audio-talk

Hi

my old, big fat Pentium PC vortexbox finally died this weekend. So its time to build a new sleek version.

Any hardware suggestions for a nice Audio/Video server that will run VB and I can use with my Squeezebox set up ?

Thanks all.
Regards
Pete

Does it have to run Vortexbox?
I use one of these http://www.zyxel.com/uk/en/products_ser ... .shtml?t=p and it doesn't miss a beat.

Pros - Costs next to sod all to run. Has no problems delivering 24/192 flac files to my SBT/EDO/DAC combo. Easy administration from your favourite web browser, and manufacturer has a number of supported apps (LMS is one of them).

Cons - Doesn't do heavy lifting stuff - transcoding and resampling on the fly are no go areas.
If you have a mix of players then you might find this problematic.

Thanks Chris

is there much involved in configuring it for squeezebox ( I have two SB
players ) ?

cheers
Pete

Chris, how do you rip to the NAS. The Vortbox idea always struck me as a neat all in one solution especially if the PC you are using had an inbuilt CD...

I have the 2 bay version (NSA325) on Chris' recommendation of the NSA310. I have it setup as RAID 1, and as Chris says it costs little to run and hasn't fallen over yet.

Zyxel provide a number of utilities, of which Squeezecenter is one, so you are limited to whatever version they're supporting. But for me I have no interest to tinker, and it just works.

I put two 2TB disks in as they were on a fiver more than the 1TB version so there's loads of storage for all of our files

looks like a good option - i too wondered how to rip CDs as there is no drive.
presumably have to be ripped and files transferred over network ?

what disks would you recommend ? ideally i wanted a very quiet box to have in the lounge but could site the nas elsewhere.

Rgds
Pete

When I rip CDs I point the rips directly at the NAS Artist\Album\*.* structure.
The NAS is readily seen on my network, and is easily addressed from both Windows Explorer and Web browsers.

After ripping a quick tidy up with MP3Tag, add some artwork, and it's done.

If you want to rip to another location and then cut & paste across the network then that works too.

Thanks

I think I understand ....you are ripping on a windows networked machine and saving files directly to the NAS location in correct path structure.

I think I will probably go down this route too - looks good and cost effective way to use my SB devices reliably without needing a Vortexbox set up.

Cheers
Pete

Which SB devices are you using Pete?
My first Squeezebox was the SB3 (nee Classic), and when I got a SB Touch I moved the SB3 from the system downstairs into the back bedroom.

I found issues playing material above 24/48000 on the SB3 (it can only handle material up to 24/48000), because the NSA310 version of LMS does not transcode or resample.
At this point I was running LMS on a desktop computer, because of the transcoding issues.
The cure was a second SB Touch, and I've been running LMS on the NSA310 for 3 or 4 years now.

As a side note - the Zyxel NAS devices can also run as a DLNA server, so you should be easily able to stream video content too.

PeteC wrote:what disks would you recommend ? ideally i wanted a very quiet box to have in the lounge but could site the nas elsewhere.

Make sure you get disks intended for nas usage as they're built for constant use, rather than regular disks which aren't and are likely to fail sooner. That's what I was told anyway. The price difference was minimal IIRC. I can't remember for sure but I think I have WD Red disks.

The nas isn't noisy but it does have a fan so you might hear it in a quiet room.

Simon, there's no such distinction on HDDs!

I run WD greens in my NAS, the difference being lower spindle speed vs the Red and Blacks. This not only saves more power, it may also provide greater reliability as the drive carriers in the Zyxel are not the most rigid and high RPM drives may cause issues over time...

I asked about the ripping as TBH I find it a slight PIA to rip over my home network, this is from a Mac Mini wired to the Zyxel, I'm used to my old HP mini XP box which was nice 'n' quick. Plus the lack of transcoding grates a bit as I use a heavily modded SB2 and a standard on in the office and sometimes I need it.

I think I may try and convert my old HP XP box to a Vortbox machine and see how it compares...

Neal wrote:Simon, there's no such distinction on HDDs!

Actually I'll take that back, there is, but its more of a marketing / optional feature set rather than any hardware design differences on the core part of the disk. The Red is an excellent drive and does perform better than the Green in benchmark tests, however, in a domestic single or dual NAS enclosure the differences are probably meaningless.....the warranty period may be more of an influencing / determining factor!

I have never had a server HDD fail, consumer drives fail me regularly in 3-5 years. I have had various server configurations running at home since 2002. Always at least RAID1. That and backups kept the losses when a drive died minimal.

I would spend the extra money. There are discussions about "slow drives" and sound quality if you don't have a system that plays entirely from RAM.

Neal wrote:

Neal wrote:Simon, there's no such distinction on HDDs!

Actually I'll take that back, there is, but its more of a marketing / optional feature set rather than any hardware design differences on the core part of the disk. The Red is an excellent drive and does perform better than the Green in benchmark tests, however, in a domestic single or dual NAS enclosure the differences are probably meaningless.....the warranty period may be more of an influencing / determining factor!

Very informative stuff ......thanks...


I am using a SB Duet at moment ( receiver and controller ) but tend to use iphone apps ( ipeng and Squeeze ) to control rather than the Duet Controller.
The present set up in the living room is the SB receiver into my 6EM7/El34 SE amp, but I want a second SB ( pref Touch to replace the current SB ) and move the existing SB rec into the Kitchen which is a Gainclone set up.

I am actively hunting for an SB Touch but haven't been able to bag any of the recent ones on ebay so far - still trying.

One question - is it possible to hook up a removable CD drive to the Zyxel NAS and rip straight to it ?

Cheers
Pete

Neal wrote:

Neal wrote:Simon, there's no such distinction on HDDs!

Actually I'll take that back, there is, but its more of a marketing / optional feature set rather than any hardware design differences on the core part of the disk.

Interesting. This is the advice I got from ebuyer's Business Solutions Manager, but I may have read too much in to it, i.e. most HDDs are okay!

"In terms of the disks themselves I'd stay away from anything without a 24/7 NAS rating as using these tends to lead to HDD failures. WD Reds are an ideal choice."