NAS newbie, help me validate my set-up choice with Apple TV 4K

[lusoapple]

I'm interested in buying a NAS to be my media center. Although I'm an Apple user, I don't really care for iTunes (Apple Music now), I can switch to PLEX which seems like a simpler solution. I thought this was going to be easier to figure out but the more I search the more pitfalls there seems to be. Can you please help validate my set-up see if I got it right?

Music is the main priority (I have thousands of actual CDs and Vinyl, but also a library of 50k digital audio files), but also photos and some movies (some MKVs).


Here's my goal:
Having all my digital music files in a centralized NAS, where I can access and play them with a friendly visual interface, using either in my iPhone, Ipad or Smart TV as a browser. I don't want to have laptop/computer in the "active loop", I just use it to manage and transfer music.

Hardware:
- NAS (QNAP or Synology?): holds and streams all the files (to Apple TV?)
- Apple TV 4K is already connected to my Rotel analogue amp, which produces the sound
- iPhone, Ipad: serves as remote where I can use PLEX to browse and play the media files (?)


Software:
- Plex
- ...do I really need anything else? (I read about Infuse to play files on ATV? Things like direct play and stream, I got confused)


Is this ok?

 

[phrehdd]

I'm interested in buying a NAS to be my media center. Although I'm an Apple user, I don't really care for iTunes (Apple Music now), I can switch to PLEX which seems like a simpler solution. I thought this was going to be easier to figure out but the more I search the more pitfalls there seems to be. Can you please help validate my set-up see if I got it right?

Music is the main priority (I have thousands of actual CDs and Vinyl, but also a library of 50k digital audio files), but also photos and some movies (some MKVs).


Here's my goal:
Having all my digital music files in a centralized NAS, where I can access and play them with a friendly visual interface, using either in my iPhone, Ipad or Smart TV as a browser. I don't want to have laptop/computer in the "active loop", I just use it to manage and transfer music.

Hardware:
- NAS (QNAP or Synology?): holds and streams all the files (to Apple TV?)
- Apple TV 4K is already connected to my Rotel analogue amp, which produces the sound
- iPhone, Ipad: serves as remote where I can use PLEX to browse and play the media files (?)


Software:
- Plex
- ...do I really need anything else? (I read about Infuse to play files on ATV? Things like direct play and stream, I got confused)


Is this ok?

I would suggest you venture over to smallnetbuilder.com as they have done some tests on various NAS units and do contrast and compare. Just be aware that when the NAS is not in use for a period of time, the drives will spin down. Items like ATV may not see them on line unless active. I happen to like QNAS but have set up Synology offerings for friends as they seem to like the interface. Explore the RAID options and note that any and all are fast enough for playback of files. The real issue is when a drive fails and how to swap the drive and rebuild. Very large drives can take a miserably long time. I'll leave the discussion of ATV for others.

 

[Rigby]

Hardware:
- NAS (QNAP or Synology?): holds and streams all the files (to Apple TV?)
- Apple TV 4K is already connected to my Rotel analogue amp, which produces the sound
- iPhone, Ipad: serves as remote where I can use PLEX to browse and play the media files (?)


Software:
- Plex

Plex or Emby are certainly an option. The server software for both can be installed without problem on QNAP and Synology NASes. But remember that you need a subscription to be able to stream music to other devices. If you want a free and open solution, take a look at Jellyfin. It is less polished though.

Both QNAP and Synology also have proprietary music apps, but I have no experience with them. Might be worth a look though.

- ...do I really need anything else? (I read about Infuse to play files on ATV? Things like direct play and stream, I got confused)

Infuse can be used with Plex and Jellyfin (not sure about Emby), but it's only for movies/TV, not music. MrMC might be an alternative, but I have no experience using it for music. For Plex you're better off using their client.

Personally I no longer use a media server for music. I keep my own library in the cloud via iTunes Match (and also have a Spotify subscription to discover new music). It's just much easier to use and iTunes Match is less expensive than a Plex subscription.

 

[jeff051177]

I'm a plex user (after trying various other things). I have a fairly large library of Movies, TV shows and Music, and I'm pleased with the balance of simplicity/functionality that Plex delivers.

The point it really made sense was when I upgraded my Synology to a 918+. The added horsepower (over my previous ancient model) meant I could run plex server directly on the NAS, and take my laptop out of the loop completely. It's great, and one of the best technology investments I've made (both in terms of $$ and time to get it up and running).

My only slight caveat is the music interface on the apple TV. I do use mine for music, but I'd be willing to bet that there is a better solution out there. The interface on the apply TV is okay.... just ok. They have just released plexamp for your phone, which is a dedicated music app....which is great tho.

The good news is that most of the various options are either free or pretty cheap to get up and running to try out - particularly in the context of investing in hardware - so create a small library and try a few out, see what you like

 

[HDFan]

Just be aware that when the NAS is not in use for a period of time, the drives will spin down.

??? I've never experienced that either with QNAP or Synology

Music is the main priority (I have thousands of actual CDs and Vinyl, but also a library of 50k digital audio files), but also photos and some movies (some MKVs).

The gold standard for music servers is Roon. Expensive. Runs both on Synology and QNAP. Best clients are those which support the roon RAAT client. You can stream to your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

One concern would be the encoding of your audio files. If they work in iTunes then they likely will work elsewhere as well.

Hardware:
- NAS (QNAP or Synology?): holds and streams all the files (to Apple TV?)

My preference is QNAP. Depending on the model it may have thunderbolt support. NAS network transfers are limited to the speed of your network. Terabytes of data take a long time to transfer over 1Gbe. A HDMI port will allow you to connect it directly to your
TV. Software software interface is almost indistinguishable from Synology. QNAP has more options such as Seagate Ironwolf Health Management. Synology software may be a bit more stable.

- Apple TV 4K is already connected to my Rotel analogue amp, which produces the sound
- iPhone, Ipad: serves as remote where I can use PLEX to browse and play the media files (?)

Plex has a client which runs on all of those.

Plex
- ...do I really need anything else? (I read about Infuse to play files on ATV? Things like direct play and stream, I got confused)

The new Plex client on the Apple TV (Plex Pass required) supports direct play. There now may be no difference between Plex and Infuse players.

I don't play music via Plex so not sure on how well it works. Tried to set it up but isn't working. Never spend the time to figure it out.

If you don't need all of the advanced features in Plex a simple solution would be to run Infuse for your video media. If Roon is out of your budget there are a lot of audio options.

 

[lusoapple]

Thanks for the input so far!

I do not want to pay for subscription based software otherwise I might as well use Spotify. I like to buy my own music and have my own music library.

I will pay "one-shot" software if it's something I need but no subscriptions.

What's the best app for this?

 

[HDFan]

I do not want to pay for subscription based software otherwise I might as well use Spotify. I like to buy my own music and have my own music library.

If you are referring to Roon, it is not a streaming service. It has no content by itself. It plays your library. If you have subscription services, such as high resolution Tidal or Qobuz, it integrates them with your library so you have one integrated music interface.

You can purchase a lifetime subscription or a yearly one. Very expensive.

 

[lusoapple]

I don't want to have a subscription based software just to stream my own music (I knew Roon is not like Spotify). I don't mind paying for a purchase, but not monthly fees to listen to my own music.

 

[phrehdd]

??? I've never experienced that either with QNAP or Synology



The gold standard for music servers is Roon. Expensive. Runs both on Synology and QNAP. Best clients are those which support the roon RAAT client. You can stream to your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

One concern would be the encoding of your audio files. If they work in iTunes then they likely will work elsewhere as well.



My preference is QNAP. Depending on the model it may have thunderbolt support. NAS network transfers are limited to the speed of your network. Terabytes of data take a long time to transfer over 1Gbe. A HDMI port will allow you to connect it directly to your
TV. Software software interface is almost indistinguishable from Synology. QNAP has more options such as Seagate Ironwolf Health Management. Synology software may be a bit more stable.



Plex has a client which runs on all of those.



The new Plex client on the Apple TV (Plex Pass required) supports direct play. There now may be no difference between Plex and Infuse players.

I don't play music via Plex so not sure on how well it works. Tried to set it up but isn't working. Never spend the time to figure it out.

If you don't need all of the advanced features in Plex a simple solution would be to run Infuse for your video media. If Roon is out of your budget there are a lot of audio options.

Well many have experienced it and its nothing new. When drives go to sleep, sometimes a connected system's software when trying to access will fail to access because of this state of sleep. In the case of iTunes of yore, if the entire library was on the NAS and it was not accessible within a certain amount of time, iTunes would generate a local library which of course, would be empty. This topic used to as well be covered in forums in both Synology and QNAP sites back when.

 

[priitv8]

In the case of iTunes of yore, if the entire library was on the NAS and it was not accessible within a certain amount of time, iTunes would generate a local library which of course, would be empty.

That is why I keep the iTunes library on Mac's local storage. Added bonus - it will get backed up by TimeMachine.
I only keep the media folder on external storage.

 

[frogspawn504]

I have 4 ATVs (2 non-4k and 2 4K) and a Synology 218+. I do not use plex but use an HDHomeRun with the channels app and infuse for watching the non-ota recorded video. Everything works great. I have never figured out why I would need PLEX.

 

[steve62388]

I would suggest you venture over to smallnetbuilder.com as they have done some tests on various NAS units and do contrast and compare. Just be aware that when the NAS is not in use for a period of time, the drives will spin down. Items like ATV may not see them on line unless active. I happen to like QNAS but have set up Synology offerings for friends as they seem to like the interface. Explore the RAID options and note that any and all are fast enough for playback of files. The real issue is when a drive fails and how to swap the drive and rebuild. Very large drives can take a miserably long time. I'll leave the discussion of ATV for others.

Just a small point. smallnetbuilder is a dying site and no longer does reviews. I’m a former avid reader.

 

[phrehdd]

Just a small point. smallnetbuilder is a dying site and no longer does reviews. I’m a former avid reader.

Thanks for the info. Rather sad as they were a solid resource for many a year.

 

[jeyf]

i have a somewhat new Qnap box. My main issue is the box spins up on its own at odd times through the day when nothing else is on the network. Just odd and added wear tear on the hard drives. There are persistent rumors of a QSnatch malware. You can run various applications on Qnap and other modern NAS boxes. Security only as good as the worst application you use. I feel un-comfortable doing everything cloud base. If you go this way you should get a manager for this effort and encrypt the cloud data.

It is difficult for me to go beyond 6-7 TB but I do not have a big need for 4K resolution on anything. I have seen raid 05 on a 3 bay NAS box. The Qnap I have is a 4 bay with 6T drives in it. It has a built in web managment page i use from time to time. Unless a drive fails i hope to never touch the box and it is physically located in a basement closet, low dust vibration and a little security. Originally the box had 4G ram but i recently updated to 8 from a 3rd party. This made a subtle difference and not expensive. The Qnap box was more difficult than expected to initially setup. So do some study planning before the Amazon boxes start to arrive.

I have two NAS boxes actually and use one exclusively for backup. Use macOS ChronoSync to schedule do the backups. I keep all my music, video, photos, books on the NAS box. pdf of receipts & user manuals too. I work on a project with files local to my MBP but when done for the day or a completed project I copy them to the NAS box. I copy photos from iPhone's icloud.com onto the NAS box. Keep less than a 100 photos of family on the iPhone to show friends.

I use a network ethernet connection. macOS; Finder is slow odd for doing maintenance on the NAS but it works. Some times it will refuse to delete select files, this is very bad. ios; the Files app can move, rename files and it can "share" a file from the NAS box into an ios app in a limited way. File Explorer is better than Files. VLC is a good ios and macOS application to have.

 

[AppleVOG]

I'm interested in buying a NAS to be my media center. Although I'm an Apple user, I don't really care for iTunes (Apple Music now), I can switch to PLEX which seems like a simpler solution. I thought this was going to be easier to figure out but the more I search the more pitfalls there seems to be. Can you please help validate my set-up see if I got it right?

Music is the main priority (I have thousands of actual CDs and Vinyl, but also a library of 50k digital audio files), but also photos and some movies (some MKVs).


Here's my goal:
Having all my digital music files in a centralized NAS, where I can access and play them with a friendly visual interface, using either in my iPhone, Ipad or Smart TV as a browser. I don't want to have laptop/computer in the "active loop", I just use it to manage and transfer music.

Hardware:
- NAS (QNAP or Synology?): holds and streams all the files (to Apple TV?)
- Apple TV 4K is already connected to my Rotel analogue amp, which produces the sound
- iPhone, Ipad: serves as remote where I can use PLEX to browse and play the media files (?)


Software:
- Plex
- ...do I really need anything else? (I read about Infuse to play files on ATV? Things like direct play and stream, I got confused)


Is this ok?

interesting conversation- thanks 🙏 to all the posters ...

I purchased a Soundgenic about a month ago which I use for playing back Audio - DSD, Hi Res, Flac, etc:
via the Fidata app -

Soundgenic Network Audio Server

Soundgenic is a network audio server with media server and USB-DAC player functionality.

www.iodata.jp

The sound quality is outstanding, especially as the price was so low - I use it with a chord Qutest Dac.

which has inspired me to search for a separate NAS solution for 4k UHD, 1080, MKV, AVI, 265 files ...

HDMI playback - for Picture & sound or separate audio out

is anyone using this for a Home Cinema solution ?

any thoughts / ideas, greatly appreciated as it seems a top notch NAS will be a few thousand bucks ...

 

[Rigby]

There are persistent rumors of a QSnatch malware.

QNAP handled this very badly. To this day they have not provided details about how the malware infected devices. Nobody knows if the vulnerabilities have really been fixed. Irresponsible. I have two QNAP units, but I won't buy QNAP again. I'll probably build a custom NAS using TrueNAS to replace them soon.

If you have a QNAP, I strongly recommend not to expose it to the Internet (i.e. no direct port forwarding etc.), and not to use the "MyQNAPCloud" feature.

 

[AppleVOG]

Anyone used this ...

HS-453DX | Silent but Powerful: Fanless Multimedia NAS with Hybrid Storage Structure, 10GbE connectivity, and HDMI™ 2.0 4K output

The 2018 Computex d&i Design Award-winning HS-453DX features a stylish minimalist appearance while providing maximum multimedia performance. Powered by an Intel® Celeron® J4115 quad-core processor with HDMI™ 2.0 (4K @60Hz) output, the HS-453DX allows you to directly enjoy high-quality videos on...

www.qnap.com

I’m very open to another solution for True HDMI 2.0 4k playback, if anyone has a suggestion -
especially since reading Rigby’s comments ...

 

[HDFan]

There are persistent rumors of a QSnatch malware.

Fixed November 2019.

Response to QSnatch Attacks: Take Actions to Secure QNAP NAS

Taipei, Taiwan, November 7, 2019 - QNAP® Systems, Inc. (QNAP), a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, tod ...

www.qnap.com

If you have a QNAP, I strongly recommend not to expose it to the Internet (i.e. no direct port forwarding etc.), and not to use the "MyQNAPCloud" feature.

Good advice for any network device - QNAP, Synology, etc. Don't allow external discover or access. Haven't had any problems with my QNAP..

I’m very open to another solution for True HDMI 2.0 4k playback,

QNAP is my primary 4K video server via Plex. Some models have HDMI 2.0 ports that support up to 3840x2160 which could be connected directly to your TV.

 

[rjtiedeman]

How do you search for files on a NAS drive. Presently I have to search on USB connected the clone backup drive. Is there any MAC software that can search a NAS raid device like spotlight?

 

[oneMadRssn]

I'm a big fan of Synology. In terms of NAS operating systems, it's probably the most Apple-like of them out there. Easy to set up it up right out of the box with an easy wizard that walks you through all the steps without requiring you know the ins and outs of networking and RAID. Some people wish it had more advanced features, which is fair, but what it does have works reliably.

 

[jeyf]

just fyi; i thing Drobo Inc. is going through another buy out or something. In the corporate death throws??

how do you search a nas box:
Once a you mount a nas box on your home computer (control K than smb://myNAS) just double click on the screen icon and finder comes up. Do your search through finder.

 

[mpainesyd]

That is why I keep the iTunes library on Mac's local storage. Added bonus - it will get backed up by TimeMachine.
I only keep the media folder on external storage.

Same here. An iMac acts as a media server for the ATV. This gives many options for playing media, including copy-protected items purchased/rented from Apple. For example you can download a rented movie to the iMac at off-peak times (I live in Australia!) and play it later on the ATV. I have documented my setup here:

AirPlay and Apple devices

I have put together a brief description of my understanding of the use of AirPlay and media streaming with Apple devices. I posted it on the Apple Discussions website but thought it might be of interest here. There is considerable overlap with several Take Control books. Apple Device...

talk.tidbits.com

The Mac's iTunes library can include media files stored on an external drive, including NAS.

 

[filu_]

Hi!
I have quite a similar problem, although I started my journey from a different side.

We have always used Linux on our home computer. Of the many things my computer does for me, the important thing for this thread is the storage of my photos, music (copied from my CDs) and movies (.mkv from my DVDs since my DVD player broke). Access to the CD / DVD drive is also important.

First, I started to share files on my home network via SMB (my laptop, my wife's laptop), then via DLNA on SmartTV - here I wanted to play files in .wav format via a stereo system on TV - that's why I have two versions of music - .wav ( for a receiver) and mp3 (for mp3 players and phones or listening while working on the desktop directly from the computer).

Since I have an iPhone and now an iPad (and so is my wife), I want to have access to movies on these devices, which I do via miniDLNA on the server side and VLC on the iPhone / iPad. Sometimes I listen to music in a better format in a different room with a TV and home theater.

I listen to music on iPhone / iPad almost exclusively after transferring it via iTunes, which is troublesome (I have to use an old Windows laptop) although I do it basically once, after buying the device I copy a few GB of MP3 files to it.

I would like to buy a Mac to take full advantage of the Apple ecosystem, but I can't decide whether to copy my current layout, e.g. buying a Mac mini / iMac and external SSD for storage, or better buy an MBA entry level as an i-Device management tool and still on the net, leave your linux desktop as the server. It is quite old, so over time I will either replace it with a finished NAS (QNAP / Synology) or use the multimedia HDDs I have and connect them to the Raspberry Pi.

I also wanted to recommend you to try to create your own server.

Ps.
I had a Mac mini for a period of testing and I find Plex too heavy, although it is only possible to use it in a slimmed down version as a DLNA server without decoding or streaming. There is some sharing potential in Apple Music and the home library, but I don't know how it would handle my double .wav / .mp3 library.

On the other hand, I don't like the music management by the Music app and photos by Photos. Too much interference in the content that I systematized manually ...

best regards

 

[jeyf]

Hi!
I have quite a similar problem, although I started my journey from a different side ... best regards

all good but some of what u posted i did not understand??

I have a feel that some of our most successful open source projects are hitting difficult times. pfSense comes to mind. They have not had a significant relaease in a year, just security up dates. That being said; you could run your network mamagment apps in a virtual environment. vmWare, maybe not your 1st choice but using them as an example; they do a significant amount of routing in the app itself. Even vmWare it has a small foot print.
I have not implimented a virtual situation but I have a few small micro ITX boxes and run linux or windows. Run time is great, low initial cost, no fan and low power consumption.

I bought a 2017 MBP with the butterfly keyboard and after that exprience well Apple... just too expensive 4what you get and its my money so.

You could build your own file server and or glam together a bunch of junk drives. The only thing an off the shelf NAS box gives me is:
-the professional replacement managment if a hard drive failes.
-known network performance so things like SMB:// work well

Just a side note;
the IOS app Files works ok. It quickly mounts my NAS box and things like copy, rename, move are fast and usable on network files. Files allows you to share a network file to your favorite IOS app. Say share a file from your NAS box into the iPhone ios VLC app.

 

[filu_]

The topic is not easy and English is not my native language, I use Google translate.
So I can write incomprehensible and translate it badly

If you want me to explain something extra, I'll try to help.

Say share a file from your NAS box into the iPhone ios VLC app.

If you ask me, yes - miniDLNA on linux allows me to watch movies on iPhone / iPad using VLC.

It also allows you to transfer files such as movies and music to iPad / iPhone without accessing them from the „Native” iOS Music application.

When it comes to the Files application for iOS, I give it a low rating, but via SMB I just changed the name of the video file. I can also transfer my "works" from iMove to iPad via SMB to linux.

My ecosystem cannot cope with Numbers and Pages files - I don't want to copy myself to Linux from the iPad - but that's probably another topic.

Of course, if I leave my desktop as a server I will change the linux distro from Openuse to OpenMediaVault for web management. It may be FreeNAS but it seems difficult. I tested both on Virtualbox. The next options are Raspberry or ready-made NAS.

Or use your Mac to share files when I get it.

It all depends on:
- money,
- elegance and simplicity,
- guarantee of stable work - if you spend a day or two on configuration, let it be enough for years ...

have a nice day