Old Synology NAS > Ancient Stereo Amp

[killdozzer]

Ah, yes... Here it is. It wasn't that difficult.

Here's the link:

Download Center - download | Synology Inc.

Centralize data storage and backup, streamline file collaboration, optimize video management, and secure network deployment to facilitate data management.

www.synology.com

I really hope it works for you, cause it's very specific. It's the official Synology page.

 

[killdozzer]

Can I finally get my answer now? People seem to be ignoring me, perhaps they don't believe I'm genuinely asking...

But I'm really asking; if I got my NAS to send digital signal over USB, it should be possible to plug MiniDSP Flex into my NAS, send a signal into it, EQ it up and send it further on to my amp, even though MiniDSP Flex doesn't have the streaming feature?

Before you ask, I don't have an opportunity to just test it.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well, it probably goes without saying that I don't know. I would think it it supports an outboard USB DAC it'll work with a USB DSP(??).
I can test the former (working with a USB DAC) with my older Synology NAS (which is currently serving as a paperweight, but should be easy to reanimate).
I don't have any flavor of DSP though.

And thanks very much for the infromation!

 

[killdozzer]

Well, it probably goes without saying that I don't know. I would think it it supports an outboard USB DAC it'll work with a USB DSP(??).
I can test the former (working with a USB DAC) with my older Synology NAS (which is currently serving as a paperweight, but should be easy to reanimate).
I don't have any flavor of DSP though.

And thanks very much for the infromation!

Oh, sorry man, you got me wrong. I didn't mean it's you who have to answer that, but my question is for anyone who understands what goes on inside the DSP. And I see my thread getting like a thousand views and no one is giving it to me straight. That's why I guess they must think I already know.

 

[mhardy6647]

Oh, sorry man, you got me wrong. I didn't mean it's you who have to answer that, but my question is for anyone who understands what goes on inside the DSP. And I see my thread getting like a thousand views and no one is giving it to me straight. That's why I guess they must think I already know.

No problem at all! I really appreciated your responding to my question, so it only seemed right to respond to yours as best I could!
If nothing else, this helps to keep your thread near the top of the "new posts"!

 

[killdozzer]

OK, so here are some further info on the subject. Perhaps this could be of some interest; which ever equalizer set up I use, I get distortion!

This is still me using just a simple headphone DAC amp (the one in the pic post #2). The only controlled listening I did was to switch the input selector between two different sources (my laptop - no distortion even with EQ on vs. my NAS distorted sound whenever I use EQ).

I didn't fret much about SPL simply because there's distortion from EQed NAS both when playing loud or quiet. But I did give it some effort and used SPL meter to bring it close. I measured pink noise on my smart phone SPL meter.

Anyway, more importantly, I don't think SPL changes anything if you get distortion whether it's quiet or loud.

The distortion sounds like "farting bass", soooo... I guess like digital clipping. farting ALWAYS stop when you turn the EQ off.

I'm inclined to look for the root of the problem in bit-depth. Would I be wrong to do that?

 

[killdozzer]

And even further info on this lay out.

I thought that I get distortion because of the equalizer. Now I find that certain files will distort even if I turn of the EQ.

This is worrisome because it means that perhaps the bit rate over the USB out is simply not big enough for streaming FLAC. It seems it's throttling.

I'm curious whether it would change if I was to turn down the volume on the NAS player (the Audio Station one, the one that provides the "USB speakers out" option, so I have to use it) and just turn up the master volume on my amp.

Sadly, I'm coming to a conclusion that even though it is possible to make it work, the results may not be what I hoped for. My laptop still plays way better. (And again, I did no meticulous testing and comparing since it's quite straight forward - distortion when NAS > Stereo Amp and no distortion when NAS > Wireless > Laptop > cable to Stereo Amp).