Uniqute and iPhone 4s

Posted by: Stephen Faulkner on 22 January 2012

Hi All,

10 years ago I built up a great Naim system comprising of a couple of nap90's, a 92 preamp, cd3 and power supply.  Unfortunately I had to sell the lot to by a house :-(

After many years of no hifi I managed to get hold of a used Audiolab 8000a and a pair of Epos es11. (funnily enough I traded in an 8000a to upgrade to the Naim gear mentioned earlier).  I do have a lot of music on my PC but I mainly connect my iPhone up to the Audiolab via the Apple phone lead and play my Apple Lossless files that way.

I am really happy with the above setup but I am itching to get back to the Naim sound again with a Qute. 

I know you can connect iPhones up to the Qute via the USB connector using the Qute dacs for playback.  So here are my questions :

1) Can Apple Lossless files be played when the iPhone is connected to the Qute via USB?
2) What would you guys say the sound quality is like with Apple Lossless files and an iPhone when compared to something like a cd3 for example?
3) Can the Qute stream Apple Lossless format?

Using the iPhone as the main source really suits my lifestyle.

Many thanks

Steve.
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Gavin B

Hi Steve

 

1. Yes, plug it in using the USB slot on the front of the unit; I have loseless files on my iPod.

2. Sound Quality is acceptable but I've never compared it directly to another source.

3. I think the latest firmware can stream Apple loseless from a UPnP source, but it can't stream directly using Airplay - that would need something like an Airport Express or Apple TV in between.  Rumours are that Airplay will be implemented in 2012, but we'll have to wait to see if that materialises.

 

Best wishes

 

Gavin

Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Stephen Faulkner
Thanks Gavin
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Guido Fawkes

My Qute cannot play Apple Lossless from a stream over UPnP; I think this may be possible with the forthcoming hardware upgrade. It plays FLAC streamed from a Vortexbox beautifully and plugging a Mac in to lets it play Apple Lossless (or anything else) as iTunes does the rendering. 


The SuperUniti can play Apple Lossless; worth checking with Naim when the Qute will be able to this. 


It can play Apple Lossless from an iPod though this is not the best way to play music through it. The iPod is the limiting factor. That said, it is not bad, just not as good as it could be with a better feed. 

Posted on: 23 January 2012 by CSAS bite
Currently listening to my iPhone 4 which is plugged into my NDX as there is no playlist facility yet on N-Stream.  To be frank I cannot discern any difference in sound quality over my wired NAS (using AIFF on both).  I'll now run for cover.........

P.S. Just had my annual medical and my hearing is fine!
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Lilyliu
Agreed with Guy.  And the Qute has a feature that will either allow the IPhone to charge while playing or not- says will sound best while not charging. Of course your iPhone will play a tune, but it will be inferior to other sources.  It will also take control over your iPhone's playlist.
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Stephen Faulkner
Thanks for all your replies. Here is a question - Apple Lossless file played from iPhone using Qute DAC, surely all the iPhone is doing is passing ones and zeros to the dac so why as some seem to be suggesting should streaming a file across the LAN sound any better? Bearing in mind the same file is being played in both examples. Thanks Steve
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Lilyliu
No shootin from these quarters... Maybe your extra fancy NDX can outdo the Qute and DAC that I've plugged my iPhone into...and I've only a lowly 4 phone, not the new 4s.
Posted on: 23 January 2012 by Guido Fawkes
Originally Posted by Stephen Faulkner:
Thanks for all your replies. Here is a question - Apple Lossless file played from iPhone using Qute DAC, surely all the iPhone is doing is passing ones and zeros to the dac so why as some seem to be suggesting should streaming a file across the LAN sound any better? Bearing in mind the same file is being played in both examples. Thanks Steve

Because of the difference in noise and jitter is my guess.

 

It a Naim player when you stream as opposed to an iPod player with streaming. So when you stream then the Naim player cohabits with the DAC and the transfer of generated bits between player and DAC is as efficient as it can be. 

 

Using a PowerMac, I found its S/PDIF out inferior to using a MF V-Link USB to S/PDIF convertor. I put this down to the V-Link reducing the jitter seen by the UQ. With the new Mac Mini (low jitter/noise S/PDIF out), there is no advantage in using a V-Link or similar. The use of a decent quality optical cable is important too - not an expensive one, but a well made one. 

 

In all cases I can capture the bitstream and it is identical. I haven't tried this with an iPad, but can't see why it wouldn't be bit perfect. 

 

So my theory is there is more to it than bit perfection - EMI, RFI, Jitter, Voodoo - I'm not 100% sure, but I hear what I hear. Of course, some speakers may be more revealing than others. I use Eclipse TD speakers which produce a similar sound to electrostatic speakers. 

 

A plain old USB stick with music on it sounds better than an iPad too (at least to my ears using my system in my room) - I would suggest for the same reasons as the Ethernet streaming. 

 

See if you can audition - it only matters if you hear a difference and have a preference for one other the other. Some folk can hear differences between ALAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF, but I definitely cannot and my background tells me there shouldn't be a difference. However, something must be going on for forum members to hear the differences as I firmly believe they do hear them. I cannot deny that processing loads differ between formats, but .... 

 

When all is said and done, you just need a system you enjoy - there is no way of saying A is better than B (though I draw the line when a Hi-FI magazine reviewer claims he can hear differences between makes of disc in the same NAS feeding the streaming  - again I definitely don't say he's lying, just that his explanation of the differences he hears is dubious). 


However, I am adamant that all bit perfect rips sound the same and a £1,000,000 ripper will not change that. 

Posted on: 23 January 2012 by nudgerwilliams

About a year ago I was making a similar decision and went to the local dealer for a demo.  Took my iPod loaded with Apple Lossless files to audition a Qute.  Ended up buying a Uniti, and a year on now have a UnitiServe as well.  To my ears iPod + Qute was not what I was looking for.  iPod + Uniti was better (Uniti is more than just a Qute less the CD player), but CDs in the Uniti better still.  

 

So my guess would be iPod + Qute will fall short of what you are expecting, but go for a demo.  

 

On your other question, SQ of CDs ripped as uncompressed WAVs on my iPod is significantly better than CDs ripped in Apple Lossless.  Some of the reasons why I guess already listed, but goes some of the way to why I think iPhone and Qute may disappoint on SQ though not of course on usability.

 

David

Posted on: 25 January 2012 by CSAS bite
I currently have a Superuniti on home demo and, unlike the NDX, there is a clear difference in quality between iPhone fed AIFF tracks and those from the Ethernet connection; I have never tried the other Uniti products but everybody else's feedback would suggest more of the same.  The new box is very impressive by the way!

Al.
Posted on: 25 January 2012 by Gavin B

Clear difference in quality - which way?

Posted on: 25 January 2012 by CSAS bite
Ethernet is clearly superior but I'm not going to attempt to describe it in "hi-fi" terms.  Still, it's good enough for playlists until N-Stream catches up!

Al.