I used to have my music library stored on a Synology NAS and used Asset as a server which worked perfectly except that the four-drive NAS was noisy. I’ve now moved to a Ugreen SSD based NAS (DXP480T) which is damn near silent - ideal you might think. However Ugreen is Linux based and Asset is therefore not an option as a server. Does anyone have any experience of Linux-based servers? I’m not exactly finding Linux that user friendly - tried Jellyfin but find while the music files are stored on the NAS, either the server or my NDX2 isn’t picking them up correctly - I have albums missing tracks or duplicating tracks.
Very good, I hope it works. If not, Minimserver has a version for Linux. Failing all that I would run Asset on a Raspberry Pi pointing it at the music on your server. Good luck!
Have you tried the DLNA app that comes with the Ugreen NAS? Doesn’t have the level of control that Asset has, but seems to work reliably for me. I do manage the metadata on my MacBook before moving the files to the NAS, though.
Thanks Vogit. I do have the DNLA set to on, and when you navigate through folders, all the artists / albums & tracks are there, however the tracks for each album are listed in alphabetical order.
I organise the music in iTunes before moving to the NAS, so the file names for each track begin with the track number as well as been set in metadata. I get them in the right order in the NF app. It gets multi disc albums wrong, though, on this scheme: it lists 2-01 as the next track after 1-01.
And if you go QNAP you get the benefit of a constantly updated OS, and the ability to install all 3rd party packages like Asset UPNP. I recommend Minimserver for best sound quality though.
If you are a Classical music listener and would like a more complex library file & search system, Minimserver is best. If you are Rock, Pop, Folk, or just need simple Classic file search, then Asset is the more useful UPnP software.
There is NO difference in sound quality.
Hi @andybob …… re SQ between UPnP software.
MinimServer and Asset UPnP both are media servers that stream over the network without altering any digital data.
However some folk do report perceived differences in sound quality. I suspect this could be down to system loading on the hardware/firmware when running transcoding and other processing loads.
This will possibly vary because of different brands and capacities of the individual equipment, MinimServer uses a separate Java file to run whereas Asset uses native C++.
How each specific NAS or network player brand and model handles these loads could cause slight variations in the final sonic presentation.
But bottom line, any difference is minimal, variable, brand specific and frankly not worth loosing sleep over.
Yes the first gen streamers from Naim had deterministic SQ differences from different upnp servers. This was addressed in subsequent generations with all other things being equal.