I tried an interesting thing this week. I tested an app on my iPad (2-64) that streams music over upnp to my DS. The app, "media:connect", is pretty useless with all it's limitations in the free version, but it is good enough for a test.
I started the app and downloaded some mp3* files to the server from my NAS. Only three items per folder works, so don't go overboard with the downloads. I only had four albums in mp3 on my NAS, so I could only try 12 songs. When this is done the music is avaliable to the DS. I used Plugplayer for this, as it is so easy to switch servers with it. I added the 12 songs from the media:connect server to my playlist and then the same songs from my NAS.
The difference when playing the songs on my ADS/1 is very interesting indeed. For me there is a substantial difference in both musical performance and sound. Running music from the iPad server reminds me a lot to when I tried a good SSD (Intel G2) in my NAS. Maybe not as good as the SSD, but it's a very similar type of difference. It actually made the mp3 files playable, it extracted music from almost "dead" files. I think my NAS/network is in reasonably good shape, but this is still a better solution, even when running over a wireless network. I find this very interesting! For me it's a reminder that extracting performance from a streaming solution/system is still in it's infancy. I guess there is a lot more to come over the years.
Is there anyone out there who want to try this? If so, what do you think? If you don't have a iOS device, there are similar apps for Android. I did see someone on the Linn forum that had tried a similar app on some Android device. (There was no mention about performance.) If you try this, please answer the poll and report back what device/OS you are running and what apps used. Come on, this is fun stuff! :-)
*I tried with FLAC files, but it didn't work. As this is specified to work I can only assume it's a limitation in the free version. If anyone can get FLAC files to work, please let us know how you did it. I think they work by default in the Android apps.
Using an iOS/Android device as a music server for a Linn DS
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monkeydevil
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Thanks Monkeydevil, for your willingness to try, I look forward to your report.monkeydevil wrote:I will try this later for sure.
I have no idea why this is better. Is it a "SSD effect", since the iPad memory is basically a SSD? Is it the wireless that provides an isolation? I really don't know. Maybe it's the server software? I don't know why a SSD is better than a HDD in my NAS either. But one SSD was a lot better and one was worse than my HDD (Barracuda ES.2). I have tried optical isolation of the network, but that was also worse. (We have discussed this before, somewhere here on the forum.) I have not tried wireless isolation, but that might be the next step to try. Why not?
For you Android users, here is a tip on the "ShareMe" app: http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=13815
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monkeydevil
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- Joined: 2007-01-31 18:25
- Location: Stockholm
Did you unplug your nas during the test, or leave it as is and adding the iphone?
Yes, a wireless ds network would be an interesting test. Although it feels unstable. I bought a separate wap for my network (one of the recommended wap's on linn docs) but it acts just as unstable as any router, with spontaneous disconnecting from the network for all connected wireless things :-(
Yes, a wireless ds network would be an interesting test. Although it feels unstable. I bought a separate wap for my network (one of the recommended wap's on linn docs) but it acts just as unstable as any router, with spontaneous disconnecting from the network for all connected wireless things :-(
I left it turned on, so I could compare the songs directly. But it would be interesting to try and turn off the NAS and see if that is even better. I think I will try it tomorrow.monkeydevil wrote:Did you unplug your nas during the test, or leave it as is and adding the iphone?
I have a Netgear WNR3500 and it is very stable. It's now only avaliable as an open source router, but I've heard that's pretty good to. There is a upnp server avaliable for it, so it can act as a NAS with an attached USB drive. Maybe it is something for you? Computer gear is cheap! Why not try it for < $100?monkeydevil wrote:it acts just as unstable as any router
