Airplay integration

Yes, I'd really like to know this too.  If it's going to be in Q1, we should have something within a month now.  Also, how will it be delivered?  Some sort of software update or do we have to take our equipment back to the dealer?

+1

Good question. My hifi-dealer told me that it would be via a hardware upgrade because of the need of an apple chip if you already own a streaming device. New streaming devices would then already have implemented them but also be more expensive. But I have also read that newer devices like the Superuniti already have the technology for a software update. So nothing reliable, sorry.

But good to know that there are also other guys interested in this

Why? What do you wish to stream via airplay?

Have you used it to any extent? (i have, airplay to mac mini and out to hifi) it sounds like a bag a nails.

I spoke to Naim about this yesterday. They said that it would be a software update but only for those streamer units fitted with the newer, 192 board. Older units would need the board upgraded first. They would not say when it would come out, only that they had to 'negotiate with Apple'. 

Ben

'negotiate with Apple'.... That sounds ominous. If it costs a lot from a licensing perspective it might be Naim goes off the idea somewhat, and if I am honest I wouldn't  blame them. Albeit casual AirPlay streaming would be fun and useful, bot not of prime importance for me.

Negotiate with apple...Then I wonder how Denon, Marantz and other companies have managed to do this because they have this integrated since MONTHS...

That may be down to volume. If there is a high initial license fee then it may be prohibitive if it is only spread across the sale of a relatively small number of units. Similarly if the per unit license fee was a percentage of the list price then that doesn't work out well for Naim.

I have just returned from a test listening at my hifi-dealer. I was listening to he UnitiQute with a B&W PM1, B&W CM8, Audio Physic Sitara and Seconda Opera.

The B&W PM1 sounded just TERRIBLY! I was really happy when they were thrown away. No substance and a nerving bass.

The CM8 sounded like a wannabe ever ones darling. A real standard loudspeaker with inaccurate bass and no warmth in the miss. Somewhat no life in there.

The Audio Physic then were brand new out of the box. You could clearly hear that they have more potential but anyway they sounded really good to me! They matched all types of music (classic, Hip-Hop, Country, Rock, Pop) and always sounded engaging but not to appealing. Really lively. Even very heavy basses never drummed and let you wanna run away or think of your poor neighbors.

The Seconda Opera was just a bad joke. It played like it it wanted to say: Please just calm music. I don't have the desire to play anything else. No warmth and too airy.

Conclusion: The Naim Unitiqute had enough power and the Audiophysics matched very well. I will listen again in three weeks and then try out the Mordaunt Short Performance 6 and another Audio Physics. Let you know how it went! 

I would like to be able to play my SuperUniti in the kitchen sometimes.  It doesn't have to be "proper hi-fi", just a decent sound without the need for cables and a lot more expense.  Airplay seems ideal for this - something like the B&W Zeppelin would do I thought.  Is this going to sound like a "bag a nails"?  I have no experience of Airplay, so would be grateful if you could elaborate garyi.   Anyone else set up something along these lines in a second room?

This to me is the 'killer app.'  I have my hi fi in the living room, and a Cambridge Sound Works all-in-one box in the kitchen.  I'd like to be able to stream my library, wirelessly, to a higher quality unit such as the Zeppelin or the Meridian m80.

@Bart & Nick Rich

you don't have to wait for Airplay to do this. I stream wirelessly to my kitchen where I have a Logitech Squeezebox Boom which has internet radio as well as receiving all my ripped music via the Logitech Media Server. Sounds fine with a subwoofer as the built in amp is class D and the speakers are pretty tiny - but basically any decent streaming box would do. I can't see why a higher quality unit wouldn't work - Unitiqute? If you have a network then you don't need to wait - especially for "kitchen quality"!

Thanks Pev: I'm a novice at all this so please bear with me.  My music is on a NAS drive running Twonky Server.  Are you saying I could use this in conjunction with the Squeezebox (ie no computer involved)?  Even if the answer is yes, if I understand this correctly, I would be buying a separate streamer with internet radio, which I already have (Superuniti) whereas with Airplay I could just buy one of these Airplay compatible boxes and use the Superuniti to stream to it.

The Unitiqute seems a bit like overkill for kitchen quality.

I'm not sure about running Squeezebox from a NAS (I stream from a PC) - I can get internet radio straight off the router with no computers or NAS switched on.It also does Napster.  It depends whether your NAS can run Logitech Media Server if you want to stream your own music with no computers involved. I think some NAS's can as a lot of people use Squeezeboxes - you'd need to check your particular model.

Agree the UQ is a bit dear for a kitchen system but the Logitech Boom costs around £200 and with a cheap £50 sub off Ebay it sounds very good. There may be other equivalents which would work with Twonky (which I believe is UPNP).

Are you saying you have a superuniti in your kitchen? in which case you are super rich and airplay is a toy, get a proper home intergrated audio system.

No, no, a Superuniti in the living room.  The plan is to use it to stream to e.g. a B&W Zeppelin in the kitchen using Airplay.  This will be possible I hope?

I doubt it. Airplay is designed to let Apple iOS devices stream music to things like B&W Zeppelin and a Naim SU. I don\t think you can use it between two non-Apple devices. If Naim was able to send music over Airplay from its devices to other devices then that would be more superb than a superb thing in super superb mode on an ultra superb day. 

However what I read is Apple has licensed the audio-streaming portion of the AirPlay protocol stack as a third-party software component technology to manufacturer partners for them to use in their products in order to be compatible with Apple's iDevices.

If you had a Vortexbox or some other NAS with Sonos bridge on its wired network and SuperUniti on its wired network too and a Sonos Play 3 in the kitchen then you could play on your SU in the posh system and Sonos in the kitchen. That would work for sure. And you have to buy a VB or NAS anyway to store your music so it wouldn't cost anymore that the Airplay/Zep approach. 

Nick, I'm afraid you have missed the whole point about streaming so far.

Streaming means that there is a server and one or more clients. The SU is a client. So streaming FROM the SU to your kitchen, as you have mentioned, doesn't make any sense and is plainly impossible, regardless of airplay.

Get any kind of streamer (streaming client) for your kitchen and let it be served by the same source (server) that your SU in the lounge is getting its music from.

If this client is a SqueezeBox you will need Logitech Media Server ( LMS), because SqueezeBoxes do not work on standard UPnP, which is what the SU needs.

You can actually run LMS on most NAS's. For installation details you best refer to the forums of the respective NAS brand.  If we are talking about a QNAP, there is a parallel thread on LMS and its additional UPnP capabilities on QNAP. Please have a look there.

Coming back to airplay. This is not a solution for multi room hifi. It is about listening to the music which is stored on your (or your friends') mobile devices on your home stereo. That' s all. Usally your iPod or iPhone will only carry a down sized copy of your home library anyway. So why would you want this when the original is available on the harddisc via the network.

Airplay only makes sense for get togethers, where you might want to replay a song from your iPod in someone else's lounge on his stereo.

Nick you could plug an appletv2 into a small hifi for the kitchen and airplay to that.

You couldn't send music from a SuperUniti through to ATV2 though. The ATV2 could play the music  that was served by iTunes (e.g. a Mac or Vortexbox: though never thought to try that) or using Airplay from an iDevice. 

PinkHamster: Many thanks for this explanation.  You are quite right: I have completely misunderstood this and feel a bit of an idiot.  I must have misunderstood what I thought the dealer who installed my system told me about Airplay.

My server is a QNAP NAS running Twonky.  Is there a client I could get for the kitchen which would use this without the need for LMS, ie an alternative to the SqueezeBox which would work with what I already have?

I am not aware of any UPnP one-box-solutions currently, which does't mean that they aren't there.

Not sure about Sonos and Raumfeld. Are they using UPnP? Anyone?

Sonos uses file sharing - a Sonos Play box + Sonos bridge on the wired network next to your NAS would work for sure. The Sonos will not recognise UPnP on your NAS as far as I know. It is happy with a Vortexbox though, which must be down to some ingredient on it, but not sure of the details as I have a Sonos bridge connected. The Sonos wired network is not shared with your home wired network and the protocols it uses seem bullet proof.