UnitiServe problems

Posted by: Clive B on 08 May 2013

I have had my UnitiServe/NDS/555PS just over a week now and until last weekend had loaded just over 200 CDs. In that time three disks have got stuck in the machine. The first two were encouraged to come out by pushing a paperclip in the hole in the front panel. However, the last of these three just would not come out. The machine was whirring and clunking but the disk just remained inside the slot. I tried the paperclip solution, tried switching off and rebooting, but still it continued whirring and clunking. Eventually after about the third reboot I just left it and I guess about 45 minutes later out it popped. The disk seemed unscathed, unlike some others which have been marked. I had reasoned that I could live with a few marked discs since I'd never need to play them again (although I now realise I may still want to play them elsewhere in the house, so I hope they're still playable), but the whole experience has meant that I am now somewhat reluctant to rip any more disks. This is the first of many Naim boxes I've owned over the years which has failed to perform impeccably.

 

Has anyone else had this experience with the UntiServe?

Posted on: 08 May 2013 by Bart

There certainly are accounts of 'stuck discs,' but I've ripped about 400 and haven't had one yet.

Posted on: 08 May 2013 by ChrisH

Have you tried running the issue past your dealer or contacting Naim Support for some advice?

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by nudgerwilliams

Never had this problem with my US.  Definitely raise with your dealer / Naim support

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by Squidfacedboy

I had a problem where a disc was properly stuck (I couldn't get it out of the US at all). I took it back to the local distributor who replaced the loading mechanism, and it's been perfect since (I have ripped about 2600 CDs thus far)

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by Bart

2600   I can't imagine!

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by hafler3o

Are the stuck discs run-of-the-mill CDs or do they have enhanced content or hidden tracks etc? I'm just wondering how these are handled.

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by Clive B
Originally Posted by hafler3o:

Are the stuck discs run-of-the-mill CDs or do they have enhanced content or hidden tracks etc? I'm just wondering how these are handled.

They were standard CDs: One by Deep Purple, one the Eagles and I cannot now recall the other. My Naim dealer now advises that Naim Audio will replace the unit.

 

Apparently there is some way to reload the CDs direct from the NAS drive back up (although I am a bit suspicious of this - I have tried listening to the NAS drive and I don't think it sounds as good as the UnitiServe! I may just write off the last couple of weeks and reload this first 200).

 

I have had no problems with enhanced content discs; the Beatles Remasters which I had loaded have video content, which the UnitiServe just seems to ignore.

Posted on: 09 May 2013 by Bart
Originally Posted by Clive Blackman:

Apparently there is some way to reload the CDs direct from the NAS drive back up (although I am a bit suspicious of this - I have tried listening to the NAS drive and I don't think it sounds as good as the UnitiServe! I may just write off the last couple of weeks and reload this first 200).

 

 

Clive I think that what you are referring to is the ability to store, in the Downloads folder on the uServe's hard drive, music you've ripped elsewhere.  I do this frequently and would not be suspicious   If you are suspicious that the rips are not bit-for-bit identical, I believe that this has been disproved by folks having done the proper comparisons of the files.  This is to me a very useful feature of the hard drive-based uServe.  This does not mean that the uServe cannot "sound better" than your NAS, depending on the NAS and perhaps interference generated and passed along to the player via the ethernet connection, susceptibility to such interference, etc.  But I do believe that good rips are good rips and are bit-for-bit identical.

Posted on: 10 May 2013 by Clive B
Originally Posted by Bart:
Originally Posted by Clive Blackman:

Apparently there is some way to reload the CDs direct from the NAS drive back up (although I am a bit suspicious of this - I have tried listening to the NAS drive and I don't think it sounds as good as the UnitiServe! I may just write off the last couple of weeks and reload this first 200).

 

 

Clive I think that what you are referring to is the ability to store, in the Downloads folder on the uServe's hard drive, music you've ripped elsewhere.  I do this frequently and would not be suspicious   If you are suspicious that the rips are not bit-for-bit identical, I believe that this has been disproved by folks having done the proper comparisons of the files.  This is to me a very useful feature of the hard drive-based uServe.  This does not mean that the uServe cannot "sound better" than your NAS, depending on the NAS and perhaps interference generated and passed along to the player via the ethernet connection, susceptibility to such interference, etc.  But I do believe that good rips are good rips and are bit-for-bit identical.

Thanks for the reply, Bart. The way my UnitiServe has been set up is that it backs up automatically each night to the NAS drive any new files since it was last backed up. Hence, when my UnitiServe is replaced, if I copy the files which have been backed up on the NAS drive to the downloads folder in the new UnitiServe, I fear there is a risk that those files won't be bit perfect copies of the original files since there would have been at least two copying operations since they left the first UnitiServe: UServe1 to NAS to UServe2. Am I right to be concerned about this or am I talking rubbish?

 

BTW Is it possible to make a direct copy of the files on the UnitiServe by connecting a standalone HDD to one of the USB sockets on the rear of the unit? If so, how would it be controlled?

Posted on: 10 May 2013 by Bart
Originally Posted by Clive Blackman:

 

Thanks for the reply, Bart. The way my UnitiServe has been set up is that it backs up automatically each night to the NAS drive any new files since it was last backed up. Hence, when my UnitiServe is replaced, if I copy the files which have been backed up on the NAS drive to the downloads folder in the new UnitiServe, I fear there is a risk that those files won't be bit perfect copies of the original files since there would have been at least two copying operations since they left the first UnitiServe: UServe1 to NAS to UServe2. Am I right to be concerned about this or am I talking rubbish?

 

BTW Is it possible to make a direct copy of the files on the UnitiServe by connecting a standalone HDD to one of the USB sockets on the rear of the unit? If so, how would it be controlled?

1.  I vote "rubbish" with all due respect   These operating systems can and do consistently make bit-perfect copies.  And really you are doing this exactly the right way -- using the uServe's own backup utility to do a differential backup every night to a nas.  That is what I do and this is what Naim endorse.  And I also then do a backup of the nas to an external usb drive plugged into the nas.

 

2.  The direct copy of the HDD to a usb drive is not possible I am pretty sure.  I recommend what I said above -- back up the nas to a usb drive.  Ive got the HDD in the uServe, the NAS backup, and the usb backup of the nas.  I feel somewhat safe, but the next iteration should be keeping another usb backup off-site.