UnitiQute 2 vs NDX

There's only one person who can answer that. It's different for everybody. Naim are good at positioning and performance differentials. It is a reasonable expectation that the extra outlay on a dedicated streamer will bring rewards. But it's always going to be down to your ears.

My ears tell me that whilst the NDS is a very high class act, when I heard all the streamers demonstrated back to back, it was the NDX which gave the best performance for the price, which is to say it struck me as the best value for money in the range.

Both are great but the NDX wins with no contest. I use both the Qute2 and an NDX in different rooms and the difference in clarity is more than just the other components I've partnered with the NDX.

The Qute2 sounds truly awsome and I don't think there is a better way of getting a single small box hi-fi for an office or kitchen. It sounds much clearer than other streamers of similar or greater price in my opinion and can drive difficult speakers. If money is an issue then I don't think you would be dissapointed with the Qute2. If I had to, I could definately live with it and nothing else and be happy.

But the NDX... in another class. Shares the same characteristics as Qute2 but in a word "clarity". So much more fine detail can be extracted from the NDX if fed with a good lossless source. Using WAVs carefully ripped by EAC, the NDX comes alive. On the Qute2, you probably can tell the difference between bit-perfect uncompressed rips and WAV rips done in Windows Media Player but I think it would be difficult. The NDX lays that difference bare.

Plus, with the NDX, you have an upgrade path that is not availalable to the Qute2. I added an XPS and Hi-Line to my NDX and never regretted it.

Thanks gentlemen

 Hi all.   I am currently running My Linn LP12 into a Supernait 2.    I am considering  adding a streamer. Is the UnitiQute a simple add on to the SuperNait 2?    Is that a good sounding path?    I have a Sonos Connect going into the SN2 via RCA.  Will a better jump in fidelity keeping the Sonos and adding a HiCap DR?   Bring on the feedback!  :-)

Bearing in mind that the Qute is an all-in-one with its own internal pre and power amp stages, rather than link the pre-out of Qute to the input on a SuperNait, why not consider something like a ND5-XS? That would be the right choice of streamer as it is a dedicated source component. It also sounds better than the Qute and like the NDX is upgradable.

With the Qute you would be paying for alot of functionality that you won't be using.

As for the Sonos vs. HiCap, not sure how to answer that. Are you asking whether LP12 + SuperNait2 + HiCap + Sonos Connect is better than spending money on a streamer? Seems like apples and oranges to me. If you want to add a new source, go for a streamer. If you want to just use your LP12 and improve what you already have, go for the HiCap (or maybe even different speakers).

I have a Sonos Connect with the digital output connected to a DAC which is in turn connected to a Nait XS.  This is a very good combination.  You get all the benefits of Sonos (ease of use and control, access to services like Qobuz etc) but you overcome its weakness in the DAC and amplification departments.  I should think you'd get all the same befits and more with a Supernait 2 (I'm assuming this is the latest Supernait that doesn't have an onboard DAC).

As it happens, I also have an XPS powering the DAC and a HiCap powering the Nait XS.  These add quite a lot to the equation but not as much as the DAC.  If you're dependent on Sonos for the DAC the quality of the analogue signal will always let you down and there will only be so much your amplifier can do, however good it is and however it's powered.

I also have an HDX and this also goes into the DAC and the Nait XS but, to be honest, it doesn't sound any better to me than Sonos when routed the same way.  Add to that the fact that you can also have Sonos playing 16bit 44k all over the house and it becomes a winning combination - even the best Naim streamers will only play mp3 quality in multi-room mode.  

From what I remember the Sonos boxes don't do 24bit - anyone know if that is true?  If it is true then the difference when you step up to 24 bit is staggering.

I auditioned the Qute & the Lite and thought the Lite sounded quite a bit better than the Qute.  I bought the one with the FM option, which may have been a waste of money because BBC Radio 3 at 320k on internet radio sounds really good.

An amazing value for money product.

Sonos won't do 24 bit or, indeed, anything above CD quality.  They say they have no present plans to change this but it has got to happen one day.

Compared to Naim, the Sonos DAC and amplification also leaves a lot to be desired.  If you are listening locally you will definitely have a better experience with Naim.

On the other hand, Sonos control is a step-up from Naim and you can also access such things as Qobuz which Naim won't yet do.

Also, while Sonos will only play CD quality, it will do that either locally or throughout the house.  The Naim streamers will do 24 bit locally but if you stream to more than one location the secondary locations are down-sampled to 320 kHz, so a lower standard than Sonos.

Obviously the ideal solution is Naim with 24 bit multi-room capability and hopefully that's around the corner.  Hopefully also some improvements to Naim control access to Qobuz.   

I have to say endlessnessism that multi-room is not something I am worried about.  If we have friends sat in the dining room then I just turn the main system up a notch or two.  That tends to work.

In my office I listen to stuff on my Upnp server or internet radio.

In the kitchen it's Radio 2 all day for t'missus, whose office is next door.  I was gonna get her a Sonos device for the kitchen and we was in John Lewis one day so I started to sound her out about the Sonos.  "I don't want all that fuss and bother" was the firm reply.  Women don't ya just love 'em.

Qobuz is also something I am not that interested in following either and it certainly didn't figure in my recent purchase of my UnitiLite 2.

I have to say I like what the Uniti boxes offer.  The streamer is great, FM is very good, internet radio at 320k is surprisingly good and DAB radio is well..er..well..er.. DAB Radio.  The less said the better, certainly 320k internet radio makes DAB sound truly awful.  The people at the BBC should be hung, drawn and quartered for the money they wasted bringing that system to market. mp2 at low bit rates, I ask you and they keep trying to push it instead of quietly forgetting it, someone should whisper in their shell-likes --> Internet Radio.

We recently got a Play 3 and I was agog to discover that it didn't do above 16/44 and that there are no workarounds. I has simply assumed it would handle 24Bit and I should have researched it in more depth.

But for what it is, the Play 3 is very good. I use it in the office and although it doesn't pack the punch, grip and detail of the more expensive B&W A5 which went before it, the control software and set up in general is a joy. The A5 limited me to Airplay and iTunes, both of which I found flaky and irritating. We don't run macs. 

Good though the Sonon is, it is not in the same league as a US or Qute. Not even in an adjacent one. But for background, or even office filing music plus subscriptions and radio it's a good act - if you don't want to go above 16/44. You can't argue with its abilities for the asking price. 

Looks like there's a Muso shaped hole in my future but the Sonos will stay. I'll probably run it wirelessly in the shed. That'll need a bridge, but it's cheap.

" I have to say I like what the Uniti boxes offer.  The streamer is great, FM is very good, internet radio at 320k is surprisingly good and DAB radio is well..er..well..er.. DAB Radio.  The less said the better, certainly 320k internet radio makes DAB sound truly awful.  The people at the BBC should be hung, drawn and quartered for the money they wasted bringing that system to market. mp2 at low bit rates, I ask you and they keep trying to push it instead of quietly forgetting it, someone should whisper in their shell-likes --> Internet Radio."

I could not agree more. Internet Radio is a revelation as far as I am concerned... Circa. 10,000 radio stations from all over the world of any genre imaginable And mostly in excellent quality. 

I was advised by my dealer not to bother with FM, but then that's here in Norway, perhaps the attachment to FM is more pronounced in Blighty. De Klasikeiien is superb, along with Naim radio, although too all over the place for my continuous listening attention.

Basically, I-Radio is a marvel and don't miss FM at all.

Jason.

I think you are right Jasonf, I think FM (with a decent aerial) is better than 320k BBC Radio 3 but you only really notice this in live performances.  Thankfully Radio 3 does quite a few.

When I bought my Lite I kinda ignored Internet Radio, everything I had heard on my PC was pretty poor.  But NAIM do a brilliant job of pulling it all together in their Radio Guide and you can easily find those that transmit at 320 - the Hi On Line channels and the Audiophile channels - btw Audiophile is their name not a boast.  These are all superb.

Living in Norway you won't have to put up with the BBC trying to push everyone to the Wonderful World (coughing loudly) of DAB.

I suspect you might get DAB+ in Norway but I don't know if the Unitis can receive it, we won't see it in the UK because the BBC say it is not necessary with their DAB services being such a high quality.  I am coughing even louder now.

Harry I suspect for an office a Sonus all-in-one would be great, certainly everyone I have spoken to who has bought one really love them.  Has to be something in that!

The UQ2 can receive DAB+

But will we ever see it in the UK Jasonf.  Does anyone know if it DAB+ sounds any better?

I was listening to JazzFM last night on DAB and it sounded awful so I tuned (is that now the right word?) to an Internet Radio Jazz station and was able to drift away.