can using a NAS device affect sound quality?

[admin_exported]

Hi there

Looking for some help answering the above question - any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've got Itunes on our PC but since I started burning my CDs on there...... guess what its full to bursting point!!

My music set up is this;

Itunes on PC streamed to AE linked to AVI ADM9.1s and MJAcoustics PRO 50. Itouch for remote.

I love the sound and convenience and don't want to change a thing - other than music storage

We use a PC and a Laptop in our house and occasionally it can be annoying not being able to access a document on the PC whilst the missus is on it. So a shared data store (NAS) seems like a good idea. I can then access any docs if I'm on the PC or the laptop. Plus the fact that I can put loads of music on the NAS aswell.

Really want two copies of all my data if a hard drive in the NAS dies so we're thinking about getting a two disk unit.

In particular I have in mind the Netgear Ready NAS Duo http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-RND2150-ReadyNAS-Duo-500GB/dp/B0016L2P7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267740905&sr=1-1

My questions are;

1) will there be a difference in sound quality from my current set up if I move all my music from my PC to a NAS.

2) do some NAS devices give better sound quality than others?

Please feel free to comment on my reasoning for getting a NAS aswell and if I should be considering something else.

Looking forward to your answers.

Many thanks, Andrew

 

[kena]

Everything can affect sound quality but a NAS connected to a network should be of minimal difference , after all it's just another disk connected to a network as opposed to a disk in a PC/Laptop.

I use a NAS Duo currently with a 1.5TB drive & a 1TB , started with a 500GB that came with a free 1TB and then swapped out the 500 for a 1.5 when I was getting to the 500gb capacity using X-RAID (Redundancy) that should do me for a long time but still gives me the option of replacing the 1TB with a 2GB moving my capacity up to 1.5.

Check out transparent.uk.com (Thats wher I got mine no. probs ) sure you can get better price / free disk as well

Edit - I dont do it myself yet but on my list to buy ext. USB HDD so have offsite copy for true backup as resilient NAS won't protect against fire/theft/flood etc.

 

[Anonymous]

A NAS can definitely NOT affect sound quality.

What can affect sound quality, is the files and the DAC. Plus, a metal link (like a USB or coax cable) between computer equipment and a hi-fi system might introduce electrical noise (hum) -- which will be effectively eliminated with an optical cable or a wireless connection.

 

[The_Lhc]

Fahnsen:A NAS can definitely NOT affect sound quality.

Thank you! And a hell of a lot more polite than I was going to be...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys and thanks for the replies

The reason I asked the question was because I read this article;

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2322170,00.asp

this is mentioned half way down the page

"To be sure, you can play
media files (music and movies) from any NAS across a network simply by
clicking on the file from your Windows desktop and activating Windows
Media Player.But this typically means that your media is flowing the same as any
other data file. This is a situation that's not usually optimal to
smooth playback. A media server streams this data smoothly across thinner pipes, making for a better playback experience."

Doesn't this mean that a NAS which has a media server will give better music quality than a NAS which doesn't?

Surely then a NAS can affect sound quality?

Regards, Andrew

 

[The_Lhc]

fobos8:
Hi Guys and thanks for the replies

The reason I asked the question was because I read this article;

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2322170,00.asp

this is mentioned half way down the page

"To be sure, you can playmedia files (music and movies) from any NAS across a network simply byclicking on the file from your Windows desktop and activating WindowsMedia Player.But this typically means that your media is flowing the same as anyother data file. This is a situation that's not usually optimal tosmooth playback. A media server streams this data smoothly across thinner pipes, making for a better playback experience."

Doesn't this mean that a NAS which has a media server will give better music quality than a NAS which doesn't?

Surely then a NAS can affect sound quality?

What a load of old sloblocks!

A NAS is just storage, it stores data, what they're talking about above is a function of a lack of network bandwidth and possibly the software on the PC, neither of which has anything to do with the NAS. The idea that any home network doesn't have sufficient bandwidth to stream simple audio is pretty far-fetched these days, unless you're using a very old wireless router and even then that's still not the fault of the NAS.

The NAS you're talking about has gigabit network ports but even if your PC and router are only 54Mbit/s (which they should be, at least, unless they're several years old), you'll still probably be looking at sufficient overhead of at least a factor of ten (assuming you don't suffer from chronic wireless interference etc etc).

Just buy the damn thing, it makes no difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Bandwidth is usually sufficient, also wireless - but it can depend on what you intend to do simultaneously (torrents? gaming? voip?) Modern routers often have a way to give higher priorities to some applications, like serving streaming media, but also other applications. Better quality in this case means having no dropouts due to an overload of the network traffic, or due to the router being too busy with handling lots of tasks at the same time. The transfer rate of the NAS, or of the router will not be a problem.