Roon and Uniticore

Posted by: David O'Higgins on 26 October 2017

Can somebody advise the path name to add a Uniticore as a network share in Roon?

Posted on: 26 October 2017 by ChrisSU

On a Mac, control-click on any folder in your Core, and you should see the path starting with smb....... which you can copy and paste. Not sure what the PC equivalent would be, but this worked for my Unitiserve. I had to do the CD rip and Downloads folders separately. 

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by jon h

Oh, it just uses a smb share? No clever functionality? Oh well

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by ChrisSU
jon honeyball posted:

Oh, it just uses a smb share? No clever functionality? Oh well

I have no idea what the significance of this might be, or what functionality we might be missing out on. Maybe you could enlighten us, Jon?

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by David Hendon
ChrisSU posted:
jon honeyball posted:

Oh, it just uses a smb share? No clever functionality? Oh well

I have no idea what the significance of this might be, or what functionality we might be missing out on. Maybe you could enlighten us, Jon?

He won't. He likes to effect an international man of hifi mystery personna.

best

David

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by Klout10

    

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by Ravenswood10

He does seem to have it in for the Core too. Perhaps time for a Melco and  done with it.

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by Sloop John B
David O'Higgins posted:

Can somebody advise the path name to add a Uniticore as a network share in Roon?

What shows up when you go to settings in Roon and then click storage-> add folder -> browse?

 

Once you click browse any network shares show up

if you do this is there anything that looks like it could be the core?

 

.sjb

 

 

Posted on: 27 October 2017 by jon h

Gee thanks....

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h
Ravenswood10 posted:

He does seem to have it in for the Core too. Perhaps time for a Melco and  done with it.

Maybe it is time for Naim to deliver a product worthy of the heritage and the price tag?

I have three requirements for the Core that I bought (at full retail) back in December. And, for me, these three things are non-negotiable:

1) it has to do world class ripping and give me 100% confidence in that process. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection

2) it has to provide me with all the tools I need to manage my collection of ripped CDs

3) it has to provide me with the tools to handle the data set, to ensure it is properly backed up and can be restored. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection due to data loss. Core has internal and direct connected storage options, along with NAS support. 

Lets take them in order:

1) it doesnt do this -- there is a rip monitor which was added after some 9 months of waiting, but it doesnt work. It requires new firmware, and there is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. Until then, I cannot have confidence that a rip is successful

2) it doesnt do this -- i am still waiting for the ability to edit classical CD metadata. There is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. And even with that delivered, the tools for handling a library of rips are woefully lacking

3) it doesnt do this -- the storage handling code here is dreadful, and the experience is even worse. I have backups which wont restore. I have had multiple internal drives listed in the app, despite there being one internal drive. The automated backup routines are paper thin, and have the barest minimum of control, reporting and status. Update for that? Unknown. 

Now, you might want to say that core is working just fine for you -- thats fine by me. Reviews might like to wax lyrically about it -- in my mind, that just shows the shallowness of their review process. 

Does it mean that I "have it in for the Core"? It works moderately well as a player for material stored on a nas, backed up using the nas, ripped using a 3rd party platform, and edited somewhere else. As a NAS to SPDIF player, its not bad. But I think customers deserve more. 

(And before you say "well why dont you report this all to Naim?", I can assure you that the factory is 100% aware of my views)

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Gazza

Why not provide a review containing these issues to a magazine for publication Jon?

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

Well HifiCritic did its review without me.

Its not really a product that PCPro would review, per se. I could easily cover it in my PCPro columns, and might do so in the future. 

But I rather naively hope that things will improve Real Soon Now and I wouldn't want to put out a piece that was already out of date at publication, especially a piece that publicly puts the boot in hard. But given the timescales so far this year, its hard for me as a customer to hold on to that faith.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Gazza

I tend to agree, although for most of my use it is just fine. However, I normally have to faff about with my 4 tb usb back up, put a 2 tb one on yesterday, worked a dream???? For a product that is supposed to enable a 8tb capacity, I hope they do put some more effort into the Core, it could be really great if they put their mind to it.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by French Rooster
jon honeyball posted:
Ravenswood10 posted:

He does seem to have it in for the Core too. Perhaps time for a Melco and  done with it.

Maybe it is time for Naim to deliver a product worthy of the heritage and the price tag?

I have three requirements for the Core that I bought (at full retail) back in December. And, for me, these three things are non-negotiable:

1) it has to do world class ripping and give me 100% confidence in that process. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection

2) it has to provide me with all the tools I need to manage my collection of ripped CDs

3) it has to provide me with the tools to handle the data set, to ensure it is properly backed up and can be restored. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection due to data loss. Core has internal and direct connected storage options, along with NAS support. 

Lets take them in order:

1) it doesnt do this -- there is a rip monitor which was added after some 9 months of waiting, but it doesnt work. It requires new firmware, and there is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. Until then, I cannot have confidence that a rip is successful

2) it doesnt do this -- i am still waiting for the ability to edit classical CD metadata. There is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. And even with that delivered, the tools for handling a library of rips are woefully lacking

3) it doesnt do this -- the storage handling code here is dreadful, and the experience is even worse. I have backups which wont restore. I have had multiple internal drives listed in the app, despite there being one internal drive. The automated backup routines are paper thin, and have the barest minimum of control, reporting and status. Update for that? Unknown. 

Now, you might want to say that core is working just fine for you -- thats fine by me. Reviews might like to wax lyrically about it -- in my mind, that just shows the shallowness of their review process. 

Does it mean that I "have it in for the Core"? It works moderately well as a player for material stored on a nas, backed up using the nas, ripped using a 3rd party platform, and edited somewhere else. As a NAS to SPDIF player, its not bad. But I think customers deserve more. 

(And before you say "well why dont you report this all to Naim?", I can assure you that the factory is 100% aware of my views)

For all the reasons you mentioned ( and perhaps more), i have not replaced my unitserve by the core.

The only temptation i have, but not in a hurry, would be the melco or eventually antipodes reference.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

Unitiserve at least as a log file you can search for ripping errors (my HDX does)

But US (and HDX) is wholly unsupported for its OS and software code and has been for some years now.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Klout10

Jon,

Thank you for your extensive reply. I have my Uniti Core for two months now and I totally agree with your comments. I've owned a HDX for many years which was my first step into the streaming world. After the HDX broke down due to a hard-drive crash, I bought a QNAP NAS and placed all my music (in FLAC format) on it. Now that I own an Atom and a Core, I have to come to the conclusion that the Core is less flexible than both the HDX and a seperate NAS with Minimserver installed.

My main complaints are about the way the Core handles metadata: after importing all my music from the NAS to the Core, every album - about 600, ripped by the HDX! - was put in the 'download' folder. I could have lived with that, but somehow the Core managed to screw-up some edits I've made to these existing albums: mainly album and artist names.

Since I own these albums anyway, I decided to delete them them from the 'download' folder and rip the albums concerned again. I used the Core to edit some album and artist names and some cover art. However, during playback - the changes that I've made (using the Core!) were ignored if you look at a playlist or the track currently playing which is displayed in the bottom of the screen ... I've sent an email to Naim and they will look into this ... but this is not what I've expected from such an expensive unit.

Today I've discussed this with my dealer and I seriously consider to replace my Atom and Core by a Uniti Nova - just not to lose too much money which I would do if selling the Core alone. 

Furthermore, the HDX was able to transcode FLAC to WAV 'on the fly' which the Core is also lacking ...

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Ravenswood10
jon honeyball posted:
Ravenswood10 posted:

He does seem to have it in for the Core too. Perhaps time for a Melco and  done with it.

Maybe it is time for Naim to deliver a product worthy of the heritage and the price tag?

I have three requirements for the Core that I bought (at full retail) back in December. And, for me, these three things are non-negotiable:

1) it has to do world class ripping and give me 100% confidence in that process. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection

2) it has to provide me with all the tools I need to manage my collection of ripped CDs

3) it has to provide me with the tools to handle the data set, to ensure it is properly backed up and can be restored. I dont want to ever have to rerip my CD collection due to data loss. Core has internal and direct connected storage options, along with NAS support. 

Lets take them in order:

1) it doesnt do this -- there is a rip monitor which was added after some 9 months of waiting, but it doesnt work. It requires new firmware, and there is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. Until then, I cannot have confidence that a rip is successful

2) it doesnt do this -- i am still waiting for the ability to edit classical CD metadata. There is no date for that at all. Maybe end of the year. And even with that delivered, the tools for handling a library of rips are woefully lacking

3) it doesnt do this -- the storage handling code here is dreadful, and the experience is even worse. I have backups which wont restore. I have had multiple internal drives listed in the app, despite there being one internal drive. The automated backup routines are paper thin, and have the barest minimum of control, reporting and status. Update for that? Unknown. 

Now, you might want to say that core is working just fine for you -- thats fine by me. Reviews might like to wax lyrically about it -- in my mind, that just shows the shallowness of their review process. 

Does it mean that I "have it in for the Core"? It works moderately well as a player for material stored on a nas, backed up using the nas, ripped using a 3rd party platform, and edited somewhere else. As a NAS to SPDIF player, its not bad. But I think customers deserve more. 

(And before you say "well why dont you report this all to Naim?", I can assure you that the factory is 100% aware of my views)

Seriously though, if I was that unhappy with something I’d return it for a refund, life is way too short. Perhaps I don’t challenge my Core as much or perhaps I’m shallow/easy to please. If the Core is a pile of junk Naim will soon get the message as their warehouse fills with returns and orders for new units tank. 

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

"Seriously though, if I was that unhappy with something I’d return it for a refund, life is way too short. "

I have been patiently awaiting promised updates.

I havent started on the ripping of my collection, because I hoped that Core would do a better job than HDX. 

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Morton
jon honeyball posted:

"Seriously though, if I was that unhappy with something I’d return it for a refund, life is way too short. "

I have been patiently awaiting promised updates.

I havent started on the ripping of my collection, because I hoped that Core would do a better job than HDX. 

Hi Jon, did you consider any of the offerings from Innuos before getting the Core.
They do let you check and modify metadata for classical cds before ripping and as you probably know also stream internet radio, Qobuz and Spotify.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

Given I also have hdx the decision pint was to either go to core as new hdx or something bad and computer  based. 

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Cbr600

Jon, I am in the same situation as you, with core and HDX.

i have decided to put everything on the core, and keep backed up using nas.

once this is done I will sell the HDX, which has been a loyal servant for some years, and a great piece of kit, but I'm sure is on the way out with lack of updating on the software side. Will stay with the new kit and try and future proof the system.

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

Well unfortunately I cannot consider the internal storage and backup routines of core to be trustworthy. So I would recommend storing on a nas and using nas to nas backup. 

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by Klout10

I really hope Naim will fix these issues with the Core ... that must be doable, right?

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by jon h

Sure, its firmware and software. All fixable, given the time, resources, planning and willpower. But how long do we hold our breath and wait?

 And its not just core -- these are platform issues. Where is multiroom support?

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by David O'Higgins

Meantime,  can someone please post the correct (or an example of one which works) connection path for a Linux Roon Core connection to a Uniticore, preferably not using IP addresses, but anything usable considered! It is unacceptably difficult to do these simple things!

Posted on: 28 October 2017 by ChrisSU
David O'Higgins posted:

Meantime,  can someone please post the correct (or an example of one which works) connection path for a Linux Roon Core connection to a Uniticore, preferably not using IP addresses, but anything usable considered! It is unacceptably difficult to do these simple things!

Did you try doing what I mentioned in my first post above?