Unity Serve dead, age 1.

Too many irons in the fire?  I think not.  It's a question of survival and meeting demand.  And the consumers can be quite demanding, you even recently launched an assault based around the lack of support for lossless streaming services.  Well, perhaps Naim are trying to make sure that this is not just done, but done right.  

Remember the Unitiserve is essentially just a Windows PC.  It's not uncommon for those to fail in less than a year.

Noogle, 'just a Windows PC' is quite a broad term, and whether the hardware in a Unitiserve is shared with a windows PC, as it is with a MAC, I doubt that it is common for them to fail within a year.

I may have lost on the Grand National, but I'd bet a substantial amount that the problem is either hard drive failure or corruption of the Windows XP Embedded/DigiFi software load.

Probably, but my point is the potential failure of a hard disk is equal across a number of platforms / devices, and is not an issue confined to a Windows PC.  Does a US really run on XP?

Unfotunately as others have stated this is just a dedicated computer running Naim customized software.  Unfortunately hard drives in particular can fail.  Unless you got the SSD option you have a rotating disk in there, and they are the most prone to failure of any computer component.  

I'm sorry for your trouble, good luck.  I don't think that you should condemn Naim for this.  

Hard drives can fail at any time.  It's just bad luck when a hdd fails after one year.  There is only one strategy -- back up, so that when they fail you have others.

It could be the power supply. I've had two go, although I thought newer ones now have better ones.

Keith

As an outsider looking in on the world of streaming, I've always viewed the UnitiServe's functionality as the epitome of a boutique device. Maybe it offers some advantages in convenience and maintains a consistent look of gear on the shelf, but given alternatives, is it worth the cost?

I have two friends that both bought US & have been very happy with them as far as convenience, function & SQ are concerned, however both had PSU issues.  One now has a linear PSU & still has it,  the other had it repaired & then sold it,  & like HH he is more than happy with SQ from NAS - & his .wav files HH    

I don't think the breadth of product range should have an adverse effect on quality control, as long as production processes are properly scaled, and are in line with demand (which seems to be the case: sales are increasing).

Often, outsourcing/off-shoring can be a big risk, but the Muso isn't displaying signs of that as far as I can tell.

Most likely this is a one-off failure of a bought-in (ie non custom) component, simple as that.

And nothing to do with Windows PCs being cr@p, which is just someone's opinion, and a barely relevant one at that.

My point about the US being a Windows PC is that it's quite different to a traditional item of Naim kit e.g. a power amp, in that it has features like two lots of rotating media, a laptop-style switch mode power supply and a large and complex software stack.

@SongStream - the US runs Windows XP embedded - see www.digitalfidelity.com (tech specs).

First of all, I do not condemn Naim for this. HDDs can crash, we know. But as a PC user since the early 90s I wouldn't agree to the statement that failure within one year is common. Regarding the PSU, I already use a 3rd party PSU. But comments in the forums suggest, that the US may be the most error-prone product in the whole range. Remember, we are not talking about a cheap laptop from the supermarket here. 

Btw: one more reason to demand HQ-internet-streaming. (No HDDs - less troubles.) Even if someone considers this as an "assault", which is a little bit over the top, imho...

Nothing like spreading the load. My music is spread over an HP PC using Windows 7, a Synology NAS, an Apple MacBook using SSDs, Apple iTunes using iMatch and a Spotify Premium account. No matter what, I'll get music! 

As to Naim spreading themselves too thinly: I fear that this is very much the case. It is extremely laudable that they still support so many legacy products but the cost to them and us has to be pretty burdensome. Additionally, they can only have so many software engineers to develop and maintain the code that drives the latest pieces of kit. The amount of software issues over the whole range of current offerings is a little concerning. 

I wouldn't read too much into my use of the word "assault", my was intended as a light hearted tease.  Still think it's true though that us consumers, are a tricky lot between us.  While we may concerned over the amount of new products, and software that's needed on them, between is all we tend to also want everything....and right now preferably.  Failure to deliver for both your consumers demands, and maintain a qulaity control, is just that, a failure.  However, I have some sympathy for a company like name, in a market place where technology, and more importantly attitudes toward said technology, is changing rapidly.  

Microsoft stopped providing updated to XP last year. Does Microsoft stil provide patches and security updates for Embeded Windows XP? If so is it then Naim's responsibility to pass them on via a Naim software update. 

Just to confirm ... DigiFi most definitely have not 'gone bust' - and they just called me to ask why incorrect tales of their demise were being posted on our forums!!!

Phil

Firstly i think it is unacceptable for a unit to break down. yes hard drives can fail but i would expect it to last at least 5 years. I just bought one. Yes i did look at the option of a NAS etc but i wanted the ease of use and convenience factor. The Uniti is great. Just load a Cd and 5 minutes later it is ripped. Have to admit the desktop browser is crap. Very poor in my opinion. looks like something 90's when Pc's first came out. Fingers crossed that it lasts but it has a 5 year warranty. so will make sure i back up

Oh, but it does because more people are involved...hence more pathways of communication (which go up exponentially).

Another big one is internationalization (languages, billing, taxes).  German is not very compact, and many languages are read right-to-left.  Characters and fonts become the killer.

Yet another bug generator that would seem "simple" to fix:  DST - Daylight Savings Time + Time Zone

Let's not forget another nail that can cause the kingdom to fail: Waking from sleep mode...

It's crazy stuff really, I think Naim does a great job.  You may just be getting unlucky.  Looking at stuff on amazon you can have 3,000 5 star reviews of an item, but if you look there are always some 1 stars where people got unlucky--the item shifted in transit, gamma rays etc.

Evidence is that an organisation can scale its product range very well providing it stays within the same general area of functional competency. So for example, Naim adding more black box amps should be fine, and Statement is largely an extension of that.

The problem comes when new competencies are needed. An example might be streaming software. Also the Mu-So requires remote manufacturer management. Adding too many of those new competencies can definitely affect quality as they challenge the ability of the organisation to adapt. Businesses have a tendency to attempt to problem-solve in one functional area using the skills and culture gained from another, and mistakes get made.

Computers are notoriously unreliable and finicky, which is why I would not spend Naim-type money to get one in a black box.  At the end of the day, it is still a computer.  I am mindful of the same thing with my Vortexbox.  (Which runs Linux.)

Further, I have seen enough complaints about software/firmware on this forum to make me a little circumspect in that regard.

However, in response to a comment above, I still have a Dell laptop running XP that I bought in February of 2007 - still chugging along.  I use it as my "travel" machine when visiting dad, etc.   Maybe the moral of the story for the OP is "Shoulda got a Dell, dude..."  (Reference to an early 2000's ad campaign in the US in case they didn't run those ads in Europe or elsewhere.)

Just one man's opinion...

Always remember that when you bought a CD player, whether it was Naim or somebody else the basic drive would have been produced by Philips or Sony. Obviously Naim can incorporate Seagate or Dell or Microsoft components into their offerings but will still be subject to the vagaries of the constituent products. To further enrage the 'purists' I would argue that a NAS is a NAS, for example, and I would go for a recognised manufacturer such as Synology and would be dubious at Naim's ability to compete on this 'basic' piece of kit. When I say 'basic', I do mean the incorporated RAID, supporting software, upgrade capability, support of SSDs etc As to use of operating systems, if there is an underlying use of an unsupported operating system, such as XP, what happens when a new or upgraded product is introduced. Does it rely on XP or Windows 10 or Linux and does all of these have to be properly supported in-house?

It is a very difficult call in this software driven world to decide how to incorporate features that may be delivered by OEMs, but in my opinion Naim should concentrate on receiving the music, whether from vinyl, CD, or Digital and reproducing the analogue music, for which they are rightly renowned. 

+1 Andarkian

This is a real example of how the pace of change can overtake a business in its non-core operations.

Over the past year or two companies like QNAP and Synology that focus on server products have built excellent, low-cost NAS that seem pretty bullet-proof. At the same time, software such as Asset and Minim appeal to those who want to go an extra step. The premium price of a Unitiserve is becoming hard to justify.

I don't know what sales are like but I'm guessing pretty low, and Naim seems to be leaving their server products behind. Windows XP isn't even supported anymore.

Third party NAS aren't perfect as they're generic products and there's always a bit of faff. But they keep getting better and, perhaps most importantly, they cost a fraction as much as a Unitiserve.

Remember that the embedded versions of Windows XP have different lifecycles and support cycles to standard Windows XP.  I don't know which version of Windows Embedded the UnitiServe runs, but if it is Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 3 (SP3) then it is supported by Microsoft until Jan 12 2016.  If it is Windows Embedded Standard 2009 then it is Jan 8 2019.  (I don't think it is likely to be the latter though, as AFAICR the US was launched in 2009).  See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/gp/lifewinembed

Even if the operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft that is not the end of the world, as an embedded system typically has a few fixed modes of operation, with lower complexity than a standard PC.  If it's running OK on Jan 12 2016 it is unlikely to stop working on Jan 13 2016.  However, you can imagine a security hole being discovered which permits an attack via Ethernet, USB etc.