droneship

Hi Miggy, this is probably moot now and you have purchased either the Marantz or Squeeze. If you haven't then maybe you should consider Sonos and an outboard DAC. The iphone app to control Sonos is amazing. I have a Marantz NA7004, and it has a superb DAC. The sound is rich. The bass is punchy and the soundstage is to die for. But its iphone app sucks. It is virtually impossible to control your content from the app, which is slow, laggy and appears to have been designed by a 5th grader. I have tried many third-party iphone apps to control the Marantz but none are as good as the Sonos app. Given that you will be using an external DAC anyway, I would strongly recommend Sonos Connect, which at $349 is far cheaper than $799 you will pay for Marantz. It does everything that the NA7004 does but does not have a USB input to connect your HDD directly. However, you could easily connect the HDD to your laptop or NAS and stream everything to Sonos, then onward to our Arcam, then your amp. Believe me you will regret buying the Marantz if you depend mainly on your iphone to control it, as I do.

David, happy to report that Kinsky does work with MediaMonkey as well as Asset. The only hitch is that it stops working when the iphone goes to sleep. So I have to tap the screen every once in a while to keep it glowing. Not very good for the battery of course but that's the roll of the dice. Until Marantz comes up with a better app we have no choice but to depend on third party apps.

David, many thanks for showing me the light! I am still a novice when it comes to network audio format. So if you will bear with me, I have a couple of questions. I use Mediamonkey on my laptop to play my song collection. Will Kinsky control that? Or will I have to download Asset and play/control my music through that? Will Kinsky work if I transfer all my music to a NAS? I have been so frustrated by Wizz that I was about to buy a Sonos, just for its iphone app functionality, and connect it to Marantz to make use of its superior DAC. You might have just saved me $349. An update: I couldn't find a site to download Asset for free. dbPoweramp allows download of only the premium version. I am more than willing to pay $30 for the premium version but would obviously like to try the basic version first.

Thanks Krutsch. Will check out the formatting issue. That could indeed be the problem. I had assumed all HDDSs are formatted to FAT16 or 32 because I tried three, and none worked. Re marantz service, it's possible I could have caught someone on a bad day. Or maybe someone inexperienced. Come to think of it, he should have asked me to check the formatting. Instead he said he would "escalate" the matter. I hate that word. To me, it's a euphemism for "It's above my pay grade so I will let the big bucks answer you." But what really irritated me was his claim that people love the wizz, which was blatantly untrue. I can't imagine anyone loving that monstrosity.

Point taken about MP3. Anyway it's not a big deal. I can transfer the MP3 CD to a thumb drive. I didn't quite catch your second response. Sorry!! Also, would love to hear your thoughts on the ipod Wizz app.

I regularly read reviews of electronics products, from as many sources as posisble, and sometimes rely on them to guide my purchases. But it never ceases to amaze me how effusive and complimentary most reviews are about big name brand products. So is the case with Marantz NA7004. I read the reviews for this player before buying it. I would have bought it anyway, even if reviewers had given it 3 stars. I am a long standing Marantz user, and it was logical for me to buy the network player _ chosing it over Sonos _ when the time came for moving my CDs to digital medium. But I wish the reviewers, including ZDNET, CNet,Hometheaterreview, hifireview and others, had been more honest and incisive instead of regurgitating what appears to be company handouts. I don't need the review to tell me about the fabulous specifications -- they are all available in the online manual. What I didn't know I found out after purchasing it, and I was sorely disappointed. But most of my disappointment must be directed at Marantz for shortchanging its loyal customers and fans. I still think they are the best sound engineers in that price range. But when it comes to networking and UI, it's another story. So here are some serious issues I have with the NA7004: 1. The ipod remote control app Wizz is one of the worst apps ever made. It is shamefully inadequate, slow to operate, unreliable and exasperatingly difficult to manage. It does not control volume, does not allow the creation of a playlist as you go while listening to music (which Sonos does), provides very little information on the screen, does not allow to jump between music servers without going postal, and is generally a wretched piece of software ever written. 2. I use the NA7004 as a DAC as well, connecting my old Marantz CD player to it. The point is to enjoy the NA7004's superior DAC while playing CDs. So far so good. But try playing MP3 CDs. Doesn't work. The NA7004 doesn't recognize MP3 digital signals! How weird is that? It can play MP3 from a USB thumb drive but not from a CD? 3. The front USB port cannot handle a big sized external hard disk. I tried connecting my western digital 3TB HDD but to no avail. The NA7004 shows "Loading files" on its screen for ages without actually completing the process. I tried a 500 GB hard drive. Again no result. In fact hooking up hard drives to the player freezes all other functions. Even the Music Server and Internet Radio refused to work while the hard drive was plugged in. 4. The rear USB port is only meant to connect laptop computers. It doesn't take external hard drive. How silly is that? Who would want to sit down a laptop on a music rack! 5. So I call Marantz service support in the U.S. The technician who answers the phone has no answers to my problem. He says he will "escalate" the matter and let his superiors know. When I mention the iphone app, he treats me like I am an idiot. His words: "We NEVER had any complaint from our customers about the app. In fact they LOVE it." Yeah right! Other than that, it is a great system. Only, it's US$450 more expensive than a Sonos, which does all these things and more. I borrowed a friend's Sonos and heard it over several days. Its DAC is darn good. The sound staging is superb and so is the bass. And its iphone app? It's to die for! An absolute joy to operate. Easy, intuitive and everything you can ask for. If you are not an ardent, fanatic audiophile you won't notice the difference in the sound between a Sonos and Marantz. If you are not a Marantz loyalist like me you should save that $450 and buy a Sonos. I would be willing to overlook all these shortcomings if at least its iphone app was presentable. To me, the Wizz is a total deal breaker. Come on Marantz! Get it right. Develop a better app. We are even willing to pay to buy it!!! How's that for a honest review without going ga-ga as most "professional" reviewers tend to? One wonders what is in it for them?