NDX running temperature
Posted by: Dingding on 13 August 2011
Quick question , does the ndx have a temperature read out within the menu?.
I understand that the uniti has one in the system status menu but I can't find one in my ndx menu. It would be handy to see how hot it's getting.
Posted on: 13 August 2011 by aysil
I don't see any such item on the menu, and NDX never runs really hot.
Posted on: 13 August 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Agree with Aysil, no menu option and NDX hardly gets warm.
Simon
Posted on: 13 August 2011 by Rich27
It does if you use it with the wifi switched on!
Posted on: 13 August 2011 by totemphile
Why would you spend 3K+ on a high end streamer only to compromise SQ by using wifi?
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by Tog
I haven't seen or heard any convincing evidence that wifi affects SQ. There is a logical case to argue over 'drop outs' and reliability but with a decent setup I've always found wifi to the renderer rock solid.
Tog
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Tog - I have compared the two - and other than Hidef WAV dropouts, there was a clearly clearer and more appealing sound from my NDX when using ethernet as opposed to Wifi whilst using the NDX DAC. I have not repeated it since I have started using the nDAC as I have now provided an ethernet patch lead through to the NDX from my livingroom switch.
Simon
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by likesmusic
Originally Posted by totemphile:
Why would you spend 3K+ on a high end streamer only to compromise SQ by using wifi?
Why should wifi compromise SQ? Shouldn't a £3k+ streamer do as good a job with wifi as wired?
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by murkku
Originally Posted by likesmusic:
Why should wifi compromise SQ? Shouldn't a £3k+ streamer do as good a job with wifi as wired?
Powering up the wireless board on NDX puts more load on the power supply and causes the unit to heat up quite radically. I'm guessing the increased power consumption might be the root cause here. Especially when there's no external PSU.
Get a chep Airport Express and plug that into NDX's ethernet connection. You'll get a cheap upgrade to 802.11n 5GHz "wireless" and NDX operates as wired. Oh, add a toslink to the mix and get a decent AirPlay support today.
Cheers,
M
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by DavidDever
Originally Posted by likesmusic:
Originally Posted by totemphile:
Why would you spend 3K+ on a high end streamer only to compromise SQ by using wifi?
Why should wifi compromise SQ? Shouldn't a £3k+ streamer do as good a job with wifi as wired?
It's all about the bandwidth–you cannot expect to park a Porsche on a skateboard.
Better throughput = fewer re-fills of the streaming buffer = less power-supply strain = better sound quality.
+1 on the suggestion to use an AirPort Express as a wireless bridge, especially on 5GHz band. I'd add to this that it is important to insure that you are also using fixed wireless channels, DHCP address reservation, etc.
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by Tog
OK OK - I have another length of Cat6 and once my switch arrives I will wire in the streamer - sigh -more hours of coaxing cable between skirting and old floor boards!
Tog
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by Steven Shaw
I own the unitiqute, but have an airport express feeding it. I find the wifi reception of the airport is better than the inbuilt receiver, and using airplay is great for casual listening. Itunes is so much easier to use than N Stream.
Posted on: 14 August 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Hi Steven, changing the subject somewhat... with regard to Nstream and iTunes, of couse with Nstream it's usability is largely controlled by the uPNP server. If you use a server like asset then you can sort filter and search on many categories that makes finding music in a large collection quite straightforward, and beta 3.1 has some interesting dynamic search categories.
IMO the only big downside to Nstream is lack of programming playlists - and we hear this is being worked.
A nice enhancement would be to pull info back on the artist / album currently playing from the Internet.
Simon
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by Nickalexander0703
Sorry to be a bit slow but I thought the airport express was a wireless router - but if I understand this post correctly you can set it to receive a wireless signal and convert it to a wired connection into my qute? Thanks again - nick
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by murkku
Originally Posted by Nickalexander0703:
Sorry to be a bit slow but I thought the airport express was a wireless router
You're confusing Express with Extreme which is a dual-band router.
Airport Express is el cheapo version of the same thing with certain limitations. Basically it provides wireless bridge for one client + airplay connectivity.
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by Nickalexander0703
Thanks a lot I'll look into that to disable my wireless receiver
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk
Murkku, actually airport express is a wireless access point that bridges many clients to your LAN (not just one). I use it drive my uPNP/media wifi as a separate wifi net to data and laptop as it actually has a very good support of multicasting on the wireless network which is essential for reliable control point operation.
Simon
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by murkku
Simon, absolutely true.
AE can have multiple wireless clients and there's nothing stopping you from connecting a switch/router to it's ethernet port either. I just tried to keep it as simple as possible with the wired example
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by Nickalexander0703
So I can connect my nas to my netgear wireless router, then pickup the wireless signal with an airport express, run an Ethernet cable from the ae to the qute and disable the qute's onboard wireless? And this makes a worthwhile difference in sound quality? sorry to be slow on the uptake, I just wanted to be 100% before ordering one; I am trying to avoid polluting the mains with home-plugs. Thanks again
Posted on: 15 August 2011 by Hook
Originally Posted by Tog:
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OK OK - I have another length of Cat6 and once my switch arrives I will wire in the streamer - sigh -more hours of coaxing cable between skirting and old floor boards!
Tog
Hi Tog -
Why not run one length of cable only, and add a small 5-port switch near your audio rack?
That's what I did, and my NDX and ATV (for Spotify via AirPlay) now share a local switch. My 5-port switch was very inexpensive, and it came with a long power cable, so I was able to use a different electrical circuit. As far as I can tell, there's been no impact on the NDX's sound quality. I should also note that I have followed Simon's advice, and added a couple of ferrite rings to the NDX's ethernet cable, secured by a ring of Blu Tack.
Good luck!
Hook
Posted on: 16 August 2011 by Tog
Am going to wire the server to switch to streamer. The initial cable was to hardwire my new server to the router. Since the router/ Airport Extreme is in the bedroom Mrs Tog noticed that the 2TB drive in the server was not quite as silent as she might have hoped - hence the 15 metre run of Cat6 hidden in what our Estate Agent would describe as "period Victorian feature huge gap between floorboards and skirting."
Mrs Tog loves it and has enquired whether the server, Naim gear and speakers could be similarly hidden in the gap.
My idea is to attach the switch to the first run and then use the switch to link Server and Uniti with two further runs hence isolating them from the rest of the network.
Tog
