Two problems under one posting here; firstly, due to Sonos’s rather odd recent decision to deny users the ability to play their own separate music library through a Sonos speaker, I was wondering how to use my NDX2 to access my HDX store and serve it to a non-Sonos speaker in another room (bit of a novice obviously!) ? In starting to look into this myself I thought ‘best see what I can already see on my home Wi-Fi network as a starting point’, which leads to the second part of my question, I’ve moved over to an IPad rather than a PC, how do I look at my network via an iPad, I’ve only ever used a PC which I now do not possess?
Access as in the NDX2 webpage can be done through any browser on any device. Just do the same as you did on the PC.
When we had a UnitiServe, we’d use it to play music on a Roberts internet radio. The Roberts just found it, as both use upnp protocols. So may be you can access the HDX in the same way.
There are a couple of possible ways to do this.
One is to buy another Naim streamer such as a Muso. Then you can use Naim multiroom to play music from the NDX2 on the Muso.
Another is to put a copy of your HDX music files on a USB drive and attach this to the NDX2 with Server mode enabled. Then other UPnP compliant streamers can play this music, not just Naim streamers.
If you intend to keep your HDX, you shouldn’t need to do any of this, as other devices should just be able to access it like the NDX2 does.
Hello rj10000,
you can actually still play your own stored music library to Sonos speakers.
HOWEVER, you cannot set it up using the app on your iPad or phone, it has to be done from using the desktop version of the app on a computer.
I only just had brand new Sonos equipment installed in a second home and thought the same until I tried on my Mac.
The Mac version of the Sonos app shows settings not available on the phone app.
As you appear to have moved on your computer, maybe ask a friend to come round and borrow theirs to set it up?
It can but it doesn’t do anything.
Brilliant, will do.
This sounds great, we have a Roberts internet radio in the kitchen so I won’t need to expend any cash. Most grateful
Love the USB idea, I’m guessing a ‘stick’ will do. Many thanks
Sounds very interesting, I’ll have a go this morning. Thank you
(Actually, my wife has a Mac and I’m sure she won’t mind me waking her up at this hour in order to explain what I need her to do )
Any USB drive will be fine, including memory sticks. It’s a basic UPnP server, and not ideal for large music libraries, but it works.
Easy enough to try. Just put a backup copy of your music on a drive and plug it in.
When asked to “rate” my new Sonos equipment and the app, I gave the app a very low rating as I couldn’t find anything, settings had moved, finding music changed, nearly everything compared to the older app was hard.
Also, the inability to add my NAS stored music library was a mystery.
The iPad / iPhone app should, IMHO offer the same functionality or at least draw your attention to the fact that you can add a local music library.
Let us know if you managed to add your music library
Roberts radio in the kitchen worked a treat - you’ve just saved me money and hassle so many thanks indeed.
(Not really done anything on this forum before as my comparative lack of knowledge brings to mind the Not the nine o’clock news HiFi shop sketch, ref YouTube if you are a very young person !!)
That’s good news indeed. It can be a bit of a fiddle scrolling through the albums, but other than that it works really well. This streaming stuff isn’t really complicated at all, it’s just that some people like to make it that way. If I can do it, anyone can.
Dear HungryHalibut, you have been so helpful in answering my questions thus far, and saved me countless pennies with your Robert’s radio suggestion, that I thought I’d try my luck again with some rather simplistic “all the gear but no idea” questions …… I have an HDX, and I have an NDX2. My HDX will undoubtedly fail unrepairably in the next few years (it doesn’t even like shutting itself down now and it’s already been repaired once and came back with a “shut this down properly in future or you’ll break it” note from Naim (we have power cuts, what can I say ?). Anyway, can I back up my HDX to a NAS drive and access that through the NDX2, thus making the HDX redundant? If so, and not wishing to spend £2k+ on a Uniti Core, what’s the best CD reader/ripper to use going forward in combination with the NAS as I insist on continuing to use CDs (I like the visibility and ‘ownership’ of a CD, something too invisibly ethereal about streaming music) ?
Many thanks in anticipation
If you haven’t already done so, the first thing you should do is convert your CD rips from WAV to FLAC on the HDX. Otherwise you will have metadata problems when you try to view the music on other devices.
The automatic backup for the HDX works well, although initial setup is a bit fiddly.
If this is really just a one-off process to provide an alternative to the HDX as server in future, it would be easier to access the HDX music folder via a computer and copy it to another drive. (Do this after you have converted everything to FLAC!!)
Once this is done, you can put everything on a NAS and run a UPnP server on it. The tried and tested options here are Synology or QNAP. Both have UPnP servers bundled with them which you might find adequate, or they can run more full featured server software such as Asset or Minimserver if you prefer.
Alternatively, if you music collection is not too large, just put it on a USB drive, connect that directly to your NDX2, and use its built in UPnP server instead.
The only thing to add to that relates to the ripper. Since getting an iMac with no CD drive, I’ve been using one of these.
I chose it after reading reviews and it’s been rock solid. I use dBPoweramp software on the iMac to control the ripping. When you first use the software you can get it to check the offset of the CD drive, which ensures it works properly.
The CD will rip to the computer, at which point you check the metadata and album art are to your satisfaction. You then copy it to the NAS. It’s best to have a folder for each artist, with the albums in subfolders. DBpoweramp will rip to flac with level 5 compression by default and there is nothing to be gained by ripping uncompressed. It won’t sound better and takes up lots more space.
Don’t forget to keep the NAS backed up. I have a Qnap with a little button on the front. I connect a USB hard drive and it will do a differential backup - ie only adding new files, and accounting for any other changes you’ve made, at the touch of the little button.
I cannot overemphasise how important good metadata is. It’s the way you search for music with the Naim app and having everything neat and tidy makes the whole experience so much more pleasant.
Please ask if there is anything else.
Regarding ripping CD’s, I use a Melco D100 ripper to rip to my Melco music library. This can also be used with a computer. It makes ripping to my Melco N50-S38 supremely simple - just pop in the CD, select a title from the list that displays, press ENTER and just wait for it to pop out. Done. I’m not sure I could be bothered faffing around with a computer, although I would if I had to I suppose.
The D100 is very expensive at more than £1K, so hardly the cheapest option. There are those who claim no sound quality advantage over a computer/cheap disc drive. Equally there are reviews and other anecdotal evidence that suggest that the rips are substantially better and more musical using a D100. If you’re a ‘it’s all just ones and zeros’ kind of guy (or girl) then you will reject any such notion of an improved rip. Much like those who claim that all CD transports sound identical.
I have no idea if the D100 does produce better rips becuase I’ve never done the comparison. Knowing what I know and what I’ve read from those who have done the comparison, I strongly suspect that it does, so this and the convenience justifies its purchase for me. It makes sense to me to not compromise the quality of rips in any way.
I would do a comparison between the computer/cheap drive, computer/D100 and Uniti Core options if possible, maybe via your dealer. The last thing you want is to rip your collection using a cheaper option and then discover that it actually would have sounded better if you had forked out the money after all.
@rj10000 did you manage to add your own music library to the Sonos using the app on a computer (rather than phone app)?