Apple AirPlay support for the Qute?
Posted by: Marko Vesterinen on 09 February 2011
Hello everyone! My first post here. Im a happy owner to a Naim UnitiQute which is in process to be broken in right now.
I was just curious if someone has heard anything about Naim adding native Apple Airplay support to the Qute? Is this even a possibility hardware wise?
It sure would be a killer feature for us in the Apple Eco system.
/Marko
I was just curious if someone has heard anything about Naim adding native Apple Airplay support to the Qute? Is this even a possibility hardware wise?
It sure would be a killer feature for us in the Apple Eco system.
/Marko
Posted on: 18 March 2011 by aht
As I hear it, the Zune has been deleted. RIP.
Posted on: 18 March 2011 by Tog
What is a Zune???
Tog :-)
Tog :-)
Posted on: 20 March 2011 by pcstockton
The Zune isn't dead, it just smells funny.
Wiki says this is a rumor and the new Zune is rolling out soon.
Wiki says this is a rumor and the new Zune is rolling out soon.
Posted on: 20 March 2011 by aht
You may be right. Here is the Bloomberg article I read:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...-as-demand-ebbs.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...-as-demand-ebbs.html
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by jfritzen
Here is what Gilad Tiefenbrun has to say about AirPlay:
http://blogs.linn.co.uk/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1,7&tag=AirPlay&limit=20
Obviously Linn don't like AirPlay because it is not open. And personally I might add:
http://blogs.linn.co.uk/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1,7&tag=AirPlay&limit=20
Obviously Linn don't like AirPlay because it is not open. And personally I might add:
- I don't want to have a Mac or PC running all the time, especially not in the living room, in order to use iTunes
- The music in iTunes usually is optimized for iPod/iPhone, i.e. lossfully compressed, and not suited for audiophile rendition
- There is no FLAC support in iTunes, most Hi-Res music is FLAC.
- UPnP is an open alternative, there are a lot of apps out there, e.g. the Naim apps, and you can point your UPnP server to your iTunes collection.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by likesmusic
Linn had a prestigious flagship store in a swish Glasgow shopping centre.
It closed.
Apple have a prestigious flagship store nearby.
There will be queues outside on Friday.
Smell the coffee!
It closed.
Apple have a prestigious flagship store nearby.
There will be queues outside on Friday.
Smell the coffee!
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by jfritzen
Originally Posted by likesmusic:
Apple have a prestigious flagship store nearby.
There will be queues outside on Friday.
Smell the coffee!
The queues will be for the iPad 2 which is an excellent remote for UPnP servers/streamers. The queues will not be for audiophile AirPlay devices.There will be queues outside on Friday.
Smell the coffee!
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by likesmusic
Once upon a time Linn said cd was a lemon .. now they're saying apple is a lemon .. same old same old. Wrong both times I suspect.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by 0rangutan
Originally Posted by jfritzen:
Here is what Gilad Tiefenbrunn has to say about AirPlay:
http://blogs.linn.co.uk/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1,7&tag=AirPlay&limit=20
Obviously Linn don't like AirPlay because it is not open. And personally I might add:
http://blogs.linn.co.uk/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1,7&tag=AirPlay&limit=20
Obviously Linn don't like AirPlay because it is not open. And personally I might add:
- I don't want to have a Mac or PC running all the time, especially not in the living room, in order to use iTunes
- The music in iTunes usually is optimized for iPod/iPhone, i.e. lossfully compressed, and not suited for audiophile rendition
- There is no FLAC support in iTunes, most Hi-Res music is FLAC.
- UPnP is an open alternative, there are a lot of apps out there, e.g. the Naim apps, and you can point your UPnP server to your iTunes collection.
This isn't an argument about UPNP or Airplay. It is a suggestion that Naim may add Airplay support. No need to be so defensive, although, taking your bait:
- You don't need a Mac or PC running in the Living Room - it can be anywhere on your network.
- Music in iTunes can be any level of lossless or compressed that you choose. Apple are rumoured to be adding 24-bit downloads to their store too.
- FLAC support would be nice. ALAC, AIFF and WAV can all be used just fine though and, by their lossless nature, should give the same results.
- UPNP is a great open solution (I use it a lot), but it suffers from the same problem as most open systems - interpretation and resulting incompatibilities. DLNA (effectively certified UPNP) was the industry answer to this but has seen poor take-up.
So for me, there are some good reasons to add Airplay and no negatives.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by DavidDever
Let's be fair–AirPlay licensing, just as Made for iPod, Dolby or DTS licensing schemes, requires an investment in licensing fees, hardware testing for certification, and project management that make these features sensible for some and not for others.
It is fair to say that there are now quite a few audio manufacturers who have licenses for Made for iPod products. Linn Products is not one of them.
Likewise, there are now a growing set of audio manufacturers who have developed their own apps for iOS devices for control of products they manufacture. Linn Products is not one of these, either.
(As an aside–my Sony Blu-ray player has an app called Media Remote which can be used to control any of Sony's BDP-x70 series players. It is fair to say that Sony and Apple have had a tempestuous competitive relationship over the years–yet Sony sees the obvious commercial advantage in developing an iOS app for control, as do other Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers.)
Arguments made against support of AirPlay made from a sound quality perspective hold little merit when one supports data-compressed file formats such as MP3 and AAC, or Internet Radio streaming in general–as does Linn Products.
I personally think that AirPlay support would be a great, market-facing feature to have, especially as Sirius XM Radio in the US now has an iPad app that functions as an AirPlay streaming source. If Pandora, Rhapsody and other providers follow suit, the oft-requested requirement to build these services natively into the Uniti family of products may cease to exist, from a commercial perspective.
It is fair to say that there are now quite a few audio manufacturers who have licenses for Made for iPod products. Linn Products is not one of them.
Likewise, there are now a growing set of audio manufacturers who have developed their own apps for iOS devices for control of products they manufacture. Linn Products is not one of these, either.
(As an aside–my Sony Blu-ray player has an app called Media Remote which can be used to control any of Sony's BDP-x70 series players. It is fair to say that Sony and Apple have had a tempestuous competitive relationship over the years–yet Sony sees the obvious commercial advantage in developing an iOS app for control, as do other Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers.)
Arguments made against support of AirPlay made from a sound quality perspective hold little merit when one supports data-compressed file formats such as MP3 and AAC, or Internet Radio streaming in general–as does Linn Products.
I personally think that AirPlay support would be a great, market-facing feature to have, especially as Sirius XM Radio in the US now has an iPad app that functions as an AirPlay streaming source. If Pandora, Rhapsody and other providers follow suit, the oft-requested requirement to build these services natively into the Uniti family of products may cease to exist, from a commercial perspective.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by likesmusic
I wonder where the upsampling to 48kHz in the current AppleTV box happens - when the data is sent to it, or internally inside the AppleTV box before playback?
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by DavidDever
Originally Posted by likesmusic:
I wonder where the upsampling to 48kHz in the current AppleTV box happens - when the data is sent to it, or internally inside the AppleTV box before playback?
Audio is re-sampled to 48kHz via Core Audio (on a Mac) before transcoding to Apple Lossless for transmission.Posted on: 23 March 2011 by likesmusic
Ah well .. still, resampling needn't be evil if it is done with high precision.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by magagne
I'm waiting for the Apple TV, 3th generation, with the A5 processor. Ipad2 have it, iphone 5 wil have it...so Apple TV need to be upgrade too (maybe in september). A5 have the capabability to do 1080 instead of 720. For audio, we will surely see the 24bits audio resolution TOSLINK output, but at 44Khz or 96Khz? THAT is the question.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by likesmusic
.. but there's also the HDMI output to consider, which may have advantages.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by jfritzen
Originally Posted by 0rangutan:
This isn't an argument about UPNP or Airplay. It is a suggestion that Naim may add Airplay support. No need to be so defensive, although, taking your bait:
- You don't need a Mac or PC running in the Living Room - it can be anywhere on your network.
- Music in iTunes can be any level of lossless or compressed that you choose. Apple are rumoured to be adding 24-bit downloads to their store too.
2. True, iTunes does support high quality formats, perhaps even 24 bit. But is this how you store your music? You would have to keep two versions of most tracks, one MP3/AAC for your iPhone/iPod and one ALAC/WAV for high quality streaming. It can be done but probably is not typical.
And implementing AirPlay in Naim products wouldn't come for free (as David Dever wrote): It costs license fees and programming ressources. If I understand correctly, Naim already need to support several firmwares (NDX, HDX, DAC, Uniti*) and apps, with users clamouring for regular updates, so I assume ressources are tight, even for Naim. I guess there is still plenty of work to do (e.g. in another thread users are currently discussing why there is no FF/RWD in the Uniti products). If all that is done, implementing AirPlay is fine for me, I just wouldn't have a need for it.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by realhifi
Originally Posted by DavidDever:
I personally think that AirPlay support would be a great, market-facing feature to have, especially as Sirius XM Radio in the US now has an iPad app that functions as an AirPlay streaming source. If Pandora, Rhapsody and other providers follow suit, the oft-requested requirement to build these services natively into the Uniti family of products may cease to exist, from a commercial perspective.
They can do it now. If you use your iPad as the source playing Rhapsody the Airplay icon shows up on the bottom and you simply select the receiver you want to send it to. The work around for Pandora (which it does not show up in) is to have Rhapsody running and then pause it, then open Pandora and select your station and out it comes, streaming to the source you selected in Rhapsody. Good call.PS. It looks like Denon will be charging a $49 fee to have the Airplay feature enabled in their products that support it. Naim could do that (or more for that matter) and possibly then pass on the costs to those that actually want the functionality.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by jerryct
infinite loop claims
"...Companies selling AirPlay-compatible audio equipment would reportedly pay Apple $4 per device sold..."
jerry
"...Companies selling AirPlay-compatible audio equipment would reportedly pay Apple $4 per device sold..."
jerry
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by Guido Fawkes
I'd be willing to pay a small supplement for Airplay - I have no need for UPnP, but I've no problem if others want it - they can even use PCs if they want I really don't mind. Asking for support for technology I prefer Apple Mac, IPad, iTunes, Airplay, AIFF, ALAC does not mean I want the functions others want to use removed. There is no sinister plot,
After all, I'm a reasonable Guy.
After all, I'm a reasonable Guy.
Posted on: 23 March 2011 by magagne
G! Why we can just have a Naim Nait with a DAC in it, that's it!!!
NO WI-FI. All wi-fi stuff will be left to us, just put a plain numeric toslink/coax input 24/196. User will choose SqueezeBox or Apple TV (3th gen) or the solution they prefer. Let people choose what they want to use. Some will say UnitiQute already did that, you can just bypass the wi-fi stuff. Yes, but I pay a premium price to all the wi-fi stuff in this machine, UpNP, even the OLED screen, that, sorry, but completly useless imho at 10-15 feet away, I prefer to use a SqueezeBoxDuet or an itouch/iphone to browse my playlist. Get rid off all wi-fi stuff, keep it simple. DAC + Amplification all in one machine, a NAIT5i with a DAC in it, and let user take the way they want for the wi-fi connection. No more Wi-Fi war. Let other company manage this.
NO WI-FI. All wi-fi stuff will be left to us, just put a plain numeric toslink/coax input 24/196. User will choose SqueezeBox or Apple TV (3th gen) or the solution they prefer. Let people choose what they want to use. Some will say UnitiQute already did that, you can just bypass the wi-fi stuff. Yes, but I pay a premium price to all the wi-fi stuff in this machine, UpNP, even the OLED screen, that, sorry, but completly useless imho at 10-15 feet away, I prefer to use a SqueezeBoxDuet or an itouch/iphone to browse my playlist. Get rid off all wi-fi stuff, keep it simple. DAC + Amplification all in one machine, a NAIT5i with a DAC in it, and let user take the way they want for the wi-fi connection. No more Wi-Fi war. Let other company manage this.Posted on: 24 March 2011 by Guido Fawkes
> DAC + Amplification all in one machine
You want a SuperNait without the Super ..... methinks
Would this cost less than the stunning UnitiQuite though ..... measks.
I don't think there is a WiFi war, just many ways to do the same thing - some want one way and others another, 'twas always the way. I would like Airplay because I live in a world of Apples.
Some folk on here don't want tape loops on their amps and resent paying the little extra for them, but without them how on earth would I record from vinyl to cassette?
All the best Guy
You want a SuperNait without the Super ..... methinks
Would this cost less than the stunning UnitiQuite though ..... measks.
I don't think there is a WiFi war, just many ways to do the same thing - some want one way and others another, 'twas always the way. I would like Airplay because I live in a world of Apples.
Some folk on here don't want tape loops on their amps and resent paying the little extra for them, but without them how on earth would I record from vinyl to cassette?
All the best Guy
Posted on: 25 March 2011 by Simon Everest
Originally Posted by jfritzen:
2. True, iTunes does support high quality formats, perhaps even 24 bit. But is this how you store your music? You would have to keep two versions of most tracks, one MP3/AAC for your iPhone/iPod and one ALAC/WAV for high quality streaming. It can be done but probably is not typical.
Nope. iTunes can optionally downsample on transfer to iPod/iPhone - see the options section on the relevant device page in iTunes. I have ALAC on my Mac, but then 128kbps AAC on the iPhone - reclaimed 40% of the storage space (more music on the move). Takes a while for initial install/restore mind…
Simon
Posted on: 27 March 2011 by jfritzen
Originally Posted by Simon Everest:
Originally Posted by jfritzen:
2. True, iTunes does support high quality formats, perhaps even 24 bit. But is this how you store your music? You would have to keep two versions of most tracks, one MP3/AAC for your iPhone/iPod and one ALAC/WAV for high quality streaming. It can be done but probably is not typical.
Nope. iTunes can optionally downsample on transfer to iPod/iPhone - see the options section on the relevant device page in iTunes. I have ALAC on my Mac, but then 128kbps AAC on the iPhone - reclaimed 40% of the storage space (more music on the move). Takes a while for initial install/restore mind…
Simon
OK, I didn't know that.
So one could install a UPnP server on the Mac (e.g. EyeConnect), point it to the full quality iTunes music library and stream to the network player. I still can't see the real benefit of AirPlay, especially if I need to get off the couch in order to change the playlist.
Posted on: 27 March 2011 by 0rangutan
You wouldn't need get up, just use a remote. Either the super Apple Remote app, or likely your Naim remote once Naim update the NDX/Uniti range to list files available via AirPlay.
Posted on: 27 March 2011 by Tog
Eyeconnect will stream aiff files from a Mac and transcode to wav on a Uniti/Qute/NDX - however you don't get cover Art.
AirPlay works well on Apple devices - particularly video streaming from a Mac to an iPad
If AirPlay comes to Naim where will that leave the Naim servers? If you have an AirPlay compatible renderer why do you need UPnP?
Just a thought
Tog
AirPlay works well on Apple devices - particularly video streaming from a Mac to an iPad
If AirPlay comes to Naim where will that leave the Naim servers? If you have an AirPlay compatible renderer why do you need UPnP?
Just a thought
Tog