Airplay is coming

Any idea when?  

My dealer mentioned 4/2012, but who knows...

it could be a killer app for me as heavy mac user. As i'm still interested in the Unitiserve it is of some interest to know, if it's really true it will not get the Airplay update..

I think I postpone the buy until more details about supported devices is known...

If I remember well it should surface on March.

I'm pretty sure that airplay as apple technology transmits only digital signal regardless of the device used.

Linn have recently delivered their bespoke 'airplay' solution which is called Songcast. It is implemented as a small piece of clever software that sits on your computer and wifi (or ethernet) streams whatever audio is playing on the computer to any of their DS boxes and hence into your HiFi system.

The obvious implementation being from i-tunes which can of course play WAV files up to 96/26 aswell as ALAC etc. It works really well  and obviously can also be used with the likes of i-movies, Spotify and even BBC i-player I presume.

Interestingly it is FREE. Wonder if Naim will get round to doing something like that 

regards

Geoff

Songcast even allows you to stream your LP to other DS streamers: Analog is converted to digital (works only with Linn DSs with analog inputs like DS-I), sent via Songcast to another streamer and played there.

Songcast or something like it is really what Naim should go for´, the specification and maybe even some code is free unlike Airplay I assume, and it works on a wider range of devices and from more programs. Apple has some nice devices but to much locking Naim to  Apple technology is not the way to go.

Claus

I agree Naim should not be locked in to to a specific vendor, but I still think they should support Airplay. Supporting an Apple format doesn't preclude support for other formats. 

Using a new Mac Mini as a music server does mean virtually any service will play through the Naim DAC, which makes it a nice solution including BBC iPlayer. However for me, direct Airplay support in the UQ would be superb and help establish it as the best clock radio in the universe 

Does the UQ have a snooze button ?

Airplay is brilliant. I use it as a lifestyle thing if I want to sit and listen properly I listen to my main Naim Hi-Fi fed from NAS -> Mac Mini -> Naim DAC or vinyl. If I've a dinner party or I'm wandering around doing things I use Airplay to feed music to other rooms. With respect to the tie in argument this all depends on whether you like things to just work properly together or let everyone do their thing and make a mess of it like they did windoze. As far as I am concerned, after many years working in the IT industry, stopping people fiddling with things is a good because it won't be broken as easily. With the proviso that it is built correctly with the user in mind in the first place.

Hi Chris

AFAIK the only acknowledgment that Airplay is coming to the streamers was in response to questions put to Mr Stevenson at the Milan show last year. You can read what ‘What Hi-Fi’ reported here.

Basically, it is hoped that it will be introduced during the first quarter of this year via a software update. However, this will only be possible on streamers with the new 24/192 boards fitted.

Peter

Does it do hi-res?

There is a lot of discussion about this on the Apple support website and other forums. My suspicion is that it only does CD quality. For my purposes it does not matter, in my post I did say that I use it in lifestyle mode. I just want reasonable quality sound when I am either doing something else or people are conversing with music in the background. I can choose which room or rooms I want the music in using iTunes and the Apple remote App on my iPad. If I play a hi-res file I still hear it through Airplay so it must get down sampled.

17 odd posts and no NAIM response???

There aren't any hi-res recordings I want to hear. None.

What about being able to listen to the master tapes (or more likely files) of any of the recordings you currently own? Surely being able to listen to exactly what the people in the studio made is one of the goals of hifi?

Why should there be one? I really don't see why people expect Naim to tell the world about their future developments. It holds nothing for Naim but pain. 'Where's this feature?' 'Oh you're workng on it? When's it out?' It's just a deep messy hole...

Originally Posted by Chief Chirpa:

That is a very blinkered view. You may even be right at this point in time, but not for long.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Frank there are many asking for an update, about something that has already been stated, therefore they are not telling of future developments,

Basically posters are asking for an update of this product, not a list of all future projects.

A little more info may prevent interested parties buying a rival product.

Why is a simple Airport Express not an option? Costs less than 100 pound, euro, dollar and is available immediately.

When it's everything I own, bring it on.

I wrote enthusiastically about Linn's DS players and studio master recordings on here at least three years ago. However, a few years on, I'm still wondering where the studio master releases are from the major record companies?

I'm not about to cherry pick selected hi res recordings of new releases from Linn/Naim/B&W, etc, or buy reheated versions of older recordings (often of questionable provenance) from HD Tracks and so on, all just because they're hi res. This isn't meant as a cheap shot, but for me, quite apart from the fact that I'm not interested in the music, it would just seem like listening to the sound of my hifi.

Frank, let's hope so. I remembered today that the last Autechre album was released as a hi res d/l, but that's all I can think of. I bought the cd. : )

Bizarre.  I have a growing collection.  Very nice.  Talking Heads from HDTracks are my current fav.

I'm with the Chief, I'm not very excited about HD Tracks (I can do my own upsampling). I'm waiting for the iTunes trade-in when you can swap your standard res version for a high-res version that is derived from the original master tapes for a nominal fee. 

I also agree with BigH that Naim should be forthcoming about Airplay. If they are going to release it then I'll put some wonga aside for the upgrade to my UQ. It's no secret they are going to support it.