Network Media Players

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Ed Selley  |  Oct 10, 2011  |  0 comments
Marantz NA7004 Plenty of streaming functions, but we suspect the inclusion of Apple Airplay will pique as much curiosity Marantz’s take on streaming audio is that it needn’t replace more familiar ways of accessing audio and, indeed, the same box can look after new and old sources. Accordingly, the NA7004 functions also as a DAC, a digital radio and indeed an FM/AM radio too, thus covering the gamut of ‘streaming’ audio right back to the 1920s. As a DAC, it includes both types of S/PDIF input and a USB type B socket, for connection to a computer, which means you can use it alongside a computer that’s not on a network. The USB socket on the front is for media players, including the iPod (and other Apple devices), and the NA7004 is also equipped with Apple Airplay for wireless music replay from suitable Apple players.
 |  Jan 15, 2015  |  0 comments
You may think you’ve already seen the D 7050 gracing our review pages in recent months, as it looks strikingly similar to NAD’sD 3020 amp and D 1050 DAC, bothof which we tested back in issue 379. The D 7050 here, however, is an altogether more thorough package, and employs NAD’s Direct Digital circuitry (see Q&A), handed down from the company’s high-end Masters Series. This circuit ensures all preamp functions are performed in the digital domain, which NAD says helps keep unwanted noise low. Being a digital amp means that the D 7050 is bereft of analogue inputs, but digital inputs are well served across four S/PDIF sockets shared over coaxial and optical, alongside USB and Ethernet ports.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Nov 28, 2019  |  0 comments
The BluOS multi-room range has a new all-in-one system and it’s a total stormer
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Aug 14, 2023  |  0 comments
Hot on the heels of the compact M10 comes NAD’s full-size one-box-suits-all solution
Ed Selley  |  Nov 29, 2011  |  0 comments
XS all areas for just £2k Naim introduces its ‘entry-level’ network audio player, but there is nothing ‘entry-level’, however, about its performance, says Malcolm Steward The ND5 XS is Naim’s second network audio player and its first to offer native streaming of 24-bit/192 kHz sources. It follows the lauded and more expensive (£2,995) NDX (HFC 345) that arrived in February, this year. It differs from its forerunner, though, in being built into the attractive, slim-line XS series case rather than the taller Classic series enclosure, but is similar in being performance upgradeable. Upgrade options currently available include the XPS or PS 555 power supplies and the Naim DAC.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  May 16, 2019  |  0 comments
As the most affordable model in Naim's latest standalone network music player series, the ND5 XS 2 may have a minimalist aesthetic, but what it offers is anything but...
Ed Selley  |  May 17, 2011  |  0 comments
Naimstream champion Exclusive! Can Naim’s new high-performance streamer improve on the standard of its own CD players? Malcolm Stewart gives the answer. . . The number of digital streaming devices available to the hi-fi enthusiast continues to grow on an almost daily basis.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Mar 19, 2024  |  0 comments
Even by the standards of the genre, the N25 is a very well-featured network audio player
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Nov 22, 2018  |  0 comments
With streaming music readily available at our finger tips, it’s sometimes difficult to fathom the best way of combining digital media libraries into one central location to achieve the same effortless tap-to-play scenario that brings together all our digital music. I am sure plenty of us have spent enough time grappling with network-attached storage hardware and CD-ripping software to know that there has to be a more elegant way of cataloguing our music libraries.
Ed Selley  |  Nov 29, 2011  |  0 comments
Olive branch Olive’s new flagship hard-disk player brings huge storage and simple ease of use to the masses. Malcolm Steward listens in The 06HD is the current flagship model in the Olive range of hard-disk music servers. The enclosure is rather idiosyncratic: it is trapezoidal with the CD-drive loader (along with the headphone socket and volume control) mounted on the front, while the sloping top holds all the control buttons and an impressive 10-inch colour touchscreen. This precludes stacking the device or placing it on anything but the top shelf of an equipment rack.
 |  Jan 26, 2015  |  0 comments
With a reputation for elegant Scandinavian design, Primare’s products are instantly recognisablefor their minimalist approach to high-end separates. At £6,500 each, the recently launched flagship 60pre/power amps ooze class fromtheir two-tone titanium and black cases housing the company’s latest UFPD (Ultra Fast Power Device)Class D technology. Below theseamps sits a selection of more modestly priced amps, CD players,a DAC and a MM/MC phono stage. The NP30 is based on the MM30 ‘media board’, a £1,300 add on that slots into dedicated ports in Primare’s I32 integrated and PRE32 preamp, turning them into fully fledged network players.
Ed Selley  |  Jul 02, 2010  |  0 comments
Rip, touch and play Malcolm Steward test runs the Qsonix Q105, a 21st Century music library system for people who have no interest in computers here is a vital question facing any manufacturer of a hard-disk music player. It has nothing to do with what size disks to use or what sort of case to put it in. It is rather more rudimentary, i. e what sort of person is going to buy it? If the answer is the hard-core audiophile, then the manufacturing task is immediately simplified.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Mar 24, 2016  |  0 comments
Few current audio trends seem to be gathering pace with quite the urgency of personal high-resolution audio players. Considering how many consumer temptations the proliferating sector has snagged, it isn’t hard to understand why. Perhaps it was inevitable that the early aspirational appeal of Astell&Kern’s carbon fibre-clad, tech-dense luxury items would open the way for the skilfully compromised but high-achieving, cost-very-much-an-object Far East offerings that have grown the market and realised the idea that the sonic advantages of hi-res on the move are for every music lover and not just the diehard audiophile or well heeled. More than that, the market is evolving and diversifying in interesting ways.
Hi-Fi Choice  |  Aug 20, 2018  |  0 comments
In the world of networked audio, a seamless user experience to back up the solid performance is key to any success. In parallel to the development of networked streaming audio products, we’ve seen the development of servers and control software too. One of the best known and most effective has been Roon (see Insider, HFC 435), which with its highly regarded bespoke software suite allows even very large libraries to be managed in a logical and self-explanatory fashion. Nucleus is a dedicated piece of hardware that creates an optimised Roon experience.
Ed Selley  |  Oct 09, 2011  |  0 comments
Rotel RDG-1520 Streamer or a ‘digital gateway’? Fact is, this is an easy bit of kit to use if you’re not used to computerised audio Streamer, tuner, ‘digital gateway’ – whatever you call it, this is a very flexible way of getting at tunes. It may not have quite as many options on offer as the Marantz, but it still does plenty: streaming from a computer network (wired or wireless) and playing internet radio, FM, DAB, USB including iPod etc. It does support 96kHz playback off a network, though not off USB and only at 16-bit resolution. What’s more, although it plays the files it downsamples them to 48kHz, so they are no longer high-res in any sense.

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