Naim Names The Day For Native Qobuz Support On Its Streaming Devices
Mark Sparrow Contributor
Technology journalist specializing in audio, computing and photography
The Naim Uniti Atom is just one of the streaming products that will be getting native support for ... [+] the Qobuz Hi-Res streaming service.
Andy Cahill – Photoworks
A significant announcement comes this morning from Naim Audio. The legendary UK audio manufacturer says it's rolling out native support for Qobuz, the France-based Hi-Res music streaming service.
Until now, Naim has only provided native support for TIDAL, the better-known Hi-Res music service, but Qobuz has been getting a lot of traction lately by offering some very competitive deals on its streaming service that several manufacturers have released updates so that Qobuz can be streamed natively in its maximum resolution rather than relying on Apple AirPlay or Bluetooth, two wireless streaming methods that are capped at quite low resolutions,
Naim Audio has been making high-end audio gear for almost half a century and this announcement of native Qobuz support cements the brand's reputation as an audio brand that is fully digital and embracing streaming as well as offering support for legacy sources.
Qobuz support will be rolled out to owners of Naim streaming devices via a free over-the-air firmware upgrade, the update will give Naim owners seamless access to Qobuz services. The music on offer from Qobuz includes true high-resolution streaming at qualities of up to 24-bit/192kHz, and all from within the Naim control app.
Qobuz claims to offer the most comprehensive CD-quality music catalog currently available as well as the largest selection of albums in true high-resolution studio quality. The company's streaming services are currently available in a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
The Naim update for Qobuz will be released in the next week for owners of Uniti Atom, Star and Nova systems, plus ND5 XS2, NDX 2 and ND 555 network players. An update for Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation and Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation wireless speakers will follow a little later in Spring 2020. In the meantime, owners of the Mu-so products will be able to stream from the Qobuz app at resolutions up to 24bit/96kHz quality via Google Chromecast. Frankly, that's probably more than enough quality for most of us. The advantage of embedded support is that there's no need to stream from a smartphone or tablet and that's more convenient.
To access Qobuz streaming services, users will need a Qobuz subscription or they can sign up for a free 30-day free trial via a link in the Naim control app, which is available for iOS and Android devices.
This announcement is important not just because it brings native support for Qobuz to yet another high-end audio platform, but it also provides some healthy competition for TIDAL and is yet another sign that the audiophile market is shifting decisively towards streaming and away from physical media.
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Mark Sparrow
I've been a tech journalist for more than 35 years and I've written for both Mac and PC computing titles as well as spending many years writing about audio, imaging and