NAS for newbie

[Blooze]

I’m looking to upgrade my RPi4B/Moode/IQAudio with USB HDD (for flaws) player to a Wiim Pro Plus. So I’m assuming that a small NAS hooked to my router would be the way to go? Our house is not wired for Ethernet, so just the ports on our ASUS AC68U is available.

I’m fairly IT illiterate, so could someone point me in the right direction? This will be for music only, for one room, as I don’t need a NAS for file storage and access for any reason. I figure a two bay would be plenty.

If there is a better option (better streamer with direct usb HDD connection with a separate DAC) I’m all ears.

 

[antcollinet]

Why not just use your existing Pi4 to network share the existing USB drive for the WiiM?

Here is a "howto" if you want to go that way.

Share an external USB drive via Samba on your Raspberry Pi

Over this past weekend, I finally setup a network share via Samba on my Raspberry Pi with an old external USB hard drive I had laying around…

lefkowitz.me

 

[Blooze]

Thanks. I’d ran across this as well, but wasn’t sure how well it would work. I have an extra Pi3B laying around.

Build a Raspberry Pi NAS Server

Learn how to build a Raspberry Pi NAS server with OpenMediaVault.

www.ricmedia.com

 

[Timcognito]

This device is worth consideration.

Eversolo DMP-A6 Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Eversolo DMP-A6 Streamer and balanced DAC. It was sent to me by the company. I don't have the price but see it on sale for US $850. The DMP-A6 design is absolutely gorgeous. A large, high contrast LCD allows it to show realistic visualizations...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[antcollinet]

This device is worth consideration.

Eversolo DMP-A6 Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Eversolo DMP-A6 Streamer and balanced DAC. It was sent to me by the company. I don't have the price but see it on sale for US $850. The DMP-A6 design is absolutely gorgeous. A large, high contrast LCD allows it to show realistic visualizations...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The OP is looking for a NAS solution, not a streamer.

 

[antcollinet]

Thanks. I’d ran across this as well, but wasn’t sure how well it would work. I have an extra Pi3B laying around.

Build a Raspberry Pi NAS Server

Learn how to build a Raspberry Pi NAS server with OpenMediaVault.

www.ricmedia.com

It will almost certainly work fine. You can also use your Pi4 just by swapping out the SD card.

More importantly it will cost you nothing to try.

 

[Timcognito]

The OP is looking for a NAS solution, not a streamer.

yes but OP is buying a new streamer as part of the upgrade. The Eversolo is both. Just adding food for thought.

 

[Blooze]

I was thinking a NAS would be the way to go, but I’m open to other ideas as I stated at the end of my OP.

If I could get the Pi to work for now then maybe the Eversolo would be the better eventual endgame over the Wiim.

My main thing is I want to be able to play the 1000+ CD’s worth of flac files I took time to rip.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I was thinking a NAS would be the way to go, but I’m open to other ideas as I stated at the end of my OP.

If I could get the Pi to work for now then maybe the Eversolo would be the better eventual endgame over the Wiim.

My main thing is I want to be able to play the 1000+ CD’s worth of flac files I took time to rip.

I've been happy with the Synology NAS I bought in 2015. I'm running out of space, however!

 

[antcollinet]

I was thinking a NAS would be the way to go, but I’m open to other ideas as I stated at the end of my OP.

If I could get the Pi to work for now then maybe the Eversolo would be the better eventual endgame over the Wiim.

My main thing is I want to be able to play the 1000+ CD’s worth of flac files I took time to rip.

What is the Wiim giving you over the Pi based streamer.

Perhaps stick with that for now while you save for endgame. Rather than throw money at the wiim as a stopgap.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

It seems to me that a NAS or perhaps a hard drive attached to your router if it supports that would work fine. Moode is my favorite for playing files from my NAS although LMS has some advantages in ease of setup. Another option would be a hard drive with a USB connection to the Pi. Also there is the option of adding a DLNA server or setting up SMB (Windows network) share on the machine where the files currently reside. Adding a streamer to the mix seems redundant to me. The Pi 4 will work well as input for a DAC using USB. The 4 has the ethernet on a separate bus from the USB ports. If not, there are some excellent DAC HATs that are cheaper than a dedicated streamer.

Regardless which way you decide to go there will be some hands on setup. If a network is involved you'll need to know at least the IP address of the file location.

 

[Blooze]

The pi system I currently am using (pi4b with an IQAudio Dac+ hat with an external drive connected to one of the pi’s usb ports for flac playback works fine except it can get flaky with Apple Music, which is what I use. It started stuttering the other day and I thought I was going to lose a pair of drivers before I could pause it.

 

[popej]

Your router already can work as a server: Samba for file sharing and DLNA for multimedia. Just attach an USB drive and configure router. Your Moode on RPi should see it too.

 

[Berwhale]

Yes, the RT-AC68U will perform as a NAS, not a particularly fast one, but it should work fine...

[Wireless Router] How to set up Media Services and Servers- Network Place (Samba) Share/ Cloud Disk? | Official Support | ASUS UK

Hmmm, it only supports SMB v1, which is not ideal from a security perspective, although probably fine as long as you are not exposing any of your network to the internet (including the remote management interface of the router).

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Yes, the RT-AC68U will perform as a NAS, not a particularly fast one, but it should work fine...

[Wireless Router] How to set up Media Services and Servers- Network Place (Samba) Share/ Cloud Disk? | Official Support | ASUS UK

Hmmm, it only supports SMB v1, which is not ideal from a security perspective, although probably fine as long as you are not exposing any of your network to the internet (including the remote management interface of the router).

Hmm - might make it tricky for Windows11 and going forwards, since MSFT are trying very hard to kill SMB V1 (with very, very good justification).

 

[Blooze]

I appreciate all the recommendations. Looks like I have a few I can try.

 

[Berwhale]

Hmm - might make it tricky for Windows11 and going forwards, since MSFT are trying very hard to kill SMB V1 (with very, very good justification).

If you install Merlin's firmware on the RT-AC68U is has an upgraded version of Samba that supports SMB 2.0...

One moment, please...

• Updated Samba version (3.6), with SMB2.0 support

Actually, this is in the list of features implemented in Merlin and subsequently implemented in the official Asus firmware, so may well have been fixed already (assuming that Asus are still releasing updates for such an old router - you could install Merlin if they aren't).

 

[mrbungle]

Thanks. I’d ran across this as well, but wasn’t sure how well it would work. I have an extra Pi3B laying around.

Build a Raspberry Pi NAS Server

Learn how to build a Raspberry Pi NAS server with OpenMediaVault.

www.ricmedia.com

I used his old tutorial with a Pi4B running DietPi and it’s running for almost 2 years now without issue. I’m using it as NAS and Roon endpoint. His new tutorial looks a bit easier for someone IT illiterate. Without Linux experience, it might be still a bit overwhelming though.

 

[MaxBuck]

Your router already can work as a server: Samba for file sharing and DLNA for multimedia. Just attach an USB drive and configure router. Your Moode on RPi should see it too.

Very true, but I've found routers with USB inputs to be extremely costly.

 

[Berwhale]

Very true, but I've found routers with USB inputs to be extremely costly.

The OP already owns a router with this capability. As far as I'm aware, all Asus routers have it.