The Need & Location of Server Software?

BlueWizard

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I've been dabbling in Audio for more decades than I care to count, and I am generally familiar with Streaming Products. However, never having had a Streaming Device, I'm unfamiliar with the details of their operation. I'm hoping those in the Streaming Forum can enlighten me.

When I envision a Streaming System, I envision having NAS storage (Network Attached Storage). In my mind having my music on NAS means I don't need my main computer to stream music. That is, I don't need the main computer ON.

But, from what I can gather, your main computer needs Audio Server Software to manage everything. But that seems to defeat the purpose. If I have to have my main computer On to stream music, then why have NAS?

One could speculate, as I do, that Audio Server software could be placed on the NAS, but how does one know the operating system of the NAS? A Server that works on Windows is not going to work on Linux, unless the maker has a Linux version. And that assumes the NAS has either Windows or Linux.

So, this is one area that confuses me, and I would appreciate any advice anyone could give. I would like to stream music independent of my main computer being ON or OFF. Or independent of any computer being On or Off.

I think it likely that I am confused on this issue, but hopefully you can enlighten me.

Thanks.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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you don't need any computer at all with nas...at least not for streaming purposes...i have qnap nas and it has already minim server software on it...all you have to do is to place all your music onto nas, scan music with minim server and you are ready to go...nas has to be on your network of course...

the next thing you need is any smartphone of your choice be it android or ios, or tablet, some dlna/upnp software like bubble upnp or such for controlling and playing music...as long as your router/network is working your home computer/laptop could be off and you don't need it for playing music...
 
If you are referring to industry standard UPnP/DLNA network media file streaming, then you are correct: a UPnP/DLNA media server is required to run on a networked device (ideally a NAS) to supply the UPnP/DLNA streamer (aka renderer aka player) with the audio files. The UPnP/DLNA media server does not manage 'eveything', only the media file library.

It is the UPnP/DLNA control point (aka controller) application running on a networked device (ideally a handheld wireless device) that manages the playback process of the UPnP/DLNA streamer playing the audio files supplied by the UPnP/DLNA media server.

Also, most NASs these days come with a UPnP/DLNA media server application built-in, some even give you the ability to use a popular third party media server via an official installation mechanism. So there's usually no need to worry about installing the UPnP/DLNA media server on a NAS, never mind needing to consider what operating system the NAS is using.

Those issues you mentioned usually come with older NASs that don't have a UPnP/DLNA media server or the existing media server is buggy and/or not tailored enough for supplying audio files properly.
 
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Almost any decent consumer NAS you buy today will almost certainly either have a server installed already or some sort of easy interface to install one. My cheap as chips Xyzel NAS even has options to install Logitech Media Server.

An alternative could be something like a Raspberry Pi to run any server you might need.

Some streamers can access network shares (Sonos can do this I believe) so doesn't even need a server.

I used to run both the Squeezebox software client and the server on a Pi2 for a self contained streamer accessing a straightforward network share.
 
Almost any decent consumer NAS you buy today will almost certainly either have a server installed already or some sort of easy interface to install one. My cheap as chips Xyzel NAS even has options to install Logitech Media Server.

My cheaper than chips Dlink NAS has a built-in server which is absolute crap, though the NAS works very well apart from that. The server was so slow as to be completely unusable. So I turned the server off and I use Foobar2000 on my PC (which is on all the time) as a server for the NAS files. Works fine and can even be remotely controlled from an Android device.

Some streamers can access network shares (Sonos can do this I believe) so doesn't even need a server.

Indeed Sonos does that very well, though annoyingly an update last year means that the entire Sonos library is deleted before being updated if new files are found on the server. Previously anything new was just added to the library which was much faster.
 
I am still trying to get my head around NAS. If I pay for the software I can rip in Flac quality and store the music on my PC. I have an external hard drive attached so if my PC gives up I have my music backed up on there. Whilst admitting I am using a free ripper which is Lossy at present, given I can use Flac if I pay why do I want a NAS? If you reckon I do want one anybody got any recommendations for me to read up on?
 
You don't have to pay to rip lossless tracks. EAC (exact audio copy) is free and can easily do what you need ripping wise, including checking your rips are accurate by checking against a database. Of course a small fee for more user friendly software may be worth it, EAC is a little bit more complicated to set-up but not massively so and only does the ripping part. DBPoweramp OTH is much more comprehensive and also does organising, serving and correcting tags and the like.
I'm perfectly happy with the free alternative myself.

The NAS part is essentially so you have an always on storage and possibly server. If your PC is always on it's not really adding much for you, but if you're PC isn't on you won't be able to stream from it.
 
My cheaper than chips Dlink NAS has a built-in server which is absolute crap, though the NAS works very well apart from that. The server was so slow as to be completely unusable.

It sounds like you're happy with Foobar but a quick google suggests it's not that hard to install alternative servers on your DLink if you wanted to.
ShareCenter® Add-on Applications
 
Or Vortexbox - free ripping (FLAC, ALAC, MP3) and server software
 
It sounds like you're happy with Foobar but a quick google suggests it's not that hard to install alternative servers on your DLink if you wanted to.
ShareCenter® Add-on Applications

This is true, but I would be surprised if they were not hideously slow also. Foobar is very fast. It also rips FLAC, and can play back DSD/SACD files.
 
Thanks guys, that was very helpful.
Again, I don't stream now, and have no immediate plans for streaming, but obviously this is the direction that the Music Industry is going, so eventually Streaming is pretty much going to be a necessity.

But it is good to know it is not as complicated as I made it out to be in my head.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Again, I don't stream now, and have no immediate plans for streaming, but obviously this is the direction that the Music Industry is going, so eventually Streaming is pretty much going to be a necessity.

With all due respect, make immediate plans. You will love it.

Even though I have many problems with my streaming setup ( all due basically to Yamaha's software quality ), it is still the best thing I have ever done regarding audio, or even making my house enjoyable to be in. My library isn't even all that big, but being able to listen to any song, any time, any where, in any combination with just a few wiggles of a finger... it's like science fiction. I cannot imagine going back to using physical media for music.

This isn't one of those 'advances' being crammed down our throats for no reason... it's taking over because it's worth it.
 
..., so eventually Streaming is pretty much going to be a necessity.

As much of a necessity you want it to be. There is convenience in storing all your music in one place, and being able to listen to it, on any device, wherever you are. But is that what you really need?

My streaming adventure (uhuh) started with an iPod. I used iTunes to convert my cd’s to mp3 on the main computer, and transfer them to the iPod. Good for on the go. My cd player had a USB in, so I could hook up the iPod to that to enjoy music at the main stereo. You can call that streaming if you want.

Next, I wanted to take the iPod out of the equation, so I bought a Marantz NA6005, connected that to the network and my main computer... and got nothing. I had to install a Media Server on the PC to serve music to the Marantz, or use Windows Media Player on the computer to make playlists that the Marantz could understand.

I preferred the Media Server option, but yes, if you run that on your PC, your PC needs to be always on.

So I bought a NAS - or two, to be exact; a Synology and a Qnap. Connected them to the same network as the PC and the Marantz. Installing a Media Server on a NAS is a breeze; they come as pre-installed apps that you just have to activate. Almost all Nasses come with a control panel to do that (you can access that control panel from your pc).

Now my Marantz had three sources to stream music from: The pc and 2 nasses. I preferred the nasses, since they’re always on.

Now came the choice of app to operate it all. Buy any streamer like the Marantz, and it will come with an app to play back your music. This is where the frustration will start:the media server will have indexed your music, but how easy is it to access it? Can you select an artist, an album, a playlist; and how easy can you switch between them?

I have tried several apps with the Marantz. The Technics app was my favorite. But I ended up buying a Yamaha streamer, which also gave me internet radio, Spotify and Airplay, and a nice app.

Since then I’ve added an Oppo to the setup, which can stream video from the NAS. I have an Apple TV to stream music, video and photos from my phone to the stereo and tv.

Mind you, so far I’m only streaming to the main system. Multiroom seems to cause a lot of headaches, especially if you want to synchronise between rooms. Me, I can only be in one room at a time; if I want music everywhere, I still have my IPod [emoji4]
 
I prefer to use 'dumb' storage and have something like a Raspberry Pi (using Volumio or Rune, for example) as the playback device. You can get the Pi and a very good DAC board for not much money or, as I have done, use a high quality digital output card into the DAC in my amp. The Pi uses so little power that I'm happy to leave it running 24/7, and playback can be controlled by anything that runs a web browser. Mine is currently connected to an external hard drive but, once I've improved my home network wiring, it's a trivial job to switch it over to use the NAS.
Obviously, it would cost more if you wanted to stream music to several different rooms but, for me, it's by far the simplest way to do it.
 
The other option would be a low powered computer (such as the Intel NUC) and any standard internal or external hard drive. Can run Linux or windows (or ROCK for roon) and easy to install any streaming device you want. A bit more expensive than a NAS, but more flexible and faster response.
A raspberry pi attached to an external hard drive running LMS to either squeezeboxes or another raspberry pi also work and is relatively cheap. You can get a pre-made pi or memory card pre-loaded with all the software, so not as hard as it sounds (though not the most attractive option).

In my opinion, the software for playing the music is more important than the actual hardware as it makes the most difference in the enjoyment of choosing/ finding your music.
 
A raspberry pi attached to an external hard drive running LMS to either squeezeboxes or another raspberry pi also work and is relatively cheap. You can get a pre-made pi or memory card pre-loaded with all the software, so not as hard as it sounds (though not the most attractive option).
This is the kind of setup that doesn't make sense to me unless you need several endpoints. If there's one endpoint then, rather than 2 Pis and 2 sets of software, you just need a single Pi and a single piece of software.
In my opinion, the software for playing the music is more important than the actual hardware as it makes the most difference in the enjoyment of choosing/ finding your music.
Yes, the software matters. I've yet to find anything that I prefer to things like the Volumio/Moode/Rune interface.
 

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