Newbie Help - Uniti Atom HE and Hi-Res Listening

Hi All, I have just got the Uniti Atom HE and am trying to work out the best way to listen using an iPhone, wired headphones (HiFiman Arya Organic) and Qobuz. I want to listen in Hi-Res where the music is available. The Atom is connected via ethernet. What I cannot seem to find is a consensus on the best way to connect using Qobuz on the iPhone.

  1. From what I can tell, Airplay2 and Chromescast stream from the phone to the Atom rather than telling the Atom what to stream. Have it got this right?
  2. Tidal connect does tell the Atom what to stream directly, but Naim does/did not support MQA so no Hi-Res this way. Correct?
  3. Has Tidal switched from MQA to FLAC?, and if so can I now use Tidal connect to listen in Hi-Res?
  4. To listen using Qobuz, is access via the Naim app the only way to get the Hi-Res? (I am not enjoying new music discovery using Qobuz via the Naim app.)

Apologies for the basic Y/N questions.
Thanks

Hi, for now you would be better off using the Naim app for Qobuz as the 24 bit material will work well. The Qobuz app may be preferable in other respects, but then you have to cast using Airplay or Chromecast which is a compromise. It does, as you say, route the signal via the phone.
Qobuz have been promising for years that they will eventually offer a Connect facility. It will probably arrive at some point, but don’t hold your breath.
Tidal is in the process of transitioning from MQA to full lossless HiRes, so maybe also worth considering.

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The Naim app works.
Better SQ with Qobuz is available running Audirvāna Studio on a Mac mini (doesn’t need to be a new one so long as it’s got 16GB RAM), accessing the HE as a UPNP end point and controlling via the Audirvāna app.

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I didn’t think ChromeCast routed the signal via the phone. I thought it was just acting as a controller.

I know I can tell my Google Nest to play music on my Nova and it will do so. No phone involved.

Yes, it’s Airplay that routes the connection via your phone. Chromecast just uses the phone as a controller, although it’s still compromised and was never really intended for high res use, even though it does just about support it.

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