I have noticed that the Unitiserve allows Mp3 Rips. Is this a stand alone option or can it be in coexistance with WAV rips. I also have a sonos system which cannot find WAV files and my wife uses itunes.
If the Unitiserve allows both type of files together, does this mean it will create the Mp3 files of already ripped WAV files?
Also , my 2TB hard-drive is full and if I create these additional Mp3 files (ie using additional space) will the Unitiserve automatically export the excess existing files to my connected Synology NAS?
Thedon59
Yes, the MP3 library exists alongside the WAV library. The Unitiserve will create an MP3 version, but your WAV files will still be available. Note that it will take a very long time to encode to MP3 if you have 2 TB worth of music (days). If your hard drive is full, then you won’t have any space to create the new files. But you can nominate another Music Store on your NAS to store these (but you will still need more space for this). Hope that helps.
In fact, the Unitiserve will only create a ‘paralell library’ of MP3s in addition to the main WAV library. You cannot only have MP3s.
An alternative might be to convert your WAVs to FLAC. This will give you a significant saving in file size so that the internal drive in the US might be enough for your needs, at least for now. You will also get metadata that is usable if you use the music on non-Naim storage. I wonder if this is why you can’t see the files on Sonos, which should be able to use WAVs.
Thanks fps1k
I have already attached a 12TB Synology NAS for my overspill of music. What I’m not sure about is whether the US 2TB (currently full) will transfer across the files containing the WAV and the MP3 together or will create the MP3 files only on the Synology NAS. I don’t want to lose any of the files in the process so need to understand how the US does this.
Thanks for your help!!!
Hi ChrisSU.
I am happy to use both WAV and MP3 files. I believe the Sonos uses a much lower bit rate WAV than the Naim US WAV files. I have just added a 12TB Synology NAS to solve the storage space issues, so hopefully this will help.
Do you know how the overspill will deal with the added MP3s when I select the MP3 option on the US.
Does the US transfer the WAV file including the MP3 over to the Synology as if the MP3 vesion of the WAV file is kept in the same file then US will not be able to hold all the existing composite files due the the 2TB capacity??? Don’t want to lose any of my valuable music files!!!
Thanks for your help! Much Appreciated!!!
Hi, the Unitiserve WAV rips are standard 16/44.1 CD rips, so I would be very surprised if the Sonos would be unable to play them. I would suspect that the non-standard way the US stores metadata is the issue. Also, I believe Sonos use their own non-standard proprietary version of UPnP, so perhaps this doesn’t help?
The MP3s on the Unitiserve are stored in a separate sub-folder from the main library, but still within the Music folder. The intention was that for portable players with limited storage, you could make copies of the MP3s if the WAVs (or FLACs) were too large, although storage capacity is less of an issue on most devices these days.
If you want to use the Synology for additional storage rather than backup, you can create a second Music Store on it, and any further CD rips will be put there. You can have multiple Music Stores in different locations on your network, the US will combine them and present them as a single library.
As I mentioned before, I would convert your main library from WAV to FLAC rather than messing around with low quality MP3s. You will save lots of storage space, and any issues caused by the way Naim WAV rips store metadata will disappear.
Hi Chris, thanks for that. My wife uses itunes for her phone would FLAC files play on itunes?
In the directory structure of the UServe’s “Store” there is an LQ folder where it puts the MP3 rips. I have no idea what’ll happen if your Store is full; I suspect it won’t do the conversion.
I take it that the storage on the nas is set up as a “Share,” and not another Store? That being the case…I’m just guessing that it won’t do the conversion directly into a Share. It’s standard operation is to put them in the LQ folder in the Store.
You won’t lose the WAV files, at least that’s not how its supposed to work; you just end up with MP3 copies in the LQ folder.
I haven’t checked recently, but as far as I’m aware Apple’s own apps still don’t play FLAC. So you would still need to convert the FLACs to a compatible format, which is simple enough if you can be bothered, or use a different music player on your wife’s phone.
If she is happy with the sound quality of the Unitiserve MP3s, maybe it’s easier to continue using them, but personally I would still convert your main library to FLAC for space saving and metadata versatility.
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