Uniti Serve

It's a great solution for ripping loads of CDs, but as a server it sounds no better than a nas. In fact, my Synology running MinimServer sounds better than my (now departed) UnitiServe ever did. Save your money is my advice. 

A Unitiserve can rip your CD's which a NAS drive can't do.
The unitiserve is also very well made and is likely to last a fair time but as always, best to add a NAS for that all essential back-up

Thanks guys. Was just intrigued really.  Happy with the way things are and just wondered if I was missing a trick.

Powerlines first. 

Stu. 

Stu22 posted:

Simple question really .... Is there any advantage in using a Naim Uniti serve rather than a relatively standard NAS drive?  What's the advantages and is it worth the additional investment?

It very much depend on what you mean by "using a Naim Uniti serve rather than a relatively standard NAS drive". Using for what? In which setup?

A NAS is a fairly general purpose computer designed to provide, in the first line, file serving services and backup services.

The UnitiServe is, to the best of by understanding, a dedicated computer designed to provide, in the first line, ripping and archiving services, file serving services, music replay services and, possibly backup services.

If you ask whether it makes sense to use the US as a UPnP server in the context of a Ethernet streaming solution, I would say that there are better and, at the same time, more economical  alternatives.

But if you are looking for a ripping station and for a player that can be directly connected to a DAC via S/PDIF, then the US is certainly worth being considered. Other contenders in this area are Vortexbox-based devices, RipNas devices and, more generally what are usually called "music servers". You can check http://www.thewelltemperedcomp...m/HW/HD_players.html for an informative but, of course, not comprehensive, overview.

I understand that the US has been designed to simplify ripping, archiving  and streaming (via Ethernet or S/PDIF) musical contents for users with limited IT expertise. It is possible that it fulfills  this purpose quite well.

My major criticism is that it does so by relying on an outdated, proprietary OS and by imposing unnecessary restrictions on data transfer and storage. It makes it possible for IT laymen to do something somehow, but it does so by making it impossible for IT experts to use the capabilities of the underlying system in a proficient way. The last time I checked, the US documentation was also quite limited.

I have a UnitiServe and a NAS with MinimServer, absolutely no difference in SQ between them to my ears. I retain the UnitiServe because of its convenience factor and ease of use. 

If you want to use the uServe as a player connected directly to a dac, I think it'll sound MUCH better than a typical nas used that same way.

^^ what he said. It is one of the advantages of the UnitiServe. It can become a formidable digital source once optimized, so that does help ease the not inconsiderable price.

For me, the US was the essential piece in my move from CD to streaming. It made the ripping and organising of 2000+ CD's as painless as possible. It is quiet, always on, and it is now the  heart of my NDS/NAS setup. It is pricey for what it is, but value for money in my opinion.

Just heard a £221000 system with US SSD/NDS as a source and it sounds superb. The US also sounds brilliant in my 272/250DR system. Mine is the hard drive model and I love its convenience and excellent  sound. Will eventually get a NAS in case the US fails as data backup.

Stu22 posted:

Simple question really .... Is there any advantage in using a Naim Uniti serve rather than a relatively standard NAS drive?  What's the advantages and is it worth the additional investment?

I have searched the FAQ but couldn't find anything specific on this topic.

Thank you.

Stu.

The Uniti Serve is the most overrated and overpriced product in the entire Naim portfolio at EUR 3600 and 4000 for the HDD and SSD type respectively. Really? You got to be joking. The second most overpriced product is the HDX. Sounds better than other rips? Yes of course. Keep dreaming. The only reason Naim was selling so many of them when they first got into streaming was because people were too timid to try ripping CDs with freely available software. Many thought this to be too big of a task and felt a little unsure or insecure with the complexity of the topic. When in fact it isn't so complicated at all. You just have to spend some time with the subject. Along comes Naim and offer a one stop solution, nice and comfortable. Fair enough, but don't expect it to be better than what can be achieved without a Naim ripping solution. Linn don't make a big fuss about ripping. They never got into the game but let people use third party solutions instead without claiming there is a sound quality advantage to be gained by using a wonder box. Naim got a lot of stick for claiming so. Search the forum, if you are interested. In the interest of providing a balanced view on the topic, there are still some who claim to hear a difference and think US or HDX rips sound better. Most don't. But then again, if I spent EUR 4000 or even 8400 on a US or HDX, I'd probably also want to hear things. 

blythe posted:

The unitiserve is also very well made and is likely to last a fair time...

Really? How come there were so many frustrated customers whose US or HDX had failures and had to go back to base? Search the forum. For a product of this price, it should be bullet proof. It isn't. Why? Because it is just a computer in a nice looking black Naim box. 

Kiwi cat posted:

Mine is the hard drive model and I love its convenience and excellent  sound. Will eventually get a NAS in case the US fails as data backup.

Kiwi cat, I would get a NAS as back up as soon as possible, just in case.

My US hard drive failed after 4 years and my NAS hard drive after <3 years, but luckily I have a good back up regime.

All hard drives will fail some time, regardless of whether they are in the Unitiserve or in a NAS, that's what they do - better to have back up system in place for when the inevitable occurs.

I still have my Unitiserve, and am very happy with it.

It works well in my system, is extremely low hassle, and the feature I like best (apart from being able to rip CDs in minutes without firing up a laptop or PC) about it is the consolidation of music on my home network all through the Naim app.

Some like it and value it, others don't, I guess that's the beauty of choice!

Thanks Chris, good advice. I have just updated the 3 year old US it to 2 TB capacity so hard drive is new, but as you so say it will eventually fail.

Like you, I love the convenience and sound. I am sure the Naim boffins will have ensured it sounds better than any old department store computer as well. In Naim I trust!

I am not a tech novice, and I know that I can replicate the essential functions of a US with a much cheaper combination of hardware and software, but there is a well thought out simplicity of operation in the US approach, which, to me, has been, and is, well worth the price. I am not making any claims for its sound versus other solutions.

All the discussion misses one point - UnitiServe is more than just a ripping machine / server (I use the SSD version with a QNAP 2 x 6TB drives). For me it is a brilliant way of managing the vast digital library and serving it well to my various NAIM steamers (I run 2 x NDX, SuperUniti and UnitiQute scattered throughout the flat).

totemphile posted:

The Uniti Serve is the most overrated and overpriced product in the entire Naim portfolio ...... The only reason Naim was selling so many of them when they first got into streaming was because people were too timid to try ripping CDs with freely available software.

Very sweeping statement.

The fact is that Naim produced the servers before the streamers, and before Naim had decided what their streamer solutions would consist of.

In my case I am very far from an IT neophyte and had build a couple of audio servers.

Were the Naim rips better? No.

Did the NS01 / US sound better than  my own solutions? No.

But, they are well built products that allowed me to use a networked solution that produced great music, as good as my stand-alone solutions, used to access remote shares and feed the file into a DAC via spdif.

Time to put the kibosh on my NS01 .....it is still producing great music and my CD purchases have gone through the roof, in no small part due to the convenience of CD ripping.

Lastly a friend of mine did a comparison of the Melco as a server against the HDX to feed a streamer, and the latter won, of course this is system dependent and I know that many here feel that a NAS with a suitable daemon is as good.

This said, as Naim appear to be being 'careful' with the functionality that they are introducing on their servers when my NS01 dies I will probably look elsewhere.

M

totemphile posted:

blythe posted:

The unitiserve is also very well made and is likely to last a fair time...

Really? How come there were so many frustrated customers whose US or HDX had failures and had to go back to base? Search the forum. For a product of this price, it should be bullet proof. It isn't. Why? Because it is just a computer in a nice looking black Naim box. 

Yes really.
How many Naim owners do you think are actually are active on the forum? Probably about 1% of total Naim owners at a guess. I have an HDX, which has been a joy to use and on the whole, totally reliable.
I'm not "scared of" using a computer to rip using "free software" but I didn't want a dedicated computer with a screen or a laptop sitting with my hi-fi for months whilst I ripped all of my CD's. I wanted a fully integrated, one box solution with the minimum of fuss, knowing that it would sound great and simply work. My one-box can even be set (easily) to back-up to a NAS.
The in-built DAC is great, the HDX streams to my other devices, it sounds even better with my connected XPS2 power supply - I don't think I could use that with a laptop - or are you going to tell me it can?
Many of us don't want to have to set up a computer, download software to rip, tag, configure, then decide on a suitable external dac or how best to connect the devices to the pre-amp etc. The HDX and the Unitiserve just work. Some people have had problems, many haven't. Any computer can fail.
"Just a computer in a nice looking black Naim box" is a bit like saying that a Hyundai Coupe is as good as a Ferrari.
It ain't. 

blythe posted:

totemphile posted:

blythe posted:

The unitiserve is also very well made and is likely to last a fair time...

Really? How come there were so many frustrated customers whose US or HDX had failures and had to go back to base? Search the forum. For a product of this price, it should be bullet proof. It isn't. Why? Because it is just a computer in a nice looking black Naim box. 

Yes really.
How many Naim owners do you think are actually are active on the forum? Probably about 1% of total Naim owners at a guess. I have an HDX, which has been a joy to use and on the whole, totally reliable.
I'm not "scared of" using a computer to rip using "free software" but I didn't want a dedicated computer with a screen or a laptop sitting with my hi-fi for months whilst I ripped all of my CD's. I wanted a fully integrated, one box solution with the minimum of fuss, knowing that it would sound great and simply work. My one-box can even be set (easily) to back-up to a NAS.
The in-built DAC is great, the HDX streams to my other devices, it sounds even better with my connected XPS2 power supply - I don't think I could use that with a laptop - or are you going to tell me it can?
Many of us don't want to have to set up a computer, download software to rip, tag, configure, then decide on a suitable external dac or how best to connect the devices to the pre-amp etc. The HDX and the Unitiserve just work. Some people have had problems, many haven't. Any computer can fail.
"Just a computer in a nice looking black Naim box" is a bit like saying that a Hyundai Coupe is as good as a Ferrari.
It ain't. 

Fair enough, you pays your money and you takes your choice. I stand by my view though. It's a rip off exploiting the insecurities of many. And the Naim dealers will come up with all kinds of stories as to why the Naim rippers are better. And the blind herd will follow. And no, a Naim ripper is no Ferrari, more like pipe and slippers for the retired.

As to their reliability, it is irrelevant how many US or HDX are out there. Judging by the number of problems reported by owners on this forum since their launch, it does not make for a good percentage when compared to all owners here on the forum. One might be tempted to extrapolate that ratio out to all machines produced. If the ratio is the same, it does not convey great confidence in parting with that type of money. Maybe there is something in there, i.e. the high prices reflecting the comparatively high overheads with these products. I have no evidence for this, just a thought that came to mind while writing this.

No offence, just my two cents.

Best

tp

Are you very insecure in your own PC world then to write such offensive comments on this forum, which is designed for mutual help and support?

totemphile posted:

... And the Naim dealers will come up with all kinds of stories as to why the Naim rippers are better...

I visited a Naim dealer recently with a friend new to Naim. The dealer steered him firmly away from the UnitiServe.

Adam Zielinski posted:

Are you very insecure in your own PC world then to write such offensive comments on this forum, which is designed for mutual help and support?

Adam, if you or anyone is so easily offended by a mere controversial view, then I think you need to take a long and hard look at your tolerance level. And btw. you may not like my post but this does not mean that others may not find it helpful. Even if nobody does, so be it. It is still my view.

Such is life. Get over it.

ATB

tp

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

totemphile posted:

... And the Naim dealers will come up with all kinds of stories as to why the Naim rippers are better...

I visited a Naim dealer recently with a friend new to Naim. The dealer steered him firmly away from the UnitiServe.

Interesting 

I am not actually that easily offended.
I like facts and a merit-based discussion - something which your posts were clearly lacking.

As to your other suggestions - I will not dignify them with a comment or an answer.

Adam Zielinski posted:

I am not actually that easily offended.

That's good. I am glad.

Adam Zielinski posted:

I like facts and a merit-based discussion - something which your posts were clearly lacking. 

What facts and merits are missing, if I may ask? Are you really in a position to judge whether there is no merit in what I posted above? 

Mr Underhill posted:

totemphile posted:

The Uniti Serve is the most overrated and overpriced product in the entire Naim portfolio ...... The only reason Naim was selling so many of them when they first got into streaming was because people were too timid to try ripping CDs with freely available software.

Very sweeping statement.

The fact is that Naim produced the servers before the streamers, and before Naim had decided what their streamer solutions would consist of.

In my case I am very far from an IT neophyte and had build a couple of audio servers.

Were the Naim rips better? No.

Did the NS01 / US sound better than  my own solutions? No.

But, they are well built products that allowed me to use a networked solution that produced great music, as good as my stand-alone solutions, used to access remote shares and feed the file into a DAC via spdif.

Time to put the kibosh on my NS01 .....it is still producing great music and my CD purchases have gone through the roof, in no small part due to the convenience of CD ripping.

Lastly a friend of mine did a comparison of the Melco as a server against the HDX to feed a streamer, and the latter won, of course this is system dependent and I know that many here feel that a NAS with a suitable daemon is as good.

This said, as Naim appear to be being 'careful' with the functionality that they are introducing on their servers when my NS01 dies I will probably look elsewhere.

M

That's all fine Mr. Underhill. And if you are happy with your NS01, then that's all that counts. But you have been around long enough to still remember the heated discussions here on this forum with regards to Naim's claim that their rips sound better. As well as the many frustrated owners encountering plenty of failures and problems with their US, HDX and NS01. AlanB just being on of them. He went through two UnitiServes and an NS01 before parting with the Naim server solution entirely. If ever there was a strong Naim supporter, then Alan was right up there. 

tp