Which App is Better? Android or Apple

IOS version has more functionality, Android is quicker and simpler to use.  I like both but it depends, I suppose, on what you value you most.  The IOS version is ahead of the Android version in terms of development

So Android is quicker and simpler because it has less features. Thank you.

Sorry, another newbie question - are there desktop versions of the app that either play on Mac or Windows or are these just apps that run on mobile devices?

- Roger

You could run an Android emulator on windows and install the app.

Concerning the apps only :

When I used all functions of my Uniti, I preferred the IOS app by quite a margin for reasons dayjay mentioned. The version for the iPad was much bettere than the one for the iPod (no idea re iPad mini). After some changes to my system, I now have a Unitiqute which serves as a mere digital transport for streaming and which I control using the BubbleUPnP app (android only; IMHO easier to use and more flexible than the Naim app).

So, if you mainly use the streaming input of your Uniti, I think a (android based) combination could be interesting: BubbleUPnP for UPnP purposes and  the Naim app for the remaining functions.

adca

Hmm, I'm still new to this, so I am not sure what you mean.  Maybe if I explain what I want to do in laymans terms that will help.

I have an extensive library on a Synology NAS box (I am upgrading to FLAC as I write this). It has a UPnP Audio Server and I would like to be able to use the iPad Mini or Android device as a remote control for the Uniti 2.

I would also like to hook my Uniti up to Internet streaming services. I've read it can do Spotify, not sure about anything else - I like Pandora for its music discovery. Worse case, I can start Pandora on my Xbox One and through the S/PDIF cable pipe it to my Uniti.

As I don't have my box yet, I'm not sure what it is capable of natively or not. I don't want to run music through a mobile device, nor do I want my server to have to do any transcoding.

What I don't understand is what BubbleUPnP or where it fits into the puzzle or how it can control the Uniti.  Other than playing Music through Pandora or storing mp3's on my phone, I'm out of my depth in this discussion.

Thanks,

Roger

Hi Roger

The Naim control app has always been iOS only until a few months ago, when the Android version was released. That means the iOS version is more 'tried and tested,' I suppose - I haven't used the Android one.

There are no OS X or Windows versions. There is a basic, 3rd party app I use on my Mac called QuteControl - it only does the basics, but I find it useful when I'm sat at my computer if I've left my iPhone somewhere out of reach.

As regards internet streaming, Naim devices only support Spotify at present. I think it's been implemented very well, but you are not alone, of course, in hoping for lossless streaming functionality. Naim have indicated that they are 'working on it' but nobody knows exactly what that means. In the meantime, lots of people use Macs, PCs, Sonos, Airport Express etc to add Qobuz, Tidal, or whatever lossless streaming to their Naim gear.

In that case you should consider using WAV instead of FLAC. Naim have consistently advised that WAV is the route to go for optimum sound quality. Some people use their UPnP server to transcode the FLAC files, others store native WAV files.

Ok, that is good to know.  Strange, the Naim spec on the Uniti 2 says it supports FLAC directly.  What I didn't want is for my server to have to transcode FLAC on the fly for the Uniti - if it does it internally it is fine.

This is good to know for my personal ripping,  I will do wav,  but much of what I find online at 24/192 is FLAC files so it doesn't look like I have a choice. Can you convert FLAC to Wav of equal quality?

- Roger

Hi Roger,

The Uniti 2 will play FLAC files just fine without having to transcode them to WAV. Some forum members say they can hear a difference between the 2 formats others cannot. Naim's official line is that WAV files require less processing within the streamer so reducing the load on the streamer and providing better SQ. FLAC files, on the other hand, seem to handle tagging more easily and take up less storage space (WAV files are about 50% larger). You might try doing an A/B test between a few FLAC files and the same ones converted to WAV and see if you can discern any difference before converting your whole library.

Is there a particular reason you do not want to use the UPnP server on your Synology to transcode from FLAC to WAV? Many believe this has the advantages of FLAC (tagging and file size) and should not impact on SQ as there is no conversion/upacking of the FLAC file within the streamer.

Finally, there are plenty of Windows programs which will happily convert from FLAC to WAV and retain the same bit and sample rates. Foobar 2000 is a free program which can do this or many members use dBpoweramp which has a converter that can convert files in batches.

I think there are a few aspects of the iOS app which the Android doesn't have (ROVI for example but some people don't like that anyway). If you are going to use the tablet for nothing other than the Naim app and money isn't an issue then you should probably buy an iPad. Having said that,the Android version can fully control your Uniti2 and is now being developed in parallel. I use an Android tablet to control my Superuniti and wouldn't swap it for an iPad even though it cost £75 as opposed to £400. BubbleUPNP is a very good addition to the Naim app and has some features that the Naim app doesn't such as access to lyrics via Musicmatch integration. As well as controlling my SU it has an IR emitter which enables me to control all my AV devices and thus replaces 7 remotes! Ipads lack both removeable storage (micro SD card) and USB connections - both of which are important to me but may not be to you.

I recently changed from iOS to Android.

The iOS version worked fine on my iPhone 5.

The Android version on my Sony xperia is so infuriating that I have had to stop using it and revert to n-stream on an old iPod Touch.

get an ipad - much better in just about every department.

itunes remote app works very well for me on ipad.

-1, I have both, much prefer my Galaxy Note 10.1

I can't remember if Paul S (Naim MD) has commented on AIFF. To all intnets and purposes it's the same as WAV but with better tagging support, which is why I use it, but I don't use a Naim streamer.

I have both and much prefer my iPad, perhaps u should try both at shop and see which u prefer

+1 NickPeackock

On a Sony Xperia the app is very poor - won't select individual songs. Not sure why this is, perhaps the way Sony have implemented Android.

Absolutely :-) Though not really a question of belief as I have an Xperia and it is demonstrably and repeatably hopeless with the Naim app. It fails the first time you start it and you have to restart, and then won't play individual songs . . . it just ignores the instruction completely.

Happily I have an iPhone as well (for work), as does my wife, and we both have iPads too,so it's not a hassle in practice. But there's no doubt that, whatever the reason, the Naim app doesn't work properly on my Xperia.

Thank you all - seems a pretty even split between the two. 

As my Naim is going into my living room, I also bought the matching center channel to my Nola Contenders and got a Marantz SR7007 on the cheap to hook everything up to my TV (3 channels - no sub).  This means I will want to use my tablet to also control that a bit too.  I also have DirectTV and an Xbox One.

I think in the end I will want to use a tablet to choose content, but I would prefer to use a hand remote for volume control, etc. 

Thank you all,

Roger

1. I have a 1513+ which means it really doesn't have the processor to do transcoding on the fly.  However, FLAC to WAV my not be that intensive so I will look at it.  Yes, I did a rip and I much prefer the FLAC for ability to store tagging info in the file. I like the smaller files too, but I do have 20TB of space on my home server so I am not desperate for space yet.

2. I've downloaded EAC, Foobar2000, dbpoweramp.  DBpoweramp at first glance has a much nicer GUI and seems to be much more refined.  EAC seems powerful, but a lot of its features are poorly documented. It will take some time for me to figure out what settings are best for me.

Also, for a Tagging program, I like MediaMonkey at the moment as it not only works well for tagging, but it can also re-arrange and rename files based on those TAGs.  I also have used a couple of batch renamer programs as well that can also read the internal tags and redraw the directory structure, but I like to keep things simple if I can.

However, I am still looking for a tagging program that can really go into detail and pull lyrics as well.