I thought, that all is fine now and I reached my personal sweet spot system…
HDX (server only) → Phoenix Net → ND555/52/SC/52/SBL.
Sadly HDX got faulty 3 weeks ago and was fixed shortly by naim - new HDD and all fine for a short time.
Today it got stuck again - same error. Suddenly stuck in “please wait”. He took a long time to shut down and restart works … but is seems to take a bit longer as usual - maybe that is only in my mind.
I am really sad, as I preferred the HDX over a Melco N10 - liked its overall rough sound better, Tham the more resolving but a bit less punchy Melco (my eras and system)
What now - I am stuck
Repairing HDX again (must be no cost, but this might take long and does it help?)
Buy a Core instead of HDX? Does it have the same sound signature - read that some preferred the serve over the core
Transfer all to NAS ? (HDX is slightly better sounding than my NAS iirc)
Try Melco M1ZH → but does the Melco have the same signature as the N10?
Try Innocuous Zenith Mk3?
This is new - I always had the fallback option, if an upgrade was not in my liking… but now?
I loved my HDX so I feel your pain, but given how ancient they are (in computer terms), I wonder if moving on might be sensible. Fixing it again surely won’t be the last time you need to do that.
I’d be inclined to go for a Core if you don’t like what the melcos do.
Sure - there is no doubt that there is warranty. But as I am in Germany the repair could take a lot of time (so be it) - and as posted before, could this be not the last time.
Very sad for me.
The only thing, which gives me comfort is thinking that @NeilS might have the chance to do TLC on my HDX.
I will look what the HDX is doing and how long he will last - and the time he lasts I can compare other Servers (Core, Melco, Innuos…) … or send the HDX in again and no comparing…
Do you have the automatic backup running on your HDX? It works well, and just needs a £250 Synology or QNAP NAS to back up to. If you run the server on this device you have continued access to your music when the HDX is either temporarily or permanently out of action.
Yes - all is in Backup on Synology - and Backup was done a few days ago! Good point!
Dumb question…
Can I connect the Synology directly to the PN? I can move the Synology in the other room and connect it via AQ cinnamon directly to PN as done with the HDX before.
You can connect the Synology to your network however and wherever you like. (I’m not familiar with the PN, it should work through that if it’s a functioning network switch.) Turn on the UPnP server on the NAS, give it access to the backup folder, and your streamer should automatically find the music there and play it.
It was fixed in Germany and the guy who has done it very well has left, so I assume it has to go somewhere else, hopefully to the uk
But currently it is running again and we all know how it is with no reproducible errors. If at the bench at the factory it will work fine and no error will occur… sometimes it is better when it is all dead.
I timed its start up time - 3 min 15 sec. It’s not 10 min as it was with first fault, but still too long I think. No good sign…
I’m not really clued up on the network aspect of things, but isn’t it possible that, having been away for repair, on its return, your HDX is having trouble connecting to your network?
I seem to remember that the “Please Wait” message could sometimes mean problems in this area.
Maybe one of our network-savvy forum members might care to comment?
No - it has been working totally fine for 2 weeks! All perfect - and suddenly it crashed remaining in please wait status. Same crush as before - resulting in the service:
Then you probably already know this too, but!..convert the WAVs to FLAC on your HDX. Minimserver will then work fine with the backup files. If you find that the streamer sounds better with WAV then Minimserver can transcode FLAC to WAV on playback so your streamer will still get WAVs.
You should, in any case, use FLAC storage if you expect to move to a different server to replace the HDX or you will run into the same problem then.
When I stopped using my HDX as a player, I found the synology NAS actually sounded better as a server, contrary to what I was expecting. Give it a try.
My first try was a bit unfair as hdx is on cinnamon cable and the synology is going through the router.
Will look for a 8 m cinnamon and connect the synology directly to the switch
If you set Minimserver to transcode on playback your streamer still gets WAV, so there is no downside to doing this. Just don’t do the conversion outside of the HDX, or it won’t work.
Sorry - i wrote it a bit misleading.
As within the hdx, I have a software on my Mac which converts wav to flac in a good way. If I do it with the hdx, the rips stored as wav are gone (inside the MQ folder, where the ripped music is stored)
