is it worth to upgrade to new 24bit/192kHz streaming board

No.

Thanks for the clear statement. I assume the no fits to all of my questions. The good point behind,  It saves money which I could spend in other projects ;-)

I've wondered the same thing for my Unitiqute. If it was £100 to upgrade as the NDX I probably would, but not for the £2-300 its going to cost. For now if I download anything that is 192khz I'll convert it to 96khz.

If airplay arrives and it needs the update, then maybe I'll reconsider.

It depends how much it costs you to upgrade. I must admit the Meet Me In London in so called Super Hidef is spookily beguiling - perhaps the vocals a little too closely mic'd, as with the guitar, which gives it an unrealistic exaggerated feel, and I think perhaps the reverb is slightly too prominent in places  - I think there is whole new experience and skills  to develop of realistic super hidef recording, but the Meet Me in London album is totally captivating and jaw dropping despite ultimately being unrealistic compared to a live set.. but thoroughly entertaining and of course you can only enjoy it with the new board..

IMHO NO.It is hard enough to get much decent 24/96 music let alone 24/192.

@Simon - think I agree with you about Meet Me In London.

BTW - you could always transcode the 192/24 files down to 96/24 to listen to it without the upgrade board.

Thanks for the exchange. During some investigations yesterday I've found, for me, interessting news on a german webpage in regard to the upgrad board.

".. sondern bietet gegenüber dem alten Board eine deutliche Klangsteigerung beim Streamen aller Dateiformate... und ermöglicht deutlich schnelleres Scrollen im n-Stream-App. 
Außerdem ist es Voraussetzung für die Nutzung einiger zukünftiger Features."

.. translated as summary. The upgrade board should enhance the sound qualitiy of all formats, accelerate the n-Stream App and in addition the board will be the base for future features.

Sounds realistic for me and could be a reason for buying the board beside the fact that 192kHz are actual not needed.

Adler, 

I am happy with the upgrade of the board (rem: My uniti still is a non-digital-ipod one).

As to the behavior of n-stream: I am not sure whether it is the board or the software version.

As to the availabily of decent 192/24 music. I am afraid to have to disagree, Lonatano. Various labels offer quite a rich choice of fine recordings (linn, accusense, pentatone, 2L etc.).

Adca 

So far I'm not reading too much here from anyone who actually had the old board and upgraded/ switched, and has a clear A/B perspective.  I'm curious to hear if you have!  I'm on the verge of making the change for my NDX - no cost  b/c within the grace period, that really helps!

Others thoughts......?

".. sondern bietet gegenüber dem alten Board eine deutliche Klangsteigerung beim Streamen aller Dateiformate... und ermöglicht deutlich schnelleres Scrollen im n-Stream-App. 
Außerdem ist es Voraussetzung für die Nutzung einiger zukünftiger Features."

Could you tell us the address of the german board?

Maybe this one: http://www.schlegelmilch-highend.de/aktuelu at les-meldung/article/naim-ndx-aufruestung-aelterer-modelle-auf-24-bit192-khz.html

IIRC, 24-96 music did not sound worse when streamed over my "old" board. The most significant advantage of my new board is IMHO the ability to stream directly my 24-192 music, instead of having to use a further device as some sort of converterer devices from LAN to Toslink/Coax. This finding is, however, limited to my non-digital-ipod Uniti. The results could be different with other naim devices.

Adca

I'm just having it done. I'm not really interested in 24/192 music or Airplay but for future resale value and the fact Naim are doing it for free it's a no brainer.

James

@ Adca,

thanks for your feedback. Did I get you right that you updated your (non digital ipod ) UNITI with the new board and it's still a non digital ipod UNITI ? I thought, but may I'm wrong, that the update includes the change to a digital iPod Version. Sorry but I don't have the source where I've seen this.To n-stream. I assume that on the "new" board beside the 192 sampling chip are also some more CPU power included which ends IMHO in a performance increase of n-stream. But to be honest. I didn't open the UNITI until now for having a look which components are part of  the sampling board.  
And you're right that the URL http://www.schlegelmilch-highe...f-24-bit192-khz.html
Looking forward to more experience reports or thoughts (could be for sure also philosophical ;-) from the community.

Just received an offering from my local dealer. 24/192 Board exchange will be close to 500€.He told me that he couldn't do this in his store, since I have no digital iPod interface. For this reason the unit must return to manufacture to exchange the analog iPod interface. No add cos,t only shipping will come on top. I'm still uncertain if I should invest into the board exchange. But it turns slowly into a yes because of the benefit of future changes which will be only available with the new board. Still interested in pros and cons. Looking forward to get feedback from your experience. Thanks

Quick input - I recently heard from my dealer, who did their first NDX upgrade, and they told me it is a "significant improvement" in sound!  Good news! I'm still waiting for mine to be updated - hopefully this week - fingers crossed, but I'm MUCH more excited now. I'll share my impressions once the conversions done.

Is the sound improvement just in the digital realm, or does the analog input get any benefit as well?

I have a UnitQute with a NAP250.2, and am looking for a secondhand 202/Hicap/Napsc, but am curious about the upgrade in analog terms.

I can't imagine that the streamer board will make any difference at all to the analogue input of the Qute.  There is no A to D to A conversion as far as I am aware.

That would be my first assumption.

We did an upgrade on a one year old demo UnitQute at Tune. We compared streaming before the upgrade between it and a new 24/192 unit and the difference was startling, really. Was listening to Blue Sky Mining by Midnight Oil for comparison (an HDX rip). New unit has much more texture and tune in the music. Really well ahead. Not just a refinement but a a real step forward in musicality to our ears. Playing through PMC twenty 22.

After the upgrade the two were very close. New unit still sounded a bit better, though, on close scrutiny.

difference through USB input using iPhone was big difference before but didn't compare after the update.

This was all done with 16/44 files. Haven't compared with higher res.

Worth it. Do it. Didn't try analog inputs. I also wouldn't expect a change unless this new board requires less power or throws less noise into the unit in which case it might improve the analog too.

Great work Naim!

I just got a 202/HC/NAPSC to go with the 250-2 I was using with the Qute. Now I have no need for my Qute other than as a network player, so I decided not to spend the money on the board upgrade and apply it instead towards an upgrade to a ND5 XS. That is now on order and due to be waiting for me when I return from my vacation his week. The only thing I am losing is the aerial FM, which I never used anyway. I have an old Rega Radio (1) if I really want FM.  

Is that the Rega Radio that is only half chassis depth front to back? Cute. 

Great choice on the ND5 xs. I have one at home running through Nait2 and Epos 11ES presently. UnitiServe is source. Tremendous. Let us know how it does for you.

Yes, that's the one. One downside is it has no remote, but I only listen to two local stations anyway (one jazz, the other PBS). My wife bought it as a wedding gift for me back in '95. Looking forward to the NDS.