Yes the Minis are also a good choice for hands off that's why I gave my wife one and she does not like change or complications. My Synology it's been very good to me so I can't complain but I did start with an iMac then went to a windows 10 box but no hardware transcoding. Ended up getting the DS720+ with no regrets.
A Raspberry Pi 4 makes a great Channels DVR server. Extreme low maintenance, since it is only the channels custom image on it. Updates are fast and easy.
I have 2 of them. One for each user, since Channels does not support separate user profiles.
It is a low power, always on device, I do have them in a case with a small fan to keep it cool. But have had no issues with them. I like them as dedicated "appliance" type network device thats only job is to be a Channels DVR and never realy need to touch the thing after it is setup,
Before, i had one sever hosted on my Intel NUC running Linux Mint, but I also used that system for many other things and it was difficult when i needed to reboot or update that OS it taking down or interfering with the DVR.
The only downside to Pi 4 DVR is that it is not a hardware power house. Just powerful enough for 1x remote transcode stream, and takes longer for comskip to process, due to its lower powered CPU, but it is plenty sufficient for single users like me.
And i'm quite sure, that the next gen, the Pi 5, will be even more powerful and desired as a Channels DVR server...
I would never spend ~$900 on a Mac Mini M1....just to only use it for a Channels DVR....its your money to burn though.
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I just set up a Mac Mini M1 last week as my server. It's the best decision I've made. Everything runs so smoothly. Going between channels is so quick. Commercial detection is very fast if that is important to you. I don't know much about the NAS you have but the Mac Mini is amazing as a server.
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A Mac Mini is cheaper than most Intel based NAS boxes with decent horsepower. And in my case, My Mac Mini is 9 years old and was occupying a box in the closet when I tasked it with this duty! 
Mac's run always like the day you bought it add a SSD and some memory and you get new life.
Well, the Intel NUC i have is an i7 Quad 3.5ghz and cost only $400 few years ago...and came with 32gb ram.
Also, looking on Ebay, you can find many high end NUCs, or other mini form factor computers, with plenty of cpu power, for very cheap. And u can easy make it a NAS by installing a large TB ssd, or use a usb 3.0 multi bay dock, or thunderbolt hdd bay.
Apple hardware is way overpriced for what you get. But if it makes you feel better seeing the shiny Apple logo on it....have fun.
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My NAS has many jobs. By day it's DVR server and runs some Docker images backs ups all our photos from our smartphones. At night it's a backup server for our Mac's. It can handle all without a hitch or intervention. Plenty of bandwidth with two giga network ports bonded and straight to the router.
A MacMini seems over kill for a channels DVR server. A cheap Windows mini PC with Intel Quicksync is more than enough. I can get one for under $200 Dollars with Windows 10 Pro installed.
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No doubt its probably overkill, but the M1 is probably the fastest option. And I can't complain that my $599 i5 Mini that I bought NINE years ago still runs great and kills at at DVR duties.
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Apple has the best hardware combination and it's matched to give the best performance. That's why you can have a Mac that still performs like day one. Software and hardware optimized. I can dump a 9 year old pc but I can still use 9 year old Mac. Sorry I am a Mac fan and the cost pays off over the years of service. When apple can't support a hardware configuration for their platforn they just stop supporting it no compromise.But you can still keep using it.
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typical mac fanboy response and logic. lolz. 
Not meaning to turn this in to mac vs pc debate...
But, win 10 runs fine on old hardware.
Linux runs even better.
And no, i work on hundreds of old Apple hardware each week, refurbish them and sell them, and have to deal with all the issues, faults, and broken things and proprietary hardware and common faults. They for sure do not run the same as day one when they are old, and considered obsolete by Apple after 5yrs of age.....the number of returns that happens from people that complain, why can't i install "latest MacOS" on this, why is it so slow? um, sorry, this 2011 laptop u paid $800 for refurbished can only run up to 10.15...etc.
I have a HP Probook from 2009 that runs Win 10 Pro fine, and is my mothers laptop.
You CAN install and run current windows os on obsolete hardware and it works fine.
You can't install latest MacOS on obsolete mac hardware.
Apple tried using their own cpus and chips many years ago, it did not go well.
I am skeptical, but tech has greatly advanced since then, and ARM or ARM based hardware chips, custom silicon, seems to be all the rage now.
Yes, Apple and others can optimize software to their own made hardware...but, that causes ripple effect of compatibility issues with many others software app etc. Like, how does boot camp work with M1 hardware?
Anyway, get what you want or what you can afford...its your money...but the fact remains, you can buy just as powerful, or even better, hardware, for much lower cost.
Heck, you can buy a at least, a retired 4x CPU 4x Zeon core each with 512gb ram, rackmount Dell server for under $500 on ebay.
What software you run, makes no real difference in price factor, not when u can take any PC hardware, and for free, run one of hundreds Linux distros, that run far more stable and optimized than Windows would...MacOS it self is Unix based, so it is essentially the same.
i would never recommend Windows, even Sever Os versions, for any always on type computer/network appliance.
Sure the newest mac thing, would work well....it freaking better, for the amount of $ they charge you for it. If you are fine with that...then you pretty much already have your answer to "what is better" and there is no point in debating things. What ever works for you, use it.
And as far as the topic goes, mac vis NAS....
A dedicated NAS, is just that, it is meant to be a place to store files over the network...not be a multi purpose device. Sure, companies can add in better hardware, fancy OS to them, and can try to make them do other things, but they are designed to be a NAS first and most optimally. meant to be lower power and always on.
You can build a normal PC, with a full OS and use that for everything, and it usually works well, since it has the hardware designed for the workload and use case.
But, if you really want to have a full desktop class computer always on..to just run, say a simple FTP server....that is overkil, and well, if u have no issue with that, and paying the power bill for it....enjoy.
Either way, BOTH devices mentioned in this thread(mac mini m1 or the NAS device) would run ChannelsDVR very well, and are in fact quite overkill for it.
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I own a mac mini and a nas. And a RPi, and an i7 windows 10 machine. I choose to run Channels on my NAS. But the question in this thread wasn’t about what I think is the best place to run channels. It was a question as to which offers superior performance, a qnap nas or an m1 mini.
The answer to the question in the OP is, without doubt, the M1 Mini.
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That is the same question though.
The best place to run said service(ChannelsDVR), would be on what device offers the superior performance.
Though, in reality, would the average user notice any real world difference between those 2 devices, most likely not.
The only exception would be for transcoding and comskip, neither of which did user post to what extent they utilize those features.
What is "best" boils down to usage case. And can be relative.
To which, the user who asked, has not stated to what extent their usage of Channels DVR is.
Are they needing 4+ remote transcode streams, do they have several users, many live viewers, and remote viewers, many daily recordings...want comskip to run on all of them, and as fast as possible?? If yes to all of that, they you should get the most powerful hardware they can afford.
If your use case is one or 2 users, who maybe remote stream from time to time, and may use comskip but don't care it it takes a bit to process cause you don't watch recordings immediately after they finish recording,, then cheaper, less powerful hardware will be just as good for you and you have no need for super high end hardware setup.
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I almost agree 100% and yes you can't install the latest mac os on old hardware. You can use some old hardware and run win 10 not the best performance but it will work. I am not very happy that Apple went with the Arm architeture but not my call that's why I still bought a Intel this year. As the sole IT for a small company for 20 years that only used Pc's I was happy to go home to my iMac until the display went on it and it was not worth replacing. The guts still going strong after 11 years.
Cheers and Happy Friday
Ps: thanks for calling me a boy (fanboy) at 66 years of age I am more like an old fan. LoL
I’m about to turn my 9 year old Mac mini into a dedicated IP camera viewer. It can view 9 cameras at the same time without dropping any frames, very impressive. I’m guessing an equivalent windows machine would do it just fine as well, but I don’t think there’s any denying that Mac minis have a reputation of high reliability over very long lifespans.
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Do you use btrfs or ext4 for your volume?
I've been using a stock M1 Mac Mini (headless) for a Channels server since January, and it works like a charm. Setting up Channels on it was easy. I have the DVR library stored on an external Synology NAS as an attached volume, but I could just as easily attached an external disk -- which I would have done if I didn't already have the Synology. It's hard to imagine a simpler setup for Channels than this Mini. It just works, and it hasn't yet let me down. It doesn't labor at all when multiple simultaneous recordings are underway. I've never even heard its fan.
Configuration:
Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine
8GB unified memory
512GB SSD storage
$899.00
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Intel NUC $500 Cheaper .... Great Channels DVR server wit QuickSync.
Intel NUC NUC6CAYH Mini PC/HTPC, Intel Quad-Core J3455 Upto 2.3GHz, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, WiFi, Bluetooth, 4k Support, Dual Monitor Capable, Windows 10 Professional 64Bit (8GB + 1TB HDD)
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He already has the M1 Mini.
OK ... I am just wondering why would someone invest in a Mac MINI m1 just to have it run Channels DVR ? I see the Mac MINI M1 as a powerful machine ... that would be a waste to use it as a headless Channels DVR server. Just my Opinion.