Minim server + Synology NAS kills custom dedicated pc on music sound quality

[Wybe]

Enthousiasm is a good thing, but there is a big difference in "I hear a difference" and "it sounds different"!

[sleask]

here is what i just posted at ps audio
Fabian said “hardware differences will be less critical…” I thought that at the beginning as well, even after learning I still veer off the path, the ssd’s for instance the first ssd I purchased was in Intel, why, I went around the store and asked 5 people which brand to buy including the service techs. Every one of them said Intel. For stability, speed, accuracy and reliability, why did I go to Samsung, it was the latest and greatest, why did I buy a crucial, it was on sale and I thought “it’s only for music files” (haunting words) which they threw happily in my face today because they told me not to buy it at the time but I didn’t listen. And now, I’m back to Intel for the sound quality.

Back to the testing, the good news is that the Intel 530 series did sound as good as the 320 series, did I sit there and do a detailed compassion, no, there is no point you can’t get the 320’s anymore so it’s time to move on, they sounded so close, I was just happy the “magic” returned with a current series. The guy at the computer store believes the differences are in the firmware and controllers, he said “the sandforce controllers that Intel now use are not as good as the original Intel controllers but they have done a great job with them(firmware)” don’t get me wrong the Samsung did sound good but the Intel did sound better.

I’m sure a lot of you are still thinking this guy is nuts. Yes I will admit a little self-doubt was starting to creep in so I went to my buddy that first witnessed this shocking find just to verify his comments his reply “Steve it took everything I had not to punch you in the face and walk out”. Ok so I’m not nuts, and happy I don’t have a black eye. I’m sure the electrical work I have done, adding the P5 and that wonderful “clean” button Paul incorporated into the unit have Made a great impact on my system. I would consider it electrically “clean”. Or at least as far as I could go in this house. allowing me to hear any changes. I think it is evident with all the testing I do that I “study” my system as much as I “listen” to it.

I don’t think enough credit has been given to Simon at minimserver or Paul for his products, I thought I had reached the limits of the dac, boy was I wrong. and to Simon, without his software none of this would have happened. It is truly fantastic. I know a lot of you want gapless then this is not for you, but for the ones that don’t care I would recommend the synology nas running minimserver set to “wav24” loaded on an Intel SSD. The results are outstanding. And To everyone else that followed me on this interesting journey I thank you for your input and comments.
cheers
Steve

[sleask]

here is something of interest
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/#/discussio...-from-this

[simoncn]

(23-11-2013 17:13)sleask Wrote:  here is something of interest
http://www.psaudio.com/forum/#/discussio...-from-this

I've read this, and it seems to indicate that:

1) the timing of the audio data feeding the PS Audio DAC is so critical that feeding it from a RAM disk improves the sound quality

2) when the PS Audio DAC is fed by the PS Audio Bridge taking data from a network connection, the Bridge might not be providing an audio data feed with the optimum timing to get the best sound quality from the DAC

This makes me appreciate owning a Linn streamer that (apparently) doesn't have these issues.

[sleask]

the Intel S3500 series was the drive I went with, it's hands down is the best sounding, I inquired about the S3700 series but after choking on the price he said "it won't be a good choice, it has encryption". considering the price, out of respect, I can't expect him to bring itn just so I can test it.

[garmtz]

(16-11-2013 16:16)simoncn Wrote:  

(14-11-2013 22:01)Linn_agnostik Wrote:  Thanks for sharing..

my experience is more nuanced - I use minimserver on my Synology DS-412+ (dual core atom, 2,13ghz), feeding my linn renderer (Akurate DS/1) and I've experimented with transcoding recently.
Tried both wav and wav24 and thought I lost a bit of warmth and grit in (predominantly) voices, both male and female. Turned off transcoding and lo and behold, the warmth and organic nature returned.
No major differences, not night and day in any sense, but clearly discernible.
I have no ssd in my system and unfortunately no way to test that, as it is fully loaded

Wav24 transcoding from flac on 192/24 was <5% cpu utilisation

It is interesting that you noticed a difference and preferred the FLAC sound to the WAV sound. For me, the WAV sound is preferable, but I have no way of knowing which of these is closer to the intentions of the engineer who created the recording.

You don't need to know... Listen to the music and choose the one that makes more MUSICAL sense, which communicates better what the musicians are playing and WHY they are playing it. Never mind what the engineer tried to do...

[tboooe]

This is such an interesting thread to me. I just bought a cheap 1 bay QNAP TS-131 so I can experiment running Minimserver on it versus my dedicated control pc (I have a 2 pc jplay setup). While I am waiting for the QNAP to arrive I did compare the sound I got from running Minimserver on another low powered ATOM based PC I have at home. Unlike my control pc which runs Audiophile Optimizer, Jplay, and Fidelizer, this pc has not been optimized in any way. There was a small difference in how the music was presented. With Minimserver running in my control pc, the sound had grit, texture, and bit more weight. To me, it sounded more organic and like a live show. With Minimserver running on the ATOM based pc, the sound was more clear and smooth, perhaps too smooth. It sounded sterile after a while with no soul to the music. My best analogy that it sounded like CD versus vinyl. Needless to say, I went back to running Minimserver on my control pc. I hope that running Minimserver on the QNAP will at the very least not change the sound at all. I want to use the QNAP so I do not have to manually start Minimserver and wait 5-10 mins for the cache read to complete every time I power up my system. I also will be using the QNAP as a dedicated source for my music separate from the NAS I currently use for my household. I plan to use a linear power supply on the QNAP as well.

Anyway, again very interesting thread. Thank you.

[simoncn]

(30-12-2015 18:33)tboooe Wrote:  This is such an interesting thread to me. I just bought a cheap 1 bay QNAP TS-131 so I can experiment running Minimserver on it versus my dedicated control pc (I have a 2 pc jplay setup). While I am waiting for the QNAP to arrive I did compare the sound I got from running Minimserver on another low powered ATOM based PC I have at home. Unlike my control pc which runs Audiophile Optimizer, Jplay, and Fidelizer, this pc has not been optimized in any way. There was a small difference in how the music was presented. With Minimserver running in my control pc, the sound had grit, texture, and bit more weight. To me, it sounded more organic and like a live show. With Minimserver running on the ATOM based pc, the sound was more clear and smooth, perhaps too smooth. It sounded sterile after a while with no soul to the music. My best analogy that it sounded like CD versus vinyl. Needless to say, I went back to running Minimserver on my control pc. I hope that running Minimserver on the QNAP will at the very least not change the sound at all. I want to use the QNAP so I do not have to manually start Minimserver and wait 5-10 mins for the cache read to complete every time I power up my system. I also will be using the QNAP as a dedicated source for my music separate from the NAS I currently use for my household. I plan to use a linear power supply on the QNAP as well.

Anyway, again very interesting thread. Thank you.

Please post the results from running MinimServer on the QNAP when it arrives. The QNAP should be a less electrically noisy environment than a Windows PC and this might have some effect on the sound quality. Using a linear power supply on the QNAP might also make a difference.

[tboooe]

(30-12-2015 19:14)simoncn Wrote:  Please post the results from running MinimServer on the QNAP when it arrives. The QNAP should be a less electrically noisy environment than a Windows PC and this might have some effect on the sound quality. Using a linear power supply on the QNAP might also make a difference.

I definitely plan to post my findings. I am curious what others have experienced. I know from browsing this forum that many people run MS on a QNAP but perhaps they did not previously run it on a dedicated pc. I hope by next week the QNAP will arrive so I can do some tests.

[tboooe]

Just thought I would post some initial thoughts on the difference in sound between running Minimserver on a dedicated and fully tweaked pc versus on a QNAP TS-131 NAS. My dedicated PC runs Audiophile Optimizer, Fidelizer, and Jplay. It is also powered by a linear power supply. The NAS is running completely stock. It should be noted that because the NAS uses an ARM Cortex A9 processor, I cannot use libosxr ffmpeg.

My initial thought is that the sound is close but ultimately I think my dedicated pc is better. There is something more organic about how vocals sounds. There is a weight and texture missing from the QNAP. These differences ultimately diminishes the emotional connection I feel when listening to music. I am sure there may be other differences but I tend to focus a lot more on how vocals sound and how I feel about the music versus being too analytical about decay, attack, etc. I will continue to listen more and add my thoughts here.

That being said, I think running Minimserver off a NAS is a great feature for most people. I got my TS-131 used for $100 and it gives sound comparable to my fully tweaked PC. However, it is the ability to tweak a PC that allows it to sound better to me though at much higher cost. But isnt what this whacky audio hobby is all about? Paying huge sums of money for tiny little improvements????