I really find it hard to imagine how … I remember when I started my career it was before the web, the internet had only a few dedicated access sites, and a 9.6kbaud X25 link cost several tens of thousands of pounds a year as a rental… accessing and posting information and research was largely physically centred around libraries of knowledge… compared to how it is now it was so restrictive, isolating and limiting, and the pre web internet data access tools like Gopher and Kermit were a PITA unless you knew clearly what you wanted to fetch!
Ubiquotius internet and the web has been truly liberating.
Yes it also makes it easier to do the more trivial things in life like online social media etc… but hey at least that is a choice… do I lament the death of the fanzine… (early social media conducted by physical mail common in the 70s and early 80s)… yes… but a minor cost to pay.
9.6k, eh? Luxury. When I started we were at 110 baud. Then the amazing 300 baud, and eventually 75/1200 (IIRC). When they got to 2400 they said that was about it, and at 4800 that we could never get faster than that. Then came 9.6 followed by 14.4. Heady days.
I’ve been running a 4 bay TS-453 pro Qnap with MinimServer in my system for the last 3/4 years. But I do find I’m listening to streaming (Tidal and Amazon HD) more often these days. I’ve been contemplating getting a dedicated audio server (with linear PS?) but am not sure how big of a SQ improvement I would get. From the look on this tread. Some are happy with a NAS while other end up spending thousands on dedicated servers. I’ve not found consensus to go with either one or the other.
Can’t you try at dealer place?
Yes, I guess I could try and arrange some sort of a demo at a dealers.
I saw your system on systems pics. You have something like a superuniti? If it’s yes, not sure that you will hear a real upgrade in a fancy nas vs common nas. Because with higher resolving systems the differences are not always night and day.
Perhaps better spend 2k elsewhere. Just a personal feeling.
ah so what you’re saying is that the SuperUniti is not a high enough system to show up sound quality differences in the server?
oh, and yes I have a SuperUniti with Kudos X2 speakers.
Are you streaming Tidal natively or through Minim? Just want to be sure b/c the Tidal through Minim is sublime compared to native.
And then there’s the bubble soft server that can be used to stream Radio Paradise FLAC which is also sublime compared to native (320k).
I’ve spent quite a bit of time setting up and tweaking my QNAP but it’s been worth the effort. I don’t know of an alternative way to manage a significant library size that is easier or has better SQ.
I’m streaming natively through the Naim app. Are you suggesting I stream it to the NAS first and then use BubbleUPnP app to send it to. The SuperUniti?
I don’t think there is a bubble app for iOS devices. Is there something else I could use?
You need to run BubbleUPnP server on a computer or NAS, and use a third party app such as Kazoo or Lumin to control it from an iPhone.
Ahh… yes, I was talking fixed PSS/JANET connection to the early internet… not acoustic modem connection pre internet, ie when we used ARPANet/EPSS … when one typically connected to the local, or not so local main frame usually at a University/polytechnic or similar via a serial link over the PSTN . … because if so… although this was when I was at secondary school, we also had a 110/300 baud connection acoustic coupled with our teletype access connected to a PDP 11 shared computer some 20 miles away.
I used to have a Superuniti with Kudos X2s, and because I am lazy, I bought a Unitiserve. It was my first Naim streamer, and a move away from a Mac which I found did not make a very good ripper/digital source. I still have the US, seven years later, and I have no regrets about buying it. On the other hand, I would say that for the money, there are better ways to improve the sound quality of your system than buying a Unitiserve.
Okay, I misspoke. The Minim Server I installed on my QNAP is for streaming RP FLAC (and any radio stations). I have my radio stations saved in a playlist (.m3u) file that I access through the Naim App. And the Bubble Server I installed on my QNAP is for streaming Tidal which I control through the Kazoo app. I’m on all Mac and iOS devices here.
There’s a couple threads here that detail how to do this.
Edit - Here’s the RP FLAC file thread. Pay attention to Adrian_P’s posts.
Minim Server is for streaming your CD rips and downloads from your NAS.
Bubble is used for streaming Tidal/Qobuz.
ElMarko, as Guinnless says, MinimServer is a UPnP server and is mainly used to stream CD rips from your NAS to your UPnP renderer (usually a Naim streamer in this case). An additional benefit of MinimServer is the MinimStreamer addon which can be used to play and record network radio streams and transcode both network streams and locally-stored files.
Thanks I corrected my follow up. I only use Minim to stream radio stations as I prefer Asset for my CD rips.
I know you use Roon, which brings together what’s on your NAS, your commercial streaming service, and any other web based files into one library.
But when you say you stream everything from the cloud and you have virtualized your music library - do you mean you have actually transferred your own files to a cloud based server and you play them across the web?
Or that you stream Qobuz (and Tidal)?
Or both?
I am not sure but you can try of course.
How about an Innuous?
Hi Jim, I mean I have my original recordings which I physically own and have the perpetual rights to listen to . but I also now extend that library by items I have added to my library that I access via the cloud using one or more subscriptions (Qobuz, ApplevMusic etc). Roon is an example of an aggregator which allows this with Qobuz… I have moved away from the old school/traditional view that I physically need to own my collection… now my collection is a collection or recordings I value and enjoy… the fact I use a subscription to access some of them is irrelevant… I know I can access them… and I ultimately have a choice of physically procuring them should I need to/wish to… I guess it’s a mindset thing… but as I spent most of my career pioneering on demand services to do exactly this … i find it liberating and immensely satisfying to be able to do now it as a normal consumer.