Synology NAS DacMagic

[jacobacci]

Robert,

the Squeezebox Touch does 24/96, the old Squeezebox 3 only does 24/48.

The only downsampling that is not correct from the Synology to the touch is 176.4khz files. So the only files you would need to leave on the Acer are the 176.4khz files. All others can go to the Synology and will downsample correctly on an SB Touch.

There is another route you could take:

In foobar you can downsample files with good quality

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=pcaudio&m=76850&VT=T

I have used SSRC X to produce downsampled versions of my 192khz and 176.4khz files (96 and 88.2khz), which I can stream from the Synology to the SB Touch without downsampling. That's how I get around teh 176.4 khz downsampling error for the time being.

Regards

Rudi

 

[rdom]

Rudy,

You have a very good point there. Getting a touch will resolve most of my high res files problems except for the 176.4 files

(don't have much anyway),of course I would have prefer to get full 192/24 resolution but the actual equipment who stream them are quite expensive for now,getting the files downgraded in 96/24 is not bad after all. The touch at 350CDN$ is a real bargain and having the SB3 for nearly 3 years now, makes me happy to follow with the same software base.

 

After that point I will be ready for the final upgrade in my system which will be getting a good DAC.

 

Your help has been truly apreciated.

 

Thanks a lot to you and Chris, quite happy to see the help we can get from other audiophiles in this hobby which is getting more high tech than ever.

Robert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[feekh]

Allright, My NAS is ordered (synology 212+).

 

But I have to make a decision in the folowing:

 

This review: http://www.stereophile.com/content/cambridge-audio-azur-dacmagic-da-converter-measurements says the USB input has some jitter problems.

 

What would in theory give the best sound quality:

 

Option 1:

Connecting the DacMagic with USB directly on the NAS, acting as it's sound card.

 

Option 2:

Streaming the music from the NAS over the (wired) network to the Airport Express, which is connected with an optical cable to the DacMagic on one of the optical inputs.

 

I'm aware it won't be any higher than 44,1/16, but the question is will the USB input of the DacMagic cause higher jitter problems than the Airport Express..

 

[crisnee]

Too bad there's no date on the review, but I'm pretty sure the review is of the original model. It's quite possible and even likely that the USB input has been changed for the better, as that's one of the elements of dacs that has changed significantly in the past year or two.

 

-Chris

 

[rdom]

Hy feekh,

 

Would like to help you but I did not tried the usb input and I do not have any experience with apple products. Would agree with chris that usb inputs have improved but did it happenned with Dac Magic? would be more confident with the new upcoming dacmagic+ on this issue.

You will have to try on your own and let us know the results

 

Robert.

 

[feekh]

Well here are my results:

 

setup:

Synology DS212+ running Music Player Daemon

Which is connected to the DacMagic

Which is connected to NAD c320BEE

Which is connected to 2 Monitor Audio BX2's

 

It sounds f*cking awesome.

I can control my music with ncmpcpp and MPoD on the iPhone and have streaming options in DS audio from the synology software, and having Ampache running on the NAS to access my library from everywhere over VPN.

 

Squeezebox isn't in the picture anymore, this is just great.

 

Thank you for your reply's, I'm really satisfied with this setup. 44/16 is fine for me, it's what CD's are doing so I'm okay with it.

 

[Ricky Boobi]

Hi there,

I'd like to share some of my observations regarding DacMagic and usb->spdif converter Ha Info U2 24/96khz in conjunction with Synology NAS(ds-111)USB out.

1.Synology NAS can provide given bitrate: 44.1 ,48 ,96khz trough Ha Info USB to spdif interface. Music files from NAS Hdd in 44.1 bit rate are played on DacMagic in 44.1, 96khz are played in 96khz. (They are bit rate perfect)

2.I can not confirm what is max bit depth: 16 or 24?

3.Sound from Ha Info seems to be better than using DacMagic USB interface (speaking about high freq. and fatigue, sound stage is also affected)

4.I also tried to play directly from Ha Info U2 to Onkyo A-5vl. 24/96 sound was comparable to DacMagic, however at lower bit rates DacMagic wins (by very small margin).

Regards,

Boobi.