Imagine it, sat in your listening chair – comfortable, warm and enjoying the soulful sound of your system – then as you doze that familiar pop and jump of being awoken to your stylus hitting the infinite groove, ouch! Or having to get up to change a CD, now I am not complaining too much as I am a vinyl head – this said I would look pretty cool to friends if I could control something with vales coming out of it with an iPad, old meets new!
Streaming is still a new technology in some respects and therefore some folks may have some trepidation getting involved, open first investigation it can seem quite complex – however having a read of this should but you mind at rest!
What is Streaming?
Simple answer to a simple question, accessing music stored in a digital arena – for example a digital vault with hours of digital media such as a home computer or an NAS drive could share files with a network-streaming device (such as the Naim Unti 2, see below) It’s important to use high quality hardives drives to make sure that we don’t get data loss! Check out some high quality NAS drives here
Why streaming?
It’s convenient! It allows you to access files from any room (where the streamer is placed) without having large amounts cables trailing across the floor but still delivering excellent sound quality. There are also tens of thousands of internet radio stations to choose from which are usually a much higher bit rate than a typical DAB radio station. For the modern household, the tidiness and ease of use make it the perfect solution to well-kept surroundings whilst delivering the sound quality and style that you would desire.
Choosing a streamer.
There is a wide market for streaming devices with a bracket for every budget. The main things that you should focus on when purchasing a streaming device are functionality and aesthetics. Make sure that you get a fair balance between the two. If the product looks stunning but doesn’t function very well, it doesn’t fit its purpose. If it functions excellently but doesn’t look right in your household, you won’t be happy with it either. Another option that you could consider is the ergonomics of the device. Ergonomics are the way that the product is designed and shaped to suit the human design. Some products have bad ergonomic design and can be fiddly and hard to use, i.e not fitting your lifestyle, whilst some other better-designed devices are much easier to use with less difficulties. It is always useful to contact a retailer such as Audio Affair who offers detailed and up to date advice before making a purchase.
#1 Budget Option
Sansui WLD-201, a highly affordable entrance into the streaming world
Priced at £165.00 the Sansui WLD-201 is an excellent budget option. It is an absolute bargain in our opinion and has loads of features to boot! It has access to Internet radio with over 16,000 stations over WIFI or LAN. It supports USB flash drives or external Hard Drives which contain FLAC up to 48/24, WAV, AAC/AAC+, MP3, Real- Audio and WMA. It has a clear 128*64 display for ease of use and reference. It also allows you to receive DAB and DAB+ radio so you can listen to your favourite stations on demand. Whilst offering an RCA stereo output, it also offers a digital optical output to connect to other digital devices. Thankfully there an app for Android and Apple mobile devices that allows remote control as well as the original included remote for convenience. Its outputs are both analogue and digital with stereo RCA and an optical output.
#2 Intermediate Option
Stream Box DSnet, Pro-Ject: more familiar with turntables have shown they can be just as modern as the competition
An option in the intermediate bracket is the Pro-Ject Stream Box DSnet. This product is much more compact than the budget option and is much easier to find a place for! It has an improved display when compared with the Sansui (3.5” TFT colour on the DSnet) this makes it possible to see the cover artwork from the albums being played. The case is solidly constructed which protects vital components inside from vibration or radio interference – great in heavily populated areas such as London. It has also, like the budget option, the ability to connect to thousands of Internet radio stations. Including the additional ability to use streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer, Grooveshark plus many more! It also allows playback from USB devices such as external HDD’s and flash drives. It’s an Apple licensed USB port (Apple’s seal off approval). Also included as standard are additional languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese, French and Dutch for our international customers.
#3 High End Option
Elegance aesthetically and in sound quality, the Uniti 2 – who wouldn’t want one?
The top model out of the three is the Naim Uniti 2 All-In-One System, made by one of the finest and longstanding Hi-Fi manufacturers in the UK. It’s an all in one system as the title suggests and is made to cut down needs for separate units pre,power CD for example. It features an incredibly detailed sound spectrum with a 24 bit/192kHz digital audio streamer. Since it is 24 bit, this gives us a range of 144dB that allows a huge range in volume. The 192kHz is excellent because the higher the sampling frequency, the less quantisation errors are made resulting in, yes – you guessed it: BETTER SOUND! As with all the streamers mentioned Internet radio is included here in the guise of “Naim vTuneR which gives control over station listings. Of course you also get FM and DAB radio capabilities so you’ve got local radio as well as national and worldwide!
It has the Naim CD drive with a swing drawer CD tray; a stylish alternative to the traditional sliding tray. On the front is a USB socket with support for MP3 and USB storage such as flash drives and external Hard Drives. It has iPod, iPhone and iPad playback also from this socket plus control and charging. Featuring an integrated amplifier with 70W per channel at 8Ω or 100W into 4 Ω and a frequency response of 10Hz to 20kHz exceeding the range of human hearing! It can be connected to a home network or to the Internet through either WIFI or Ethernet cable allowing versatility of connection. It also has DIN inputs for use with a Naim Phono stage for your turntable needs (start up the Sondek!!).
Comprising of 5 digital S/PDIF inputs of which 2 are optical, 2 are coaxial RCA and one is a digital/analogue 3.5mm jack. It also has 3 pairs of RCA analogue inputs available for use with Blu-Ray drives, DVD players and Satellite boxes (Excellent for films!).
Multi language support with English, German, Italian, French and so on is inbuilt (just incase you fancy learning a new language! Their App n-stream for Android and Apple devices that can be used to control the unit from around the house. This is both a practical and seamless way to have total control of the system from anywhere in the house. It is one the best App we have over used, period. You may have noticed that there are lots of inputs and outputs available. This is excellent for people who want a versatile system that they can connect everything to without worrying about having a missing socket to plug in to!