What is the difference between unitserve and uniticore ?

Chag... posted:

Maybe HH, as long at is runs forward. SQ is all what matters here. It doesn't seem to go backward yet.

Chag -

I do not agree that SQ is all what matters for a server but it is of course a very important aspect. So far, I have not been able to find any comprehensive review of the new Core. I would very much expect the Core to bring clear SQ improvements against the US. But the US is an old server. Interesting would be to compare the Core to more modern approaches like for instance the Bryston BDP-Pi or the new HIFIBERRY DIGI+ Pro. Best, nbpf  

Sourav Mazumder posted:

Unfortunately the Naim App does not support (neither they plan to) playing music from Uniti Core to non-Naim UPnP based streamer.

 

If you're using a non-Naim streamer, it will presumably have its own app or other control interface. I don't see why you would need to use the Naim app to control it. 

Keler Pierre posted:

Ricky Dasler posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

But unless you use it direct to a Dac, or have thousands of CDs to rip, it seems a totally pointless thing. It baffles me why people are buying them, especially as nearly every post seems to be about something that doesn't work properly. But if people want to waste their money it's their business. And Naim can use the proceeds to invest in developing something genuinely useful. 

Maybe a bit harsh HH, but fair enough.

I replaced my UnitiServe with a Core serving an NDS. The big advantage of both in my setup is they can amalgamate a 16TB Synology Nas and a 6TB ReadyNas, plus a 5TB LaCie USB drive into one large music library.

A Naim streamer can only read and play from one Nas at a time, and can't have a large USB drive slung off the back. None of that matters of course if your entire music collection is on a single Nas.

As far as sonics go...to my listening the Core as a network server is a step up from the UnitiServe used the same way. In my system the Core brings greater dynamics and clarity.

I'm sure many will disagree that a Naim network server feeding a streamer can influence the sound, and that playing direct from a Nas with whatever UPnP server spins your wheels will be equal or better sounding, but I know my system and room very very well and that's how I'm hearing' it.

Cheers

Rick.

 

you found that the uniticore gives better clarity and dynamics vs unitserve. Perhaps it is true, but for now you are the only one to find that. The litttle problem is that you are a naim dealer: sorry, i don't want to offense you, but it is a fact. But perhaps you are right...

I'm not the only one to find that. Just the only one to post that finding on this forum. Yes I'm a Naim dealer and by default expect to be looked at on here with some suspicion which is unfortunate as I'm an audiophile first and retailer second. I would not have added a Core to my home system just because it's the latest box from Naim. It had to bring a sonic improvement to my musical enjoyment over the UnitiServe SSD, which in my system and to my ears it has. Others may not find the Core any different or perhaps even worse than the US in their systems. Nothing new there. It's been this way with Naim gear and this forum for years. It's what makes the hobby interesting.

Another thing I've found the Core does better than the US is it's speed of showing new artists and albums that are added to my Nas drives. The US could take some hours or even over night to show new additions via the app, whereas the Core takes only a few minutes.

Cheers

Rick.

Chag... posted:

Maybe HH, as long at is runs forward. SQ is all what matters here. It doesn't seem to go backward yet.

Chag -

What is the SQ of music you cant find on your server because you can't edit its metadata???

Bart posted:

What is the SQ of music you cant find on your server because you can't edit its metadata???

 

Nice zen koan Bart.

Ricky Dasler posted:

Keler Pierre posted:

Ricky Dasler posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

But unless you use it direct to a Dac, or have thousands of CDs to rip, it seems a totally pointless thing. It baffles me why people are buying them, especially as nearly every post seems to be about something that doesn't work properly. But if people want to waste their money it's their business. And Naim can use the proceeds to invest in developing something genuinely useful. 

Maybe a bit harsh HH, but fair enough.

I replaced my UnitiServe with a Core serving an NDS. The big advantage of both in my setup is they can amalgamate a 16TB Synology Nas and a 6TB ReadyNas, plus a 5TB LaCie USB drive into one large music library.

A Naim streamer can only read and play from one Nas at a time, and can't have a large USB drive slung off the back. None of that matters of course if your entire music collection is on a single Nas.

As far as sonics go...to my listening the Core as a network server is a step up from the UnitiServe used the same way. In my system the Core brings greater dynamics and clarity.

I'm sure many will disagree that a Naim network server feeding a streamer can influence the sound, and that playing direct from a Nas with whatever UPnP server spins your wheels will be equal or better sounding, but I know my system and room very very well and that's how I'm hearing' it.

Cheers

Rick.

 

you found that the uniticore gives better clarity and dynamics vs unitserve. Perhaps it is true, but for now you are the only one to find that. The litttle problem is that you are a naim dealer: sorry, i don't want to offense you, but it is a fact. But perhaps you are right...

I'm not the only one to find that. Just the only one to post that finding on this forum. Yes I'm a Naim dealer and by default expect to be looked at on here with some suspicion which is unfortunate as I'm an audiophile first and retailer second. I would not have added a Core to my home system just because it's the latest box from Naim. It had to bring a sonic improvement to my musical enjoyment over the UnitiServe SSD, which in my system and to my ears it has. Others may not find the Core any different or perhaps even worse than the US in their systems. Nothing new there. It's been this way with Naim gear and this forum for years. It's what makes the hobby interesting.

Another thing I've found the Core does better than the US is it's speed of showing new artists and albums that are added to my Nas drives. The US could take some hours or even over night to show new additions via the app, whereas the Core takes only a few minutes.

Cheers

Rick.

i was thinking of changing my unitserve hdd with tp power supply to a uniti core. But since 2 months i am reading all the experiences of the core in this forum, the majority think that the core and unitserve , in server mode, sound in general the same( with nds, ndx or uniqute).

For now the core presents too many hardware problems and i decided to keep my unitserve ( with nds/555 dr).

But perhaps, in near future, there will be more people like you who find that the core is better. I am waiting and when the hardware will be stabilized, i will borrow the core from my dealer and compare it to the unitserve.  But i know that one day i will sell my unitserve, it is an old machine now and the problems with metadata, tags albums...are a problem for me ( and a lot of users).

Ricky Dasler posted: 

It had to bring a sonic improvement to my musical enjoyment over the UnitiServe SSD, which in my system and to my ears it has. Others may not find the Core any different or perhaps even worse than the US in their systems. Nothing new there. It's been this way with Naim gear and this forum for years. It's what makes the hobby interesting.

Rick; Unless I have missed it back up the thread, am I right to assume that you are using SSD from/via the Core to find it bringing SQ improvement over Serve SSD? 

Chag -

I also found the core better than the unitiserve. I had both for a couple of weeks. The unitiserve I found rather soft and undynamic compared to my synology nas running media server. The voices of the unitiserve were better than the nas but everything else was worse. 

The core however was a clear step forward from the nas in every department. Very open sounding with great control and separation, infact the opposite of how the unitiserve sounded in my system, and the core hadn't even burned in (only 2 weeks old).

I now use my nas with minimserver installed, which closes the gap between the nas and the core, and in some ways even sounds better than the core.

As far as the core goes, im going to wait a few months and see how things pan out with it before re considering a purchase. However, it will need to up its game now as minimserver is just sounding great. 

Mr Happy posted:

I also found the core better than the unitiserve. I had both for a couple of weeks. The unitiserve I found rather soft and undynamic compared to my synology nas running media server. The voices of the unitiserve were better than the nas but everything else was worse. 

The core however was a clear step forward from the nas in every department. Very open sounding with great control and separation, infact the opposite of how the unitiserve sounded in my system, and the core hadn't even burned in (only 2 weeks old).

I now use my nas with minimserver installed, which closes the gap between the nas and the core, and in some ways even sounds better than the core.

As far as the core goes, im going to wait a few months and see how things pan out with it before re considering a purchase. However, it will need to up its game now as minimserver is just sounding great. 

Thought Nr. 1: If the NAS was worse than the Core but the NAS running MinimServer was as good as the Core perhaps the differences in SQ are mainly due to software differences rather than hardware differences?

Thought Nr. 2: If the NAS was better than the US and the Core was better than the NAS but the the NAS running MinimServer was as good as the Core perhaps the Core running MinimServer would be better than the Core?

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Bart posted:

What is the SQ of music you cant find on your server because you can't edit its metadata???

 

Nice zen koan Bart.

Every once in a while I pull one out of my . . . 

ChrisSU posted:

Sourav Mazumder posted:

Unfortunately the Naim App does not support (neither they plan to) playing music from Uniti Core to non-Naim UPnP based streamer.

 

If you're using a non-Naim streamer, it will presumably have its own app or other control interface. I don't see why you would need to use the Naim app to control it. 

Two reasons -

Firstly, Core does not support Search from some other Controller over UPnP. It is only possible through Naim App.

Secondly, I was looking for a single App solution where from I can manage my library as well as play to various endpoits.

Regards,

Sourav

Mr Happy posted:

I also found the core better than the unitiserve. I had both for a couple of weeks. The unitiserve I found rather soft and undynamic compared to my synology nas running media server. The voices of the unitiserve were better than the nas but everything else was worse. 

The core however was a clear step forward from the nas in every department. Very open sounding with great control and separation, infact the opposite of how the unitiserve sounded in my system, and the core hadn't even burned in (only 2 weeks old).

I now use my nas with minimserver installed, which closes the gap between the nas and the core, and in some ways even sounds better than the core.

As far as the core goes, im going to wait a few months and see how things pan out with it before re considering a purchase. However, it will need to up its game now as minimserver is just sounding great. 

ok, you are the second person to find that the core is better than the unitserve. Are you using the core as server with an nds or ndx or....?   i could not find your system profile so i ask.  

i think you can not use minimserver with n serve app?

Keler, I have an nds and the core was used as both a ripper and server. I installed a wd red hdd and ripped some cds then used the core to serve them. You are correct, you cannot load minimserver on the naim core. 

NBPF, The idea of the core for me was to see if naim had built a better ripper/server than I was currently using. It was certainly a better server than synology media server but on hearing minimserver I found the gap not to be so great, although the naim core was better in places, the minim was better in others. 

Also I had to bear in mind that the core was only 2 weeks old, and was gradually getting better but it was a dem unit so had to be returned to the dealer. I am still interested in hearing one again when the problems have been ironed out and also I will make sure the one I try is fully burned in.

Mr Happy posted:

NBPF, The idea of the core for me was to see if naim had built a better ripper/server than I was currently using. It was certainly a better server than synology media server but on hearing minimserver I found the gap not to be so great, although the naim core was better in places, the minim was better in others. 

In what places was minim better than Core Mr Happy? Have you tried SSD via and/or in Core yet - just curious? 

Chag -

Chag, Used ssd drive for a week, then hdd for a week. I couldn't reliably tell the difference as the unit was burning in and changing. On minim it was the upper ranges that most impressed, voices just floated and the sound was so open and dynamic. The bottom end was tighter and more tunefull on the naim though.

Thanks Mr Happy. This is very helpful indeed while sill in the expectative.  

Chag -

Mr Happy posted:

Chag, Used ssd drive for a week, then hdd for a week. I couldn't reliably tell the difference as the unit was burning in and changing. On minim it was the upper ranges that most impressed, voices just floated and the sound was so open and dynamic. The bottom end was tighter and more tunefull on the naim though.

thanks for these precisions. I don't know yet what i will take in the future. If i had money enough, if naim have produced a statement dac with usb imput, i would think of aurender w20 or sound galleries servers with naim statement dac. I am just dreaming....

For now, i have bought the unitserve hdd/ tp ps/ nds 555 dr 10 months ago. With an optical bridge and audioquest diamond ethernet, it is a big upgrade over my last cdx2/xps2. 

I will continue to follow this core, and after we will see.

The Serve HDD and TP PS is what I used to have, and it's what was bettered by a Synology nas running MinimServer. I now have a Qnap running Asset, which sounded no different to the Synology. If you have a backup nas, try loading Minim or Asset and comparing it to the Serve. 

Chag... posted:

Ricky Dasler posted: 

It had to bring a sonic improvement to my musical enjoyment over the UnitiServe SSD, which in my system and to my ears it has. Others may not find the Core any different or perhaps even worse than the US in their systems. Nothing new there. It's been this way with Naim gear and this forum for years. It's what makes the hobby interesting.

Rick; Unless I have missed it back up the thread, am I right to assume that you are using SSD from/via the Core to find it bringing SQ improvement over Serve SSD? 

Chag -

Hi Chag,

My UnitiServe is the SSD version and I run the Core without any internal hard drive installed. The Core has a 5TB LaCie USB hard drive attached and that drive is powered by a regulated power supply not a SMPS. The Core also serves music from two Nas drives. I have not compared the difference between an internal drive installed in the Core vs the external USB yet.

Cheers

Rick.

Hungryhalibut posted:

The Serve HDD and TP PS is what I used to have, and it's what was bettered by a Synology nas running MinimServer. I now have a Qnap running Asset, which sounded no different to the Synology. If you have a backup nas, try loading Minim or Asset and comparing it to the Serve. 

is your synology or qnap powered by a linear ps?    I want also add one thing: when i first installed my nds and unitserve, they were running in ethernet mode and also with dc1 cable( unitserve as player). The first week i was convinced that the nds and unitserve sounded best in dc1 mode. then i thought that the best sound was a memory stick in the nds vs ethernet mode. ( like the opinion of Martin Colloms).

Today i found the ethernet mode as best. But my impressions and convictions have changed...

Perhaps yours will change, perhaps not. But i am more careful now, and people on this forum have different findings: some say the sound from nas vs unitserve is the same, other prefer unitserve vs nas, other say that unitserve vs core vs nas sound similarly, and a few, like you, prefer the core vs unitserve and finally you are the first to find that a nas, with asset or miminserver, sound better than a unitserve.

They are even people who prefer the cdx2/ xps to an nds/ 555 dr.    So i will take time now and try in the future the core.  I have no nas and don't need one today.  i have only around 400 albums and have big memory sticks back ups.

I compared Core with JRiver/Roon running on Mac Mini.

Core was surely better to my ears in both spdif mode as well as in upnp mode (over ethernet) serving to my streamer/dac. I also tried Roon accessing files from Core and serving to my Streamer/DAC over ethernet. This was tad better than Core directly serving to spdif. The SQ is better in lower frequency and in overall tonal quality (more analogue).

Regards,

Sourav

Sourav Mazumder posted:

I compared Core with JRiver/Roon running on Mac Mini.

Core was surely better to my ears in both spdif mode as well as in upnp mode (over ethernet) serving to my streamer/dac. I also tried Roon accessing files from Core and serving to my Streamer/DAC over ethernet. This was tad better than Core directly serving to spdif. The SQ is better in lower frequency and in overall tonal quality (more analogue).

Regards,

Sourav

Is your use of MacMini using its own souncard outputs (SPDIF or optical)?  Have you compared  JRIver/Roon against Audirvana (optimised, including dedicated USB bus output bypassing the MM's soundcard)?

I have a question about the core,as I am interested in one.I am aware that you can plug an external hard drive into the back of the core,do you need to buy,or have one of the removable drives installed for it to work,just running music off the external drive?If you can do it this way,are there any sound compromises?My plan was to feed my Hugo off the core into my 272 analog in,just trying to minimize the initial cost if I do buy a core.

you need to buy an external drive, like seagate or samsung or wd ssd, if i well understood your question. between 500 to 1000 eur for 2tb memory. in this topic, first page, a person use a wd.

Thanks for the reply,I thought you might be able to still use it to play what is on the external drive,as the 272 only accepts thumb drives,I also wonder if you would be better off transferring what is on the external to the ssd drive,I'm mean,will it sound any better,does is process it somehow before outputting it(off an external drive)?