Hi All,
I’ve been considering a 272 for local streaming (from a NAS) and Tidal, to replace a Dac v1 (powering a 250 into SBLs).
Does anyone know if I can still setup a 272 in the current Naim App, as it’s not shown as an option there anymore? Also, does the Naim app control volume for the 272?
Lastly, does anyone think I should be worried about the 272 losing the ability to stream Tidal? I’d like to keep it for several years…
Thank you!
PS: If there’s a better option for a dac+volume control then please let me know! I’m happy with my current Volumio streamer, but want to improve on the DAC v1.
Hello, I still love my 272, it sounds just as good as the day it arrived. To answer your questions, yes you can set it up and control volume with latest Naim app version.
By the way; do a forum search, a lot of stuff has been written about the 272
Name your price and you’ll get a load of recommendations from owners of alternative streamer/dac/pres to the 272. But in the context of your all-Naim system and if you’ll mostly be using it to stream from a NAS, a 272 would be a great option. When it first came out, I think it was Signals who reckoned it was “too good for the price”. My experience confirmed this. Well there’s some great bargains around of ex demo and even brand new stock (or used, of course) and it’s as good as ever. So a great time to buy.
But if you haven’t already done so, I’d also get your 250 DR’d ASAP, if it were me.
The 272 is certainly as capable as it ever was of local streaming. What it’s not so good at is Tidal, in terms of both reliability and sound quality. If Tidal (or Qobuz) is important to you, the new generation streamers really do a better job.
On the question can you still use a 272 with the Naim app, the answer is that yes of course you definitely can. It doesn’t need to be set up via the Naim app, which is why it and all of the other legacy streamers like NDX and NDS don’t appear there In setup either.
You just tap “find my rooms” and it will appear, as many hundreds or maybe even thousands of us can confirm!
Well I bought a 172 a few months ago and it works wonderfully with the Android app as well as iPad app.
Inputs are from a Qnap NAS, iRadio and LP12 via a dynavector phono stage
Where is your evidence for this? I’ve seen no mention from official sources that a replacement for the 272 is in the pipeline despite many on this forum wishing for such a product.
For all we know Naim may have decided that the combined streamer/pre-amp doesn’t fit within their future business model.
Again - where is the evidence to back up this statement? Naim have a longstanding reputation for supporting their products for many years.
I think it’s safe to say that Naim will continue to support their legacy digital products as well as they do the amplifiers, and if that requires a firmware update to keep them working, they will do it if they can, as they did for the old servers. That’s not the same as adding new services to old streamers, such as Chromecast, Roon, Qobuz etc. which is not going to happen.
I agree - they may not add new features in the future.
Going back to the OP’s question - if the current feature set that the 272 has suits them then I would suggest that at current used prices there’s not much else in the Naim hierarchy that gives the same price/performance given that you don’t need to buy a separate pre-amp. IMO you’d need to be looking at an NDX2 in the new streamer range to get similar performance and they are at least £3.5K on the used market plus the cost of a pre-amp.
As mentioned earlier, Naim will endeavour to keep the product working with current streaming services and even without those it will still work with local streaming from a NAS.
And I’ve finally noticed the search icon in the top right - I was trying to use the ‘search’ in the All Categories box under the Naim logo, which really doesn’t help…
There are issues with the old generation streamers that make them prone to dropouts with Tidal. It’s to do with latency, and the small buffer on the old streamers, and has little or nothing to do with your local network. Naim are well aware of this, and spent a great deal of time and effort fine tuning the firmware to mitigate it as far as possible. Some people were lucky enough to be largely unaffected by it, others were not.
Not so. Mine has never been anything other than wired to the router yet suffered terribly last year. The Tidal problem was caused by Tidal switching to a different content delivery network, which didn’t interact well with the older tech used in Muso, QB and Classic streamers (it says in this email I kept).
The 272 is great esp in conjunction with the 555PS, and if fed from something like Qobuz through a Pi running Bubbleupnp it’ll survive any pending obsolescence.
Spend an evening trying to get wifi working between iPad and the 272, which I couldn’t achieve, despite reading the manual.
Then got iPad to 272 bluetooth working, but it’s lossy and sounded much worse than native Tidal on the Naim app.
Then Qobuz on the Qobuz app on the iPad via a 5 metre headphone jack to DIN cable into 272 as preamp - which also sounded worse than native Tidal.
So I’m seriously considering buying a Bluesound node 2i tomorrow to try Qobuz via spdif!
Please let me know ASAP:
How good are the following in terms of SQ out of 20:
native tidal on the 272?
Tidal on the Bluesound via spdif into the 272?
Qobuz on the Bluesound via spdif into the 272?
I guess the fact that the 272 streaming section is electrically quiet may make the Bluesound Node 2i sound better than native Tidal, as well as the hires files on Qobuz?
And do the hires files on Qobuz sound better than the CD resolution ones?
Also, how many drop outs do you get with the Bluesound app vs Naim app?
How good is the Bluesound app in terms of searching and information etc., vs the Naim app and others apps you know?
What type of spdif cable do you use? I have a Chord Shawline £200 one - but would I need something better than that?
How easy was the BSN2i to get up and running?
Where did you buy it from and could you send it back if you didn’t like it?
@Bigboy did you get a Sonore upnp Bridge?
Do you think this would give better SQ and reliability/droputs and usability and ease of use than a Bluesound Node 2i?
Is yours working well with Qobuz now?
How does the SQ compare with native Tidal on the NDS?
What app do you use to control Qobuz with it?
Does it just plug into your NDS with an ethernet cable?
