Urgent question for new NDX setup!

Hi guys,

I just got home with a rather lovely Naim NDX which is replacing a Squeezebox Touch. I was using Logitech Media server running on a Readynas Duo NAS.

All my music files are stored on the NAS in a FLAC folder of CD rips with a few odds and sods in an MP3 folder (mostly my daughter’s itunes stuff).

I have two Readynas devices - NAS 1 which is the Readynas with my music and NAS 2 which is a later generation Readynas 212 used to store photos and video/films

Cabling is ethernet direct into the NDX from the router.

The NDX has just fired up for the first time in my ownership and has found 3 options for me to connect to:

  1. Logitech Media Server on NAS 1
  2. NAS 1 Readynas Duo
  3. NAS 2 Readynas 212

I am unclear whether to connect to the Logitech Media Server on NAS 1 or the NAS 1 Readynas Duo’s native server?

I’d appreciate any advice/recommendations as I suspect a lot of you have moved from a Squeezebox to a Naim streamer!

I’m currently reluctant to select one or other until I know which is best. Presumably if I select the Logitech Media server option this means I can still use Logitech media server to provide playlists to the Naim? Does that mean option 1 is my best bet? Is there any quality difference to either?

Grateful for any advice as most certainly not an expert in this stuff!!

Thanks,

Jonathan (who is insanely excited as this is my first new Naim acquisition in 20-21 years!!)

Some people seem to like LMS, which is fair enough, but having tried it on a Synology NAS and a Mac, I found it clunky and unreliable with a very dated feel to it. If you can get it to work to your liking, though, you may disagree.
Have you tried running one of the more popular music servers such as Minimserver or Asset? I’m not sure if they can run on a ReadyNas, but it might be worth finding out.
Good luck, enjoy your NDX.

Looks like you have some old stuff still attached, maybe some that needs to be replaced.
What media server software is installed on the music ReadyNAS ? & what control point (iOS or Android) app are you using. ? I assume it’s all LMS.
All you need is one of the usual media server software programs such as Minimserver, Asset or Twonky installed on just the music NAS. The Naim app on the control point device will see only that installed media server program on the music NAS.

Answering your specific worry about selecting the wrong server, don’t worry you can navigate back and choose any other one that is offered any time. So just go ahead and select whichever you like!

Best

David

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Thanks everyone for all your help so far, I’m happy to report that the NDX found my Logitech Squeezebox server and connected with no problems. I have to say both that part and linking to the Naim ipad app were superbly stress free! The whole thing (compared to Squeezebox) so far has been amazingly slick!

Furthermore, the NDX itself is just staggeringly good!! I knew within a frection of a second when I played it for the first time that it is hugely transparent. I was expecting it to be good, great even - but this is an order of magnitude bigger difference than I even dared hope for. The Squeezebox Touch is hailed as a 5 star streamer in all the magazines and proclaimed a giant killer but it doesn’t come anywhere near the NDX. Frankly it sounds like my SBL’s have been covered in cotton wool for the past 10 years and now I have taken it off!!

The feeling of much greater transparency than any of my other sources is the huge leap. It makes the Naim CDi seem veiled and ponderous too unfortunately. The Gyrodec puts up more of a fight and there are some pieces of music where I think it might be a draw, but overall the NDX just sounds like what it is - the best source in the house in terms of information retrieval, dynamics, clarity, resolution, PRAT, imaging, soundstaging, power and drive.

If you’re in the position I was, i.e. you’ve dipped a toe in the water with something like a Squeezebox to try streaming then you absolutely have to hear what a truly top flight streamer is capable of. I’m left cursing the fact that I didn’t buy this thing years ago and that I have missed ten years of superlative musical enjoyment!

One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind…

Jonathan

2 Likes

Glad to hear your NDX is performing well. Used prices have dropped substantially since the replacement NDX2 arrived, making it something of a bargain on the used market at the moment.
If LMS is working on your NAS and you’re happy with the browsing options it gives you via the Naim app, I don’t think there’s any need to change it.

Thanks Chris - yes it seems to be fine. You’re so right, I could only jump in now because of that price drop and I think in light of the performance on offer I am very glad I did!! I always felt that digital was a great leveller and that the law of diminishing returns kicked in much sooner than it did with amplifiers or turntables but now I’m not so sure. I really wasn’t expecting this level of improvement in transparency in particular. The NDX is an astonishingly musical device.

Now all I need to do is to figure out how to make the NDX read my existing playlist files which were authored on Winamp and are stored as M3U files in a folder called ‘playlists’ on the NAS - any tips appreciated!

J

There are two ways to use playlists. One is to put them on the server and manage them from there. Then they can be viewed and played through the UPnP input on the Naim app. You would need to see if there is a way to do this on in LMS, or perhaps try a different server on your NAS that can do it.
The other way is to use the Naim app playlist function, which stores the lists on the app, but I think you would have to create them again from scratch to do this.

Congratulations on your move to NDX. I ran SBT into the Naim DAC/555 for a couple of years and always found it excellent. In fact, to my ears, it was the equal of the NDX, into nDAC; but it was not as complete a package, and certainly no longer receiving commercial support — the real pity. I miss it, but am glad Naim is in the breach. Not selling my NDX-FM, given current options.

Nick

Still having lots of fun here with the NDX and have been playing lots of music!

I’ve also been reading around the whole subject of streaming while doing so and am contemplating taking out a Tidal subscription to widen my listening choices. To be honest I have a sizeable vinyl, CD and DVD/Bluray collection and it’s reaching the point where I don’t want to keep filling the walls with music and films!! I’m also curious about Roon - mainly because of its ability to provide artist background info and also to suggest similar artists who may be of interest. While the NDX isn’t Roon-ready it seems it may be possible to still use it.

I have a powerful Alienware gaming desktop behind the sofa in the listening room which is hardwired via ethernet into the main router. Presumably I could install Roon core on this.
The NDX is located in the main listening room too - also hardwired via ethernet to the same router.
Music is stored on an old SPARC powered netgear Readynas which doesn’t have the power to run Roon hence using the Alienware. This too is hardwired into the main router.

If I decide to buy a Roon ready device (such as a Google Chromecast) and connect it by optical to the NDX then presumably that will work, but the question is how much the sound of the NDX will be degraded by experimenting with Roon and listening in this way as opposed to using it as I am now direct to the Readynas/hub.

For what it’s worth so far my use of streaming has been limited to cd rips on my local nas and internet radio but I quite like the idea of trying Roon combined with tidal as a way to experience new artists.

Any views?

Jonathan

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