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Pandora One on Home Audio System

Sorry if this has been covered before. I tried doing a search but couldn't find relevant threads.

My home system is relatively modest: An NAD C 725BEE receiver driving vintage JSE Infinite Slope Model 1.2's.

We are playing Pandora through an iPod and the NAD IPD 2 dock.

We've upgraded to Pandora One, but can't get the higher bitrate audio through the iPod (or even the 128k). We don't really want to hook up a laptop or PC to the system.

What device can receive the Pandora One and other streaming music services at maximum bitrate through our home network? It would be easy to run an Ethernet cable to the receiver if wireless won't do.

My budget isn't unlimited but I want the best sound possible through the rest of my system.

Thanks in advance.
nicholas_fivepennies
onemug
784 posts
 
Have you gone into "settings" in the Pandora menu and selected the higher rate for streaming?

I have an iPod Touch that receives Pandora thru our wifi network. Upgrading to Pandora One was an improvement but lately I've been listening to MOG which is even better yet.

In the quest for the most enjoyment, the iTouch sits on a dock that routes the pure digital stream to my dact. Very enjoyable.
tgrisham
1,291 posts
 
I have been playing my iPod and iPod touch through the Pure I-20 available on amazon for $99 and sometimes less. Bypasses the iPod and puts out a pure digital stream or RCA analog out. I haven't used it in my big system but on the small one Pandora One sounds good. Especially when I play it through a DAC.
nicholas_fivepennies OP
13 posts
 
I did find the setting for higher quality on the iPod, thanks. Still, it looks like the best I can do that way is 64k per the response to an email I sent to Pandora:

Currently all in-home devices receive 128k MP3 audio. Mobile devices receive a variety of different rates depending on the capability of the device and the network they are on, but never more than 64k AAC+. Pandora on the Web or the Desktop app plays 64k AAC+ for free listeners and 192k for PandoraOne subscribers.

We don't have the resources to do everything we'd like to do all at once. Someday hopefully we can change the Pandora API so in-home devices like yours can receive higher bit-rate audio.

We do have a list of all the Pandora supported devices for your home here: http://www.pandora.com/everywhere/home

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

I've been researching devices and have narrowed it down to a few. I would have probably been happy with the Squeezebox Touch but Logitech has discontinued it and the prices on the secondary market are ridiculous. I'm considering either the Denon DNP-720AE , the Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30 or the Marantz NA7004 and am leaning toward the Denon as it will do what I want and can be replaced when the technology matures more without throwing away too much money.

Anyone have experience with these and able to make recommendations?

Thanks again.
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