I have always been lukewarm about custom install because it initially struck me as being more about convenience, than ultimate quality. But the last CEDIA UK Expo, the trade show for the CI fraternity, lifted my spirits somewhat and gave the music-lover in me some cause for celebration. Among the list of exhibitors was an unexpected inclusion: high-end, high fidelity specialist, Naim Audio.
Naim had decided that it was about time that those who wanted multiroom sound should be able to enjoy a much higher level of fidelity than that which has traditionally been available. In order to achieve this, it has applied its decades of audio expertise to a range of products – including hard-disk based music servers – that communicate using Internet Protocol, the IP of TCP/IP, which is the mechanism used to deliver web pages, email and all other data that your PC (or Mac or Unix/Linux box) might wish to transport from the internet or your local network.
IP (which itself is 40 years old) forms the basis of StreamNet, the enabling technology being used by Naim in NaimNet (and Polk in its IP loudspeakers), which was developed by the Texan company, NetStreams. Herman Cárdenas, the President and CEO of the operation, explained how StreamNet can transport vast amounts of data around an Ethernet network without running into the synchronisation problems that typically bedevil audio and video distribution systems.
This is worse in ‘Party' mode, because delays cause the same stream to arrive with a disturbing time difference in different rooms.
