[Chris NZ]

For home audio playback all my digital files are stored on a NAS drive in .wav format. For in car listening in my current car I simply copy the albums I want to listen to onto and a USB stick (still in .wav) and off I go. Looking to do the same with my Porsche (when I finally get it!) using an SD card but notice that they don't list .wav as a compatible format.

Has anyone tried playing .wav files either via SD card or USB? Do the USB connectors in the centre console and glove compartment even work this way?

 

[Veets]

Just tried this and .wav playback works just fine from an SD card. Unknown album is displayed on the screen, but the file name is listed. I have the base radio but can't imagine that the Bose system wouldn't read the same formats. My music library is entirely in FLAC, so the metadata and album artwork is also displayed. Just curious why you are using .wav instead of FLAC?

 

[Chris NZ]

@Veets thanks for your reply and good to know that I can at least play .wav files. I'm sure if I set up my usual folder structure I should be able to get Artist/Album views. I'll also try using folder.jpg naming conventions for artwork but this is less of an issue.

Use of .wav files has long been considered 'best practice' by Naim and my home streaming set up consists of a Synology NAS coupled to a Naim Uniti-Serve SSD feeding a Naim NDX streamer. It works perfectly in that closed eco-system but is less user friendly outside that environment than if were using flac (although my set up can transcode on the fly to .wav if i wanted it to). Some Naim users are passionate about the importance of .wav and many use flac. I just followed the 'best practice' advice I was given at the time. I could convert everything to flac if I wanted to bet I spent a lot of time ensuring bit-perfect rips of my discs and making sure the metadata was 100% correct as well so am not in a hurry to change anything.

 

[Veets]

Always liked the Naim sound. But my ears have lost a bit of the high end from too much live sound mixing, so I'm not the audio gear nut I used to be. Anyway, just wanted you to know that if you ever decide to convert to FLAC you don't need to re-rip your CDs. Your .wav files can be directly transcoded to FLACs using the transcoder built into most computer playback software (MusicBee, MediaMonkey, or Winamp for example). You can even do this with VLC using the transcode wizard or through the command line (instructions in the Videolan wiki). There might also be a way to pass the metadata in your Naim .wav database to the FLACs. Metadata would be kept in a separate file in your database folder and not in the .wav files themselves since metadata is not contained in .wav.

 

[Chris NZ]

@Veets Thanks and yes, I love the Naim sound too. I know that I can batch convert to flac - i can even do this within the naim ecosystem as the Uniti-Serve can do it. As you rightly point out the question is how, if at all, will it integrate the metadata, which is in side car files for each album.

 

[Viffermike]

I, too, run a Synology NAS - through a Cambridge CXN, so it's kinda-sorta a Naim (at least it's British), LOL - but I run FLAC files, which also play fine in the 718. I rip CDs and prep files using JRiver Media Center.

PCM 4 seems to be able to play nearly all common hi-res formats. The only exceptions I know of are AIFF and Ogg (debatable about that being common).

 

[piran]

I run FLAC files

Thank you for that confirmation (FLACs playing in the Cayman).

I have an old NAIM DAC and power amp at home. Have always ripped my CDs with EAC to FLAC and then use FOOBAH2000 in BitPerfect dedicated sound mode on the W10 platform. With copious local hard drive capacity my NAS box is used for alternative storage

The SD I took to the (one and only) sales session worked in a Panamera, this being the only vehicle there fitted with the Burmester option. Not allowed to drive it as it wasn't a pool car. I embed album art (eg not a sidecar file) and the cover's artwork showed up on the dash (PCMv?).

My lovely wife said I could have the Burmester option fitted if I liked its sound. I did and it has been optioned, so I do hope that my Burmester-equipped Cayman GTS (delivery August-ish) sounds similarly.

 

[Viffermike]

Thank you for that confirmation (FLACs playing in the Cayman).

I have an old NAIM DAC and power amp at home. Have always ripped my CDs with EAC to FLAC and then use FOOBAH2000 in BitPerfect dedicated sound mode on the W10 platform. With copious local hard drive capacity my NAS box is used for alternative storage

The SD I took to the (one and only) sales session worked in a Panamera, this being the only vehicle there fitted with the Burmester option. Not allowed to drive it as it wasn't a pool car. I embed album art (eg not a sidecar file) and the cover's artwork showed up on the dash (PCMv?).

My lovely wife said I could have the Burmester option fitted if I liked its sound. I did and it has been optioned, so I do hope that my Burmester-equipped Cayman GTS (delivery August-ish) sounds similarly.

I use BitPerfect, as well, whenever I play files direct from the MacBook Mini I have set up as a music processor in my home system. I generally get files off of the MBM as fast as possible, though -- though I'm an Apple fanboy, I'm attracted to the simplicity and purpose-built nature of the Synology and Cambridge for playback and library management. Particularly now that Apple's about the deprecate iTunes, it's best to keep files away from big bad OSes as much as possible.

Keep in mind that PCM 4 is the same throughout the model range; what plays on a Panamera or Cayenne should play on a 718 if they both have PCM 4. It's after the HU where things differ -- and the Burmester system is a great example of this. Its components were initially designed for the last-gen Panamera but have been retrofitted into the 718, so the system's hardware and speaker placement are far from optimized for the 718's interior. This is especially evident with the ribbon tweeters, which tend to be very monodirectional and don't disperse well - and they're aimed straight up toward the windshield in the 718.

Take a look at the Electronics/Audio subforum for threads about the Burmester upgrade. It's definitely the best option of the three, but it's generally not regarded as worth anywhere close the the near-$5k charge for it.

 

[Kingmota]

I created a Playlist all 320kbps FLAC on SD card and it works great on the PCM and sounds awesome on my 718 CGTS Burmester system. I spent a fair amount of time comparing with original CD and feel it is the same.

 

[GregW]

I created a Playlist all 320kbps FLAC on SD card and it works great on the PCM and sounds awesome on my 718 CGTS Burmester system. I spent a fair amount of time comparing with original CD and feel it is the same.

Excellent.
320 isn't the same as 1440, obviously--but in the 'far from ideal' listening space of a sports car I can't tell the difference either.

 

[C718GTS]

I am using simple 192Kbps MP3s . from 4.000 revs up ... well can't tell the difference either

 

[Viffermike]

Excellent.
320 isn't the same as 1440, obviously--but in the 'far from ideal' listening space of a sports car I can't tell the difference either.

I can. The difference has less to do with perceived bandwidth and so-called 'clarity' and more to do with sounding full and intelligible with lots of ambient white noise present -- a situation just like in our cars.

As a test, don't use music: Use spoken word. An audiobook is perfect. You'll find that at highway speeds, the speaking voice is far less understandable at lower bitrates and sampling rates than it is at higher ones. This is because compression and lower sampling rates omit frequencies and sonic data that make a speaking voice -- which typically lives mostly in the midrange -- more unique and differentiated from other sounds.

If that effect didn't exist, talk radio stations would have little reason to broadcast in HD ... and you wouldn't have to turn Sirius up so loud to understand what's broadcast on it (Another benefit: less volume is needed to hear hi-def programming properly.)

 

[nineball]

I can. The difference has less to do with perceived bandwidth and so-called 'clarity' and more to do with sounding full and intelligible with lots of ambient white noise present -- a situation just like in our cars.

i agree

As a test, don't use music: Use spoken word.

or come visit me and demo my car