Infrant ReadyNAS NV does not encode MP3...

[Daryle Tilroe]

Crossposted from this Infrant thread:

http://www.infrant.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4968&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=



I am just starting to setup the slimserver part of my ReadyNAS NV and this is rather a downer. :( I have a couple of wireless SB1s that I really need to stream MP3s to since uncompressed audio stream(s) over 802.11b are really flaky. I also do the office thing. I wish I'd known this before since the slimserver functionality was the one of the main reasons for buying it. This point should really be stressed in the advertising. Why do you want a TB NAS unless you use FLAC? :?


I should stress the need to be upfront in both Infrant and Slimdevices advertising about what I consider to be an important shortcoming. If this is truely the "death of the CD player" then most must be storing as WAV or FLAC; particularly with a shiny TB or two NAS. Since there are several common reasons to transcode to MP3 the absence of this feature is almost a deal breaker. I'm probably going to have to still run slimserver on my PC and just use the NAS as storage.

[mherger]

If this is truely the "death of the CD player" then most must be storing as WAV or FLAC; particularly with a shiny TB or two NAS. Since there are several common reasons to transcode to MP3 the absence of this feature is almost a deal breaker.

Even the SB1 does play WAV fine (though wireless _may_ be a problem). As long as you don't have a SliMP3 you don't need MP3 streaming. At least not as far as Slimdevices is concerned.

The SB2 has been out for?... 1.5 years. They do support old products better than any other firm I know. But don't expect them to add the latest and greatest features even to the early products.

[Daryle Tilroe]

Even the SB1 does play WAV fine (though wireless _may_ be a problem). As long as you don't have a SliMP3 you don't need MP3 streaming. At least not as far as Slimdevices is concerned.

Wireless *is* a problem when streaming WAV. Trust me. It is doable with FLAC and the bigger buffer of the SB2 onwards but with the SB1 and WAV any interference, even with one stream, means dropouts (unless of course your access point is a few feet away). Also, as I mentioned, the desire to stream across the the net is not unheard of and if the Infrant is to replace the slimserver on my PC then this is no longer possible.



The SB2 has been out for?... 1.5 years. They do support old products better than any other firm I know. But don't expect them to add the latest and greatest features even to the early products.

The problem is *not* with adding any features to *old* hardware but with not have the important *existing* feature of transcoding on a *new* piece of hardware that is being jointly touted as a replacement for the PC based slimserver.

[mherger]

The problem is *not* with adding any features to *old* hardware but with not have the important *existing* feature of transcoding on a *new* piece of hardware that is being jointly touted as a replacement for the PC based slimserver.

I just think you can't blame that bundle because it doesn't support all varieties out there. Streaming FLAC to a SB2/3 shouldn't be a problem, even wirelessly (thanks to increased bandwidth and buffer). Thus my conclusion that you were asking for a solution for "old" hardware. Transcoding for many just isn't a topic (and I'd guess the success of the combo would confirm this). You're none of these "many", obviously :-).

[Daryle Tilroe]

Streaming FLAC to a SB2/3 shouldn't be a problem, even wirelessly (thanks to increased bandwidth and buffer).

Never said it was. My one wireless SB2 even does fine with 802.11b relying only on the ~halved data rate of native FLAC and the deeper buffer.


Thus my conclusion that you were asking for a solution for "old" hardware. Transcoding for many just isn't a topic (and I'd guess the success of the combo would confirm this). You're none of these "many", obviously :-).

Even ignoring the many out there with perfectly viable SB1s and SLIMP3s it still means people cannot stream WAV or FLAC collections to remote locations over the net.