I see that Qobuz has recommended the following streamers for 2024.
Both get good write-ups.
DG…
Fancy them liking one of the few products which has fully integrated Qobuz.
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But Linn also fully integrate with Qobuz, but no mention of them.
DG…
They say: “… our selection might be a bit subjective …”. I’ll propose that for biggest understatement of 2025.
Roger
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Well that’s because Linn are…
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Well, it’s quite logical from the side of Qobuz to recommend brands with whom the devs have a more intense collaboration over others with whom the collab is less intensive.
As far as I could make up from answers from Naim last year they did not have implementation of the Qobuz Connect feature on their roadmap (yet). Something that is now tested in beta by Qobuz, and I know that Naim indeed isn’t ready for that yet. So I guess it’s of no surprise then that Qobuz doesn’t recommend Naim. It would actually be weird if they did…
Mind you, this doesn’t say anything about quality of Naim
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That may be the case.
However, as well as the two streamers, Qobuz also recommended speakers, headphones, soundbar, all-in-one, ear-buds, digital music player, most of which, don’t play Qobuz.
DG…
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But Auralic are involved in beta testing and they’re not mentioned either. I think it’s a mistake to take a chatty off-the-cuff piece too seriously.
Roger
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That’s true as well. But given the fact that ‘Naim has hardly reacted’ on reach outs by Qobuz (not my words, but a contact at Qobuz) doesn’t bode well for recommendations towards Naim from that side at all.
I see a certain pattern with that way of reacting by the way, given the messages in the thread Unhappy with FW.
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If Q connect takes off and is popular, I’d expect Naim to look to adding it to their streamers.
Naim can seem a bit slow to react to external events, but that can pay off in the eventual response. I well remember the issues with vTuner we had until recently. As well as Naim, I have streamers from Auralic and Linn and both have encountered problems with internet radio. On my Auralic I can’t get any BBC stations at all now without a fiddly and unreliable workaround. Linn opted for a different provider: Airable. Naim took their time, but eventually came up with an in-house solution that I think is by far the best internet radio offering I"ve encountered.
Patience may be needed but it’s typically worth it.
Roger
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Certainly! I don’t disagree with you on this. But I always find it important just to ask myself why things are as they are. So I can understand things possibly better. And as Naim weren’t mentioned, I tried to reason why. And because of what I know and heard (this last may not be truthfull as factcheck could not be entirely done) I find it a plausible explanation that Naim isn’t a priority partner at this moment in time for Qobuz. That’s all…
But I may well be wrong 
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It could be that the units mentioned in the article sell in larger quantities across the music listening world vs some of the hi-end brands.
All I know is that I started using Qobuz when it was introduced in the United States and preferred it over Tidal with my Naim system. (My System, My Room, My Ears).
So I am not conserned about Qobuz’s 'Guide to the Best HiFi Products of 2024" not mentioning Naim streamers.
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