The UnitiServe Appreciation Thread
Posted by: Jan-Erik Nordoen on 24 September 2010
Posting permitted only if you've actually lived with the Serve 
Opinion based on others' opinions ? Please abstain 
It was Robert Charlebois who convinced me. Well, actually, his double CD 'Tout Écartillé' put together as a tribute to his life's work. Prior to the UnitiServe, this album drove me up the wall, and that was played through a CDS2. Playing through the Bryston BCD-1 as a front end to the nDAC provided more detail and texture, but still failed to connect me with the music (and still drove me up the wall). Ripped to the UnitiServe and connected to the nDAC with the DC1 and (horrors!) a RCA-BNC adapter, I sat with my wife (she's the Charlebois fan) and listened to the full set, completely enraptured. I finally got what his music is about, and relived every phase of his work from the folkish songwriter, through the psychedelic years, to his Zappa influenced stuff. If a piece of hi-fi gear can bring me closer to my wife by better understanding some of the music that was important to her, and bring me closer to the culture of the province in which I live, then it is something special in my book.
After acquiring the nDAC, I was, like many who bought into the device, waiting for the other shoe to drop. For me the UnitiServe is it. A digital source that can connect me that directly with the artist and his work is all I need. There is a sense of ease, a relaxed presentation to the music, a feeling that once again, as in my vinyl days, the music just flows and makes sense, no matter the genre, or the recording. This is what Naim does best and what has kept me with the brand. And the interface options ? Superbly well thought out ; as simple or as sophisticated as you like.
In other threads I read that the HDX is *better* or that the SQ from the Serve is not *optimal*, and that Naim *skimped* on the power supply. True or not, I really don't care, because what I am hearing is just so far ahead of what CD players have accustomed me to, that there is just no comparison.
So I can't *upgrade* the Serve with a power supply. How refreshing!
The Serve has fundamentally changed the way I interact with and listen to music. It provides a neat one-box solution for transporting music from the weekday home to the weekend home, and also happens to be a top-flight source.
Have I lived with the HDX? No. Is it *better* than the Serve? You be the judge. For me, the UnitiServe and the nDAC is just such a great combination that I can finally stop worrying about my source. If you'll excuse me, I have stacks of music to catch up with.
Jan
Opinion based on others' opinions ? Please abstain It was Robert Charlebois who convinced me. Well, actually, his double CD 'Tout Écartillé' put together as a tribute to his life's work. Prior to the UnitiServe, this album drove me up the wall, and that was played through a CDS2. Playing through the Bryston BCD-1 as a front end to the nDAC provided more detail and texture, but still failed to connect me with the music (and still drove me up the wall). Ripped to the UnitiServe and connected to the nDAC with the DC1 and (horrors!) a RCA-BNC adapter, I sat with my wife (she's the Charlebois fan) and listened to the full set, completely enraptured. I finally got what his music is about, and relived every phase of his work from the folkish songwriter, through the psychedelic years, to his Zappa influenced stuff. If a piece of hi-fi gear can bring me closer to my wife by better understanding some of the music that was important to her, and bring me closer to the culture of the province in which I live, then it is something special in my book.
After acquiring the nDAC, I was, like many who bought into the device, waiting for the other shoe to drop. For me the UnitiServe is it. A digital source that can connect me that directly with the artist and his work is all I need. There is a sense of ease, a relaxed presentation to the music, a feeling that once again, as in my vinyl days, the music just flows and makes sense, no matter the genre, or the recording. This is what Naim does best and what has kept me with the brand. And the interface options ? Superbly well thought out ; as simple or as sophisticated as you like.
In other threads I read that the HDX is *better* or that the SQ from the Serve is not *optimal*, and that Naim *skimped* on the power supply. True or not, I really don't care, because what I am hearing is just so far ahead of what CD players have accustomed me to, that there is just no comparison.
So I can't *upgrade* the Serve with a power supply. How refreshing!
The Serve has fundamentally changed the way I interact with and listen to music. It provides a neat one-box solution for transporting music from the weekday home to the weekend home, and also happens to be a top-flight source.
Have I lived with the HDX? No. Is it *better* than the Serve? You be the judge. For me, the UnitiServe and the nDAC is just such a great combination that I can finally stop worrying about my source. If you'll excuse me, I have stacks of music to catch up with.
Jan
quote:I have stacks of music to catch up with.
Cheers!!!!!!!!!quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
For the Classic and Uniti level / range of equipment, I feel sure the Serve is amply good enough
Posts like this crack me up. I feel sure that even those with reference level gear could not reliably tell the difference between HDX, Serve or Mac Mini.
My *actual* experience with the Serve has been very positive. The user interface is great; it sounds sublime. For me, the best sound is via the digital out of the Serve itself into a DAC (a Uniti, and I've also tried it into a Lavry and Carry Audio DAC in my more resolving systems).
Streaming from the Serve through Sonos wirelessly to other systems in the house also works flawlessly. For sure it doesn't sound as good as the wired connections, but it is more than good enough for casual listening.
It is the wireless streaming to the other systems that is the next step for me. Sonos works well but I have the feeling that I should be able to get a little better sound without breaking the bank (a Linn streamer? NDX? Other?).
Surely that is what matters - you hit the sound that you really like. I'm personally happy with my Apple music server through my Naim DAC, but then I'm still happy to listen to my CDX2 and even the LP12 - guess I've just learned to be a happy kind of a guyquote:In other threads I read that the HDX is *better* or that the SQ from the Serve is not *optimal*, and that Naim *skimped* on the power supply. True or not, I really don't care, because what I am hearing is just so far ahead of what CD players have accustomed me to, that there is just no comparison.
Anyway next year there is going to be a product released that will make everybody's system sound broken
quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
Maybe he disappeared up his own .......
If that's the case, then he is not welcome back...without a good scrubbing anyway.
quote:Seriously, my own take on this from my limited tests? It's down to the music player in software and to the quality of the PSU feeding the components (different internal components notwithstanding). IMO, it's not down to the ripping, assuming you have an accurate rip.
If one software player is delivering bit perfect output, and another is not, then I totally agree.
And your PSU comment makes a lot of sense in the context of the aforementioned environmental effects. Less noise and vibration should result in fewer ill effects on the DAC and preamp. But it is harder to envision this mattering when using an optical connection.
Hook
But how can you if you've not actually heard the Serve, as you've indicated in another threadquote:Originally posted by AllenB:quote:Originally posted by Obsessed1:quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
For the Classic and Uniti level / range of equipment, I feel sure the Serve is amply good enough
Posts like this crack me up. I feel sure that even those with reference level gear could not reliably tell the difference between HDX, Serve or Mac Mini.
Ohhh, yes you can
Jan
quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
The Serve has been confirmed to not be quite the same SQ as the newer HDX on the dig out...
I must have missed where that was confirmed. I seem to recall reading that was the impression of one or two members of the forum, but should we take this as fact? Has HQ confirmed that the Serve was designed to have lower replay quality? Or are the impressions of one or two being mindlessly repeated thus giving the (potentially false) impression of being fact?
More helpful would be if more members could hear both units at home and post their impressions. In fact, this was the request of the original poster (the bit in bold, on the first line).
quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
...
Not sure on this, it seems software players do sound different to me, even when the stream is bit perfect. Even embedded players such as in the HDX.
And if a PSU can have an effect on the digital out of a unit (HDX / Serve) then it's got to the stream before the cable, whether optical or not? Not challenging you, just the way I see it
Allen
Hi Allen -
A source either outputs a perfect bit stream from its S/PDIF port to the DAC (which then buffers and re-clocks), or it does not. A power supply would have to be seriously broken to have an adverse effect.
So if the source does deliver those bits perfectly, then the only thing that can mess them up is S/PDIF-related jitter. Just read in an old DAC-related thread where Likesmusic quoted the Naim DAC white paper as saying:
"In the Naim DAC the master clock is not recovered from the S/PDIF signal as usual. Instead the audio data is read from S/PDIF, stored in solid-state memory and then clocked back out to the DAC chips using a fixed-frequency local master clock. This eliminates jitter caused by S/PDIF."
So if the source sends the correct bits, and if jitter does not prevent those bits from reaching the Naim DAC buffer intact, it becomes very hard to envision how two sources for the DAC can sound different.
That said, I have never doubted that people are hearing differences. But as I said before, it took dozens and dozens of thread pages for the best technical minds on this forum to come to come up with three (and only three) reasons why sources for the for DAC may sound different:
1) the sources are not sending the same bits,
2) the DAC is broken (or, more accurately, it is not working according to the circuit diagram shown in the white paper), or
3) there are environmental (and not source-related) differences at work (RFI, EMI, vibration, etc.) that are having an effect downstream from the DAC buffer.
With that I'll stop commenting. For reasons I have never understood, this became a very emotional topic for many people, and the last thing I want to do is piss anyone off all over again. As Munch once said, this audio forum stuff is supposed to be fun!
Hook
Yes it was, thanks.quote:Originally posted by Obsessed1:
More helpful would be if more members could hear both units at home and post their impressions. In fact, this was the request of the original poster (the bit in bold, on the first line).
If my count is correct, so far only one reply from a Serve owner... my guess is that the rest are just too gobsmacked to pull themselves away from their listening seats and post here
I forgot to mention that the Serve is also a stellar CD transport. For those of you looking for a top-notch transport to front your DACs, it's worth serious consideration. And hey, a bonus ! you can also store up to 1200 CDs on it
In fact, sell that stack of discs at $3 a pop and you've paid for the machine... Jan
Exactly, and we certainly wouldn't want to start a discussion of the differences in digital output SQ between the Serve's S/PDIF and RJ45 jacks...quote:Originally posted by ghook2020:
With that I'll stop commenting. For reasons I have never understood, this became a very emotional topic for many people, and the last thing I want to do is piss anyone off all over again. As Munch once said, this audio forum stuff is supposed to be fun!
quote:Posting permitted only if you've actually lived with the Serve Opinion based on others' opinions ? Please abstain
Jan-Erik,
I thought you were very clear, and I am looking forward to hearing some comments from owners as well, but it seems that some people just can't see a thread without wanting to hijack it (over and over ) to talk ad nauseam about their own agenda.
quote:Originally posted by baz100:quote:Posting permitted only if you've actually lived with the Serve Opinion based on others' opinions ? Please abstain
Jan-Erik,
I thought you were very clear, and I am looking forward to hearing some comments from owners as well, but it seems that some people just can't see a thread without wanting to hijack it (over and over ) to talk ad nauseam about their own agenda.
Hi Baz100 -
As one of the main hijackers, please allow me to offer my apologies.
In my defense, I would like to offer up just one small piece of evidence. Please allow me to, as you just did, quote Jan-Erik:
"...If my count is correct, so far only one reply from a Serve owner..."
Unfortunately, it appears that it was a bit early to start a UnitiServe appreciation thread. If it were not for the OT posts, it appears that this thread would have had a total of two posts and be done by now. So maybe the OT posts served some small good here by keeping the thread visible in the hopes that other UnitiServe experiences could be documented.
I agree that hijacking is not a good thing, and as I said before, my intent was not to piss anyone off (all over again). Apparently, in your case, I failed.
Sorry about that. And thank you for your reminder about forum etiquette.
Regards,
Hook
quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
I will leave you guys on this thread 'who actually live' with the Serve to mutually back-slap your wise choices and massage / stroke your newly acquired machines.
A polite request has been made to stay on topic, and you reply by insulting those who might post here as members of a 'mutual admiration society'. Sad.
The point is appreciation, as in understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something, whether negative, positive or indifferent.
Jan
How so? If this were a wine forum and I had started a post requesting that those who have tasted a wine from the Aloxe-Corton region share their impressions and experiences, would that qualify as a 'mutual admiration society'? I think not. And what would be the value of contributors who post based on what they've read or heard elsewhere about these wines? Not much.quote:Originally posted by AllenB:
but I would point you to the 'mutual admiration society' you set up in the first line of your OP.
And anyway, to paraphrase Groucho Marx, I refuse to join any mutual admiration society that would have me as a member.
Jan