I may be wrong, or out of date as it comes from very early notes. Best to confirm from Naim. I think the Core has a 100,000 limit, and that’s probably not really so much as a limit but just what Naim can reliably guarantee.
I have tried both sockets with the same results.
Thank you Richard and everyone else for your help. I will probably try reformatting the USB stick then start all over again.
I was just about to suggest that.
It worked! After formatting the USB stick, all of the albums are now indexed through the server input.
It seems it was a problem with the USB stick. I had not formatted it when I took it out of the box.
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I don’t always format my usb disks when I first get them but I suppose one should. I have heard that spyware can be hidden on some disks so it’s probably better to be safe than sorry, although one should be able to trust a big name vendor.
I have been listening to music for a day now through the USB stick. It sounds great. I added an AQ Jitterbug between the USB stick and my NDX2.
The Jitterbug does improve the sound slightly, by making it clearer. I’d estimate a 4-5% improvement.
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Really? That’s quite interesting. I used it at the very beginning and thought it made the sound worse.
That’s one of the reasons why I decided to stream my music with JRiver. No regrets since then, at least it works pretty well for me.
I don’t know about NDX2, but at least the Uniti Atom has a limit with 20.000 Files. Then, I ran into serious problems with diacritics – indexing seemed to stop when running into Umlaute or something like that. I ended up in transfering only the files I needed, so that I could check and keep it under control. Unfortunately, it is not all good with copy & paste …
Naim say 100,000 for the NDX2, but either way Daniel’s 600 album hard drive should be well under the limit, so it doesn’t explain his issue.
As the title is “USB stick into Naim streamer VS uPnp streamer” and the USB part has been well-covered, let me address the UPnP Server part.
When I set-up my local server over 4 years ago I used both Asset and Serviio server software and both are in use today. I have 23,000 tracks and almost 1tb of data. The Asset and Serviio server software sits on an old but dedicated untouched Windows PC which runs 24/7/365. It can be accessed from all points/devices on the network unlike a USB. The server software maintains the indexing and presentation to the streamers over UPnP - that is its job.
In my case any new music is ripped/downloaded on another PC and added to the local server across the network.
I only ever thought that the USB was for “testing” etc.
You have an elegant and convenient solution. However for sound quality, it’s not optimal, because PC are noisy things, even if you use it only as a Nas.
I found that same files sound better on an usb stick fitted in my Nds than same files streamed from my PC. And even still better when streamed from my Melco.
However with 11 TB, it’s complicated. An audiophile Nas with that capacity, like a Melco or Innuos, would cost much much more.
I have not noticed any noise issues whatsoever. You are transferring a file. And the PC server is hidden away so there is no physical noise either.
Surely this is how most people run their streaming systems not off a USB.
It’s not a noise you can listen to. NAS and PC are noisy, the reason of audiophile Nas and Servers as Melco, Innuos, Taiko, Antipodes…
It’s like the noise of cheap SMPS, cheap powerblocks, cheap power cords… Noisy for optimal sound, but you don’t hear it physically.
To throw another consideration into the mix…
- USB Stick is zero energy cost, zero carbon footprint
- Streamer route requires devices consuming electricity 24x7 (e.g. PC/NAS/RPie/Switch etc)
Of course you could rightly argue that we all leave our Naim devices on 24x7. As an offset we can choose to get Green energy, but even green energy production has a carbon footprint.
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If I can’t hear it then I am not going to worry about it.
I am sure we all would like better equipment, power regenerators, mega-buck ethernet cables, speaker cables that cost more of a fortune, DACs, Melcos, Roon, etc.
My “NAS” is doing a super job, reliable, the server software is beneficial, multi-room, NAS playlists, NAS radio, data is easy to update and to back-up, and I have never in four years ever thought that my “NAS” was an issue in my audio chain, and in fact quite the reverse it is a major benefit.
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ahhhh … Headline: Naim destroys the planet
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I didn’t said that it’s an issue. Just not optimal. But you can enjoy your music, the why.
As this thread is about comparing USB stick vs UPNP server, essentially for sound quality matter, my response towards a PC used as a Nas was in the topic. For my experience, and a lot elsewhere, it’s the worst in terms of optimal sound.
Sorry to say, even if you can easily enjoy your music with that way. And you have no absolute necessity to upgrade something neither.
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I appreciate your comparison.
When I first consulted Naim over the maximum number of files that an ND555 can index on a USB drive I was told the upper limit is approximately 10,000, yet when I looked more recently at the figure shown on the support page for the ND555, it shows 100,000. So I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. I did point out the discrepancy to the customer support guys at Naim a while back but I see that it’s still showing 100,000. Perhaps Richard could establish the correct figure.
I’m using a Melco E100 drive with a Plixir LPS, connected via an AQ Carbon USB cable to the rear USB socket on the ND555. Whenever I add or delete files to the E100, I make sure the total number of files remains within the 10,000 limit. Had no problems so far, although it does take a while to index the contents.