I use iTunes, as my collection was already in it for other uses. I think you are doing it better from the start using dbpower ripping software. If I didn’t need iTunes I would do that way as well. iTunes does seem to take a variety of file type now, so I have some 24/96 albums stored the same way which seems ok which I was surprised at to be honest.
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Yes, drag & drop, simplez
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And with a good, stable wifi network the ND5 XS2 works great too.
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No worries, there are no real downsides to this if the mesh delivers the bits fast enough, which is no problem.
There are options when you are bored:
If you feel like it, you can later try to put an “audiophile” switch and/or a different ethernet cable in the ethernet run from mesh box to the streamer. It may or may not make a difference.
And in the event that you have lots of multicast traffic (such as IPTV, VoIP, or home automation that is active on the network while you listen to music), you can try to isolate the run from the mesh box by adding a managed switch that does IGMP filtering. Advantage would be that the streamer does not have to deal with throwing out the multicast packets it is not interested in, lowering its processing load and hence noise emitted by these circuits.
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Thanks. I am actually using a supposedly high quality Chord Ethernet cable as opposed to a basic one from mesh box to streamer. I’ve also set it up so only my streamer, Mac and iPad are using the mesh network.
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You will be fine
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Thanks. Yes, to begin with I set up the streamer to access my iTunes. The only downsides to that were all my CDs in iTunes were imported at 320kbps and because of the way artwork is applied in iTunes there was no artwork on the Naim app. I assumed the SQ would be far better if I ripped using flac hence my quest to now rip all my CDs using that format. I used my iTunes mostly for on the move where 320kbps seemed well adequate. That’s an interesting question…will a flac file definitely outperform 320kbps in terms of SQ when playing back through a reasonable system i.e. my 282/250 combo using the ND5 XS2? I’m hoping so otherwise I’m wasting a whole lot of time ripping 2000CDs!
Flac definitely out performs the 320kbps, so the way to go. iTunes wont read flac though. Although you can use lossless m4a files that iTunes can read, but then that will take up more space on your iPhone, so I tend to rip in both flac for Naim stuff and mp3 for iTunes. Dont forget to backup (time machine) your rips
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I have used a similar set-up for over four years and it works brilliantly. I have a dedicated Windows 10 PC and 2TB WD Elements external hard-drive with Asset and Serviio installed on the PC. It runs 24/7/365 as does my network. My network is wired. No need for a NAS.
Remember to buy a second hard-drive for backup - mine is 4TB WD Elements (cost £85).
A 4TB hard-drive will easily hold 2000 lossless flac rips.
I found the quality of the ripped CDs using dBpoweramp into flac better than the original. Maybe because you are reading the digital source file when ripping not the extracted analogue.
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Sound advice.
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You are using the CD drive to read a computer file and, as suggested, dBpoweramp will double check the file read and also compare it via a checksum with the AccurateRip database for content accuracy. Perfectly ripped files.
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A couple of things, if you have settings right for iTunes it imports the full file, not a reduced bit rate. Secondly, if you import artwork instead of relying on iTunes artwork it will appear in the Naim app using Asset. I have some purchased iTunes albums and whilst they lack the realism and impact of a 16/44 file it that bad, in-fact it is better than it has any right or be.
Many thanks indeed. I’m afraid the horse has already bolted on the bit rate. My iTunes library has all songs already imported at 320kbps. My Mac has limited storage. There’s no way I’d get 2000 CDs on there in lossless. Yes, I worked out that by actually downloading artwork it shows on the Naim app. Such an arduous task to do that for every album. I was to begin with when I first got the streamer just streaming my iTunes library and have to admit I was surprised at how good a 320kbps file sounded. Has anyone out there compared a flac lossless file to a 320kbps file?
Of course I’m aware that the Naim streamer really comes into its own when I’m streaming from a music provider such as Tidal but once my free trial expires I’m reluctant to spend £15 per month when I’ve got 2000 CDs laying around.
Thanks again for the response and advice my friend.
Naim streamers were originally developed for local streaming from a NAS, long before Tidal arrived, and that certainly isn’t second best in terms of sound quality. I do think that if you’re going to use it with a local library, it needs to be lossless, so you may want to rip those CDs anyway to get the best from it.
As an alternative, I would consider a Qobuz subscription, which will save you all the hassle (and cost) of storing, serving, editing and backing up a local library. It will give you a larger music library than you will ever have time to listen to, all of it lossless, and quite a lot of it in higher res. 24 bit format too.
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I have to admit I wouldn’t want to re rip 2000 cds either, I did mine over a long period of time. But I have only had to manually add artwork recently. I seem to remember when I started out 5 years ago I had Minimserver on the Mac and also a ‘script’ added to iTunes that seemed to embed the artwork automatically. It doesn’t seem to work now iTunes is Apple Music, which is why as I add the odd album to my 1000cd collection doing it manually isn’t too bad.
The reason I went over to the NAS was space, I wasn’t expecting any SQ improvements, that was a pleasant surprise.
I don’t use Tidal either as I have 2000LPs as well and there are plenty of free streaming stations to listen to.
Once you get a system going for ripping and sorting artwork it will get quicker and easier. Perhaps just use Tidal until you have ripped everything?
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Yes. It’s a daunting task but I like the idea of having MY CD collection at the touch of a button. With 2000 CDs and 1000 vinyl albums I’m not short of music. And I like to scan through MY collection and spot something I haven’t listened to in a while. With Quobuz and Tidal, yes, there’s far more choice but I’m unlikely to randomly spot a rare CD I’ve got. So once I’ve ripped my CD collection, is it worth subscribing to a streaming service where I may or may not discover new artists. Don’t get me wrong, if I didn’t own such a collection I would definitely subscribe to a good quality streaming service. I could of course simply not rip any CDs and just use a streaming service but like I say, I like to browse my own collection. Thanks for taking the time to reply. On another note, I find iTunes ability to find album art pretty poor overall. I have quite a few ‘popular’ CDs on iTunes where it’s unable to find artwork. I decided to purchase PerfectTUNES when I purchased dBPoweramp and I deleted ALL apple artwork then got PerfectTUNES to scan my collection and it made a far better job!
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When I ripped my CD’s back in 2014, I ripped about 300 of my most popular albums over a weekend using a desktop DVD drive loading directly into the NAS, yes I had to trust dBpoweramp to get most of it right & that proved to be the case. The remainder of the collection followed over the next weeks, but getting the favourites done first meant I was up & running & pressure off.
I think you have just explained the reason you are hearing a different quality of sound … 320kbps will not sound the same as the original CD
Unfortunately this is not reversable … so I would suggest thinking long and hard about ripping all 2000 CD’s in this format
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I’m ripping them to flac onto separate hard drive. Apologies for not making that clear in my earlier posts. Was only commenting on iTunes because when I first purchased the streamer I set it up to stream my iTunes but only did that for a day or so just getting used to how it works. My original question was comparing streamer playing a flac file vs CDX2 with XPS. Thanks for taking the time to comment though. Appreciated.
Hi. Thanks for comments. Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by maybe I’m reading the digital source file as opposed to the extracted analogue? I’m ripping the cd to flac, storing it on my hard drive and streaming it through my HiFi? As I say, sorry if I don’t quite grasp what you mean.