Naim Unitiserve

vtpcnk posted:

Hey all, having sold off all the CD players I had (rotel, nad, Marantz etc) I am looking at buying a cd player cum dac.

Since I own a naim nait-5i2, I checked around and found the unitiserve.

So does the unitiserve fit my requirement - as a cd player and dac?

Also is it power specification neutral - ie it will work with both 115 and 230 voltage - as I saw that it has a DC power outlet.

Appreciate the insights.

what is "cum"?    unitserve ( to rip cd and have downloads on it) with dac, like naim dacV or naim dac,  it can easily replace cd player...

The Unitiserve has no DAC, you would need a separate one between it and your amp. 

You can use it to play CDs, but it's really intended to rip them and store them, which it does very quickly and easily, so then you can play them from the hard drive.

I believe you can only listen to radio,  

For a result I'd only buy it if for a Naim streamer and not to use with a dac.

Keler Pierre posted:

vtpcnk posted:

Hey all, having sold off all the CD players I had (rotel, nad, Marantz etc) I am looking at buying a cd player cum dac.

Since I own a naim nait-5i2, I checked around and found the unitiserve.

So does the unitiserve fit my requirement - as a cd player and dac?

Also is it power specification neutral - ie it will work with both 115 and 230 voltage - as I saw that it has a DC power outlet.

Appreciate the insights.

what is "cum"?    unitserve ( to rip cd and have downloads on it) with dac, like naim dacV or naim dac,  it can easily replace cd player...

Cum is a preposition in this context.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cum

Therefore the OP would be most likely referring to a CD player than can play digital inputs as well...

Naim don't make any CD payers that also act as a standalone DAC - i.e. have DAC inputs.  However, they do make dedicated DACs (the Naim DAC and DAC-V1) as well as  streamers that also can be used as DACs.  

The main question is, what are you looking to achieve or do here?  If it's to primarily play CDs then it's still worthwhile putting the bulk of the budget towards the best CD player you can afford.  Otherwise, have you considered moving to streaming?

very sound advice.

vtpcnk posted:

So does the unitiserve fit my requirement - as a cd player and dac?

The Unitiserve is a CD ripper and music server with no DAC. You'd require a DAC to hear its output.

As Richard said above, the fundamental question is do you want to have direct CD replay or move into streaming which requires a dedicated DAC?

Hey all, thanks so much for the inputs. Yes you guys are right - the unitiserve will not fit my requirement as it does not have a dac.

Yes I converted all my CDs to lossless uncompressed flac and use a arcam irdac.

But I would also like to play my CDs - I have them right so gotta use them where/when I can :-)

BTW this is for my second system.

So what I am looking for is a CD player which also has a usb input. Or maybe I should just get a dac and a naim cd player?

Rega Saturn R ?

vtpcnk posted:

Hey all, thanks so much for the inputs. Yes you guys are right - the unitiserve will not fit my requirement as it does not have a dac.

Yes I converted all my CDs to lossless uncompressed flac and use a arcam irdac.

But I would also like to play my CDs - I have them right so gotta use them where/when I can :-)

BTW this is for my second system.

So what I am looking for is a CD player which also has a usb input. Or maybe I should just get a dac and a naim cd player?

rega cd players, musical fidelity, simaudio...are cd players with usb imput to play downloads on usb sticks....but you have to search in your price preference on the websites on these brands, or dealers.

vtpcnk posted:

Hey all, thanks so much for the inputs. Yes you guys are right - the unitiserve will not fit my requirement as it does not have a dac.

Yes I converted all my CDs to lossless uncompressed flac and use a arcam irdac.

But I would also like to play my CDs - I have them right so gotta use them where/when I can :-)

BTW this is for my second system.

So what I am looking for is a CD player which also has a usb input. Or maybe I should just get a dac and a naim cd player?

Do you really need a CD player and a collection of CD rips? My choice (and of course, you don't have to agree with me) would be to put all my resources into a single source, rather than spreading your budget over two sources. If you buy a Naim CD player, it won't have a separate digital input to make use of its DAC for other sources. A Naim streamer will play your CD rips. A Naim DAC will allow you to play your CD rips from a Unitiserve or similar, but not from a regular hard drive, as it needs to be a device with something like an SPDIF digital output to feed the DAC.

So it all depends where you want to end up. Also, if this is a second system, do you want the CD rips to be accessible to your main system too? This may have some bearing on your decision about where to go from here.  

Suggestion: trade in your Nait for a Unitilite which has an build-in CD Player + Dac. It also has a USB Port.

ChrisSU posted:

vtpcnk posted:

Hey all, thanks so much for the inputs. Yes you guys are right - the unitiserve will not fit my requirement as it does not have a dac.

Yes I converted all my CDs to lossless uncompressed flac and use a arcam irdac.

But I would also like to play my CDs - I have them right so gotta use them where/when I can :-)

BTW this is for my second system.

So what I am looking for is a CD player which also has a usb input. Or maybe I should just get a dac and a naim cd player?

Do you really need a CD player and a collection of CD rips? My choice (and of course, you don't have to agree with me) would be to put all my resources into a single source, rather than spreading your budget over two sources. If you buy a Naim CD player, it won't have a separate digital input to make use of its DAC for other sources. A Naim streamer will play your CD rips. A Naim DAC will allow you to play your CD rips from a Unitiserve or similar, but not from a regular hard drive, as it needs to be a device with something like an SPDIF digital output to feed the DAC.

So it all depends where you want to end up. Also, if this is a second system, do you want the CD rips to be accessible to your main system too? This may have some bearing on your decision about where to go from here.  

rega saturn r is a cd player and a dac with outputs to other sources....

simaudio neo 260: cd player and also dac inside with possibility to connect other sources

I think Ardberg10Y has the right idea and if the budget is larger then there is also the Uniti2. But as its a second system, the Unitilite might be the right one. Depending where the rips are stored, you could probably stream those to it too.

best

David

David Hendon posted:

I think Ardberg10Y has the right idea and if the budget is larger then there is also the Uniti2. But as its a second system, the Unitilite might be the right one. Depending where the rips are stored, you could probably stream those to it too.

best

David

perhaps you and ardberg are right....but i understood that op wants to play his cds as physical formats....but maybe it is not the case.

Keler Pierre posted:

David Hendon posted:

I think Ardberg10Y has the right idea and if the budget is larger then there is also the Uniti2. But as its a second system, the Unitilite might be the right one. Depending where the rips are stored, you could probably stream those to it too.

best

David

perhaps you and ardberg are right....but i understood that op wants to play his cds as physical formats....but maybe it is not the case.

 

Thats why. The unitilite and Uniti2 have a cd player.

Ardbeg10y posted:

Keler Pierre posted:

David Hendon posted:

I think Ardberg10Y has the right idea and if the budget is larger then there is also the Uniti2. But as its a second system, the Unitilite might be the right one. Depending where the rips are stored, you could probably stream those to it too.

best

David

perhaps you and ardberg are right....but i understood that op wants to play his cds as physical formats....but maybe it is not the case.

 

Thats why. The unitilite and Uniti2 have a cd player.

Precisely!

best

David

All, Thanks again for the insights. Apologize for the lack of clarity regarding what I am looking for. Maybe I lack the clarity myself.

I am not all that enthused about a 'all in one system' - I prefer to have separate components where possible.

Rega Saturn is an interesting choice because I also own a rega brio 2017.

Or maybe I will reconcile myself with only playing CDs on my second system and buy a naim cd player.

Thanks again and appreciate the input.

It really depends how much money you are willing to spend. And if you want CD playing on your main system, that's different to wanting it on your second system. Any number of us could advise you on what to consider but you are going to have to tell us what functionality you want first.

best

David

yes, we don't know exactly what you want, and perhaps you don't know yet too....