ARCAM Radia

I just bought the new Arcam SA35 integrated streaming amplifier as an upgrade from my NAD C388 which was frustrating insofar as streaming was concerned. To be clear, the SA35 blows away the NAD in both functionality and sound quality, but the Radia app definitely lags the BluOS functionality of the NAD. First and foremost, the Qobuz integration in the Radia app is downright awful. While it does maintain a reliable connection, unlike BluOS in the NAD, the UI is not only totally unattractive, but missing key data like the artist’s name when viewing albums in Qobuz’ recommended album view. I wish there was some way to incorporate Qobuz’ GUI and ease of use into the Radia app. Doing so would significantly increase the end-user experience and go a long way to addressing most if not all the criticisms the app has generated.

This app is not really fit for purpose. Compared to other Arcam apps it is bare bones basic. Yes it allows you to play music on the ST5 but gives you little or no control over the unit’s settings. For example, the ST5 has a bad habit of switching rom bitstream output to analogue output midstream with no apparent reason - the app has no facility to switch the setting back. As for controlling your music this app could not be more basic - it feels like it was created by a ten year old. The search feature barely works and takes multiple steps to produce a mush-mash of poorly related results, The playlist listings, especially from Qobuz often list just an album title but give no artist information. There’s no way to jump from the app to itherARCAM CONTROL APPS SUCH AS THE ONE THAT CONTROLS THEIR AMPS. THEIR ‘music life” app that has been around much longer allows one touch switching between ARCAMS AMP CONTROLLER AND ‘music life”. Itt’s a real shame that the ST5, a pretty good streaming unit, la badly let down by an absolutely awfull app. As a long standing ARCAM affecionada of more that three decades, I am seriously concerned at the very poor quality that Arcam seem happy to put out to its customers with this app.

The arcam ST5 sounds great. The app is awful can not control the volume. I bought the unit in 2023 and next to no app updates. Clearly the people who work there never listen to music using their lousy app.