At last - NA7004 streaming via an Android tablet

[ReggieB]

I've had a Marantz NA7004 for about a year, and am very pleased with it's sonic performance. It plays all my FLAC files, including a few high resolutions ones from Linn and HDTracks. I have it connected to my amplifier (AudioLab 8000S) via a Peachtree DAC-IT, and the music plays beautifully. I store the music on a Lacie CloudBox 2Tb NAS (with another used for backup), and the NA7004 has no problems connecting to it via a small CAT5 network.

The one deficiency for me has always been album selection. The screen is small, but the text is large so I can see it from my chair. But as my digital collection has grown scrolling through all the albums has got to be a bit of a pain. Especially as some titles don't fit that well on screen: especially a group of albums I have that all start "Benjamin Britten". I've used the web interface, but it isn't a lot better.

I also have a Musical Fidelity V90-BLU, which allows me to stream music from my Android tablet (an ASUS Fonepad), but most of the Android players only stream music stored on my tablet.

Well I have at last found the solution. Something that allows me to use the album search and play of my Android tablet, to stream music from my NAS to the NA7004. It's an Android app called Toaster Cast. It allows me to stream music to my NA7004 as a UPNP DLNA devise. If you upgrade to the Pro version, you can also stream from a network data source.

So at last, I seem to be getting the best of both world, decent sonic performance and ease of use. Splendid!

[AlfaGTV]

Good choice of streamer! I have had one meself actually and i used eLyric for control. After the Na7004 i went for a Bladelius Embla which was utterly rewarding! For cloudy reasons i wanted to try a better preamp and px:ed the Embla for a VTL pre. I did however replace streaming capabilities with a Pioneer N-50 which makes good service today!
I may be fooling meself but my audio memory says that the Marantz sounded better than the Pioneer!?!?

Please note eLyric does NOT work good today, and i recieved mail from PS Audio where they blame Apple for making changes in their OS...

Anyway, i tried Linn Kinsky, which works just fine with my N-50, so perhaps it's useful for you too? (It's a free app!)

Atb Mike

[ReggieB]

Thanks Mike,

I've just tried Linn Kinsky on my Android Tablet. It worked, but was slow and hung. So I'm sticking with Toaster Caster for now. Interesting that the software also works on PCs. Unfortunately not on the Ubuntu laptop I'm on at the moment (I tried via wine, but the software wouldn't run). I might give it a try on my wife's Windows laptop.

To be honest, I didn't do much in the way of comparisons when I bought the NA7004. Everyone I'd spoken to about it rated the Marantz highly, and there was an ex-display model going ridiculously cheeply, so I just took the plunge. I had considered the Pioneer N-50, but wanted the unit to replace my Pure DRX 702ES Tuner, so wanted a streamer that also had a radio tuner.

Since then I've also picked up a Sansui WLD 201L which has gone into my study. Now that is a bargin at the moment! For example £149 at Superfi. The main issue is that it won't play high definition FLAC files. FLAC 16bit 44.1kHz are fine, but it won't play my FLAC 24bit 96kHz files. It also don't have the uPNP DNLA support of the Marantz.

[ReggieB]

I just thought I'd try eLyric on my laptop - works a treat running via wine on my Ubuntu laptop! Thanks again Mike!

[AlfaGTV]

Didn't know eLyric was available for the PC. If working it's a nice controller.

The Sansui seemed a real steal! Id go for one if it was available here.

[ReggieB]

I think I've now found the perfect Android software to partner my Marantz NA7004. It's BubbleUPnP.

Toaster Cast was fine for casting to the NA7004, but finding a decent app that would pull the music from my NAS drive was more difficult. BubbleUPnP does both, and has a really easy to use interface.

So now I think I have the media play combination of good quality sound and easy of use, that I've been looking for, for that last couple of years. Definitely engaging smug mode.

[337alant]

Reggie
Thanks for the info I Have just bought a NA7004 for £235 for my eldest son as he has a Marantz amp and its a perfect match

I tried it in my system before giving it to him and it worked very well and sound quality was very good the internal DAC is a good one
I also found the interface a bit poor but I think that about all these streamers with a small screen, its a PITA to use and a tablet it much more convenient

Only problem I have for him is he has no network point near his HIFI and no easy way to run a cable so I bought a pair of TP Link powerline plug ins but for some reason I could not pick up his network ??, did everything as per the instructions, I have brought them round my house to play with them and see it I can get them to work at home first before trying again

Alan

[ReggieB]

Power line is very convenient, but it does put a lot of noise onto the mains (by design ). If you use it, you'll benefit from having some mains filtering in place for the hi-fi.

[337alant]

Yeah I wouldn't use them at all in my house because of the noise problem but he is not so fussy about his HIFI so its a simple solution to the cable problem for him

Alan

[loonytunes]

I was very impressed with the Marantz NA7004 - apart from the control software which was pants - the musical ability of this machine more than made up for it.

It's a brilliant streamer using it's own internal DAC - but it also make for a superb transport bringing out the best of any other external DAC you plug into it.

But because I use Spotify quite a bit - I'm looking for something that supports Spotify Connect - and it looks like the new Marantz NA8005 has this support albeit at a much greater cost.