UnitiServe V Sonore
Posted by: Tog on 20 December 2010
As a bit of festive devilry I thought I would break with tradition and avoid mentioning the NDX (the Scarlet Pimpernel of streaming) and suggest that Sonore's take on the UnitiServe (at half the cost with SSD and 2TB drive) would make a worthy adversary.
Perhaps a future TogServe?
I wonder what would have happened if Naim had licensed Vortexbox. It certainly proves to me that the Serve IMHO is overpriced. If a small company can produce hardware as good as the Serve with open source software it suggests to me that either Naim's margins are substantial or the cost of creating their own software was prohibitive.
Which brings me back to a Naim/Vortexbox server - maybe in a parallel "Fringe"-like world?
Tog
Perhaps a future TogServe?
I wonder what would have happened if Naim had licensed Vortexbox. It certainly proves to me that the Serve IMHO is overpriced. If a small company can produce hardware as good as the Serve with open source software it suggests to me that either Naim's margins are substantial or the cost of creating their own software was prohibitive.
Which brings me back to a Naim/Vortexbox server - maybe in a parallel "Fringe"-like world?
Tog
@Ip12 good points - well made
@Patrick - well we can certainly agree on the general sorry state of UPnP and yes Linn do have problems with it although they openly encourage third party development. However, you have missed the fact the Serve's implementation is proprietary UPnP.
@David - No I don't think Naim is ripping us off in Britain - the only people who have done that
are the bankers who took 80 billion out of our economy. You have missed the bit where I said how nice the Serve is and how well built. It looks lovely and is easy to use but I don't think "Even the brain dead can use a Naim!" will catch on as a strap line.
I think I made two specific points
1. I suggest that much of the reasonable cost of the Serve comes from software development rather than the hardware components.
2. There are viable commercial alternatives and unless you are obsessed with one brand they are worthy of consideration.
I like Naim products, I buy Naim products but I don't wear a Naim tea shirt in bed every night.
Do other premium vendors have the right to charge premium prices - of course they do - it doesn't mean that all of them produce products that are worth the money. I rather thought that the intelligent approach was to judge each product on its merits rather than adopt a brand no matter what ... The UnitiServe is positively cheap compared to the stupid amounts of cash demanded by some for their server offerings.
However, it is perfectly possible to both build your own server and source a quality bespoke commercial alternative for under 50% of the cost of the serve so surely you would indeed need to be brain dead not to consider this as an option. This argument does not apply to amps and my next purchase will be a Nap 200!
Quality - yes I understand that which is why I drive a stupidy expensive British 4x4 rather than a cheaper alternative. Mind you I could build my own - where is that welding kit?
Snowing again the woods - Tog
@Patrick - well we can certainly agree on the general sorry state of UPnP and yes Linn do have problems with it although they openly encourage third party development. However, you have missed the fact the Serve's implementation is proprietary UPnP.
@David - No I don't think Naim is ripping us off in Britain - the only people who have done that
are the bankers who took 80 billion out of our economy. You have missed the bit where I said how nice the Serve is and how well built. It looks lovely and is easy to use but I don't think "Even the brain dead can use a Naim!" will catch on as a strap line.
I think I made two specific points
1. I suggest that much of the reasonable cost of the Serve comes from software development rather than the hardware components.
2. There are viable commercial alternatives and unless you are obsessed with one brand they are worthy of consideration.
I like Naim products, I buy Naim products but I don't wear a Naim tea shirt in bed every night.
Do other premium vendors have the right to charge premium prices - of course they do - it doesn't mean that all of them produce products that are worth the money. I rather thought that the intelligent approach was to judge each product on its merits rather than adopt a brand no matter what ... The UnitiServe is positively cheap compared to the stupid amounts of cash demanded by some for their server offerings.
However, it is perfectly possible to both build your own server and source a quality bespoke commercial alternative for under 50% of the cost of the serve so surely you would indeed need to be brain dead not to consider this as an option. This argument does not apply to amps and my next purchase will be a Nap 200!
Quality - yes I understand that which is why I drive a stupidy expensive British 4x4 rather than a cheaper alternative. Mind you I could build my own - where is that welding kit?
Snowing again the woods - Tog
Lighten up Tog it's Christmasquote:Originally posted by Tog:
No I don't think Naim is ripping us off in Britain - the only people who have done that are the bankers who took 80 billion out of our economy.
Snowing again the woods - Tog
You may get a Naim T-shirt for Xmas after all.
Merry Christmas Rotf
quote:Originally posted by likesmusic:
Interesting that David Dever characterises (presumably his) customers for the Unitiserve as 'nearly brain-dead'!
On some days, I nearly resemble that remark!
Merry Christmas 
Tog
Tog
Nope. If you were to add internet streaming capabilities to the UnitiServe, which is a CD transport/ripping device/hard-disk player/centralized media player, you would get ... further confusion in the Naim lineupquote:Originally posted by pcstockton:quote:It think Naim may have overlooked a good marketable product:
A streamer that is to be used as a high quality single device network attached mediaplayer and which doesn't need to be used in a multi-device/multi-room UPnP streaming setup. Something like the UnitiServe with added internet streaming capabilities.
What do you think?
I think that is the NDX... right?
And anyway, you can already stream through the Serve, with a bit of patience, using SongBook for Naim.
quote:Originally posted by Tog:
Hi Phil
In the sense that you have written your own server software rather than use an open source implementation. I'm sure it does conform to standards but it is built specifically to work most effectively with your own clients and in that way it is proprietary.
I have found that most Mac based UPnP servers to be at best Heath Robinson and at worst simply dreadful. MiniDLNA on Fedora/Vortexbox works well with Uniti clients.
So proprietary in the sense that it was built to work best with Naim kit - which I fully understand.
Tog
Nahhhh! We didn't write the server to work with the Uniti/UnitiQute ... just implemented them both to the same interpretation of the spec.
Phil