Sonos - NAS

[stevos]

I currently have a squeezebox + linkstation combo which works fairly well but can be a bit slow at times.

What i really want is a combo that would give a decent remote control and so going towards sonos.

Are there are recommended NAS drives that work with the NAS (without a pc turned on) and work well/fast (the linkstation's processor is the slow part of my currrent chain).

Cheers
Steve.

[Autopilot]

Have you considered going for a better remote system for the Squeezebox?

The Nokia 770 can be had for around £80 - giving you a touch screen remote just like the sono's for album art etc - but one which you can customise much more and do more with. And when its not being used for controlling the SB's around your home, you can actually stream to the 770 (just plug some headphones in). You also get the option of using it as a regular internet tablet for reading these forum etc.

Also, development of of the new Jive system is going well and we will soon see some seriously fancy remotes to rival (and better) the Sono's. Jive based remotes should be available soon.

But you can you any PDA etc, there is even software for the PSP to control the SB2/3.

Not to say the Sono's is not a seriously kit ass bit of kit with stunning remotes - damn tasty, but there are options worth looking at for the remote side before you sell the SB2.

[Crustyloafer]

I have not had any issues using the Buffalo Linkstation Live products with the Sonos, they seem pretty fast and responsive and are quiet too.

[stevos]

I already own a nokia 770 that i purchased for this very reason.

The problem is that the processors on the NAS and 770 are kind of slow making the internet pages (770 skin) load slowly and be sluggish in response.

One option would be to switch to a faster NAS (which i may do anyway) but all the slimserver skins i have seen require the use of the pen to select tracks (nokia770 skin needs it to choose different starting letters) which is a bit clumsy.

I have not heard of Jive, please explain.

p.s. i have a linkstationII and not a modern live one.

[spl23]

I have a Sonos system, and I have around 350GB of Apple Lossless files. I'm using a QNAP TS-201 NAS, which is superb. It has recently been replaced with a slightly tweaked version called the TS-209, but the two are largely identical. Around £200 plus whatever drives you choose to install - it has two SATA 3.5" slots, and you can use 1 or 2 drives in it, I believe. I have 2 500GB Seagate drives in RAID1 configuration, and it works pretty much flawlessly with the Sonos.

The advantages of the QNAP over every other NAS I looked into were that the fan is thermostatic, so it isn't on all the time, and the drives can be set to spin down after a set period of inactivity, so the thing goes pretty much silent (and very low pwer consumption) when you aren't actually playing music. Only snag is that the fan does come on occasionally even when the drives are idle - presumably because the processor is still running. Also, drive spin-up takes around 20 seconds from when the Sonos first tries to access the files if the driver are spun-down, which can occasionally confuse the Sonos slightly. Other than that, it's a cracking bit of kit - thoroughly recommended.

[tojo]

I use a Synology CS407e. The synology is a great bit of kit - it does a lot of other things that I wanted but just as a NAS it works really well. It aint silent but its really quiet and certainly not noticeable in a normal environment. Its quick too. Recommended.

Should add thats this is with the BU130 bundle, wirelessly and wired, never had a drop out.

[SimonO]

Originally Posted by Crustyloafer

I have not had any issues using the Buffalo Linkstation Live products with the Sonos, they seem pretty fast and responsive and are quiet too.

Same here

[davee]

Originally Posted by SimonO

Same here

Gets my vote too, at a keen price