Synology DS211J review question to WHF

rendu

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Hello, I have just seen this interesting review. There is one important thing that I could not find in the review and is the sound quality. Is the sound comparable to a CD player? Sorry if I may have overlooked this information. Thanks.
 

Clare Newsome

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It's a NAS drive that works incredibly well; the sound quality will depend on all the other elements involved - starting with the quality of the stored files themselves and linking up through the DAC/amp/speakers you pair it with.
 

rendu

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Clare Newsome:It's a NAS drive that works incredibly well; the sound quality will depend on all the other elements involved - starting with the quality of the stored files themselves and linking up through the DAC/amp/speakers you pair it with.

Thanks Clare. When I play MP3 from iPOD it plays different than when I do from the PS3. I also understand that the Onkyo dock improves the sound from iPOD which sends the digital data directly. From your comment then, should we understand that the NAS itself does not play any role in the quality of the sound (assuming everything else the same, ex. bit rate)? Every NAS will provide the same sound quality if everything else remains the same?

I was looking for something that would provide similar quality of CD player but as MP3 player within that price range. Sound quality is what really matters and would make the difference as I already have the possibility of playing MP3 via the IPOD. Thanks.
 

Clare Newsome

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The difference with both your iPod and your Onkyo dock is that DACs are already involved in the chain; the iPod's own DAC, and the Onkyo bypassing the iPod's DAC to feed a signal through to a superior DAC. Hence the difference in sound.

Assuming no processing is applied, and both drive and connections are of good quality, I wouldn't expect great variables in NAS drive performance - far more important are the elements previously discussed re quality of files, DACs, amp, speakers etc.
 

rendu

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Clare Newsome:

The difference with both your iPod and your Onkyo dock is that DACs are already involved in the chain; the iPod's own DAC, and the Onkyo bypassing the iPod's DAC to feed a signal through to a superior DAC. Hence the difference in sound.

Assuming no processing is applied, and both drive and connections are of good quality, I wouldn't expect great variables in NAS drive performance - far more important are the elements previously discussed re quality of files, DACs, amp, speakers etc.

ok, thanks very much for clarification.
 

The_Lhc

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A NAS does not store audio, it stores data, when that data is being sent to another device the NAS has no idea what it's sending, it's just data, regardless of whether it's sending a Word document to a laptop or FLAC file to network streamer.
 

rendu

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the_lhc:A NAS does not store audio, it stores data, when that data is being sent to another device the NAS has no idea what it's sending, it's just data, regardless of whether it's sending a Word document to a laptop or FLAC file to network streamer.

If I understand correctly, the NAS actually reads, processes and plays the data and then it sends it to the DAC or receiver. The hard drive is the one that stores the data.

I understand that it does not play in the sound quality and I will not ask again, I believe you and my question has been answered but it is interesting that a simple cable which is only the media can make a difference and the NAS which is the player does not. I also wonder why there are NAS from some of popular brands such as NAIM which cost thousands. There are probably also thousand of reasons but for the poor users who do not understand technologies it is a bit contradictory.
 

The_Lhc

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rendu:
the_lhc:A NAS does not store audio, it stores data, when that data is being sent to another device the NAS has no idea what it's sending, it's just data, regardless of whether it's sending a Word document to a laptop or FLAC file to network streamer.

If I understand correctly, the NAS actually reads, processes and plays the data and then it sends it to the DAC or receiver. The hard drive is the one that stores the data.

No, you don't understand correctly, to do that a NAS would have to be connected to the DAC or receiver by way of and optical or coaxial digital connection or by USB. They aren't, they're Network Attached Storage, hence the name, the hard drive is just what sits inside the box, you could think of it ass a Network Attached hard drive.

The step you're missing is that there needs to be another device that pulls the files off the NAS over the network and processes them into audio which is then sent to the receiver or DAC (note that some receivers can now do this directly themselves, so this step could be internal to the receiver), which would mean something like a Squeezebox or Sonos system etc etc.

I understand that it does not play in the sound quality and I will not ask again, I believe you and my question has been answered but it is interesting that a simple cable which is only the media can make a difference and the NAS which is the player does not.

Because the NAS ISN'T the player. The NAS is just a type of storage, like a CD, in a sense.

I also wonder why there are NAS from some of popular brands such as NAIM which cost thousands.

Because they aren't NAS's in the usual sense. They are digital audio players that happen (in some cases) to have storage inside them, but they may not make that storage available over the network for anything else to access, so if you put your digital photos on there you might get upset when you can't access them.

A NAS will store any kind of data, it isn't just for audio.

There are probably also thousand of reasons but for the poor users who do not understand technologies it is a bit contradictory.

You just need to get your terminology right, unfortunately for the devices like the one you mention from NAIM and the like, nobody's really come up with a definitive name for them!
 

rendu

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Yes, I think I did not have the concept right. I though that this was similar to the popcorn C-200 and that they actually could be linked directly to the DAC or receiver and play the files. Then, it is even more clear that this is not what I am looking for. Thanks.
 

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