Removing PC from streaming system

[Xanderzdad]

I have just bought a Synology DS212J and moved all my music to it.

I am now able to stream music from the Synology NAS direct to my Airport Express without the PC being on. It is controlled from my iPhone using Synology DS Audio app.

All easy and uses less power but the surprise was - the sound quality is better!

I can only assume the PC / iTunes has an impact on the purely digital signal and the NAS doesn't.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

It shouldn't have any effect, in my opinion. Have you tried blind A/B? Bizzare.

 

[amcluesent]

>What are your thoughts?<

Something was incorrectly set on the PC. The Airport Express is nowhere near being an audiophile streamer where subtle chnages would be revealed.

 

[Andrew Everard]

What are your thoughts?

My thought is that if you are happy with the sound you're now getting, then all is fine.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Indeed.

Incidentally, we have a review of the Synology DS212j in our next issue

 

[AnotherJoe]

Indeed.

Incidentally, we have a review of the Synology DS212j in our next issue

In the review do you try installing PS3 media server onto the the DS212j so that it becomes a transcoding media server ?

Probably also worth producing a guide that shows how to do it.

 

[Xanderzdad]

What are your thoughts?

My thought is that if you are happy with the sound you're now getting, then all is fine.

Spot on. I am very happy.

As a bonus I can also stream from the NAS to my iPhone when it is docked in the bedroom. So including my PC I have a 3 room system with very little outlay - the dock was a £10 deal from Richer Sounds.

The DSAudio app is not quite as intuitive as the iTunes Remote app but does the job.

 

[Xanderzdad]

>What are your thoughts?<

Something was incorrectly set on the PC. The Airport Express is nowhere near being an audiophile streamer where subtle chnages would be revealed.

Are you saying the digital optical output from the Airport Express is not providing an accurate stream? It is connected by a LAN cable (not wireless) and goes into the DAC on my Denon 2808, so should be reasonable.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you saying the digital optical output from the Airport Express is not providing an accurate stream? It is connected by a LAN cable (not wireless) and goes into the DAC on my Denon 2808, so should be reasonable.

The way I read it, you were the one implying that the digital optical output from your PC was less accurate than the one from AE...

That's theoretically possible. I don't expect the Denon 2808 to have reclocking circuitry for its DAC, so it will be very susceptible to jitter from the source. I think amcluescent was saying that the Denon would not be revealing enough to show that difference.

 

[Xanderzdad]

I didn't imply it but I can see how that may be interpreted. I merely stated my findings.

To me (and perhaps only me) it sounded better.

Perhaps a more accurate description would be 'subtly different and more palatable to my tastes'.

Sorry if I'm rambling but I'm on some pretty heavy painkillers at the moment and when I 'come down' I may regret all my posts since Sunday. :doh:

 

[moon]

>What are your thoughts?<

Something was incorrectly set on the PC. The Airport Express is nowhere near being an audiophile streamer where subtle chnages would be revealed.

What is an Audiophile Streamer? very funny.

 

[AnotherJoe]

Streaming from one device to other devices using push methodology like Apple Airplay is always going to have imperfections as it uses UDP/RTSP. This will be more evident over wireless.

It is better to 'pull' the files to the streamer and play them locally as the files are pulled using standard TCP/IP. The downside is each streamer needs to have the correct codec support to play the files. This can be avoided on most linux based NAS by installing something like PS3 media server onto the NAS itself.

So having your streamer directly access the NAS should sound better. How big this difference is (if at all) is open to debate. I doubt you'd hear any difference at all over wired.