or mac, but serving from my (then terribly unsophisticated and basic, with horrible file system) NAS, and it wasn’t always trivial to copy more than one folder deep… so I sidestepped. Not likely an issue for you, especially if you are attaching the external drive to your computer for direct ripping… letting dBPowerAmp build the /music/Artist/Album folder hierarchy as suggested by David (and almost certainly the default) would be a great way to proceed.

Regards alan

ps - greetings from Ottawa, I see you are also in Canada

You probably will have to edit metadata with a Core quite a lot, especially if you like classical music and if you have any trace of OCD about you! The reason is that the Core uses the metadata sources like Rovi to get the metadata and that is frequently not exactly right, not because of Naim but because the publisher supplied it to Rovi wrong.

For example, if you take a composer like Wolfgang Mozart, that can be listed by the publisher as Wolfgang Mozart, Mozart Wolfgang, W Mozart, Mozart W or just Mozart. Sometimes one CD of a set will be differently described, perhaps by the insertion of an errant space or dash, so it doesn’t appear in the album list with the rest of the set and there are perennial problems of a CD being presented similar to “The Greats Volume 37”, or “Bernard Haitink’s greatest recordings Volume 22”. In these cases the artwork is usually totally unhelpful - for example the outer box artwork.

Anyway these are all easily fixed in the Naim app if they are Core rips. If they are downloads or imports from elsewhere then you use a metadata editor as already described.

The sound of the Core is fine. Some people prefer something else and some people prefer the Core. Note that it is, currently anyway, Naim’s only server and they regard it as good enough as a source for the ND555. Whether it’s worth your money over other solutions only you can say. There are lots of cheaper and more expensive solutions. Personally I like the Core, notwithstanding that it really deserves some software updates to fix a few well known shortcomings.

Best

David

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OK. I will go for a simple, but not overly simple file structure! I was under the impression that I needed to set up a file structure for the server to work, and I would have to direct it the right folder with the app, but it’s smarter than I thought.

I am a transplanted brit (Edinburgh) and living in the Toronto area now for many years.

Peter.

Thanks for the feedback on the Core, David. So it looks like I will be doing some metadata editing whichever way I go! Most of the time I should be OK, as most of the CDs I would be ripping are single albums with no complex issues. After I get some more experience with dBpoweramp and my mac, I may visit my dealer and see how the core does with the same material.

I also need to pay more attention to the SQ and listen carefully. I wasn’t impressed with what I was hearing on the HDD, but that could be down to me.

Peter.

Hi Peter,

Yes, you need to point the server somewhere (often there are defaults, like /music for Twonky or Synology MediaServer), but things are pretty clever and you can add locations as required. Some people set up one library for flac, and a separate one (possibly with a different server) for mp3; this avoids mixing formats and quality as well as duplicates. Tons of stuff to refine as you gain experience and thing of additional applications that might be of interest. Roon (not needed of course) benefits some users by doing the opposite: it completely integrates and combines your local library with your selected favourites on Tidal. You are on a good footing already.

Regards, alan

(We moved to Toronto from Ayrshire many many moons ago when I was only two; and I’ve been in Ottawa since 1991 when I started working after my education and postdoc. Cheers!)

Just my 2 p worth… we have a Nova and Core…could not be happier…ripping is simple…it is / has been extremely rare for me to have to edit metadata…usually with new releases ( I could I suppose wait for the Core to re - look , but I am impatient! )
The actual process of editing is for me at least v simple…backing up is a breeze…for me not having a computer or other hardware in the chain is a good thing.
Lastly…if the Core is good enough for the higher end of the Naim range…then why not ?

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One thing related to the multi-CD sets: What’s “best practice” in handling them in meta-data?

Most DBs used querying usually come up with something like:
“Title [Disc 1]”, …

While purely on iTunes, I used the “disc number” option and collapsed all discs into a single entry; iTunes knows to show the track lists in correct sequence and all.
But it seems either the meta-data in AAC/mp4 files or the UPnP-stuff in Atom does not know this field… hence tracks get sorted just by track number: 1,1,2,2,3,3,…

Any thoughts…? How to the “bigger” UPnP servers handle this?

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