Malcolm Steward: journalist

If you are obsessive about squeezing the best performance from the NaimUniti here is a real geek tweak I’ve learnt.  (Thanks very much, Mr H!)

My favourite internet radio station, Radio Paradise broadcasts at a defaul setting of 128kb/s MP3, which doesn’t sound at all bad. However, you can change that feed to the 128kb/s AAC version, which sounds noticeably  better.  I’m sure other IR stations offer the same or similar facilities. Here is what you do.

1. Visit the station’s web site and view the list of connectionss: in Radio Paradise‘s case that is http://www.radioparadise.com/content.php?name=Listen.
2. In the section AAC+ Links: (high fidelity at lower bitrates) select the 128k AAC <- truly awesome sound quality link and it will begin playing in your media player.
3. The best suited player for this purpose is VLC, which you can download freely from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/.
4. In VLC open Tools…Media Information and look at the Location entry at the bottom of the window. Take note of that URL.
5. Now point your web browser at http://naim.vtuner.com and log in, or, if you have not visited before, sign up. You will need to know the MAC address of your NaimUniti before you can do anything. You can get that from the NaimUniti menu… Network Settings.
6. On the homepage of naim.vtuner.com navigate to the My Added Stations section and add a station. Fill in the data in the form and in the Station URL section type the URL you found in the VLC Tools…Media Information… Location window. [see photo below]

The station has now been added and should appear in the Added Stations section on the Internet Radio screen of the NaimUniti OSD. If it does not, force the device to update by powering it down and up again.

Please forgive me mentioning Radio Paradise at every opportunity but it simply is the best and certainly the most agreeable entertainment source when you spend all day every day sitting at a computer. It has no retards masquerading as DJs and the playlist is very thoughtfully assembled. It is so relaxing to have someone selecting and playing music for one, especially when they appear to share one’s tastes. Furthermore, the station is funded by donations, so there is no intrusive advertising or, as a consequence,  the pressure that comes with having to keep the advertisers happy. And do not forget that one lucky Radio Paradise supporter this month (October 09) is going to win a NaimUniti and a pair of Naim n-SAT speakers.

The only downside is that Radio Paradise will cost you an absolute arm and a leg buying new CDs. Which is no bad thing, when you think about it…