Into the dark side..

Posted by: Hal on 23 December 2013

It is for a comp audio illiterate like me, of course. I never thought that I'd post in this section. Recently, I further auditioned several kit again at my AD. I had been torn between CD5si+XS2+FCXS and CD5si+Nait5si before. Being money no object, during this shoot out Nait5si won me over with its foot tapping, higher fun, extra grin quotient..  So I placed my order for Nait5si as well as Unitiqute 2+NAP100 as secondary lifestyle system. I'll pick them up tomorrow. Father Christmas is really in town!

Traditional stereo will be CD5si+MF M1 DAC+SBT (for internet radio)+Nait5si+PMC 21s in music/leisure room. UQ2+NAP 100 will be coupled with KEF LS 50s in largish living room as that "thingy" is able to playback various sources and formats. For obvious reasons that combo's versatility (FM plus DAB), not cuteness, attracted me. And together they sounded better to my liking as CDP (during the last demo it was CD5XS) being a source via coax compared with DAC V1+NAP 100 under almost the same circumstances.

I will be taking baby steps with that pseudo stereo component whose menu looks much more complicated than iPad's settings menu. As per my dealer's advice I'll hard-wire it to my router for web radio. What kind of ethernet cable do I need? (asking this as it has to be long, more than 23 feet) I have almost 2K CDs now. Around 270 were already ripped in my old (2008) iMac (Snow Leopard; v11.5 iTunes) all in Apple Lossless format to synch with my iPod.

I will not rip my all CDs any time soon or at all (who does that?! I may be willing to pay who would do that for me..). Is there a sensible half way through (excluding NAS and Mac Mini options as I don't want to go there) apart from connecting my dying iPod to UQ2? A super thumb drive maybe? Is UQ2 compatible with USB 3.0? (Excuse my ignorance)

In the meanwhile I'll use the combo with Marantz Pearl CDP via coax i/c. I am aware that I will not be fully exploiting what UQ2 has to offer, but..

Thanking in advance for your constructive suggestions.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All.

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by garyi

Ethernet cable is good for up to 100 metre runs, so no bother there. There are broadly two types, solid core and patch.

 

if you are able to run the cable where you need to with the ends attached then simply purchase a long patch cable. If you have to go through walls etc then get a run of solid core, crimping tools and rj45s (the ends) lots of info on the web for how to achieve this.

 

There are then different specs, for use in the home, cat5e will do everything you want. You can if you want get cat6 or even cat7, for most of industry however cat5e is still employed, massively available and cheap as chips.

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by Phil Harris

Solid core Ethernet cable should be run in walls and conduit - anywhere where it will not be flexed as the cores will fracture with repeated movement and care should be taken when "pulling" any Ethernet cables so as not to strain the cable with excessive tension. Similarly minimum bend radii should be observed as the electrical characteristics of the cable will be affected by any sharp bends or kinks.  

 

Solid cored Ethernet cable should be terminated in punch down, securely mounted, RJ45 sockets  - never plugs - and then RJ45 patch leads (which should be constructed using stranded CAT5e or better cable) used to connect between the devices and the wall sockets.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by Hal

Thanks a lot Gents, indeed appreciated. This is why I like this brand... So I'm settled with ethernet cable and I'm gonna find a Cat6 or 7 cable. No,  it does not need to go through the walls.  But how about the other 'answers' ?

 

Regards,

 

Hal

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by garyi

Sorry yes, mixing my bits up there.

 

patch in the open, solid in the wall. 

 

Pick wall plates from ebay at your risk, i have tried all variety of prices and they have all been crap, making punch down difficult, some even cracked when doing so.

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by Phil Harris
Originally Posted by Hal:

Thanks a lot Gents, indeed appreciated. This is why I like this brand... So I'm settled with ethernet cable and I'm gonna find a Cat6 or 7 cable. No,  it does not need to go through the walls.  But how about the other 'answers' ?

 

Regards,

 

Hal

 

Hi Hal,

 

No *NEED* for anything better than CAT5e for use with anything you're likely to have in your home for the forseable future - CAT5e will handle Gigabit and we only use 100MBit on our kit. I use CAT5e at Gigabit at home and do a *LOT* of video streaming as well as audio.

 

Going for CAT6 or CAT7 will increase your cost and complexity of installation massively (assuming you're doing it properly) so make sure that you really do need to go for that if that's the way you want to go ... 

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by Hal

Thanks in bunch Gary and Phil. Very much appreciated. I'll get a run-of-the mill Cat5e.

 

But do you have any further reply or suggestion to my OP, I mean other questions? Maybe this is too much to ask this time of year, I know..   

 

ATB

 

Hal

Posted on: 23 December 2013 by Phil Harris

Sorry - I missed the question...

 

The Qute will run a USB3 device at USB2 speeds and we *ONLY* support solid state media such as USB Pendrives, not USB hard discs - I would strongly advise something like a NetGear ReadyNAS.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Posted on: 25 December 2013 by Hal

Against my all ignorance and clumsiness with comp/streaming audio, I have been very nicely surprised about how things have gone with UQ2/NAP100 combo so far. I found set up and operation extremely user friendly, I have to admit I only browsed quick set up guide for about 2-3 mins..

 

I connected UQ2 to my capable Netgear router via Cat6 ethernet cable (sorry Phil). This also saved me the trouble of fiddling with wifi connection. Naim Radio, Linn Jazz and Rad Paradise sound very good (in 320k). My trustworthy CDP is also coupled with the twins via coax and CD playback is rather good as well (though is nowhere near any good as my CD5si-Nait5si combo ) When I plugged iPod SQ reminded of a warm and syrupy analog front end a lot (files in iPod are all Apple Lossless). Nice.. Only niggle so far is FM/DAB reception, or their lack of. There is no aerial attached to UQ2 and it seems that it even does not bother when I search for available channels. I could not believe that NStream app in my iPad is so slick, it is a very well thought out and implemented app.

 

I am also very satisfied with the exemplary built quality of both UQ2 and NAP100. They look like they can withstand an all out alien invasion. They are super silent, solid and all grown up which cannot be said about my new Nait5si that is buzzy, angry around the edges and refusing to stand still 

 

Thanks again and all the best,

 

Hal