Naimnet products

Naim net is not about RS232 additions. All current products which can be controlled such as CD players and preamps can have the RS232 connection installed as an option in order to fit in with custom control systems such as Crestron.

Naim Net is about making all their products, be they power amps or anything else, understand the concept of living in a network and being able to send or receive a digital data stream depending on the nature of the product. Each product will have a network card and a CAT5 connection just like your networked PC, and each product will be served with an IP address (not sure whether this will be DHCP or static, but probably DHCP to make life easy for the customer).

So, there will be networked power amps which will send control information to networked sources such as hard disc servers or CD players. e.g. you could move to track 2 on the CD player located in another room and hear track 2 via the power amp you just communicated with.

The digital stream can be almost any sort, video, audio, stereo or multi-channel, compressed or uncompressed. However, I do not know how or if future audio standards will be handled. I guess so long as a device is StreamNet enabled (as is the case with Polk speakers), then the device can convert that standard to a stream which can be transferred to the target StreamNet device (say a Naim power amp) using the StreamNet technology.

The StreamNet side of things is a control mechanism to allow devices to communicate and transfer high resolution data streams. The nature of those streams don't have to be limited to a particular technology, but the transfer mechanism is purely StreamNet as far as I know.

At least that's my understanding of it. The beauty of this system is that provided your communications links have enough bandwidth, your devices can be completely far flung. You could listen to MJQ at top quality via a Naim power amp and speakers on your yacht in Marbella streamed from your hard disc server in London.

Quite why you'd want to do that when there are bronzed beauties on the beach to watch is another story entirely...

quote:

You could listen to MJQ at top quality via a Naim power amp and speakers on your yacht in Marbella streamed from your hard disc server in London.

That's not entirely true–a local NS-series Naim music server would still be required; what IS possible is that both music libraries can be synchronized (subject to local network storage), first, at low-res MP3; then, once completely synced, the high-res WAV files are copied across. (The MP3 "proxy" file is generated at time of WAV import.) All of this is managed by a remote (Naim) server.

Though this is not the same as real-time streaming, this might be a bit less tricky than trying to get necessary satellite bandwidth out on the open sea...!

I would definitely visit the NaimNet site and download the brochure, if you haven't already done so.

As far as RS-232 is concerned, the NaimNet range should have this fitted as standard (inasmuch as, at this point, it would make no sense NOT to). It has also been proposed that proper Crestron and AMX modules will be concurrently available at time of release.

I downloaded the brochure, but it is not entirely clear how it all fits together.

If I understand it correctly, at a minimum I should be able to transfer all my CDs to a server which would be plugged into my home ethernet cabling, then play up to 4 different tracks at any one time on systems located around the house. Each room would need a naimnet enabled integrated amplifer plus speakers, but no source. Although it could function as a regular hi-fi too with it's own CD player or plug in an iPod. The server itself would be offering sound quality comparable to the CD player used in the first place.

I am not sure whether the same applies to DVDs. Can the server store films and enable them to be called up from different rooms?

There is no video server in the upcomming line. But it is obviously planned.
Naim net will offer a HD video distribution ''hub'' and a local box: NNVMS88 and NVRB01. So in the short term, they will offer analog video distribution (HD compatible).

Frank - I believe I told you to keep quiet about my yacht, and as for the bronzed beauties - well, you have indeed met me...