I have made all my decisions concerning my music sever (MAC mini based) except for the storage device. Because I want the storage device to reside in a room below my music room it must be some sort of a NAS box. I was reading the manuals for both of the above products and they state only compatibility for iTunes with WAV, AAC, & MP3. Does that mean it will not support AIFF? If so that would be a deal breaker.
Also a related question. Will the MAC mini always see (know where the music files are) on a NAS device just like on a local hard drive without jumping through a bunch of hoops? Sorry, but I have never used a Mac or a NAS storage device.
Thanks
Alan B
Posts: 8
Information from Thecus
Information from Thecus website, http://www.thecus.com/download/other/iTunes_Configuration_Guide.pdf
Posts: 38
Thank you. Yes this guide
Thank you. Yes this guide clearly states that AIFF is supported. However, the owners manual makes no mention of AIFF. I wonder if the same is true for the N3200.
Alan B
Posts: 2809
Hey Guys - Here is the deal
Hey Guys - Here is the deal with file type support etc...
As a NAS device the Thecus will support any file type your store on it. It will store files with made up types like XYZ if you really want. It is just a hard drive connected to your network instead of an internal SATA cable. Where the file type issue MAY arise is when you use the NAS device as an iTunes server. When you do this the Thecus unit appears as a shared library in iTunes. Some people love this feature. I wold rather work directly with the library and have full functionality instead of using a shared library.
Did I explain this well or did I only cause more confusion :-)
Chris Connaker
Founder
Computer Audiophile
Posts: 2809
I forgot to answer the
I forgot to answer the question about seeing the disc.
You don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops, but there are trade offs. Local disk is always there no matter what, but is extremely limited. A NAS device has much more to offer, but is only as reliable as your network. I automatically mount my NAS drive when I log in to my Mac Pro music server. On my MacBook Air I never mount the NAS drive, but my iTunes can still see the drive and use it perfectly.
Don't worry about this too much. I promise everything will be just fine. If there are problems I will walk you through the resolution as long as you keep asking questions until everything is perfect. Since you are unfamiliar with Mac and NAS I'm guessing you're making it a little harder than it really is. No worries though :-)
Chris Connaker
Founder
Computer Audiophile
Posts: 8
With such a scenario where
With such a scenario where there is a NAS, can two or more Macs use a library rather than use a shared library using iTunes server on the NAS? Not sure if my question makes sense, but what I'm trying to ascertain is two or more Macs capable of seeing the same library?
Posts: 2809
Yes two or more Mac can
Yes two or more Mac can access the library on a NAS device. There are some best practices when sharing a library / music folder that we can discuss if you want. just let me know.
When discussing this topic it is important to separate the library from the music. The library is the "catalog" of all your music that resides in the iTunes folder and is often called iTunes Library. This can be shared but needs further discussion if you want to do it. The music is obviously self explanatory and can easily be shared by several Macs on a NAS. There are some best practices for this as well.
Chris Connaker
Founder
Computer Audiophile