n stream 3.2 is out.

...this would almost certainly be your router not allowing the UPnP autodiscovery between your wireless and wired networks - setting "direct connect" and entering the IP address of your Qute should get round this.

Hi,

This seems a bit of an odd reaction - is your Qute itself not working then?

If the Qute is working correctly and it's the app that is causing you problems then perhaps a logical look at what's happening with the app on your network in conjunction with either myself or Steve Hopkins might resolve any issues?

It seems to be forgotten that there's a lot of kit between the iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch and the Qute and none of it we have control over - for example the Virgin SuperHub doesn't pass UPnP discovery from wireless to wired networks - and this can cause issues. It really does depend on your network setup.

We test the apps extensively before release but we cannot check on all possible combinations of network hardware so - as the app is an iOS app running on Apple hardware we test predominantly using Airport Extreme and Airport Express routers and wireless access points, however a quick direct contact with Naim support (support@naimaudio.com) might be an effective way to attempt to resolve any problems with your particular setup?

Cheers

Phil

Hello Phil 

Many thanks for the reply much appreciated ... powering down the UQ, deleting nStreaming, rebooting the iPad, reinstalling nStream, powering up the UQ ... did the trick. So the problem has gone ... I did repost explaining problem solved. I don't how much of this process was strictly necessary, but I do know it worked. 

My UQ is 2010-08-17 version: 2.0.23.10733 

My UQ is connected to an Apple Airport Extreme (802.11n 5th Gen ver 7.6.1) 

I have apps on my iPad for Sonos, my Mac Mini (VNC & Remote App) and each time it reconnects without issue ...  only app that I nervously update is nStream. I agree I have high expectations, but I really do expect it just to work. 

I agree I should have contacted Naim support rather than simply posted.

My expectation has been set by Apple ... that an upgrade is just a click and a short wait. 

You know my view is that a simple upgrade process is very important to me. As you can see my UQ does not have the latest firmware ... if I had an NDS then I would probably be in the same position. The Naim DAC on the other hand just requires me to put some files on a USB stick - excellent. It may be paranoia on my part, but I like to be running the latest available firmware and the latest versions of the apps. Naim seems to have a Windows only approach to firmware upgrades, which is fair enough, it just makes the products non-upgradable for me - hence no NDS. Would it not be possible to use the same method as the DAC on your streamers?

So that explains my reaction - my first thoughts were wrong ... as in the back of my mind I was thinking perhaps the new app requires the firmware update. Of course, I can use the UQ without nStream so I made more of an issue of it than I should.

Still I am a happy Naim user with a Naim DAC/555PS/PL -> HL-> Naim 282/SC/PL/200/PL playing through Naim Allaes and a Naim UQ for my office. So I do like the kit - great sound, great build, great service .. there is only one product area that baffles me and ... 

...  apologies for yesterday's rant ... 

All the best, Guy 

All working well for me - seems a bit snappier.

Looks like the update requires ios 4.3 which my Ipod cannot run (as it's 2nd gen). Do I go out and buy a new ipod to replace the perfectly functional ipod I already have. No, don't think so.

I'll wait for the android version.

Hi,

We do say on the software details page that this version requires 4.3 and so if you can't run 4.3 then don't attempt to upgrade ... unfortunately 4.3 won't run on earlier hardware (I'm in the same boat, or will be, with my original iPad as I can't run iOS 6 on it) but of course your current app will still continue to control your unit for now, you just won't get any new functionality.

I'm afraid there's nothing that we can really do about this as if we are to add functionality to the app and develop it further then we have to develop for currently supported versions of the host OS.

It would be the same for Android too...

Phil

"It would be the same for Android too..."

please say "will" not "would"!

Pretty please...

I see seek to time will be made available for older products according to https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...nt/21981204565252900

"due to restrictions imposed by Apple your iOS device must now be running software version 4.3 or above for n-Stream to work with Naim streaming products"

So my iPod has been made obsolete to support Apple's commercial strategy of forcing customers to upgrade their hardware? It worked - I've bought an Android tablet. The original iPod and iPad were huge sellers so I'm not sure why Naim think only a "small number" of devices are affected, This crap is precisely why I've fallen out of love with Apple and I hope Naim doesn't tie in too closely to this extortion.

Hi Pev,

My understanding is that HTC used to say that any Android device from them would be upgradable to the current and next two revisions of the OS - then after that the unit is no longer supported. As far as I'm aware there's a similar situation for the tablets.

I'm not sure how you rate this as being any different to the Apple methodology.

I have an original iPad which is now no longer supported and an original iPod Touch which has not been supported for some time and that's the way that things go with these devices ... my iPad and iPhone still run the same apps they did the day before they went "unsupported" - I just know that I can't get any new functionality on them now.

Yes, it sucks that I can't update my devices indefinitely but Apple certainly aren't the only - or first - company to do that ... as my drawer full of old Windows Mobile phones will confirm.

Phil 

Hi Phil

I agree Apple are not the only offenders but they have created a monopoly within their walled garden which gives them more control than they would have in a more competitive situation. Android is not perfect (and Google has lost the plot on "don't be evil") but I can buy hardware from many different companies and they have more incentive to compete - for instance my tablet gets free upgrades to the latest version of Android and I'm not aware of any limit on this. 

I'm not saying Naim should abandon Apple but that they should not force users to get Apple devices. In the same spirit I would support Guy's requests for a non Windows alternative way of updating firmware even though I am happy with Windows myself. Naim's streamers and servers are wonderful devices but they necessarily depend on a wider software and hardware ecology and I think Naim needs to have a clearer strategy about how to engage with this - at the moment you are in danger of pissing everyone off half the time!

Hopefully this is constructive - have a good weekend 

Pev

Hi Pev,

I submit that the number is actually much lower . . . which is why, in part, things are as they are.  I absolutely respect the views of those who would like alternatives -- makes total sense.  For me, I happen to have an iPhone, and while we are Mac-only at home, I have a Windows laptop for work which I can use to run the DTC when needed.  (So I don't have to buy a solution to run Windows on the Mac(s))  So I'm one of the masses for whom Naim's Apple strategy works ok.

Absolutely - they produce a product and they sell that product. People "buy into" that product for one of a number of reasons, some of which are...

1) They are given it. (Either as a gift or as a company device - i.e. an iPhone)

2) They buy it because it looks shiny and pretty.

3) They buy it because it does a job for them that they want it to do.

In keeping a "walled garden" (a very good analogy) they keep control over the hardware platform and the environment that the app runs on which means that the user gets a much less "technical" user experience and doesn't need to be afraid of the product and whether they are "clever enough" (as my dear mum put it when I handed her an iPad) to use it.

Your Android tablet will only get free upgrades of OS until the OS moves on far enough for the latest version of the OS to drop support for your "old" hardware ... this business model is not in any way new and persists across just about every technology platform you can imagine.

I'm not an Apple fanboi myself but the one thing they do do is make technology available and usable by the general public and they should be seen as a tool rather than as an end in themselves.

The Apple iOS environment gives a platform that for *MOST* users becomes completely transparent and "just works", yes, there will always be some issues with odd devices not holding stable connections to networks or whatever but punting over to Android or any other mobile device OS will give us (and the users) a much less stable base to work from and the whole point of what we are trying to do is give the user a good experience.

Users do not see the chain of separate devices in their network - they see an app on the product in their hand and they see a black bit of kit with a green glowing Naim logo and if it doesn't work for some reason then it's Naim's (my) problem. We need to ensure that we keep the experience for the customer as easy to handle as possible and using the iOS platform and Apples devices is - at this time - the best way to do that.

Remember that the n-Stream app is not necessary to use the product - it can be used from the IR remote using the front panel display - but the n-Stream app is there to give an additional level of functionality to the product should the user wish to utilise that so we aren't trying to prevent anyone from being able to use their product however the device that the n-Stream app runs on is also an integral part of the user experience.

This shouldn't be too much longer as it is available ...

It might seem that we've been ignoring OSX users but the path to creating an OSX version of the updater hasn't been an easy one - for a start the "rules" for deploying apps via the Apple Appstore currently preclude us from including the USB drivers for our devices in with the app and whereas Windows will happily go off and find drivers for the Uniti and ND products a Mac user will have to go and download them from a link and install them themselves ... 

All feedback is constructive when it's given with an open mind and subject to discussion ... it does however sometimes seem that it is assumed that we sit in some isolated vacuum and take decisions based on someones whim - we really don't!

Products (and software projects) can take several years to come to fruition and I assure you we're already working on "stuff" that's 3 or 4 years down the line...

Phil

Thanks for the comprehensive reply - when I said "have a good weekend"  I didn't want to imply that should involve writing an essay! All good points well taken but I wonder if you are exaggerating the issues around Android. It seems fine and stable to me - I wouldn't swap my £200 Android tablet for an iPad.

I can indeed use the older Nstream on my 1st gen iPod but I prefer the 10" tablet form factor for controlling my music and BubbleUPnP is a pretty good controller - only really loses out to Nstream on being able to switch inputs and control internet radio on my SU. Any chance of Naim hooking up with them to produce a Naim enabled/branded version? I know there are at least a few other people on here using this route ....

Hi Peg. I also have an android tablet (Google nexus 7) with bubble upnp. However I use the stream app on my iPod touch as I cannot adjust the volume using bubble upnp on the tablet to control my nd5xs. Can you do this and if yes, how?

Hi Pixies

I get volume control of my Superuniti from BubbleUPnP on all sources - laptop, main pc, and internal files on the tablet (including on exchangeable SD cards- try that on yer iPad). I have tried Asset, Foobar 2000, and Logitech Media Server and all give me volume control. My tablet also wakes up the SU - say I was listening to Radio Paradise last night and this morning I want to listen from my library; I just fire up the tablet, press play and the SU switches to UPNP and starts up. I can't get the seek within track slider to work - I get an "unsupported codec message". The other nice thing about the volume control is that it is relative to whatever volume you have set on the SU so you can set a maximum and thus get fine grained control as well as protecting from inadvertent full power accidents.

It also has seamless plug ins for lyrics and for info from Last FM. All in all a very nice controller and is being improved all the time. I did spring for the £4 for the licensed version - I only tried the free version briefly before buying so there may be restrictions on that version.

Hope this helps

Pev

Hi Pev. Thanks for the reply. I will do some further investigation and may buy the upgraded version.

I have twonky 6.0.34 on a ready nas nv+ (which i think is the same as the duo but with more drive slots). Although I initially had troubles with twonky and had to run cmpatibility mode, it works now with playlists. It just started working ok after I had given up on it. Not sure if perhaps something had been rebooted.

I have an ipad 3 with ios3.1 and my unitiqute is running latest 3.17

I'm running the free version of Bubble UPNP on a Samsung Galaxy II to my Uniti. This has volume control on the hardware buttons so I don't think you need the paid version for volume control.

Apologies if you've already tried this, but if you go into "advanced settings" there's a box to tick....

Volume Keys

Hardware volume keys control external renderer volume

Hi Redmires. 'advaced settings' where?  Do you mean within bubble upnp or within the setting of my streamer (I use ND5XS) cos I cant see 'advanced settings in either?  I love bubble upnp bu the only thing stopping me using it to control the ND5XS is the lack of volume control which is very frustrating.

...except that in the case of the ND5XS the "external renderer" has no volume control.

The "volume control" from the ND5XS would be an IR command sent out via system automation to your pre / integrated amplifier and I'm pretty sure that Bubble UPnP won't support that functionality.

Cheers

Phil

Pixies

Yes, the settings are in Bubble. I tried to post a picture but this forum is rubbish for handling images.

As Phil says above though, this might not work in your setup.

Redmires and Phil

Thanks but yes it looks like I'm stumped on this one as I use XS pre/power amps. Just paid for licenced version as well.. Doh!