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Exclusive reviews of the latest kit FIRST TESTS Qute by Naim, cute by nature Naim | UnitiQute | £1350 Reviews of recent Naim kit have tended player and some inputs, in a unit half Naim amps, it sounds considerably to start with ‘at last’ or include the the width. The slim box delivers FM, heftier than its specification suggests. term ‘long-awaited’ in their opening DAB and internet radio, network Add a range of digital inputs, one remarks. The company’s enthusiasm streaming of music from computers or analogue in (with optional unity-gain tends to lead to announcements storage devices, and playback of USB home cinema bypass for use with an being followed by a lengthy wait. devices or iPods/iPhones. AV receiver), plus outputs at preamp So here – at last – we have the Also aboard is a 30W per channel level to feed an external amp, and you long-awaited UnitiQute: for £1350 you amplifier: as in the NaimUniti, it’s just about have the UnitiQute covered. get almost all the functionality of the derived from the company’s Nait 5i Oh, apart from the fact that there’s original NaimUniti, apart from the CD integrated amp, and as is usual with a bass contour function for low-level > www.whathifi.com Reproduced from November 2010 FIRST TESTS NETWORK AUDIO SYSTEM LIVING WITH IT Experiment with the ‘ground lift’ switch on the rear panel, especially if you’re connecting the UnitiQute to external equipment such as an AV receiver’s front channel preamp outputs: one of the two settings will produce a cleaner, clearer sound. Second, make use of the internet radio tuner’s web interface at http://naim.vtuner.com to explore the stations available, and add extra ‘channels’ to the thousands already on offer. More on www.whathifi.com. listening, and that in the iPod department WAV rips from CD, and just breathtaking The rear view shows files directly – if you’re running a Mac, it goes further than the original NaimUniti. with well-recorded hi-res music. As how simple things are Elgato EyeConnect will transcode on the on the facilities front: one Rather than requiring a dedicated cable to mentioned above, it’s just a shade more fly, while software such as Asset UPnP will analogue and four digital connect the portable players, and then only restrained than the NaimUniti, and lacks inputs, plus preamp do the job on the PC platform. in the analogue domain, the ’Qute can some of the Award-winner’s punch and and speaker outputs The UnitiQute is capable of delivering accommodate Apple’s conventional USB drive, but the sound is open, fast and a big sound, and has amazing flexibility. cable in a front-panel socket, and connects superbly weighted, thundering out bass Naim had better crank up production: digitally. Current production versions of lines with the same conviction as it brings this little system is going to be big. the original NaimUniti do the same. to the finer details of a complex recording. New, too, is Naim’s n-Stream app, It’s also worth considering a wired Rating ★★★★★ available from iTunes: this and a wireless network connection if you’re going to FOR Almost all of the performance of the network not only give complete control, play a lot of hi-res music – like other such NaimUniti, for much less money and in a but also ‘live’ feedback of what’s playing. devices, the UnitiQute can fall prey to smaller, neater package Choosing a track or an album in streaming heavy traffic elsewhere on the network mode is a matter of swipe and tap, and the when shifting high-bitrate data wirelessly. AGAINST Apple Lossless streaming needs same applies to picking radio stations, And it takes no prisoners with tracks extra software; very revealing of badly storing presets and so on. Tap at the top of submitted to brutal data-reduction (so compressed music or internet streams the screen and you get a readout of the avoid those 64kbps MP3 rips), and in VERDICT The UnitiQute has been a while bitrate and sampling frequency. common with the NaimUniti coming, but its performance and facilities it can’t stream Apple Lossless were worth the wait. Simply superb Sources, speakers and formats We used the ’Qute with a variety of sources TECH SPECS and speakers: wired and wireless networks, Type Media streaming client Wireless Yes HOT TOPIC USB sticks and iPods, computers and NAS Tuner Yes Built-in amp 2x30W WAV/AIFF drives (and a pre-production UnitiServe), iPHONE APP Yes MP3 Yes Max MP3 data rate 320 WMA Yes AAC Yes FLAC Yes ALAC No Coaxial/ and the likes of Neat’s Petite SX speakers Naim’s n-Stream app for the and PMC DB1is. And the ’Qute gives away a iPod Touch/iPhone works over a optical digital in 2/2 Analogue stereo in 2 little (but only very little) to the NaimUniti. wireless network. Not only does USB audio 1 iPod in Yes, digital Coaxial digital out 1 Optical digital out 0 Analogue We’ve been trying everything from hi-res it give you complete control over stereo out 1 Headphones Yes Dimensions FLAC and WAV downloads – up to 96kHz/ the UnitiQute, it also puts the (hwd) 8.7x20.7x31.4cm Weight 5.6kg 24-bit – right down to some pretty rough display in the palm of your hand. This is the main source selection low-bitrate MP3s. Plus we’ve sampled screen: tap a button and you can radio stations from ultra-tinny 32kbps scroll through your music library MP3 right up to Radio Paradise’s AAC with cover art, access DAB, FM stream and the Dutch AVRO Klassiek and internet radio stations, and channels, some of which run at 320kbps. even control another iPod or What have we discovered? Well, the iPhone connected to the main UnitiQute can sound amazing with unit via the USB input! 320kbps MP3, even better with FLAC or REVIEWER’S NOTES... 5 Days with the UnitiQute DAY Well, this is simple: DAY Hooking up the DAY iPod capers, part 2: DAY Discovered just DAY Rain hammering on 1 it’s a CD-free Uniti, 2 iPod is now just 3 with the n-Stream 4 the station for 5 the windows, and housed in a neat a matter of app loaded onto some of our just browsing the half-width case. No controls connecting the ‘white lead’ the iPod Touch – it works on movie-obsessed test team library when we stumble though, apart from the that comes with the player iPhones, too – browsing members: AVRO Klassiek across some B&W Society illuminated Naim logo: it’s to the USB socket on the music is a simple matter of Film, from Holland, plays of Sound stuff. In seconds touch-sensitive, so you can front of the Qute. No more swipe and stab. Internet non-stop back-to-back have Afro Celt Sound tap to mute, or hold it to need for a £90 n-Lead, and radio works the same way, soundtrack stuff, 24/7. System’s Whirl-y-Reel cycle the volume down the connection’s now digital, and the on-screen display And it’s in 256kbps MP3, thundering out in hi-res and then up again. too. Sounds excellent. makes operation a breeze. so it sounds decent, too. 24-bit FLAC. Lovely! 0123456789 www.whathifi.com Reproduced from November 2010.