Thanks for the medical advice, Gary.
What medical qualifications do you have to give that advice?
No need to get defensive there JimDog unless I hit a nerve of course.
If you cannot see smackings of OCD throughout the streaming audio section then perhaps you arnāt really looking.
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Yes.
There are many control apps for uPNP and they communicate directly with Asset to browse, getting album data/metadata/art etc.
Only when you choose to āplayā does the browsing client app communicate URLs for tracks with your streaming device.
On non naim apps you can start a track on one device, then half way through choose to send same track to another streaming device. That kinda proves the streamer plays no part in the browse process - the second device knows nothing until it is sent a URL to request from the server.
Some apps can show the URL for tracks etc.
For example hereās a track from my Asset - http://192.168.1.146:26125/content/(long string of numbers/digits).flac
The long string of numbers is uniquely generated from Assetās internal database and bears no resemblance to album/artist.
Asset (behind the scenes) is actually sending your browsing client MULTIPLE URLs for a single track, for various formats (audio/xflac, audio/wav, audio/L16 etc.), and it is up to the browsing client which URL is sent to streaming device.
You are telling the streaming device what URLs to request from the server (Asset).
The streamer uses the http URLs sent to get the actual track FLAC data via HTTP.
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Much fun is made of OCD but it can be a severely debilitating illness. Most people have a benign version where you may check things twice, or think did I lock the back door etc but once it gets beyond this it can really get in the way of what you want to do. In this scenario listening to music is the object yet doesnāt happen, or is restricted owing to faffing around with the myriad of devices and combinations.
I thought this too but decided not to say so.
garyi, I disagree with your assertion that āall your story there tells anyone is set your network up correctly. It has nothing to do with if a remote control changes soundā, if as seems possible that the controller can change the sound by inserting stutters into the music.
On an expanded note, can you enlighten me how to set up a BT Smart Hub 2, differently to as instructed by BT, I would be so grateful. You seem to imply that I am a bit of a dimwit. I donāt consider myself to be the most intelligent person in the world, however having spent over 40 years as head designer of a large aerospace company for safety critical computing systems with both military and civil aircraft, Iām not the most stupid either!
Maybe I should have made my observations on the susceptibility of the NSC 222 in a different thread but for Naim to state that the 222 design does make it more susceptible than older products such as the SuperUniti or MuSo was a surprise.
Paul.
The stutters are not coming from the controller. They are coming from having double NAT on the network, or more commonly this is described as having two routers with DHCP operating on the one network.
This is basic incorrect network set up by whoever did it and nothing to do with anything that is sitting on the network like a server, streamer or app.
Technicaly, if all hardware, networks and mains are functioning properly, the control application should not be able to affect the quality.
The difference in SQ is caused by the issues within the system. Therefore, if you find that the router, or control app, or network cable introduces any audible changes, you should better start investigating the issues with the components in your system.
Typically, assuming the components are ok with each other, the only guy to blame is the noise floor that significantly affects the quality by stealing micro details, air, transparency, etc. Except noise floor, the thermal mode is also important.
So, instead of exercising with the control app software, Iād suggest you to start looking into your system.
For instance, the impact of network cables on performance - they can serve as improper grounding, which means you may have issues with the main power supply or presence of double insulated components.
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Paul, I have a mesh system, the Google Nest Wifi Pro. It has three boxes, all of which are hard wired. Touching wood, everything is fine. Itās odd that your BT is doing the double NAT thing. The Nest is very very simple, or maybe simplistic, so maybe the BT is cleverer and more configurable, hence your problems. Iām sure itās worth rummaging around in the settings and asking Mr Google if there is some option that is ticked by default that perhaps shouldnāt be.
Hi HH, thanks for your constructive reply.
My BT mesh sounds similar to yours was also all hard wired, the main hub in the office, one disc in the dining room - nearest the HiFi and the third in the summerhouse away from the main building.
I have now disconnected the disc in the dining room, but the issue has not fully gone away unless I close the app.
What does seem odd is that I am told from Naim, via my dealer, is that the new streaming platforms are more susceptible to this issue than the older generation, e.g. SuperUniti and Muso.
Paul.
Maybe the new platform WiFi reception is more efficient than older generation. Therefore the older generation can only establish communication with one disc whereas the new platform might be capable of communicating with more than one, which causes the problem.
The downside of that analysis is that the streamers are all hard wired only the controller, iPad, is WiFi.
Hi fatcat, sorry for being blunt with my response to your suggestion. It is easy to forget that everyone has not followed the full thread. All constructive suggestions welcome.
Paul.
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This whole forum is populated by people who are āthis serious about hi-fiā and who obsess about sound quality to an absurd degree. Why do you single out one person and the steaming audio section in particular?
If you donāt recognise this may I suggest that it is entirely plausible, by your own logic, that it is you who has health issues that need addressing?
My experience with the Google Nest mesh products is that itās essentially impossible to have a double NAT issue (thankfully), because the Google Nest ābaseā unit MUST act as a dhcp server . . . and all hardware ādownstreamā of it on your network uses it as the dhcp server. This is because each of the Google Nest āremoteā node units need their own IP address, and Google designs it such that itās in a distinct range of IP addresses that your cable co or own network router would not be likely to generate.
I probably didnt use all the right words.
I now have Netgear mesh stuff at home because being like 8 years newer than my Google Nest hardware, itās actually a lot stronger and faster. They work the same way and I suspect thatās the case with all mesh hardware now-a-days.
(I had the opposite problem when I first installed Google Nest at home. My NDS was hardwired, so it was connected to the cable coās dhcp server, and my iPhone was on the Google Nest wifi . . . and the 2 may as well have been 20,000 miles apart; they could not communicate with each other. EVERYTHING has to go through the Google Nest ārouterā unit ā hardwired or wifi.)
Iām pretty sure that the way mesh works is that any device is only connected to ONE hardware node at a time. Now maybe the Naim player was not connecting to the closest/best node . . . although the mesh network should see that and change it Iām pretty sure.
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Mine is the Wifi Pro, which was introduced in 2022. It uses Wifi 6 and seems pretty powerful. Yours sounds like the original Nest, though the IP thing probably works in the same way.
Some have had problems precisely because of that. Google donāt allow you to disable their DHCP server, and some ISPs provide routers that donāt either, so you are stuck with two.
So long the only thing connected to the ISPās router is the ābaseā of the mesh system, and EVERYTHING else wired or wifi goes to that mesh base router, dhcp on in the ISP router doesnt hurt (as far as i can tell).
I also turn off wifi on the ISPās router simply because I dont use it and who needs more rfi than is necessary?!
Iāve set the ISPās router to modem mode, that way it canāt mess anything up. Maybe you should do that.