So Clare, is the apparent true, that the Chromecast doesn’t see the Qb V1? I see and can control both with Airplay or Bluetooth, but when I click on the Uniti on Chromecast (the page does not see the Qb) it asks if I want to kill the bluetooth and switch to chromecast. That then kills the Qb.
As I’m considering getting one of the two (I already own two Qb1), I assume you mean “for the money”, or in absolute terms?
Shame it’s not easy to audition at the moment.
With the caveat of my missing experience, based on what @n-lot wrote yesterday, it seems that you’d need a cheap second-hand Chromecast receiver to plug into the Qb v1. If you want to use Chromecast to stream directly to the Qb
Sure, I mean for what they are. They won’t rival Classic separates but every time I hear one I am surprised again by that they can do, for the size and price
I mean in absolute terms. The Qb is nuts! You own two right? You’d need to hear the Mu-so I guess, side by side. But if I was you, I’d get a Uniti. That’s the natural progression (Lol…does Naim love that comment! But true.) I was wondering how the Uniti Atom at 40 w/side could be much louder than the 300 watt Qb. Ha. No comparison. The Uniti with the Focal 816s (I bought them 2 for the price of 1 at “Sky by Gramophone.”-the company Call NOW to see if they have any more. Not an advertised deal. They had the 816 and the 806 bookshelf speakers as 2 for 1. Crazy deal. 301-296-6202 in Maryland) But as far as the third unit being a Mu-so vs a third Qb…before I bought the Atom; when I bought the original, the Qb V1, I debated it (at half price-you can get either V1 for half off at above # presently) or the V2. My thought was the V1 would work with whatever I bought next and my hope was the new version (be it Mu-so V2 or Atom which is what I bought) would “modernize” the old V1. I’m finding that wasn’t true maybe. The Qobuzz doesn’t see the Qb with Chromecast, only the Atom. The Qobuzz does see both with Bluetooth and Airplay. I can play and control both there, but if I select Chromecast for the Atom I lose the Qb.
Yes, the first-generation Qb does not have Chromecast built-in (the Qb 2nd Generation does); as noted elsewhere on thread, you’d need to plug in a Chromecast receiver
A Chromecast receiver? That would receive and then transmit to the V1? And that would be CD quality then?
Jesus…this stuff is like reading Russian to me…” The Styled Media Web Receiver is a pre-built Web Receiver application hosted by Google that is designed for streaming audio and video content. You can style the interface with your own colors and branding assets using a CSS file.
To use the Styled Media Web Receiver, select Styled Media Web Receiver whenregistering a new application and (optionally) provide the URL to a CSS file that defines a custom look for the Web Receiver application’s UI.”
A. Am I allowed to say “damn” here? Lol…Damn. B. Can I start another thread merely to say “I love you Naim?” And this forum.
-just listening to my 816s with the Atom…blow away. Crazy. And again, even with Airplay, with the Qb in the basement…whew…but the Chromecast CD quality with Qobuzz is excellent. I’m not really tempted to try Hi-res yet. And another shout out to “Soundiiz” what a great service. I’m still amazed everything transferred so easily. 1500 albums. wow…oops…damn (if allowed…) lol
Ooops. Another question you may know the answer to: when I’m playing through Chromecast, not through Airplay (correct?) as the basement won’t connect when I am…is the signal, the music I transferred from Apply Music to Qobuzz in a format that allows CD quality and hi-res? In other words, do I need original content that allows a conversion to hi-res? Or is Apple Music (which plays in their format) able to be…what? Jacked up? Know what I mean?
Right.
It would actually even be hi-res. I think you’d need a Chromecast Audio, which Google does not sell anymore, but cheap ones should be on Ebay. Like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromecast#Chromecast_Audio
But my understanding is (with the usual caveats) that you only need this to stream from the Naim app via Chromecast directly to the Qb v1 (while the v2 would have it built in).
Without it, you can still use the Naim app and the multiroom feature to instruct the Atom to send the music to the Qb. (But again, I have never used this, so others will know better. But that’s what ChrisSU said in his post yesterday)
I love that…a force of nature…and it’s true. The Atom? Wow…I debated the Nova or Atom, and the Atom’s ability to (what’s the term? Bridge?) add another amp made the decision easy. I hope I was right. They other than amps are identical correct? As far as…sheesh, what…processing?
I can stream to the Qb with Airplay. Not now with Chromecast. And I cannot use Chromecast for the Atom and Airplay for the Qb at the same time. I just asked Clare if, when I’m streaming “CD quality” from the Chromecast, and my source is the Apple Music library (now entirely transferred from Apple Music to Qobuzz) is converted to CD quality or Hi-res if that’s what I choose? Can the lesser source (Apple Music) be converted to a higher resolution?
Not sure if this will answer your question, but lets try:
Airplay is generally limited by Apple to CD quality, it does no hi-res unfortunately.
The Chromecast can do hi-res.
But in either case, this is just what the transport technology can do. When using Qobuz, it will be able to put this to use - either CD quality in any case, or with Chromecast also in hi-res when playing an album that is available in hi-res.
If the music source files are of lower, compressed quality (such as they are in Apple Music), then the information is gone for good from these files. The transport layer (like Airplay ow whatever) might up-sample it to CD quality for transport, but this would be just a technical decision to make life easier for Airplay. It would not be able to re-invent the information that was previously compressed out of the files.
That’s what I suspected. But you say the Apple source is of CD quality when (used/ decoded…whatever) by Qobuzz…
The Uniti Nova - as its size and price would suggest - is a major step up from the excellent Uniti Atom.
Uniti Nova features outstanding technology that sets it apart from the rest of the range. In service of exceptional sound, it uses the highest-quality discrete components, a large toroidal transformer, superior isolation, additional inputs and more powerful amplification (80 Watts).
As well as superior components and more power, the larger transformer/superior isolation is key to the Uniti Nova’s performance uplift – makes it more like a two-box Naim system, keeping the power supply away from sensitive electronics.
Those additional connectivity options include the ability to plug an external USB drive – or SD Card – into the Uniti Nova, with up to 20,000 tracks of your own music, which you can browse and play through the Naim App. This music store is also visible to other Naim connected systems on your network, and can serve up to four of them at once.
More detail on connectivity here:
Uniti Atom
Audio Inputs
2 x Optical TOSLink (up to 24bit/96kHz)
1 x Coaxial RCA (up to 24bit/192kHz, DoP 64Fs)
1 x HDMI ARC
1 x RCA
2 x USB Type A socket (front and rear)
Audio Outputs
1 x Stereo power amplifier
1 x RCA sub/pre output
1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
Uniti Nova
Audio Inputs
2 x Optical TOSLink (up to 24bit/96kHz )
2 x Coaxial RCA (up to 24bit/192kHz, DoP 64Fs)
1 x BNC (up to 192kHz, DoP 64Fs)
1 x HDMI ARC
2 x RCA
2 x 5-pin DIN
2 x USB Type A socket (front and rear)
1 x SD card
Audio Outputs
1 x Stereo power amplifier
1 x RCA sub/pre output
1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
I didn’t mean to. What does “the Apple source” mean, Apple Music? If so, it’s irrelevant. Soundiiz told Qobuz your Favorites, as you had them selected in Apple Music. But that’s just the name or other identification, not the actual music files. Those are coming from Qobuz now, and in Qobuz they have at least CD quality. (The compressed files from Apple Music don’t come into play)
I have the same with my Qb, but was wondering about Qb vs Mu-So rectangle. You said the first amazes you more than the second. I’m guessing for the size / price, but wanted to check that you hadn’t found something in which the Qb excels more.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I find the Qb is great for the size and also a surprise, but my jawdropping moments are with the bigger Mu-so. It seems that every time I say “this is coming from the Mu-so?”