Introducing Uniti, our revolutionary new streaming platform.

A very impressive redesign and re-implementation of the Uniti range. The pictures look great.

I'd hazard a guess that most members of this forum (and certainly most regular contributors) are owners of Classic/Olive/CB separates systems, perhaps with a Uniti/Muso as a second system somewhere in the house, and probably sporting a grey hair or two. That certainly includes me. As far as "reimagining our music collections" is concerned, it isn't "our" collections Naim is referring to here. It's the new market of 40-ish year olds and younger who have grown up with streaming, without "hifi" and lots of boxes, and for whom great industrial design is as important as audio performance. It is this market that is going to power Naim's growth over the next decade. This unified product range launch provides a very sound basis for attacking that market.

While this announcement disappoints many here who were hoping for a Statement streamer, look at it like this -- what we can see here is a new streaming hardware and software platform with better wifi support, memory, buffering, firmware update and display technology that are all things that needed to be updated before focusing on the high-end audio performance that new streamers higher up the range will surely bring. I think we can expect to see all this platform groundwork carried forward into the next generation of higher-end streamers.

What's the hdmi input for?

Pcd posted:

Phil, more importantly how long is the list of information that you are not
allowed to give use ?

I'm not allowed to tell you that...

(Well what other reply could I give? )

Phil

robert- posted:

What's the hdmi input for?

HDMI audio from a TV or set top box rather than using optical S/PDIF...

Phil

Richard Dane posted:

Eloise, the Star rips to local storage - either a USB drive or memory card.

As a second part of the thinking ... if you use a Star to rip to a USB attached drive; could someone then add (say) a MuSo or perhaps a Uniti Atom and use that fully in the same way as if you had a UPnP server or Uniti Core?

Interested that it appears the branding is subtly changed too ... it's now "Uniti by Naim".  Perhaps we'll see these sold in higher end high street stores along side "Uniti by Focal" speakers?

Phil Harris posted:

robert- posted:

What's the hdmi input for?

HDMI audio from a TV or set top box rather than using optical S/PDIF...

Phil

Phil, Which version of hdmi?

Solid Air posted:

Phil Harris posted:

Hi Sloop,

Roon integration is on the list of information that I'm allowed to give you and is planned to "be activated in the near future"...

Phil

Phil - what else is on the list of information that you're allowed to give us?

There isn't really a 'list' - I'm just going to try to make sure that I answer as many questions and correct as many incorrect assumptions as I can but obviously it's a little frenetic on here and I might miss someone's question or comments while I'm off doing other things so please bear with me...

Phil

Richard Dane posted:

tonym posted:

intothevoid posted:

Surprised there's no USB output on the Core and Atom in particular. 

Yes, I guess that's one surprising omission. For us with USB DACs it's slightly disappointing. Still, the rest of the spec. more than makes up for it.

I'd be happy to avoid digital audio over USB if at all possible.  USB audio is really just a necessary evil forced upon us who dabble in computer audio.  A properly designed and applied s/pdif connection is much nicer.

I think that depends on how the usb is implemented. It's become a very popular offering and on the three DACs I've got, it sounds better than spdif. Indeed, one of them only has usb.

Will there be a firmware upgrade for the UnitiServe?  Will an existing UnitiServe library be usable on the new Core?

Richard Dane posted:

Simon Everest posted:

Star looks like a worthy upgrade for my first gen Uniti, *but* the photos of the back make me think there might not be power for a Stageline, which would be a fly in the ointment.

surprised there aren't a few more comments about he Muso style controls on the top. Not the most convenient of configurations…

Simon

Simon, possibly an excuse to give the Stageline a dedicated power supply - problem solved and a nice sonic upgrade too.

Ouch… my wallet!

Simon

Ardbeg10y posted:

Phil Harris posted:

robert- posted:

What's the hdmi input for?

HDMI audio from a TV or set top box rather than using optical S/PDIF...

Phil

Phil, Which version of hdmi?

It's an audio input not a passthrough which doesn't require '4k capable' or HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2 ...

Phil

Superb looking & awesome spec's.      Whatever I'm not in the market for all in one player.

Two downsides for me is the height dimensions has changed to from 87mm to 95mm,  I only hope if/when the separates come thru that the 87mm Classic hieght is retained,  and the top volume control is not rack friendly.

Looks good, more change than people were expecting, but the evolution of the brand and given the digital direction of things, the right thing to do.  And fits directly into the 2nd tier of their music design 'all in one's'.

Bad

Signing up for the web site email and nothing was sent, or was that for the future stuff ?

That there was more information on the What Hi Fi page than there is on the offical Naim site

Not going 'Apple' enough and telling people what they will need - DAB / HDMI options should be standard, not options.

Good

2.5 + 5 inc AC wireless.  The question is when (not if) it will update the Muso and other lines

USB audio is still needed for friends with Apple/Android phones with music...

Hopefully its an SDXC slot.

Passive 'fin' heatsinks - reminds me of LaCie quadra drives

Talking of which, i see a Seagate hard drive, so what will they come with make/size ? Will there be a list of 'supported' hard drives ( inc SSD) + sizes.  Will you be able to copy/replicate from a NAS onto the new Uniti's. Also can you backup to a NAS in the new line.

Will there be a list of supported CD drives, this will be cheaper/easier to maintain and just unplug when not ripping.

Much as I don't like it " well for 100 more on your 3000 you get the HDMI plug" ( I think everything should be included by default ) it leaves the options for the modular upgrades of components over time - done at the factory, not home, it will be interesting to know which other components are upgradeable.  (Burson did this with their USB and DAC modules)

Powerline lite, oooh, wonder how that will be in the north American market.

Glad it's still made in England

Kirkpg posted:

... Will an existing UnitiServe library be usable on the new Core?

Similarly can downloaded music be 'incorporated' into the Core ie stored there and backed up elsewhere?

Kirkpg posted:

Will there be a firmware upgrade for the UnitiServe?

Not to give it the same functionality as a Core - the two are completely different products.

Kirkpg posted:

Will an existing UnitiServe library be usable on the new Core?

Yes ... the Core will import an existing library.

Phil

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Phil Harris posted:

yeti42 posted:

the second slot on the front lower of the Core, added or dropped?

Not sure what you mean there?

Phil

Naim's website shows what looks like an SD card slot :

... and it's absent in the image from Andrew's site :

There is no SD card slot on the Core - it looks like an old photo was used and didn't get spotted so I've flagged it with the web guys...

Thanks

Phil

Adrian_P posted:

A very impressive redesign and re-implementation of the Uniti range. The pictures look great.

I'd hazard a guess that most members of this forum (and certainly most regular contributors) are owners of Classic/Olive/CB separates systems, perhaps with a Uniti/Muso as a second system somewhere in the house, and probably sporting a grey hair or two. That certainly includes me. As far as "reimagining our music collections" is concerned, it isn't "our" collections Naim is referring to here. It's the new market of 40-ish year olds and younger who have grown up with streaming, without "hifi" and lots of boxes, and for whom great industrial design is as important as audio performance. It is this market that is going to power Naim's growth over the next decade. This unified product range launch provides a very sound basis for attacking that market.

While this announcement disappoints many here who were hoping for a Statement streamer, look at it like this -- what we can see here is a new streaming hardware and software platform with better wifi support, memory, buffering, firmware update and display technology that are all things that needed to be updated before focusing on the high-end audio performance that new streamers higher up the range will surely bring. I think we can expect to see all this platform groundwork carried forward into the next generation of higher-end streamers.

+2

By George, you've nailed it!

Allante93!

Pcd posted:

Phil, you could get a job in the Diplomatic Core with answers like that.

I'm wondering how many people on here that actually do know me and my diplomacy skills are now rolling on the floor in hysterics...

christoph posted:

They Look great, i am very impressed. New look for the classic line too? And - powered input for stageline/superline?  Christoph 

They look fresh and contemporary. This is not a good thing. 

As such they will date quite quickly compaired to more timeless designs. The new Uniti range looks nearly identical to a number of the cheaper appliances in the datacentre. 

The current classics can weather a much longer design lifecycle but visually, the new stuff will start looking dated in a couple years. In fact they look like they were designed by Sony. No offense but they do look like Sony products.

Hi Phil,

Are Core rips different/better than Unitiserve rips or should will import our existing Userve rips if we replace the Userve with a Core?

Keith

Phil Harris posted:

Pcd posted:

Phil, you could get a job in the Diplomatic Core with answers like that.

I'm wondering how many people on here that actually do know me and my diplomacy skills are now rolling on the floor in hysterics...

I am doing my best, you understand..... :-)

KRM posted:

Hi Phil,

Are Core rips different/better than Unitiserve rips or should will import our existing Userve rips if we replace the Userve with a Core?

Keith

I've been using my existing libraries that I've imported and they work beautifully ... I know that the guys have worked hard to ensure that the ripping quality is at least as good as the existing servers as well as maximizing compatibility with imperfect discs.

Phil 

KRM posted:

 

Are Core rips different/better than Unitiserve rips 

 

[@mention:1566878603985147] 

Congratulations to the whole team. It looks like a terrific range of products.

As a very happy Roon customer, I can honestly say it has reimagined my music collection. It’s fantastic to see that Naim is going support it.

Can I ask you about the nature of that support. Will Naim be supporting Roon Core and Output (Roon Ready endpoint/player) functionality?

For those who don’t know, Roon has three components:

- Core, which runs on a computer, NAS or dedicated music server and contains your collection.
- Output, which can be a Roon Ready network streamer, player or DAC.
- Control, which is the phone, tablet or computer control device to manage and play your music.