Nova am I getting something wrong?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Hi,

Just upgraded from a Uniti-2 which was showing signs of its age to a Nova. I can’t help it but I feel disappointed with it. Don’t get me wrong it’s sounds good but not as good as the Uniti. One thing is that I feel as though I have gone a step backwards as I cannot get Apple Lossless any longer. With the Uniti I could connect via a cable, now with Airplay it’s just not as sharp. Also, with the Uniti I could change the input names, or disable them, but I can’t do this with the Nova. Am I missing something? Apart from my Uniti?

2

Assuming it is new it may need a week or so to run in.

1 Like
3

Oh, it’ll take a few weeks to run in and settle down. Have patience and I’m sure it will be OK.

4

I have a Nova. I can certainly change the input setting (disable or rename) using the app. Choose “Input Settings.”

Not sure about AirPlay - I don’t use it. Is this music on your iDevice or from an Apple streaming service? Is ChromeCast an option?

At a pinch, I believe you could use an Apple Camera Adaptor:

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together with something like an Audioquest Dragonfly DAC to connect to an analog input, although I’m sure Nova’s DAC is far superior. Maybe you can run a USB cable between the Apple Camera Adaptor. and a Nova USB input.

5

Fellow Nova owner here. Give it some time to settle in. When I first got mine, I thought I had made a mistake as I wasn’t excited by the sound however, after a month, it started to settle in and sound awesome.

The usb inputs are only for external storage.

Enjoy

JW

6

Never mind.

7

How committed to Apple are you? Tidal Connect for me works so well and the quality will be improved end of year/early next.

Also, do you have the same feeling if you listen to hi-res radio?

8

add a full powerline later and smile…

9

Hi there
I’ve been using my Nova for a few years now and whilst I can’t back-compare with Uniti-2 I’m very happy SQ-wise.
I would expect Airplay to be less sharp than a cable connection.
Maybe the lightening to usb camera adapter could work?
I am colonised by apple for almost all my tech but I use Tidal for streaming, it’s simpler to set up and pays the artists more. So +1 to what JamesBKK said.

10

You can’t use a Lightning to USB adapter. That would only work into a USB DAC, or possibly a USB to SPDIF converter if you really wanted to avoid Airplay.

1 Like
11

Hiya, hifi dog,

Full power line? What difference does that make? Is it significant?

12

I don’t think Tidal sounds as good as Apple Lossless but I’ll make do until lossless over AirPlay 2 hits.

13

Thanks Chris that makes sense.

14

Thanks, just changed my settings!!:blush:

15

Do you ever let you Nova go into ‘standby’?

16

Yes! More punch and control and better bass. Don’t ask me how but it works really well , see if you can borrow one or take a punt on used one… you won’t lose on it.

17

As per my example of the Audioquest Dragonfly. I’ve tried that and it works. I’ve never tried to connect the Camera Adapter directly to a USB port on the Nova, which is why I said maybe.

18

Yes, although it might seem a little odd to use an additional DAC, only for the Nova to digitise the signal and convert it again in its own DAC. Thus my suggestion that just a USB to SPDIF converter might be a neater solution. Either way, there are solutions out there.

1 Like
19

So the Nova digitises signals coming through the analogue inputs. I didn’t know that.

20

Yes, Atom, Star and Nova all do it.