Apple AirPlay support for the Qute?

I'm looking for this as well. Not just on the Qute either. Bottom line is that my family seem to love iTunes. I went with an Airport express first as an experiment, then to get the family to see what naim was all about... Upnp is fine, but iTunes just works... I predict we'll see more of Airplay not less.

Me, too....



I understand the limitations of iTunes, and still purchase CD and LP content, but we (as a family) use iTunes as a content source.  I want more Naim gear to have the ability to stream using AirPlay.  The easier it is to use, the better.

Really??? You think?  People said the SAME thing about USB vs Firewire.

Try streaming multiple streams of hires audio to different locations (zones) with iTunes and Airplay.  Oh right, you cant and never will.  When little Timmy wants to listen to Beiber in the romper room, and Sally wants to pretend she's Beyonce in the bathroom, they will wish you had DLNA/UPNP.

Ok back up..... try to send just ONE stream of hi res audio to a single Airport Express.  How did that go for you?  How many drop-outs did you get?  How many times did the whole thing stop playing.  How many airport resets?

It doesnt even work well with Apple's own products.  Just wait until you try to get this to work well with your B/W Zeppelin or whatever.

"It just works....."  MY ASS!

Careful their Patrick a little foam is showing.

Airplay and UPNP/DNLA are all fine. It all comes down to ones network.

....only a little?

Sorry I spent about 3 hours the other day (for the 5th or 6th time) trying to figure out 1) why i couldn't reconnect my buddies Airport and 2) why his Mac CONSTANTLY forgets there is an external drive attached. (any reboot loses the connection, typically he must fully unplug, then reboot, then plug in the drive)

Setting up a network with only Airports, and without a legit wireless router somewhere is painful.

The drive is a "special" Mac version he bought.  I always love that.  Add $50 for that text on the box.

It just works...... once I inserted the Rangemax it did.

Frustrating, because I know the Mac OS well enough, and can stumble my way around most computer issues.  Setting up a network is cake.  But on a Mac I just cant find my way through it easily.

-p

Please don't make this an another Mac vs Pc thread. My first topic here and it's already going down the drain.

Hi p,

I'm sure what you say has some truth in it, but I may not have got my point across very well. While I cheerfully accept that other streaming methods may be better, the airplay debate is less about absolute quality, and more about inclusion. Like it or not we have multi iPods in the house, which means we have iTunes. Given Naim gear is a significant purchase in our house (meaning, on par with a holiday), I'm very keen to have everyone play their music where they like. Hence the Airport Express. What I found works best is wiring the AE directly to the router and just using it as an Airplay client.. Using optical out of course. This is not my primary source, cd is. The AE seems to work well with Apple Lossless through to iTunes purchased content in my case. I take your point that Upnp may be better sounding... but I don't get much input into what the kids purchase from the iTunes music store, and frankly much is not to my taste... But if the family is to enjoy musci and indeed be future Naim customers, then this is the direction they are coming from. This is not opinion, it is observation.
My next purchase will either be a Qute or an NDX.. If it additional had an internal Airplay client, it means the AE can go, and the purchase gets another tick in the box. A happy Naim set up is surely one used and apprechiated by all.

Cheers, Red

Marko

I wouldn´t pay too much attention to this guy´s rants. It seems, as he admits, he does not have a great deal of experience with MACs but what he says about HiRes streaming is correct but not just in the MAC world but WiFi in general. At this time for HiRes music streaming you must use a cabled network.

However for 16/44.1 CD format and below, Air Play will indeed be the deal breaker!

Until now, Apple have only issued 5 licenses but that will change later this year when there will be many more Air Play licenses issued and more manufacturers, who have the capabilty, will offer products with AirPlay just like the B&W Zepplin.

The Unit range with Airplay? All I would say is watch this space!

Regards

Gordon

I suspect we'll see some substantial updates to the iTunes application as OS X 10.7 rolls out (and with Windows 7 now gaining traction in the market), in tandem with the prospect of a Retina Display-based iPad in the next nine months (which would require significant cover art improvements, not just in content but also handling, caching, etc.).

There are many questions still to be answered yet as regards AirPlay from a sound quality, flexibility and presentation perspective within the context of a hi-fi system. Let's see what the next six months brings....

"A happy Naim set up is surely one used and apprechiated by all." - RedOne I Agree 100% For me personally i have the UinitiQute setup to run both wired UPnP and Wireless Airplay via Apple TV2. And it sure would be nice if the Uniti range could support this without the need for extra hardware.

I don't use the Airplay for "critical" listening but i must say sitting with the iPhone in my hand running Spotify Premium over Airplay to the Uniti is a joy. And to be honest it sounds really good.

Marko

After 2 responses other than mine?  Sorry you aren't getting the answers you want to hear.

Don't give up Marko, welcome by the way.

Some times a thread will inspire helpful responses other times they just get pissed on. 

I'm sorry I can't help you I still use easy CD and vinyl replay.

What I do send to my system from iMac/itunes goes via a copper wire and either  works or not, that's as about   technical as I get with DA.

/ignore @pcstockton

Marko, if I had to guess, I believe that Naim will add AirPlay support.
What is not clear is whether this would allow streaming of hi-res files and not fixing everything to 48kHz as AirPlay streaming to Apple TV currently does.
For these reasons, if it were added, I am sure it would be in addition to UPNP, not in place of it.

Hopefully they will, and i also believe and wish that it would be as a complement to UPnP not a replacement. It sure would be a nice to have feature. 

By the way my UnitiQute is starting to sound really great now, back to listening to the music now. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

You were making sense up to this point.

If UnitiQute will support Airplay (NAIM obtain a license from Apple to implement it), I really hope it will be able to stream at 24bits/96Khz. Because the real problem of streaming is the resolution. AirportExpress top at 16/48, ATV2 too. Useless for serious Hi-Fi setup. So, Apple, yes, go with your future 24bits itunes store, and implement it in your AirPlay, but not at 48Khz, PLEASE, we NEED a resolution that is 24bits at least 96Khz not bellow that. And NAIM take the train of AirPlay, you will gain a lot of potential computer audiophile. There's a line up out there who wait for that.

My setup is:
Itunes->16-24bits/44-192Khz tracks -> AirportExpress (downstream)-> Nait5i -> NAC -> Totem Model One

I don't want to change nothing in my setup until an Apple TV that can support a 24/96 (will add a Cambridge DacMagic to my Nait5i), or switch for a SIMPLE set-up, a all in one, Amp/pre-amp/DAC/Streamer, a UnitiQute that can stream directly from itunes (AirPlay). 

NAIM do you hear us?

If you expect AirPlay to work consistently across all devices, how (if you are Apple) do you tell iOS device users that they cannot stream 24-bit / 96 kHz audio over Wi-Fi reliably when they're out on the patio?

I would be more inclined to see them adopt a Pixlet-style adaptive lossy compression for hi-def video or audio that would do the trick, especially as the transmission technology remains the weakest link in the chain, and codecs are getting better and better. This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but....

This could not be possible David? : When I choose the destination in itunes, to specify to send in full resolution or made a downstreaming for a particular device.  Ex, itunes can stream in my livingroom and to my bedroom. To my livingroom, will send signal at a full resolution to a future new Apple TV version (that can support 24/96) or a UnitiQute with AirPlay, but in my bedroom, I tell itunes to  downstream it to my airportExpress (that can only do 16/48).  This could not possible?

magagne,

Even with a nice Rangemax Netgear router at the center of everything, using an Airport Express has issues with 16/44.  I haven't even tried 24/96.

Dave's point (i think) is that wireless streaming of hi res files requires a robust network and capable hardware (ATV).  If Apple cannot ensure it will work for most people, and very well, they wont support it (as they dont now).  Maybe they will bring 24 bit to the table but full 24/96 is another thing.

Seeing the new ATV resamples everything to 48hrz I am guessing they will take that route, maybe even with the "hires" downloads people are talking about.

I agree a wireless network can be difficult to set up and manage but it is capable of producing reliable and stable connections. For some reason Naim seems to be sticking with 802.11g standard wireless whereas most of the world (including Apple!) has moved up to 802.11n. Wireless n has around double the range of wireless g and a much higher potential throughput. Admittedly n rarely achieves its theoretical performance in the real world but it's still a real step forward. I have recently added a £30 wireless n range extender to my network and connected it to my Uniti via an ethernet switch and am now getting rock solid upnp streaming. I'm also wireless streaming flawless full screen HD video from the BBC iPlayer  to my PC which uses my HDTV as a screen. Before I could only barely stream normal resolution video. In my experience range extenders really work and if they can enable HD video, high res audio won't be a problem. 
A plague on your lossy codecs! But if had the job of supporting end users I would also be desperate to steer them to wired networks - wireless  networks really can be a pain to trouble shoot! Given time they will be faster more reliable and easier to use, just like everything else in IT...

802.11ad will be release very very soon (maybe at the end of this year) pretty slowly at the beginning, but inevitably, and it will be in our house and internet coffe shop everywhere before 2015 (some prediction by expert, not me ). With 802.11ad, streaming vidéo in HD mode will be a joke, so imagine music in hi-res  the door will be FULL open to hi-res.

Yeah, I'm really bummed about the Zune.  Monkey Boy must be having some tough nights...

What are you talking about re: Zune?