Wiim / Bluesound Node with Superuniti control/connection path

[branonx]

For those who have connected a Wiim/Bluesound Node (or any other workable streaming device apart from top of the line ones) to a Naim Superuniti, I have a couple of questions

a) Do you use coax or optical ? I am working on the assumption that the superuniti DAC, even if its years older, will be better than either of these two.

b) Can one control the volume from these devices rather than the Superuniti and what would be the appropriate setting in the Superuniti so that it can be “left alone”? My thinking is that the reason for buying one of these is the abundance of digital streaming features (I am using Qobuz myself), and if I am going to use it for that, I would also prefer to use the volume control of the new device rather than jump between apps.

c) I am guessing the subwoofer would still be connected to the Naim unit?

Any other advice for the best connection/control path would be appreciated (other than replace the Superuniti with a Uniti Star/Nova - maybe one day)!

[IainO]

We use digital Coax (S/PDIF).

We find the SuperUniti DAC still quite adequate for office use, and it gives the naim sound.

For best SQ control volume via SuperUniti - no app needed, just use the remote!

Subwoofer connection won’t change, nothing to do with source.

Plenty life in a SU if used with external streamer/transport. We added an external device for HiRes feeds.

(Note there are other threads running on the merits of gen1 devices, but if you are prepared to add an external source the SU is still a great amp).

[branonx]

Thanks. So it looks like I will need to still use the Naim app (or remote) for controlling the volume.

Agreed, I don’t want to give up the SU just because it does not have a few streaming services that I like.

[branonx]

I finally ended up purchasing a Bluesound Node X and have an optical cable connecting it to the Superuniti (waiting for a digital coax cable to arrive from Amazon). Overall, everything goes well, though I was surprised to see that

NAS Music library - ethernet - Superuniti

is noticeably better than

NAS Music library - ethernet- Bluesound Node X - optical Superuniti
(even for CD resolution music).

So for now the Node is complementing on some other things such as Airplay, Qobuz, two-way bluetooth, other streaming services. I have the volume on the node set to fixed output and am relying on the Naim app for volume control.