Will the Unitiqute serve my needs?

If the hard drive is powered you can. Plug a data cable from the USB hard drive into the front of the Qute. I do this with a USB stick. 

No album art on the App, and I don't think that playlists work in this configuration. 

It is for selecting an album and playing it. 

You would be able to access the HD on your laptop as long as your laptop is running the appropriate server software and is connected to your network. In the end though might be more affordable and sound better to just buy a small single disc nas. 

Wire the UQ and Toshiba to the network, install a cheap/free UPNP server app on the Toshiba, to make the music files available to the UQ, then control it all via Wi-Fi with a smart phone or tablet using the Naim app.

There are other options, but this is the ultimate goal for ease of use and reliability.  Playing into USB is possible, but only a good way to work with one album at a time on a thumb drive, IMHO.

Nick

hey all thanks so much for all the valuable input. i use jriver media player so i will try the upnp. i will also try out the single disk nas. i have a 2 1/2 year old running around whose favorite pastime is pulling things down and stomping - so i have decided that the most practical thing to do is to have wall mounted wall speakers and smaller/fewer equipment which can be easily hidden. i have a set of dali mentor menuets. i also have a set of neat iota lined up. so i am angling for a couple of naim unitiqutes (thats easier on my budget than the 2nd version) to complete the setup. i was originally thinking of getting the nad d3020 and  the ps audio sprout - but the qute i think would have better sq. thanks again.

Windows from Win7 on has a built in UPnP server.  If the laptop is on the network the UnitiQute will be able to play music from it.
For high-res streams, a wired connection to the laptop (via a switch) will be more reliable.

will playing from upnp offer less SQ than a physical connection? also with what switch do u make a wired connection to laptop and unitiqute?

appreciate the feedback.

Playing lossless files from a USB thumb drive does set the benchmark for sound quality, but it is impractical for large libraries.  Better you should hold your network/UPNP implementation to that standard, and make adjustments to eliminate any gap in SQ.  When UPNP is set up right, it is hard to hear a difference vs direct USB, IME; and album art, indexing and remote-control over Wi-Fi are important features of UPNP.

Nick 

vtpcnk posted:

will playing from upnp offer less SQ than a physical connection? also with what switch do u make a wired connection to laptop and unitiqute?

You can just connect your computer and Unitiqute to your router if it has spare ports. Otherwise any switch will work: a while ago Naim recommended the Netgear GS105, so a lot of people use that. 

OK I now have a little more time...

There's no reason why UPnP should sound less good than USB memory stick; although it does often need some network 'tweaking' to achieve this (I now can't tell the difference on my system).

USB from a computer to a DAC can also sound as good as UPnP, but USB often needs things like USB isolators or clock regenerators to achieve this level of quality.

If your laptop has an optical S/Pdif output (some do some don't) then that's another option.

If you choose the UnitiQute, then the UPnP route is easy to set up.  Get it working first then start tweaking:
Your 'Broadband Router' will almost certainly have a switch controlling its ports; so, just connect the laptop and UQ into the ports on the back using standard networking cable.  Load the Naim app on a tablet or phone and off you go (probably!).  In most cases you can probably even play files to the UQ using the <Play To> option in Windows Media Player rather than using the Naim app on a phone or tablet.

Tweaking:
In my case I have a separate switch (I use it as I have 5 devices and a 4 port 'router' and also to reduce electrical interference from my electrically noisy 'router', but plugging everything into the router does still work OK).  I have a specially selected cable connecting the streamer to the switch and I also also a lot of clip on ferrites on the network cables and all the SMPSs lying around to damp down electrical interference (in fact I had ferrites on my system even when I used a CD player - electrical interference isn't a streaming specific problem, in fact it can be just as much of a problem for a system based on a USB DAC).

Future:
At some stage in the future you may choose to get a NAS.  That will allow you to play music at any time without having to start the laptop, and it can also be used as a backup store for the laptop (even simultaneously!).  It only needs a very basic NAS costing about £220 ($300) to work perfectly for both purposes (Synology or QNAP are usually recommended).

Hey all thanks so much for the insights.

Regarding hooking up the qute to the broadband router : i plan to have two systems - one living room and one bedroom. So even if i hookup the unitiqute to my broadband router in the living room how will i do the same in the bedroom?

And if wireless sq is as good as wired, then I dont mind buying a NAS.

So I should aim for wired in the living room and wireless in the bedroom?

BTW I am not sure if my laptop has s/p dif.

I doubt your laptop has SPDIF! It is possible to use a USB to SPDIF converter if you really want to go down this route, or you can try the UPnP server option where everything communicates over your network - using a connection that they will all need in any case.

The best option would be to run an Ethernet cable to both streamers. Running one of them over WiFi is possible, but only if your network is robust.

hey all, i landed a unitiqute which was manufactured as 192khz - not modded - though i am still to get it.

so this is the router/modem which i am using : https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-R...coding=UTF8&s=pc

that only two outlets being used are the power outlet and the co-ax.

so which of the other ports should i be hooking up the unitiqute and NAS to? BTW i have not bought the NAS yet and want to try with the upnp first.

appreciate the feedback.

btw if i hook up my harddisk to the router/modem using the usb port and hookup the unitiqute to the router using the ethernet port, will the unitiqute be able to access the harddisk?

Nope. The UQ and app needs to "talk" to a server. 

so what is the 'wired connection' people are referring to?

vtpcnk posted:

so what is the 'wired connection' people are referring to?

This means using Ethernet cables to connect everything to your network. Networked devices do not communicate directly to each other via individual connections. Your Unitiqute connects to the internet this way, for iRadio and web streaming services such as Tidal and Spotify. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) also links to your network via Ethernet cable, and this is how Naim streamers are designed to access your own music library. 

Huge u had written : "I have a specially selected cable connecting the streamer to the switch".

can i know which cable pls?