Wish: 'Plays with Audirvana' for generation 1 (and 2) streamers

Streaming Audio
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It would be great if Naim could collaborate on the ‘Plays with Audirvana’ certification / partnership, thus ensuring the ‘old’ streamers play effortlessly with Audirvana.

The current version of Audirvana Studio does play well with my streamer, but older versions did not.

If Naim can collaborate with Roon, why not with Audirvana? In numerous comparison tests I did, Audirvana ‘wins’ from other software in terms of audio quality. Even from AssetUPnP and the Naim app or BubbleUPnPServer.

It would give Naim users the option to choose whatever playback method they prefer and as an added bonus it would give older generation streamers the opportunity to stream from Tidal and Qobuz with better sound quality than can be achieved with the Tidal integration.

Like Roon, Audirvana ‘preprocesses’ the incoming stream and sends out a PCM stream to the streamer. Unlike Roon, which uses a native protocol, Audirvana uses UPnP, something Naim has been supporting from day 1. The ‘Plays with Audirvana’ program just asserts the UPnP protocol on both sides is fully compatible.

For the software people at the Naim HQ: you probably have tried it yourself and if not, you really should. It just makes your hardware sound better.

For the forum users:
Before you flood this topic with ‘but I like such and such’ better. Or ‘I have this setup and I’m fully satisfied with it, why would you want this’ comments:

  • If you are happy right now : good for you! Just enjoy.
  • No one forces you to use this option, just like no one forces you to use Roon, Chromecast or Tidal connect.
  • If you cannot hear a sonic difference using different software, all the best to you, but that doesn’t mean other’s don’t.

For people that are curious:

  • You can try Audirvana for yourself. Just visit their website. It could be though that it has hiccups with your particular streamer. There are setting for that to try to fix that, but these settings are quite deep down in the software.
  • Audirvana requires an external Windows of Mac computer, just like Roon needs one for their Rock OS. If you don’t want that, Audirvana is just not for you.
  • Audirvana can be controlled with a remote app from your phone or tablet, as long as the computer which had Audirvana Studio installed on it is on and in your home network. You can control it from a laptop or PC which runs the software too.

For people who have tried before and got frustrated with the software, but do like it:

  • A lot of bugs seems to have been fixed in the recent version. It did not play nice at home for me a few versions ago, but it certainly does now (so far)
  • If Naim would collaborate with Audirvana, then those incompatibilities would be straightened out. Venting your frustration won’t help, supporting this call to Naim could potentially. I’m still living with the naive assumption that the voice of the customer is listened to.

Of course, I haven’t got a clue what it would mean on the firmware side, if any, but since UPnP has always been such a central core of Naim streaming platform functionality, it would be a no brainer. There is some overlap with the Naim app, like Radio station support, but so has Roon. These things don’t bite, it is just enriching the ecosystem in which Naim hardware can participate.

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I agree, Audirvana is now a serious competitor to Roon. While it is not quite as ‘user friendly’ it sounds far better.
Roon seems to be slipping down in the SQ stakes while Audirvana has remained top notch.

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I’ve tried Roon several times, but it’s not for me.
Looks like it adds something to the music that I don’t like. Audirvana is way better IMHO. I use it on a Mac mini, which is connected via Ethernet to the NSS 333. Everything is controlled by the Audirvana remote App and overall I’m very happy with the SQ. BTW I use the Naim app as well, especially when I don’t want to go to the other floor to switch on the Mac :desktop_computer::innocent:

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Whilst not disagreeing with your thoughts, for members’ information it is worth noting that Audirvana Studio is subscription software, unlike their now discontinued (but still excellent) Audirvana v3.5 which could be used with Qobuz and Tidal, though I don’t know if online streaming still works as I only use it for my local stored music. They also currently offer the non-subscription Audirvana Origin, but that is confined to local server use, with no online streaming provision.

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Qobuz streaming works fine in 3.5 for me in the setup in my study. No longer have Tidal but assume it would work.

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I hope to try it again at some stage, it always sounded excellent but stability issues and changes to listening habits made me ditch the Studio subscription sometime last year.

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I think that is down to the Roon renderer… Roon uses PCM.

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I really like Audirvāna in terms of sound quality. But having had Roon for two days now again after a long divorce I directly notice how I find more music and how much I missed the “mark albums of choice and press shuffle”. For now I’m a Roon user again mainly because their UI/UX is top class and if there is a slight worse sound quality I might not care (haven’t compared yet but current setup with Roon sounds great).

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really enjoy this software so x1 from me

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If Naim people in a position of influence read your opening post they will know. Other posts expressing people’s like of Audirvana can only add to the strength of potential interest. Otherwise what is needed is a direct suggestion/request to Naim rather than just this forum.

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naim don’t yet support Tidal Max, despite most other vendors now doing so. The latest update from support is it might be coming, but no date available.

Formal firmware support for Audirvana is a pipe dream.

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I couldn’t be more supportive of this idea. I am fan of Audirvãna Studio and can confirm that it sounds awesome on my ND5 XS 2 which I have connected to my good old Nait1. It has become my favorite way of streaming. Hardly use the native Naim app anymore.

As I understand from the side of Audirvãna there has been a formal request by them to the people at Naim to explore the possibilities on this matter and also some follow up mails from their side asking Naim for a reaction.
The person I had contact with at Audirvãna states that Naim hasn’t answered to those latest requests.

I feel that Naim really misses out here, and most certainly should give it a try.

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More and more companies added to their supported list.

NEW ‘PLAYS WITH AUDIRVĀNA’ PARTNERS
We are happy and proud to announce our new ‘Plays with Audirvāna’ partners:

KEF wireless HiFi speaker range, including their latest LSX II LT, have successfully been tested. We are working together to finalize the last details and have them automatically recognized and set up in the software.

Electrocompaniet, Fidelizer Audio, Lyngdorf & Steinway and Sforzato are now officially certified!

Electrocompaniet EC Range with their latest EC software Engine and new EC Play app are fully tested and compatible with Audirvāna.

The Fidelizer Audio music servers, based on their well-know software expertise on Windows, have been fully tested and integrated as partner.

Lyngdorf connected electronics as well as Steinway connected products are also fully tested and compatible.

Sforzato from Japan and its network players, streamers and DAC is also officially a new ‘Plays with Audirvāna’ partner.

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I find it highly unlikely naim will implement anything new for first gen streamers

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I don’t believe there’s code upgrading needed for the HW manufacturers here. It’s about getting access to the manufacturer software design team and loan of hardware and get information on how Audirvana shall optimise their code to fully support the “Plays with Audirvana” hardware (HW). That’s at least what I believe :slight_smile: It’s not a “Roon” thing.

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Great post. I have been an Audirvana user for a decade, also Qobuz. I have 3.5 on my Mac in the office connected to the Uniti atom HE via upnp - works very well. Nice app than the Naim one and I can also use the desktop. Studio runs on the Mac mini downstairs (which also shares music files on the network). That goes to the Devialet 250, but you can chose any upnp endpoint, I just keep it that way to avoid confusion for the rest of the household. A recent Studio update has got BBC radio back! Sound is great.

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This is what it’s about. These new partners in the ‘Plays with Audirvãna’ project are competitors of Naim and Focal, and to me it feels that I’m missing out on a chance of getting the best as a Naim customer. And no, I don’t see this as fomo, because I already use Audirvãna in my set up. But I just want it to sound the best way possible. And in my opinion that could be achieved best if the devs of both companies worked together to optimise this.

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Two things have sprung to mind.

1 - Who will this advantage more? Naim/Focal or Audirvana? Presumably if there’s no Roon RAAT type engine to support and Audirvana uses industry standard protocols then the certification may just be a token gesture - if it involves partnering to iron out any issues then that would be good.

2 - As much as I like Audirvana products, they have in the past been a little buggy with disconnections/loss of playback - things which I can tolerate from I assume still a relatively small player in the market but these would surely need to be ‘rock solid’ for prestigious hi-fi manufacturers to get onboard with partnership certifications.

Using Audirvana 3.5 in the study at the minute streaming Qobuz to a Topping DAC and old Philips iPod dock and it does sound great. Must revisit Studio at some stage.

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Afaik they use the common standards like Google Cast, Airplay and UPnP, and there is no specific technology needed.

But I do not know whether or not Roon has forced some exclusivity on their deal with Naim. That could ofcourse be a dealbreaker.

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