Atom review

We already knew it looks good and expected it to sound good but they forgot to talk about the rest.

Iconoclast posted:

We already knew it looks good and expected it to sound good but they forgot to talk about the rest.

?

Excellent review, and it also picks up on the wait people have had for the uniti range, which in other reviews was glossed over or not mentioned.

manicm posted:

Iconoclast posted:

We already knew it looks good and expected it to sound good but they forgot to talk about the rest.

?

By the rest I mean the software and the user experience as a whole. It's barely mentioned and for those whose heads haven't been buried in the sand we all know that there have been issues. 

What specific software issue to the Atom are you referring to, yes the app being updated to accomodate the atom launch has caused problems, for a few, with legacy products.?

avery bland review could have been written by anyone.  very subjective and really said nothing that you couldnt say about naim in general.  

audio1946 posted:

avery bland review could have been written by anyone.  very subjective and really said nothing that you couldnt say about naim in general.  

Isn't that the case with all reviews?

Certainly from what hifi (more of a comic for a quick read),and the reviewer can only give their views on the product they tested, they will not have any knowledge of forum posts of problems. And as Phil has pointed out many times,these are a few out of many thousands who have had no problems with app or product

Gazza, I think you mean't to say  "a few who have had problems with app or product, out of many thousands who haven't".  

Many reviewers use Naim kit both for work and also choose to use for their own pleasure so they use the kit and app day in day out.  Many are also readers and sometimes also contributors to the Naim forum.

Yes, correct Richard, slip of the tongue

Looks more like a commercial ,I've never read anything so useless. Sensationalism at its best which annoys me the most ; hand grenades (it powers our ATC SCM50 reference speakers with headroom to spare) and running away (So with a more likely pairing...)

why the tough love.

they said the only thing that really matters : it sounds like a Naim. 

Gazza posted:

What specific software issue to the Atom are you referring to, yes the app being updated to accomodate the atom launch has caused problems, for a few, with legacy products.?

Most streamer reviews I read give a good idea of what the software can and can't do well. Whether it be Roon, LMS or proprietary.

Before someone spends that kind of cash, especially for those with limited or no prior streaming experience, they should have a good idea of what to expect functionality wise.

Streaming is a bit more complex than ''insert CD, press play'' especially when things go wrong.

To me the absence of details in the review just appears to be a bit conspicuous. Or maybe the reviewer is not knowledgeable enough to delve into the technical aspects.

I would agree, but that's What Hifi, a quick read and perhaps a sense of its good or bad. If I want a detailed review I go for other mags, like hifi news, gramophone. But they have not reviewed as yet.

Gazza posted:

I would agree, but that's What Hifi, a quick read and perhaps a sense of its good or bad. If I want a detailed review I go for other mags, like hifi news, gramophone. But they have not reviewed as yet.

 

 

 

Their reviews usually end in ''it's a cracking little amp and you'd be hard pressed to find better at even double the price''

Wat hifi is a joke

how anyone can take them serious is beyond me.

It is clear from the review that the Atom h has been tested as a stand alone sysstem, so no  multiroom with other Naim components has been tested. This would have caused problem if they had done that with the current software and firmware releases. Also if you are testing  different streaming solutions it is likely that you have your network sorted, but  that is not always the case for the rest of us.

Claus  

Iconoclast posted:

Gazza posted:

What specific software issue to the Atom are you referring to, yes the app being updated to accomodate the atom launch has caused problems, for a few, with legacy products.?

Most streamer reviews I read give a good idea of what the software can and can't do well. Whether it be Roon, LMS or proprietary.

Before someone spends that kind of cash, especially for those with limited or no prior streaming experience, they should have a good idea of what to expect functionality wise.

Streaming is a bit more complex than ''insert CD, press play'' especially when things go wrong.

To me the absence of details in the review just appears to be a bit conspicuous. Or maybe the reviewer is not knowledgeable enough to delve into the technical aspects.

whathifi is paid by advertisings, not very objective. It is not even sure that they have reviewed the atom. Better wait for hifi critic, stereophile or hifi news reviews.  If they make one...

in the past customers were not happy when they were waiting for the product and mags get a unit for testing.never trusted mags anyway

Well, nice to see everybody feeling so positive..

As for What Hifi?  It's too easy to knock - it's worth remembering that since it started back in 1976 it has survived where so many others have folded - what of Practical Hifi, Popular Hifi, Hifi for Pleasure, Hifi Answers, Hifi Today, Hifi Review, New Hifi Sound, Stereo, Stereo Weekly, The Flat Response, and doubtless others that I've missed or forgotten?

WHF has informed so many hifi purchases and has been a gateway publication for so many who have gone on to reading more "serious" rags. So to those for whom WHF fired your hifi cravings in the past, I think they're due a little credit.  

AFAIK they are still one of the most successful hifi magazines so they must have been doing something right, surely?

Nevermind Richard, you always have people you never do well for ... soo much negativity ...

Magazines are mostly good to stir up interest and help find out what is available. I can't help but question ANY magazine that has a glowing review on one page and a paid advertisement on another.

They were good enough for me before the internet and these forums, used to buy it every month. It was a good source of information like new product releases and show dates etc. 

Iconoclast posted:

Magazines are mostly good to stir up interest and help find out what is available. I can't help but question ANY magazine that has a glowing review on one page and a paid advertisement on another.

Well, think back to when What Hifi? appeared on the scene.  It was part of a new wave in magazines and reviewing where the emphasis shifted to demystifying hifi and concentrating on the subjective - i.e. what something looked like, felt like, how it operated, and of course, how it performed.  Yes, it could be concise, but boy it could also be brutal too.  They were never afraid to say what they liked and what they didn't like. - plenty used to get the single "blob" out of four for some area or other.  And of course they were one of the mags who first really got behind the idea of the record deck making the most difference to a system - particularly the Rega Planar 3 and Linn Sondek.  It's thanks to WHF that the Dual 505, NAD 3020 and whichever speakers were your faves became the entry to true hifi sound.  From there it was a step up to a Rega, then the Linn Sondek with a Linn Basik, up the amp ante to an A&R A60, and then on to a NAC42/NAP110, and a pair of Kans.

We have a lot to thank What Hifi for today .  I still have a few copies from the early '80s and they are still informative and fun to flick through from time to time. So I give them my thanks and although I no longer subscribe, I still grab a copy whenever I travel just to keep abreast of what's new.

mags are in the pocket of adverts   why didn't they review the core which came out months before . may be they were not allowed to .