while this post is about the Naim app it is in this category because it is about hifi as well; buying a streamer box requires the use of the Naim app so the box and the app go together. (sorry I now have to edit but the accessibility of the web site caused premature posting)
As some of you may know from posts a long time ago, I am blind and rely on screen reader software to communicate with my devices, Jaws for the PC and Voice Over for my iPhone.
I am in the market for a new streamer (my US has gone) and (being a bits are bits kinda man) I went for the ND5XS which my great local dealer has just delivered to my front door for a home demo. With touch and feel I have got it all connected and got it working, sound is great!
… but why should I pay all this money for a box that, while basically working, is not usable because of the total disgrace that is the Naim app; this is not accessible and obviously has never gone through any UI accessibility testing - in fact this may even break the law!
I got stuck playing Radio 4 yesterday morning,could not find any way to stop playing and had to fiddle about and change to play a NAS track where I eventually found a stop button - although this was labelled and read as “curly right bracket” (yes really)!
I have found by trial and error that the “i grave” button is often play but cannot find for the life of me any buttons that might be forward or next!
So the questions are has anyone either
a) used the Naim ap with Voice Over and could give me some tips; or
b) is there any alternative to using the Naim app to control and process music playback from my NAS to the ND5XS (is JRiver possible); or
c) any buying suggestions for a non-Naim streamer that has an accessible app?
rest of my system is Linn Sondek, Linn phono amp, Naim NAC 252, NAP 250DR, supercap, B&W 803D3.
thanks for any help that can be given before I reject the ND5XS,
Allan
Hi, you can certainly use jriver with JRemote, I do not know if this would improve the user experience for you. You would need to activate dlna in jriver, create a 24 bit pcm output, and jriver itself will identify the nd5xs player as an endpoint. Once that is set up, you can just use jremote with the nd5xs as the selected zone. If you have an “always on” computer this might be a solution for you. Depending on your nas, some are able to run jriver itself locally.
Allan it’s a question that may possibly be best directed towards the Naim team. Accessibility is a very good point. Perhaps @Stevesky can take a look at your post and offer some suggestions with regard to voice control.
thanks Robert, all I have to do now is check whether JRiver works ok with my Jaws screen reader and if JRemote is usable with Voice Over on the iPhone.
thanks again for your prompt reply,
Allan
Thanks Richard, nice to see that your are still looking after this forum after me being away for so long I look forward to any Naim response, haven’t been able to contact them thus far; BTW my accessibility issue is not with “voice control” but with the Naim app not having been implemented with Apple’s accessibility guidelines and so not being usable with Voice Over that is the standard and built-in screen reader on all IOS devices - any one of you that has an iPhone or iPad also have voice Over immediately available to you, this is why Apple are the go to products for blind people!
Thanks for the response and I hope someone from Naim responds,
Allan
I don’t use any naim app with my NDX2 because of my reduced mobility. I control everything from my iMac with roon.
Though it is not accessible for blind people yet you might want to read this thread and connect with the user who has started it. He seems to have the same requirement and maybe has already found a solution.
thanks for the link and your consideration but I don’t think roon is going to be of any help, I was in touch with them a few years ago and they were not optimistic … this app is totally inaccessible because they use a graphical technique to render their text rather than display it using standard text display techniques. Making Roon accessible will require a total rewrite of their UI, not something that seemed high on their agenda.
My son used remote desktop to download and install JRiver and then set it up to see my NAS and to push to the ND5XS, all successfully and plays fine although he was a little confused with the JRiver terminology.
Then I got control of my PC back, a little excited and ready to experiment, and then … nothing.
Unfortunately JRiver is like Roon and totally inaccessible with the Jaws screen reader, yet another company that totally ignores blind people.
At least we proved that the ND5XS can be controlled from a PC so we’ll maybe look at some other products like Plex in the future.
so for now it is back to the Naim app with its limited usability and try to enjoy some more music,
Allan
Hi, please don’t write off jriver too soon, there is another way of controlling it using a function they call panel.
Link follows to their wiki site on the subject https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Panel
This runs in a standard browser and may give you the control you need.
There is a live demo available at this following link http://idtest.jriver.com:52199/
On going to that link you need to enter an Id and password, the Id is “first” and the password is “second”. Please try that, it would be good if that works with your screen reader software.
thanks Robert, I may try this out sometime in the future but JRiver has now been uninstalled from my machine, at least it proved that a PC can actually push music to the NDX5XS so has opened up some other avenues. It appears that Roon has some similar idea to the JRiver panel, this is their web plug-in so I think my son and I are going to try this first and also look at Plex since he already uses both of these products.
I have also been in touch with Naim technical support who have passed this on to their software team so I wait with baited breath
Allan
Allan I hope the Naim development team engage with you on this because it strikes me that you could be a great addition to the Naim beta testing team, checking things that the rest of us are blind to, as it were.
Hi Allan, I understand from Naim that their Tech Support team are talking to you directly on this to try to get a clearer understanding of your experience – I am sure anything they can do, they will.
I got through to Naim support this morning and they certainly appear hellpful, obviously the support engineer cannot do anything directly but he has passed this on to the software development team who should be contacting me directly soon and I have faith that they will be able to do something.
If there looks like a chance that the app might be accessible within a couple of updates then its probably worth holding on to the XD5XS2, we will see what they come up. with. Any other solution with other software or hardware would seem to be too much of a faff.
Irrespective of the result, it is good to see some good old-fashioned (at least initial) customer support, thank you Naim.
Allan
I look forward to any Naim response, haven’t been able to contact them thus far; BTW my accessibility issue is not with “voice control” but with the Naim app not having been implemented with Apple’s accessibility guidelines and so not being usable with Voice Over that is the standard and built-in screen reader on all IOS devices - any one of you that has an iPhone or iPad also have voice Over immediately available to you, this is why Apple are the go to products for blind people!