CES 2010

Nice device.!Unfortunately the UnitiQute doesn't support DAB+ radio reception, which is the coming standard in most EU countries. It makes the UnitiQute already obsolete at the moment of appearance.

What's obsolete is not the UnitiQute but DAB and DAB+. The real successor to FM will be internet radio, which the UnitiQute provides for.

I have to have this!!! I have been waiting forever for a compact all- in- one streamer to show up in the market. I wonder if you can control this with an ipod touch, tablet or laptop like the Linn streamers????

Hi,Markus, I agree that internet radio will be the new "default" standard for radio. I don't even listen to FM anymore (too many ads and not enough variety). Alex, my understanding is that the Naim UnityQute does include DAB (as you probably already know). Can't this be upgraded to DAB+???? Also, wondering if this unit can be "upgraded" through firmware via internet (when new digital formats are introduced)????

Hi, the issue between DAB and DAB+ is the codec used; when the BBC (in the UK) selected DAB (MP2), it was ignoring what was already the DAB+ standard and MP3 codec - so we in the UK are pursuing an obsolete broadcast standard that no-one else is adopting! The Uniti is already capable of MP3 streaming as well as a range of other codecs - this is essentially a software issue and Naim ought to be capable of providing software released to address this issue. But that presupposes that users are that bothered about DAB+ in comparison with internet streaming.

I'd be interested to hear comments how good the FM receiver is. At the moment there is no comparison by even a country mile to an uncompressed or largely uncompressed FM programming on BBC Radio 2 and Radio 3 on FM. I do listen to DAB and interent streaming - but background music in the kitchen or dining room only only - serious listening is strictly FM. However a device capapble of providing Hifi as well as the convienience of the other formats is surely interesting. PS Of course you do need a serious aerial to get the best on FM to get the best SN ratio, cut multipath distortion, intermods etc in the receiver- but my 6 element Yagi does it...Simon

What makes this obsolete is socket provision. ONE usb input (and on the front panel at that). What where they thinking? Oh, yes, of course: £££...

Hi DavePage, I'm sorry but I don't get your point. uPnP servers and S/PDIF are both better options than a USB port. Nearly every modern computers come with RJ45, Wi-Fi and S/PDIF as standard options, and if they don't, they are cheap options.

Hi; the point is simple Eric -- USB usage means you can use this standalone, without a computer. Sure, all the elements you describe are found on modern computers, but the Qute is a pared-down computer with a built-in quality DAC and amplifier -- if you then need another computer to make full use of it, then it's redundant and a waste of $3000.For that money you could get a 200W pure-digital Tact/Lyngdorf amp that would take the SP/DIF out of your PC and amplify it digitally while also providing digital room correction to boot. What is widely and rightly regarded as one of the best amplification systems in the world or a micro hifi from NAIM. This is the same lax thinking as Apple -- sell people a mac mini computer and then force them to use it with an ipod touch (another computer) to get the most out of it. Anything that has one USB inpiut is ill-conceived, period.