Marantz NA11-S1

[ingemar]

Good day Gentlemans.

After the latest firmware update i'm not satisfied with the sq via the usb connection and my uptone regen don't work anymore with this firmware!Do you guyz know if it's possible to rollback to the previous firmware.

Kindly/Ingemar

[witchdoctor]

Good day Gentlemans.

After the latest firmware update i'm not satisfied with the sq via the usb connection and my uptone regen don't work anymore with this firmware!Do you guyz know if it's possible to rollback to the previous firmware.

Kindly/Ingemar

 

Did you contact Marantz support?

[ingemar]

Yes i have, but it seems like nobody knows!

[mansr]

Most Marantz gear allows installing any firmware version from a USB stick. You can download firmware and installation instructions from http://firmware.marantz.eu/, though only some versions are available.

[Cebolla]

Hi Ingemar,

 

Has the latest firmware also affected the sound quality of the Marantz NA-11S1's own internal audio file player, especially as a network streamer?

 

Incidentally, why are you using the NA-11S1 as a 'lowly' external DAC tethered to a computer with software playing the music and not as the 'reference standard' network audio player as touted by Marantz, if you don't mind me asking?

 

John

[CatManDo]

Did the firmware upgrade come with a changelog?

 

I can't access the firmware download page, as it's required to indicate a serial number.

[ingemar]

Hi John.

The reason is simply that i prefer the sound via the usb with my caps 4 win server 2012 r2 optimized with ao,roonserver with hqp via hqp naa but my wife loves to use it with airplay.

Kindly/Ingemar

[ingemar]

Hi Catmando.

The same happens to me also,the only thing i can do is to read the changelog,nothing else.

[CatManDo]

I was surprised to read that Marantz offered a firmware upgrade, because they rarely do that with audio products. They don't do continuous firmware development like Oppo and others.

 

In this case, it seems it was necessary because of the Pandora service:

 

https://marantz.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3943/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ3NjQ1MjMwNS9zaWQvdFNsUnc0MW4%3D

 

So it could be that nothing else was changed and that your USB problem is a coincidence.

 

Concerning your problems with connecting the Regen, I think it would be better to contact Uptone, since Marantz will probably answer that the NA11-S1 should be connected directly to your computer, without any other device inbetween.

[ingemar]

Changelog of NA11S1

 

 

 

 

last updated 10.11.2016

 

 

 

**************************************************************

 

10.11.2016

(MZ16-042, NA11S1/N1B, N1G)

 

 

1) German-specific text characters (Ä, Ö and Ü) are not displayed correctly when the customer plays a specific IR station (WDR3 FM93.1 Cologne Live, NDR Kultur, RBB Kulturradio WDR3, 100prozentvolksmusik laut.fm, Antenne Brandenburg vom rbb 99.7 FM, WDR 4 FM 90.7, Fritz vom rbb 102.6 FM, Fritz vom rbb 103.2 FM and radioeins) in Germany. The symptom is a problem that German-specific text characters (Ä, Ö and Ü) are not displayed correctly.

2) When the customer connects iPod/USB and MediaServer to the product, and music is played, the product was a specification that do an unnecessary access to the Last.fm server. Therefore, when the failed occurs on the Last.fm server side, the failure of the stop of playing of the music of iPod/USB and MediaServer might occur. The symptom is a problem that when the failed occurs on the Last.fm server side, the failure of the stop of playing of the music of iPod/USB and MediaServer might occur.

3) When the product is connected to the network environment where the personal computer of Windows10 are connected and the customer plays the streaming music of Pandora by the product, behavior of a network device IC will be unstable, so the network function (network device IC) reboots. The symptom is a problem that the network function (network device IC) reboots when the customer plays the streaming music of Pandora by the product.

4) Modified Digital Signature Algorithm to support SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorighm-2) for SSL digital certificate used by login of internet services.

[TubeLover]

Hi Ingemar,

Incidentally, why are you using the NA-11S1 as a 'lowly' external DAC tethered to a computer with software playing the music and not as the 'reference standard' network audio player as touted by Marantz, if you don't mind me asking?

 

John

John, with all due respect, my friend, (and you're knowledge in Computer Audio more than dwarfs mine), the DAC portion of the NA-11S1 was considered virtually world class just a couple years back. It was, in fact, recommended solely as a DAC by many dealers, as the rest of the units performance did not equal the DAC's quality. And trust me, I know about the vagaries and issues with Marantz streaming units as well as their software.

 

From the noted John Atkinson of Stereophile ""The Marantz Reference NA-11S1's multiplicity of source options was a joy... Even without considering its capabilities as a media player, this is a first-rate D/A converter that offers sound quality competitive with the best at a relatively affordable price." Class A Rating

 

From Music Direct " Internal DAC Equivalent to Five-Figure Models: You Must Hear This DAC

The DSD-ready DAC alone is more than worth the price of the NA-11S1. If not made by Marantz—which has the efficiency, in-house factories, and experience no other DAC manufacturers possess—this DAC would be sold for five figures. We're not exaggerating.

 

JC

[Cebolla]

Precisely, JC, an audio file player with an ideal direct I2S internal connection to its own fabulous DAC, so why 'risk' the external connection to an audio file player in another box?

 

A couple of possible reasons:

the first is as you say some issues with the NA-11S1's UPnP/DLNA streaming support & its controller app (though under UPnP/DLNA, 'better' third party control points should be able to be used);

the other is as the OP has pointed out, use of a 'better' external player such as the HQPlayer software mentioned (hopefully with its enhanced features tailored to the NA-11S1's DAC, otherwise why bother?).

 

Shame on Marantz if their support of UPnP/DLNA audio file network streaming makes it so unusable as to relegate the NA-11S1's network capabilities to just being an AirPlay 'speaker' for the OP's wife!

[ingemar]

And one more thing is that i can't stream dsd files via ethernet connections,just via usb.

[witchdoctor]

I was surprised to read that Marantz offered a firmware upgrade, because they rarely do that with audio products. They don't do continuous firmware development like Oppo and others.

 

In this case, it seems it was necessary because of the Pandora service:

 

https://marantz.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3943/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ3NjQ1MjMwNS9zaWQvdFNsUnc0MW4%3D

 

So it could be that nothing else was changed and that your USB problem is a coincidence.

 

Concerning your problems with connecting the Regen, I think it would be better to contact Uptone, since Marantz will probably answer that the NA11-S1 should be connected directly to your computer, without any other device inbetween.

 

I just had the firmware upgrade to my Marantz 7702 processor last week. It fixed my HDMI handshake issue with my Optoma PJ along with Pandora.

[witchdoctor]

And one more thing is that i can't stream dsd files via ethernet connections,just via usb.

 

I can stream them via HDMI

[Cebolla]

And one more thing is that i can't stream dsd files via ethernet connections,just via usb.

Wow, huge oversight the NA-11S1's internal player not supporting DSD files, considering its own DAC supports DSD - so much for its 'reference standard' status!

 

Incidentally, USB audio does not stream any audio files as such - it sends the realtime (PCM) digital audio signal produced by the computer's audio file player software that actually decodes and plays the files.

 

Presumably, the NA-11S1 supports receiving the DSD audio signal via its USB DAC audio input as DSD over PCM (DoP). Have you similarly tried using DoP over the network via UPnP/DLNA with the NA-11S1, eg, by using the excellent MinimServer UPnP media server, which can transcode DSD files to DoP as WAV (dopwav)?

[ingemar]

Nopp,haven't tryed that.But i'm satisfied with the usb or was satisfied until this last firmware upgrade.But anyhow maybe it's time to move on to something else,have been thinking about a couple of dacs like,t+a dsd or some of the lampiz.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Ingemar

[Mike Pinkerton]

If the NA11 is anything like my NA-8005, the ability to act as a player is basically useless. Some tracks simply won't play (customer service couldn't figure out why), the menus are painfully slow (even for small catalogs), the iOS apps freak out and crash often, there's no organization or metadata like Roon, and to top it all off, every 2 weeks my NA8005 drops off the network and has to be unplugged.

 

So yeah, it's a great USB DAC, but everything else about it wasted by Marantz and their poor firmware and iOS apps. It's a great endpoint for Roon and a RPi streamer, but nothing else is reliable.

[Cebolla]

Hi Mike

 

By dropping off the network, do you mean its IP address was no longer accessable (eg by pinging it) or that it had disappeared as a UPnP/DLNA device? It may have been due to some problem with your network's management of IGMP multicast, usually performed by the router, as that's what's used in UPnP device discovery.

 

It's quite common for manufacturer's own controller app to be unsatisfactory. Did you have similar playback issues with the Marantz using a third party UPnP/DLNA controller, such as the excellent BubbleUPnP Android app, streaming audio files from a decent UPnP media server, like MinimServer?

 

Did you make a comparison with another UPnP streamer on your network, so a box for box swap with same type of network connection (ie wired or wireless) and using the exact same controller app & media server? For example, the Raspberry Pi has network audio file playing distros that can allow it to be used as a UPnP renderer like the Marantz (eg Volumio, Moode Audio, RuneAudio, etc).

 

John

[Mike Pinkerton]

Its IP address was no longer accessible (couldn't ping it, Marantz app couldn't see it, airplay wouldn't connect, etc). Happened for DHCP and for static IP. Unplugging the unit would magically fix it.

 

The playback issues weren't anything to do with the controller app, even when driven directly from the device, the tracks would not play (same tracks would play fine in Roon or Audirvana off the NAS).

 

I didn't spend much time diagnosing UPnP/DLNA since direct USB works fine, and the other issues like tracks not playing were deal-breakers.

[jay]

After going about a year without using this DAC, I decided to pull it from retirement and use it in a third system.  I made the choice to look for the firmware upgrade, which appeared to brick the unit.  When I woke up this morning, the updates had somehow "fixed" themselves to the latest, and it booted up fine.  However, now none of the digital inputs work, at least that I can tell...USB and coax.  Was I too victimized by the upgrade?

 

The network features still work, or appear to, and I can at least Airplay to it from Roon, which I will admit I didn't know Roon could do as I don't have a need or ability to Airplay in my main listening system.

 

But it appears this can no longer be used as a DAC, for me anyway...I won't buy another Marantz high-end unit again...which is too bad, as it sounds fantastic.

[Faxe]

Marantz released a new firmware that makes it possible to use Spotify Connect: http://marantz-uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6022/~/spotify-does-not-work