Blog Archive

Monday, November 7, 2011

Marantz NA7004 Network Audio Player (Black)

Network Audio Player, DLNA ver. 1.5 certified DMP (Digital Media Player) & DMR (Digital Media Renderer), Internet Radio(v-Tuner), Online streaming service available: napster, PANDORA and Phapsody, Front USB(type A) input for music playback with iPod/iPhone digital connection or USB memory, Rear USB(Type B)/Optical/Coax digital inputs enable D/A converter mode for external music source, Rear inputs support high quality format files USB: up to 96kHz/24bit, Optiacl&Coaxial: up to 192kHz/24bit, Bluetooth capability with option RX101, Supporting WMA, MP3, MPEG-4 AAC, WAV and FLAC format files, iPhone/iPod Touch Apps Control, Discrete high quality analog audio circuits with marantz HDAM-SA2, Hand held remote controller, Compatible with Windows7, Supporting UPnP,

Amazon Sales Rank: #297 in Receiver or Amplifier Color: Black Brand: Marantz Model: NA7004 Dimensions: 4.27" h x 17.32" w x 13.46" l, 15.00 pounds DLNA version 1.5 certified digital media player Supports - WMA, MP3, MPEG-4 AAC, WAV, FLAC USB input with iPod digital interface, Internet radio Discrete Symmetric circuit architecture with HDAM 2 D/A Converter Mode providing 3 digital inputs

Most helpful customer reviews 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Works Well By J. White Have had this for 3 days now and am very happy with it. The first thing I did after setting up was to download the firmware update. Sound quality is very good using the optical output - especially if you use lossless material like FLAC. Through the optical output I would say sound coloration character is "neutral". I have read reviews elsewhere that say sound quality was uneven while using the analog outs. My past experience with Marantz leads me to believe that break in of at least a hundred hours is necessary for those type of analog output stages to "flatten up. I tested the unit with 320 AAC files, 24 bit 96 khz FLAC, and WAV files and very good sound was obtained. Internet radio is the best sounding of any unit I have ever used. I am foremost a fan of vinyl but I can truly say this unit makes digital files "listenable". Much better sound then I expected . I hear no evidence of fatique at all. I went ahead and purchased the 50 buck firmware upgrade to enable airplay functionality with Apple Ipod, Itunes, iPad products and tested it all tonight. Very satisfying. I connected an iPod to the unit and that also worked very well.In conclusion I feel the unit is worth the price and recommend it. So what are the "cons'? One I can think of is that it is outrageous that Marantz does not provide the Airplay firmware upgrade free of charge to people buying the product today. The other things I dislike is that the unit will not decode 24 bit 192Khz FLAC files or Apple Lossless ones. You are however able to play Apple Lossless files stored in Itunes on your computer or iOS devices via Airplay and sound quality is excellent. Is this unit for the rabid audiophile with a 100k system? Probably not. It produces great sound for a mid range system though and I feel a large portion of listeners will be very happy with it. 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Very Pleased - Fantastic Sound By Marc P. I have had my eye on the NA7004 for quite some time. I purchased the NA7004 first and foremost to be used as a DAC (and second as a network audio player), and I am very pleased with it. The sounds is excellent...the DAC circuitry within the machine is from some of Marantz's much more expensive equipment which was limited edition and now sold out (KI Series). As another reviewer mentioned, break-in is important. I let it run with CD's on repeat and and amplifier off for 3 days straight. I have been using it as an external DAC for a CD transport, as an external DAC for a digital music server, and I also have it connected to my network to play stored digital music files. I rip my own CD's in FLAC format. It also sounds great with lower bandwidth material - 320 Kbit and even 256 still sound quite good. FLAC is excellent, however. For me, this component has changed my audio system very significantly. It features an "M-Dax" circuit, which I don't use. The sound without M-Dax is great so why mess it up with processing? In all, sound is very much three-dimensional, super quiet, very dynamic, and overall tonally balanced. It sounds very natural and blows away any other digital sources I've had attached to my system. The ability to play internet radio stations is a very pleasant surprise - there are some which broadcast in high bitrates and I am very impressed with the amount of content you can access and play back in very high quality with the NA7004. It is also great to be able to play Pandora through the NA7004. In all, this component is a terrific addition to my system and I sure wish I saw more good reviews for it. There is a nifty iPhone app ("Wizz App") - a free download from iTunes - which serves as a remote control. You can also control it from a computer on your network by hitting its IP address. Very handy. The only area in which I am disappointed is with its use as a media player with a UPNP Network Attached Storage (NAS) media

0 comments:

Post a Comment