No. The problem you're having could be CPU or bandwidth related.
Aha. I spoke too soon. I relocated the NAS to the same switch shared by the MC server and it worked immediately.
However:
1. It seems to depend on the DSP settings. With a DSD256 5 channel file converted to PCM and DiracLive, the success depends on the target resolution.
a. Converted to 192/32 or 96/32, there are interruptions and bufferings every 30 seconds or so. Dirac on/off makes no difference.
b. Converted to 176/32 or 88/32, everything plays. Dirac on/off makes no difference.
2. In all cases, the CPU/memory usage seems similar (5-22%, mostly in the teens, and memory usage at 2-4 GB). However, when I look at the individual cores, only 4 are running and 0 and 7 have most of the load. Cores 1,3,5,7 are “Parked.”
3. On the other hand, network behavior varies strangely. In case 1b (good playback), network usage averages 2% but peaks in the 85-100mb/s range. In case 1b (interrupted playback), the average is the same but the peaks are in the 50-60mb/s range. Changing from direct to play from memory changes the network activity pattern but not the peak values.
I do not know what all this means or what may be significant but all these observations are with the same NAS connection described above.