Naim NAC-N 172 / 272 updated

You can already connect a UnitiServe or Core direct to the 272 digital input if you wish. Whether it would sound better than streaming from a NAS I have no idea.

You will still need a NAS or an external hard disk for backup unless you want to rip all your CDs again and download all your other albums

I'm not sure what you mean by your query about a direct connection from the "streamer", the N172/272 have streamers built-in ...

(or at least the 272 has one)

perhaps what you are talking about is rather a direct conection from your music store (server) ...

in which case this is a property of the server component, not the 172/272 ...

if I infer that what you are talking about is a system where you do not have the NAS then you would have to go Uniti Core or Melko or Zenith or one of the other music store/NAS components that have a local (rather than Ethernet) output that can be connected directly into a 172/272.

Hope this helps,

Allan

Hi Allan,

I have all my music now transferred to hard disk and make a copy to another hard disk. yes i understand that for ripping you need a PC. 

But i like the way you can connect hard disk to Nova, no need for nas. So my question is will this be possible in the future with 172/272.

Simplify things no need for nas. 

I think what you mean is to connect a usb drive directly.  You can certainly connect a usb stick to the N172/272, but a complete usb hard drive may be problematic.  I'm not so sure that the Nova supports external usb hdd's either. 

Hi Bart,

Yes in the Nova you can plug in usb hard disk so need for nas.

I can only say that I've considered waiting for the new Uniti Nova, but went for the NAC-N 272 and NAP 200 ... no regrets at all 

My guess is that playing direct from a USB drive instead of a NAS is something that will trickle up into new products that will, in time, replace existing Naim streamers and combined streamer/preamps. The only certainty is that speculation as to Naim's timescale for this will be pure guesswork.

I think - might be wrong - the question is: will we be able to directly connect an external USB hard disk to a 172 or 272 in future, as we can now/soon with the Nova?

The answer is probably no. While I can't say for sure what Naim's roadmap holds, and maybe they have a way to make this happen, it seems to me unlikely that a 172 or 272 will be enabled for an external, directly-connected USB hard disk. You can use a USB stick now, but they're really best with a NAS. If you want to use an external USB hard disk, the new Uniti range is where you should be looking for now.

Last year Dan43 came to visit and bought his entire collection with him on a great big - like 2TB  - hard drive. He plugged it into the USB socket on the front of my 272 and accessed the whole lot via my iPad and the Naim app. Whether he had special software on the drive I don't know, I don't think so, but it all worked perfectly. 

Hello Hungryhalibut,

This is very helpful. i will mail Naim to see if this is an option. Thanks

CP62 posted:

Hello Hungryhalibut,

This is very helpful. i will mail Naim to see if this is an option. Thanks

Just try.  The experiences I've read here are the some usb hard drives work fine, and others don't.  I'm pretty sure that the Naim position is that they are not supported, but as HH wrote, some definitely work.

Hello,

Bart you are right what you said is the response from Naim.

Hungryhalibut posted:

Last year Dan43 came to visit and bought his entire collection with him on a great big - like 2TB  - hard drive. He plugged it into the USB socket on the front of my 272 and accessed the whole lot via my iPad and the Naim app. Whether he had special software on the drive I don't know, I don't think so, but it all worked perfectly. 

was he able to see album cover arts too?