I was daydreaming a bit about future upgrades and suddenly wondered why Naim, with their multi-box philosophy, don’t have a streamer transport or separate DAC as part of their offering.
For Naim it somehow feels strange that these are always integrated.
Has anyone from Naim ever commented on this, and could it perhaps be something that’s in the works?
A streamer only in the form factor of a UQ would be fantastic please! Same sort of display (but more reliable) would be great so that there is no need to 100% dependent on the app.
Yeah, transport only with display. Half size. Can see myself giving that serious consideration if it were to materialise.
What are the advantages of the transport only streamer over the existing commercial streamers and the Mac Mini + Audirvana + USB/OPT out?
For Naim, it only makes sense if there is a sizable interest out there to justify the investment.
A streamer is more likely to get outdated, so will allow you to keep the DAC. Also I can imagine from a sq pov it might be worth separating? At least that seems to be Naims way of doing things for other components, splitting up into multiple boxes.
Might also be a nice way to get people using other brands onto Naim, get a Qb or mu-so and a Naim streamer without having to replace their DAC.
But also from my side it’s just curiosity as it, as mentioned, seems to deviate from their multi-box modus operandi.
Naim make (and have made) plenty of DACs. Just they re a bit more than just DACs, being network players as well as DACs.
I’d be interested to understand why it’s so important to not wholly rely on a device. Honestly don’t understand the attraction of a screen.
It’s a good question. I’d like to add wireless Roon capability to my Uniti2, but aren’t sure what easy affordable options are out there. A transport only equivalent of a ND5 XS2 or a half size box would be ideal, run it wirelessly with a wired input to the Uniti2 and use the Naim app would be great.
My question is precisely why they choose do this? Why not transport only streamers in the same way they split the PSU often.
In the case of a streamer the longevity is of course an additional factor.
Is there any background you’re aware of / can share?
I too like the idea of a digitial transport, to pair with a digital integrated amp. That way I could budget to replace the technical part every ~5 years and increase my openness to spending more on the dac/pre/amp in the knowledge that those bits+volts won’t need changing just because of a new streaming format.
Probably the same reason why Naim traditionally kept the DAC close to the transport and didn’t split it off like many others. They did this as it performed better this way.
But then delivered the ever so wunnerful nDAC………………
This would be my consideration as well. The NDX 2 is a big outlay which I would be hesitant for as I fear it would get outdated. If I could buy the performance as a separate streamer and DAC (I actually would like a DAC/preamp combo) it would be a much easier choice even if it were a bit more.
So, I think the answer to my setup is the iFi audio ZEN Stream Wireless Network Streamer?
The Nova was announced a few months after a bought the SU and now expect that the Nova 2 would arrive the day after I were to upgrade. Instead I am looking at better speakers something I know would last another decade.
For example, or the Primare NP5. The latter’s what I’m eying as long as Naim doesn’t offer it. If you don’t need Chromecast there’s a few more options.
But fore it will be a bit into the future, so there might well be different options at that point.
There are other streaming options, but I would like to keep within the naim ecosystem (eg. Multiroom with a qute and qb2) rather than the expense of roon to tie it together… Or use some home - grown software shenanigans.
The fear of something getting outdated, to me, applies to a dac/pre combo more than a network player…but all of these fears are one part irrational.
Currently Naim does not offer a standalone dac, and before that happens this idea for me seems to make little sense for Naim. The big question is what will the next dac be based on and will it be a standalone or the updated streamers we will see as new products in the future.
Claus
While the subject indeed only outlines the streamer, my first post mentions the absence of a DAC as well. I guess we’ll have to see what products appear, but I was hoping some statement/philosophy was already known.
Seems there currently are some gaps in the offering with the V1 ans 272 being discontinued without a replacement. And I don’t think either will necessarily be replaced like for like.