Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Meridian Offer QNAP & dBpoweramp Support

Thank you En1omb

Thanks Peter. Also, are all of the QNAP products without hard drives, or are there any options where the drive is included?

There are some vendors which sell them with the disks. Google (for example) TS-669 pro in shopping.

Thank you Ikarus.

You're really looking for the TS-"X"69 models.

Don't you think M once again missed the boat on this NAS drive deal?

It seems to me Synology NAS units are the ones of choice, have the best reviews and support and are most recommended for streaming audio and video. I look at the QNAP offerings and they look old and dated.
I know about 30 integrators and none use QNAP. Hard to set-up, not reliable, etc. is what I hear.

In any case, I think M should have rolled out this NAS deal to work with more than one vendor.

It does seem that M is becoming more user friendly and that this is another step in that direction.
Now if they go back to posting firmware for all that would be a real step forward.

Some info from Meridian:

"Below are a few examples of the current models from QNAP that will run the QPKG software provided by Meridian.

TS-268L; 2 Bay
TS-569L; 5 Bay
TS-869L; 8 Bay
TS-469U; 4 Bay - rack mount

The following explains what is required from a QNAP device to run the QPKG software, thus enabling you to find other suitable models within the range.

From the QNAP website home page, select �Products�, then �Storage�. Click on the product under consideration. Click on �Hardware Spec.� to reveal the technical details of the product. If the CPU used is an Intel device (also known as �x86� CPUs) the product can be used with Meridian systems. Products using other CPUs cannot be used.

The Meridian QPKG plug-in works alongside the QNAP operation system, meaning you are able to use the available free disc space for other NAS purposes."

So in summary:

1) You must use a QNAP which uses an Intel (x86) CPU

2) You can use the QNAP for Sooloos storage alongside your other storage requirements.

Cheers,

Rick

Is it possible to run the Logitech/Slimserver server on the NAS at the same time AND also access the same Music folder? I don't think that I will replace all 8 Squeezeboxes in the house with Meridian endpoints, but perhaps in the lounge and cinema.

Rick,

Slight confusion here. As an example, both TS-569L and TS-269Pro show CPU as "Intel� Atom� 2.13 GHz Dual-core Processor".

However, if you go to the "Compatibility" page, TS-569L is listed under "Applied Models (Intel x86)", whereas TS-269Pro is not.

Pointing Squeeze/LMS at the Sooloos library works just fine. So, running LMS on the NAS and pointing to the Sooloos folder on the same machine should be fine.

I have used LMS pointing to my MD600 and also a full backup on NAS. It works well.

Worth noting that this works when music is fully meta tagged. This is what the dBpa plugin now does (this use is implied in the M literature) and dBpa native (and 99% of all other rippers) has always done. Control:PC/Control:15 rips did not write tags so Squeeze/LMS would not read anything.

I have one remaining Squeeze zone only.

I wonder if QNAP has something to do with their hardware manufacturing. I am sure the UK is mostly final assembly.

As an owner of Synology, I couldn't agree more. Maybe they will roll it out to more, as time progresses. Did squeeze box roll out to all manufacturers at once. Also, did all iTunes plug ins come to all NAS on the same day?

Yetis, that's a good point. Anyone that has used Squeeze or iTunes on a NAS will probably know that support forums get really busy really quickly with issues.
I am not at all surprised that M limit the scope to one brand and even one chipset.
I am also a very happy Synology user and MD600 owner and would love to see them expand the NAS brand option here. However, it is a great start to a new direction. Well done M.