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THE STREAMING PLATFORMS PLAYING CATCH-UP WITH GAPLESS MUSIC

The review of the Quad Vena II Play platform has no native support for
amplifi er/DAC [HFN May ’20] made services like Qobuz. The only way
no mention of whether or not DTS you would be able to access it would
Play-Fi supports gapless playback. be by using Chromecast, which also
I decided to check the current state does not support gapless playback
of play (no pun intended) for myself unless, of course, you are using it via
and went to the Play-Fi website. Roon. I checked with Primare itself,
The latest update says that as yet, and the company confi rmed this.
gapless playback is not available. It Paul Regeli, via email
is somewhere on the agenda with no
timeline or date for implementation. Andrew Everard replies: I find it amazing

Perhaps even more extraordinary, that this long-running problem hasn’t
a ‘bonus’ feature is being offered in been sorted by now. As a classical music
beta form to allow BubbleUPnP to be listener, I find the gaps between sections

used – albeit with limitations – so that of an opera or oratorio, which should fl ow
the streamer can be operated as a into each other, to be intensely irritating.
renderer without streaming through The old excuse is that such systems are
a phone or tablet. So the DTS idea mainly listened to by those who play
of a bonus feature is to allow the use ‘songs’, and not whole classical works,
of a third-party app to overcome the but that really doesn’t hold up either. After
limitations of its own software. all, try listening to a dance mix, and those
Scarcely able to believe what I was gaps render it just as annoying too.
reading, I contacted Quad and the No, DTS Play-Fi still doesn’t support
engineer to whom I spoke confi rmed gapless playback, not even in its latest Four years ago, AudioQuest shook the
this was the case. He suggested ‘Quality of Life Improvements’, but there’s hi-fi world with our first DragonFly
that I phone back in a month or so. perhaps better news regarding Primare. DAC–Preamp–Headphone Amp—the
This I did, to be told that nothing had While at the moment Qobuz gapless is rare audio product that brought more
changed. As an aside, I believe that supported in AirPlay, but not Chromecast, compelling sound to all music lovers,
Play-Fi is not Roon compatible. the company points out that ‘We are playing high-res files to MP3s on per-
I suspect that much of the current currently in discussion with Qobuz fectionist systems and modest laptops.
trouble with Play-Fi is that it was regarding the adoption of their Connect
designed for consumers having platform, in part to provide gapless Now, the new DragonFly Black and
multiple devices dotted around the and resolution up to 192kHz/24-bit’, but DragonFly Red exceed their prede-
home, with multiple tablets or phones cautions that it ‘can’t be sure when we cessor in every way, delivering more
in use by a number of different family might be able to offer that (maybe around beautiful music, boasting software
members at the same time. As a the time Qobuz is available in Sweden)’. upgradability, and providing compat-

purist hi-fi application, in my opinion It adds that ‘with Roon, either using ibility with Android and Apple iOS
at least, it fails. The other solutions I Chromecast built-in as endpoint (again mobile devices.
have tried run rings around it. 96kHz/24-bit) or soon with the pending
While on the subject of reviews, Roon Ready update (192kHz/24-bit), you While Black offers more clarity, depth
you have not mentioned in your will be able to play Qobuz gapless, along and category-defining value than ever
recent tests of Primare products with the many other features Roon media before, the take-no-prisoners Red pro-
incorporating Prisma that this management software provides’. vides even more finesse, resolution,
torque and more than enough pow-
er to drive even the most demanding
headphones.
The word is out: DigitalAudioReview.
net’s John Darko calls DragonFly Red
and Black “the finest examples of ev-
eryman hifi to ever grace these pages.
Their value quotients explode the dial.”
Let the joyful experience begin!

ABOVE: Quad’s Vena II Play supports hi-res streaming over a home network via DTS Play-Fi

DECEMBER 2020 | www.hifi news.co.uk | 117