Be sure to account for NAS-specific hard drives, too those can run into several hundreds of dollars all on their own, depending on the storage pool you want. It’s worth noting that the software remains the same no matter which Synology NAS you go for - it’s the hardware that you really need to pay attention to when making a decision. The recommendations here won’t break the bank but can still cater to a wide range of user needs. The port selection is adequate if not overwhelming: gigabit ethernet, a USB 2.0 port, and a USB 3.0 port, all on the back. It depends on your use case: Roon offers some cpu intensive features, such as audio upsampling, room correction and other digital signal. Synology Diskstation DS216play can act as a DLNA Certified media server. The Synology DS216plays performance didnt impress. Please be aware, that most Synology Diskstations are below the recommended specification. Synology offers even more capable - and pricier - NAS devices, but they generally fall in the super-expensive category and are feasible only for a niche consumer group. If your Diskstation meets the requirements, you can use it as your Roon Core. This particular Synology model, however, is best suited for a professional setting because of its limited 4K transcoding capability without an integrated GPU. The quad-core AMD Ryzen chipset is more powerful and a refreshing upgrade over the Intel processors usually included at this price point. For applications like these, the extra horsepower of the DS920+ is the perfect middle ground for buyers who are ready to spend a little more.įor more advanced, CPU-heavy productivity tasks, your best bet is the DS1621+ (or the DS1621xs+). There are a lot of things that these enclosures support, ranging from a surveillance station to even having your own private mail server. But a Synology NAS’s capability isn’t limited to merely being a Plex server.

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