Living with the Qute
Posted by: SRMT on 08 March 2011
Good afternoon everybody.
I have been living with a Naim UntiQute for 4 months now and thought it might be helpful to report on how we are getting on together.
My system comprises the aforementioned 'Qute, CD5, Nap150, Flatcap and much-loved SBL's. (The Qute replaced a NAC 112 & NAT05).
In addition to 2000+ CD's I now have a burgeoning collection of music in Apple Lossless on my iMac which talks to the outside world and our home network via an Apple Airport Extreme.
My children also have Macs and so we share one central iTunes library (which saves space on their native hard drives) and they merely drag and drop files onto their various iPods from the one central library.
Wireless streaming to the 'Qute is handled by Majestic (its good, its free and it works for me) and I have the n-Stream app on my iPhone which seems a bit easier to use than the handset bundled with the 'Qute.
The addition of the Qute has been the catalyst for me - indeed the whole family- to listen to more music than we have for many a year - you know the drill - kids, mortgage etc. However, not only am I spending more hours listening, but, due to the ability (and ease) that the 'Qute delivers both DAB and internet radio - more variety.
Before settling on Majestic software I tried all 'the usual suspects', both paid-for and freeware - all of which get mentioned in postings, but nothing seemed to work quite so well and consistently.
Majestic delivers all of the artist, album name, song title and artwork to my iPhone and its a doddle to browse the iTunes library, (not to mention the ease of which I can select other inputs) and so is the control interface of choice for me.
To date, Majestic has never faltered and I am not aware of a single drop out or loss of signal (my router is only 10 feet away, albeit in a different room and the Apple Airport Extreme is renowned for its power and reliability)
The 'Qutes' inability to stream Apple Lossless is well documented elsewhere, but it is a matter of fact for me (and I suspect many other owners) that Mac is the preferred computer platform and that, despite its flaws, iTunes is a well established programme that looks good, works well and, if you posses iPods - is a no-brainer.
Majestic transcodes on the fly and, although some may be alarmed that all that (relatively) expensive Naim gear is being used to listen to streamed music at a mere 192kbps, its certainly good enough for what is often the soundtrack to something else.
(Kids and mortgage still prevail I'm afraid)
For 'serious' listening there is always the trusty CD5 or FM (and check out the high-resolution (internet) broadcasts from the BBC).
Given funds, I may go for a Uniti Serve, but until that day, the above just works, and very well at that.
I have been living with a Naim UntiQute for 4 months now and thought it might be helpful to report on how we are getting on together.
My system comprises the aforementioned 'Qute, CD5, Nap150, Flatcap and much-loved SBL's. (The Qute replaced a NAC 112 & NAT05).
In addition to 2000+ CD's I now have a burgeoning collection of music in Apple Lossless on my iMac which talks to the outside world and our home network via an Apple Airport Extreme.
My children also have Macs and so we share one central iTunes library (which saves space on their native hard drives) and they merely drag and drop files onto their various iPods from the one central library.
Wireless streaming to the 'Qute is handled by Majestic (its good, its free and it works for me) and I have the n-Stream app on my iPhone which seems a bit easier to use than the handset bundled with the 'Qute.
The addition of the Qute has been the catalyst for me - indeed the whole family- to listen to more music than we have for many a year - you know the drill - kids, mortgage etc. However, not only am I spending more hours listening, but, due to the ability (and ease) that the 'Qute delivers both DAB and internet radio - more variety.
Before settling on Majestic software I tried all 'the usual suspects', both paid-for and freeware - all of which get mentioned in postings, but nothing seemed to work quite so well and consistently.
Majestic delivers all of the artist, album name, song title and artwork to my iPhone and its a doddle to browse the iTunes library, (not to mention the ease of which I can select other inputs) and so is the control interface of choice for me.
To date, Majestic has never faltered and I am not aware of a single drop out or loss of signal (my router is only 10 feet away, albeit in a different room and the Apple Airport Extreme is renowned for its power and reliability)
The 'Qutes' inability to stream Apple Lossless is well documented elsewhere, but it is a matter of fact for me (and I suspect many other owners) that Mac is the preferred computer platform and that, despite its flaws, iTunes is a well established programme that looks good, works well and, if you posses iPods - is a no-brainer.
Majestic transcodes on the fly and, although some may be alarmed that all that (relatively) expensive Naim gear is being used to listen to streamed music at a mere 192kbps, its certainly good enough for what is often the soundtrack to something else.
(Kids and mortgage still prevail I'm afraid)
For 'serious' listening there is always the trusty CD5 or FM (and check out the high-resolution (internet) broadcasts from the BBC).
Given funds, I may go for a Uniti Serve, but until that day, the above just works, and very well at that.