Streaming Directly from MacBook Pro to Naim Nova

Easiest way while you wait for your ripper, is to put Music on a USB stick and plug into Nova and play from that.

Thanks Gazza,

Without sounding too thick are you saying that I can just copy to music files off the MacBook onto a USB stick and then put it in the front (or rear) USB slot on the Nova and I will find the music using the Naim app from there with nothing further needed?

As I said this is all a bit new to me.

Paul

Yep that’s pretty much it. Just double checked on my unit as I normally use the Uniti Core. USB stick inserted, go to the menu in the App and press USB icon. It will show which USB is activated...I used the front.....press the “front” icon....the screen for my stick came up with “ high res audio”....press that icon.....the music files, cd,s will populate the screen. Just click and play.....real easy to get you started. Enjoy yourself.

I think you might have to make sure the stick is formatted to FAT32.....if you run into problems it’s probably the formatting

I would go with Gazza’s suggestion and put them on a USB stick which you can put into the front or rear port on the Nova. You will be able to see them in the USB input on the Naim app, but better to enable server mode in the app settings menu and find the music in the Server input. The other advantage of this method is that you should be able to access the same music files on the QB. 

If you are happy with using a computer to download and/or rip music, this may be all you need to do, although you may find that it’s better to store a large collection on a NAS.  The Zen can do all this too, at a higher price but with the convenience of a proprietary system that is set up and ready to go. 

Thanks for the replies guys...I'll let you know how I get on 

I always found the usb stick to sound better than wifi over the network. My advice when you do go get your Innuos etc is to hard wire everything you can because in my experience with a UnitiQute2, an ND5XS and now a Liv Zen the forerunner of the Innuos Zen was that music sounded better and the stream was always more reliable when hard wired.

Of course the new platforms may have improved in this respect.

When you say hard wire do you mean that I should use the optical out that is now on th ZenMini Mk.3 or if I end up going for the Zen Mk.3 the dedicated 'streamer' Ethernet port to connect to the Nova?

I think Bob means you should use Ethernet cables rather than rely on WiFi, and I would agree. Having said that, the new Naim streamers have much better WiFi performance than the older models, so you may find that it’s OK with a wireless connection. 

If you connect the Zen directly to the streamer with an optical cable, you will have to use the Innuos app to browse and select music, and switch to the Naim app for input selection and volume control. 

Is there AirPlay on your MacBook? If so you can connect that way too

Mercky posted:

Is there AirPlay on your MacBook? If so you can connect that way too

That’s another option, but to my ears, it never sounds as good as UPnP streaming, and it limits the range of formats and stream rates, so I tend to see it more as a convenience feature for casual listening than anything. 

ChrisSU posted:

I think Bob means you should use Ethernet cables rather than rely on WiFi, and I would agree. Having said that, the new Naim streamers have much better WiFi performance than the older models, so you may find that it’s OK with a wireless connection. 

If you connect the Zen directly to the streamer with an optical cable, you will have to use the Innuos app to browse and select music, and switch to the Naim app for input selection and volume control. 

So would it be better for sound quality and convienience sake to get the Zen Mk.3 so I can connect to the Nova with an Ethernet cable and then be able to use the Naim app to control everything?

Mercky posted:

Is there AirPlay on your MacBook? If so you can connect that way too

Yes there is...never used it !!!

Cut Throat Jake posted:

Mercky posted:

Is there AirPlay on your MacBook? If so you can connect that way too

Yes there is...never used it !!!

It’ll work, I use it for streaming FLAC Radio Paradise from ipad to Nova, works fine but I’m not fully up to speed on its resolution limitations when it gets to hi res, maybe someone else can advise here 

I have an Ethernet switch connecting my router to Nova, Uniti Core......the App still needs WiFi to operate. It’s my preferred option. I paid about £140 for a run of cable from router around the side of our house in ducting to our living room. 

Cut Throat Jake posted:

ChrisSU posted:

I think Bob means you should use Ethernet cables rather than rely on WiFi, and I would agree. Having said that, the new Naim streamers have much better WiFi performance than the older models, so you may find that it’s OK with a wireless connection. 

If you connect the Zen directly to the streamer with an optical cable, you will have to use the Innuos app to browse and select music, and switch to the Naim app for input selection and volume control. 

So would it be better for sound quality and convienience sake to get the Zen Mk.3 so I can connect to the Nova with an Ethernet cable and then be able to use the Naim app to control everything?

If you use the Zen as an SPDIF source you are not using the streamer module of the Nova, and apart from losing the convenience of controlling everything from within the same app, you may find the sound quality to be better, worse, or just different. Given that you are spending a few grand on shiny new kit, I think you should expect your dealer to demonstrate that there is a performance benefit before committing to the Zen. 

In your position, I think I would hold fire on the Zen purchase and get up and running with a USB stick. Get used to loading music onto it from your computer. If you are comfortable with this, you probably don’t need the Zen. 

It really depends on how much music you have or intend to continue to buy. As Chris said keep with the USB and then get a dealer demo.

Gazza posted:

I think you might have to make sure the stick is formatted to FAT32.....if you run into problems it’s probably the formatting

FAT 32, NTFS or HFS+ will work - for Mac use FAT 32 or HFS+.

Beware memory sticks/SSD drives formatted as ExFat as although Macs/PCs can read/write them the Nova does not handle ExFat.

Cut Throat Jake posted:

Hello All,

I have just joined the forum and have ordered my first two Naim products...one being a Uniti Nova for the main listening room and the other is a Muso Qb for the kitchen which I am hoping will be installed next week along with a pair of Kudos X2's (very wife friendly floorstander's & sound fantastic).

To act as a music server and CD ripper I have also ordered a Innuos ZenMini Mk.3 (but I may upgrade this to a full Zen Mk.3) but I have been told that these are not going to be shipped until the end of September.

In my excitement I have started to buy a few Hi-Res Albums from HD Tracks & 7Digital and downloaded them to iCloud via my 2015 MacBook Pro so I was wondering if there is a easy way to stream this music to my new Naim products?  If I need some sort of server software what would the recommendation be?  Also can I stream via Bluetooth?  Aa you can imagine its all a bit new so I am just getting my head around it. 

Thanks in advance 

Paul (aka CTJ)

First things first, if pushing audio to the Nova use Airplay not Bluetooth - Airplay will be fine for up to CD quality, should be better than Bluetooth, but for HD will downsample to CD quality.  iTunes will handle WAV/AIFF/ALAC/MP3/AAC but not FLAC.

You should see your Nova listed as an Airplay output device in iTunes itself or for system audio (including any other audio sounds) if you click on the volume icon at the top of the Menu bar on teh right (if not hold alt/option when you click).

Your other options especially for HiRes audio are - USB stick/drive connected to Nova or other software:

1 - Asset UPnP - free version is great and easy to set up

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/asset-upnp-dlna.htm

Just run it, show it a folder(s) on internal/external drives where the music you want to stream lives and the nova should find it under Servers.  Works pretty well.

2 - Audirvana - good software that can stream local content to the Nova with some audiophile features, control on Mac or iOS via paid app

3 - Roon - do the trial it's not cheap for a Roon Core licence but it just works very very well - control on Mac or free iOS app.

While waiting for your Innuous ZenMini, why not get a cheap USB CD/DVD writer (£20 or less) to use with your MBP and start playing with some rips using dBpowerAmp which has a 30 day free trial, or simply rip via iTunes into Apple Lossless.

Use a USB 3.0 portable USB powered hard drive to store these and copies of your HD downloads.

I'm not sure I'd attempt to stream from iCloud - technically with enough space there is a local iCloud copy on your Mac, but if they're not on the Mac you bring an extra fetch across the internet into the equation which will add superfluous wi-fi/network bandwidth needs.

Do keep copies of your downloads however - more than one, as you may not be able to redownload them in the future, even if you can now.

External hard drives are cheap - you'd get a basic 4TB WD USB 3.0 powered drive for around £90 which could be used to store downloads and copies of CD rips.

USB sticks are also quite cheap these days but the price differential compared to hard drives is high/GB of storage.

I use a combination of these approaches to be honest.

I will add a vote for Roon. Also the Spotify client is really convenient too and works well from the macbook to the Nova. The Naim client for tidal works, but is pretty annoying to search with. Bluetooth works well but is in my view pretty inferior quality wise. For any social occasion Spotify wins because most people have it on their phone and the quality is really quite close to tidal - not a difference you'll spot unless just listening only. Phone/bluetooth is flat in comparison.

Thanks once again to all who have replied...moving forwards I have decided to use a USB for my hi-res downloads for the timebeing which works well as the Innuos Zen Mk.3's aren't available till the end of September I will ask my dealer to do an at home audition of the Mini and the Zen and make a further decision from there as I do want to rip our CD collection and store/serve music from one box as this is what I agreed with my better half.

I have heard the Zen & the Zenith Mk.2's serving the Nova linked to the X2's and it sounded pretty good to me then but I suppose nothing beats hearing things in your own listening enviroment especially when they are new products though I can't think they would have gone backwards SQ wise.

As mentioned previously I am expecting delivery/installation of the Nova, Qb and the X2's next week

Gazza posted:

I have an Ethernet switch connecting my router to Nova, Uniti Core......the App still needs WiFi to operate. It’s my preferred option. I paid about £140 for a run of cable from router around the side of our house in ducting to our living room. 

That actually works well for me as my router is positioned quite close to where the Nova etc. will be so thankfully no need for drilling...

If you install Assett or Playback (I use that) you can see your Mac as a server on your Naim App and play directly from your iTunes library to the Nova. Rip CDs using a WAV or AIFF high resolution setting in iTunes and you are all good to go. Otherwise play from iTunes using an iOS device pointing Airplay to the Nova, but this will reduce to CD quality only.

Thanks Mike...we currently use Apple Music via a Sonos set up around the house but what I am aiming for is lossless hi-res music that is simple and strightforward for us both to access which sounds like what you suggest so I'll give it a try :-)

Cut Throat Jake posted:

Thanks Mike...we currently use Apple Music via a Sonos set up around the house but what I am aiming for is lossless hi-res music that is simple and strightforward for us both to access which sounds like what you suggest so I'll give it a try :-)

Ah, so I’m not on Apple Music as the sound quality is not that good, amd you’d want better with a Nova I’d suggest. Have you considered going with the high resolution option with Tidal? I haven’t tried it, but by all accounts it’s pretty good and you can run a free months trial. It’s integrated directly as an option on the Nova. There are lots of discussions about Tidal in the forum, use the search key on this page to find them. I’m probably going to give it a trail, but I’m still enjoying my current collection as I’ve onky had the Nova for a few weeks and are running a Core in favour of my Mac. I’m sure you will love the Nova, it’s  a fantastic one box solution.

Must say Incan't wait till mine is delivered...I will be taking advantage of the Tidal free trail but also interested in Qobuz Sublime but not sure whether or not you can get that as a free trail.