In my case, I have a NAS server (powered by a Solaris 11 PC) running mediatomb uPnP server. the mediatomb uPnP is a media server that able to stream audio and video to DLNA compatible player.

My Yamaha V2067 is certified with DLNA, so I just use my Yamaha iPhone apps to remote connect V2067 to mediatomb media server and I can play FLAC music to my amp.

Htkaki, your Denon 4310 is able to play FLAC or wave format music from UPNP media server, and Synology Diskstation has builtin DLNA/uPNP capable media server, so I believe you don't need the Dune HD to play music, just use your Denon 4310 directly play music (either WAV or FLAC format) from the synology diskstation.

I already have the Sonos controlled by iPhone.

Tks a lot

I have a 4 bay Hotway. Itchy butt to try out NAS. Need to read through the Dune manual again to understand it better. 

The Dune has its own app for iPhone. It's a basic remote just like the Denon app. Once I get it works out, time for CAS and a better DAC.

Then one NAS to feed the Dune, my bedroom dvico6600 and another dvico6600 in my dad's room,  my squeezebox touch, my home PC... wonder hows the performance spreading over several points...

Sonos er..  ..

Streaming from NAS direct into yr 4311 using DLNA is the simplest way to go but it leaves no room for DAC. Agreed with ADJ, you end up need a music server if DAC is in your plan. That comes NAS > MUSIC SERVER > DAC > PRE/POWER. Finding a powerful yet user-friendly music server is the most essential part out of the others by considering your requirements. Once you've determined your music server, just find a compatible NAS to work with it at ease becasue eventually you don't work with the NAS but mainly the music server thingy for music playback. Since you have a Sonos and I'm sure it's 100 times better than Dune to act as a music server so why not give it a try with a compatible NAS such as Buffalo?

my NR808 with DLNA can access my notebook's music/video and play direct, also comes with internet radio which works fine, but I hate listen to music in dark room....so seldom use the features

htkaki, here's a quick overview about using a NAS.

if you use a sharkoon/hotway 4 bay storage device, and connect it via USB to your media player, you will see a list of folders, files etc. you will then navigate it via our media player, and then play your files accordingly.

a NAS is similar, but it is like a mini PC. It has a processor, memory, and runs on it's own OS. You will need a PC to access the web UI of the NAS to configure/manage it. Since it has an OS, there are also applications like media servers, web servers, download managers etc. It is also more energy efficient than using a PC to do all this on a 24/7 basis.

using a NAS is similar to the external USB storage, only that it is connected via networking instead, usually wired. Instead of it being local files, it would then be on a network shared folder. There are 2 kinds of network shared folders, SMB and NFS. NFS offers better performance, but you will need to enable it on your NAS, and your media player needs to support it. I believe the Dune supports NFS (WDTV Live does not). Once you have connected to the folder, you just browse and play the content, no problem.

you can also access the NAS content if it has a DLNA media server application on it, and if your media player is also a DLNA media renderer, which I believe the Dune is capable of doing so. There are advantages to this, such as creating a media library, tags, etc. Synology has a simple DLNA server app, but you can also install 3rd party DLNA server apps like Twonky. I believe bro terranova is more knowledgeable in this.

one cool thing I can do with my NAS and WDTV Live is using an iPhone app called ZappoTV. I can use my iPhone to browse my DLNA media library, and then select the movie/song I wish to play, and "ask" the WDTV to start playing it. Quite cool

hope this helps ya

very good post and explains it really well.

just one more point to add .... another advantage of running a NAS as opposed to running a hdd usb-bay is that you can run a RAID configuration for the hdd in a NAS. this means you can have a hard disk failure (physical hard disk damage) but yet your data will still survive the crash. this may not be so important for htkaki if all you are storing is just media files .... but when you have thousands of it stored on the hard disk, you surely dont want to go thru the hassle of re-ripping everything and tagging and organise and album art them all over again, now do u? more importantly, if you're using the NAS to store invaluable data e.g. family photos, home videos of your kids, your pRon collection, etc. then having a RAID config may give you more peace of mind.

good point too! I run mine in RAID 1 mirror since mine is only a 2 bay NAS. Reason I didn't mention this earlier was because some external USB/eSATA boxes also have RAID, like this 5-bay Sharkoon unit which you can get from lowyat, so I thought it wasn't a feature exclusive to NAS boxes

http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1809

I believe the Dune supports NFS (WDTV Live does not).

Hi
I am using Dune HD Max player connected to Synology NAS for streaming HD Videos.
You can connect both very easy through NFS which is faster than SMB or UPnP.
And you don't need a computer for that.
Thanks.

Tks a lot Is your HD Video in m2ts or bd iso? Smooth as butter? 

Hi
I have m2ts, iso , mkv and even bluray rips of about 45GB files and absolutely
very smooooth playback
Thanks.

My dune can't play Kick Ass m2ts (fullbluray) with the latest update..yours can?