Streaming to Superuniti

Posted by: novak on 05 November 2011

Hello all! 

 

Can I stream directly to the Superuniti from iTunes or Airfoil/Spotify?

 

I'm currently using a Supernait, Hicap and Harbeth M30 (well the Harbeth's are on their way after a home demo) and I stream my music wirelessly (Spotify premium or iTunes) to my Apple Airport Express and connect to the SN via optical. 

 

The set up sounds good, but I keep reading that I could get more out of the system if I sort the streaming out. I have looked at the NDX, ND5 XS and also now reading about the Superuniti.

 

What would your recommendations be, guys? Would the Superunit sound better than the SN/HiCap/NDX or ND5XS? I heard you can't add the power supply to the SuperUniti, which is one of my doubts.

 

Thanks in advance!

Posted on: 05 November 2011 by Tog

The SU will accept UPnP streaming directly so your alternatives are likely to be somewhat limited for the Mac although there are UPnP servers available they remain flaky and tempremental.

 

iTunes itself will not stream to UPnP as Apple uses another protocol DAAP/Airplay to stream between its devices. You can attach an Apple device MBP (excellent) or Apple TV (not so good) to the SUs optical in or indeed a Sonos but that leaves a significant portion of your £3000 investment unused.

 

UPnP can work very well if you use a good NAS to serve up the music (QNAP/Thecus/Synology) or use Vortexbox on an Intel based server/PC or indeed Asset UPnP on a Windows PC/Home server.

Once you accept that the Mac isn't a particularly good UPnP platform it is fairly straightforward to use alternatives.

 

Of course Airplay should come online with the SU early next year.

 

Tog

Posted on: 05 November 2011 by naimUnT
You cannot add a HiCap to the SU but you can add a NAP200 or 250.2.
Posted on: 05 November 2011 by Gordon McGlade

Playback from Yazsoft works perfectly dreaming from iTunes on a MAC, including covert art

Posted on: 05 November 2011 by james n
Agree with Gordon. Playback works very well for me after exploring a number of Mac based UPnP options.

The ND5XS with your Supernait 'should' be better than the Superuniti but you need to do the comparison. The Superuniti / 200 would make a very nice two boxer though.

James
Posted on: 05 November 2011 by novak

Thanks guys, that's useful. I think I will stick with the SN for now, but will look into whether the Sonos AP90 is a better wireless intermediate than the Airport Express for Spotify and iTunes.

 

When using Airfoil or similar, surely the Sonos appears as an available device to connect to, like an AE would do?