DAC Source questions

If you are not into adding any of the Naim stream players into the picture, which would be the most "Naim" of all the solutions, there seems to be many alternatives and opinions vary. But Airport Express does not seem to be the most recommended option. You should browse through the forum pages. Here is a thread on the same issue: Naim DAC optimal connection

About your question about the differences between USB sticks, Simon had an interesting remark lately, which I appreciate very much.

I would encourage to be further "curious about minor changes" and report to us what you have found out.

Thanks to both of you for helpful tips. For most critical listening I have been using the Naim DAC with a USB stick, and for more casual listening I use the Airport Express. Often the difference is striking, with the USB input being the obvious winner. I'll probably take advantage of one of these manufacturer's money-back guarantees to experiment with source alternatives, as it remains clear that the Airport Express is my system's weak link. I appreciate any further suggestions in the meantime!

cclay

I'll assume you're using a laptop/Mac Book hooked up wirelessley to the AE(?).

AE is fine if surfing i-tunes from the comfort of your couch. And if this remote access is what you prefer you're better off connecting the Mac Book directly to the DAC via optical and use an i-phone/i-touch/i-pad as a remote to control i-tunes (with the Apple Remote app).

I used AE for about an hour; since then it's been in the drawer. AE is not a audiophile device but more a lifestyle device.

So, the Mac Book connected to the optical input of the DAC with Chord's Optichord, you can play hi-res files in hi-res (unlike AE which downsamples, as it were).

A big step up from i-tunes in regards to sound quailty is to use a playback CODEC such as Fidelia. It's US$19 and it sounds superb. For another $10 you can buy the Fidelia remote app and have almost the same functionality of the Apple i-tunes remote (no cover art work in Fidelia though).

So for 100quid for the cable and the Fidelia software you'll have playback SQ equal (without generalising too much) to that of a CD5XS and almost as good as USB stick.

Fidelia and others, such as Amarra and Pure Music, will be my next step after figuring out the best way to connect my computer to the Naim DAC. If USB sticks are the best, I'd still like to narrow the difference between first and second place. Sounds like all of your suggestions may be just the ticket!

I  currently use Fidelia on my Mac Book Pro, via BNC/BNC cable/ M2TECH HighFace SPDIF convertor. I'm waiting for delivery of a 20db attenuator (BNC Male/Female), which apparently reduces RF reflections in the cable and improves SQ.

Here's the link to the thread that kicked it off. 

https://forums.naimaudio.com/di...ent/5086599871993575

Has anyone had any luck with the Fidelia iPhone App? Just purchased along with the player but not getting a response from the app which is showing 'connecting...' and the control buttons but fails to connect to the player which is working fine. (Sounds great too)

Thanks in advance.

Rack.

The fidelia iPhone app works beautifully for me.

Rack, I bought it a few days ago and it would freeze on my iPhone, so I ended up deleting it. And re-installing it. And more problems, it would be 'balky' at times. So I deleted it.

I reinstalled it tonight. Working fine now.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Dave

Hi Dave.

When you  say you deleted it then reinstalled it - how did you go about doing this without permanently deleting it?

Cheers

Rack.

Audiofile Engineering Tweeted that an urgent fix is being worked on for the i-phone app.

What the fix is for, I'm not sure.

A visit to their web site will tell thee.

Hi James.

I've tried deleting and reinstalling it a few times but still no luck. It just hangs there trying to connect. I can move the volume slider and the buttons respond but that's it. A bit frustrating really but will have to see what the fix brings.

Cheers,

Rack.

  I just did the usual deletion of an iPhone app, you know, where you keep your finger on the icon until it 'wiggles', click on the 'x', then re-purchase it from the app store (it tells you you've already purchased it, you don't get charged again).

Dave

Rack

You might want to "restore" your i-phone (using i-tunes). This can often fix little gremlins.

I did think about that James but although all my contacts, calenders and settings will be restored - according to the warning message, i'll lose my other data (music), which i converted to 256kbps files from the AIFFs in iTunes. I no longer have the 256kbps files as it was making streaming a pain using the Apple Remote (it was seeing double of each and even using smart playlist folders didn't work as i could only scroll, not search through these) so had yet to find a way of splitting the two file types into separate libraries for iTunes to read from.

So who said this computer audio was difficult?  

Hi Rackkit

Two libraries? No worries...

When opening itunes, hold down the option key and you'll be prompted as to which library you want to use or if you'd like to add another user/library.

Or use a program like Fidelia; this will batch convert songs to whatever format you want and the files will be in the same folder as the originals. You just then move the new files to a new folder/library.

OR simply use itunes to convert the original songs as described above. 

It'll take you a bit of fiddling around to work it all out and become comfortable with it but once you know how......

BTW, when you say "streaming" (and using a smaller file size?), are you using Apple Express?

I shouldn't really have said streaming as the Mac is connected to the AV2 with some Chord Optichord but thanks for the tips re different libraries. 

I think i'll just wait for the upcoming update as advised Audiophile's support guy and go from there. 

Will keep you posted as the update might include the support for album artwork for both the player and the remote app.

Cheers,

Rack.