Naim Atom problems

Hi Nitram, 

I have the exact same problem you mentioned; and I even started a thread on that into the Hi-Fi corner. 

We're now at leas 3 people equipped with HDMI sockets having the same issue: speakers switch off while watching tv (in my case, invariably it'd be the right speakers that drops, then a few seconds right after the left one, sounds will mute for 1-3 minutes before coming back again as it goes) 

Really annoying issue. 

Apparently, I'm not crazy as i initially thought I was the only one having this issue. I even changed all cabling for high standard ones both speakers and HDMI cables. 

So could Naim finally give us a response here because this is really starting to be a real pain on the a** !!!! 

I reported the issue to my dealer, to Focal, to Naim itself and all three came back saying there's nothing wrong. 

Paying that kind of money for a unit not performing as it is intended to is really bad. 

Naim, could you please help us ? 

What exactly do you mean by "switching off the speakers" - given that most speakers don't have a switch? Is it the Atom going into standby, or does it stay awake but the sound drops out? Does it only happen to the TV sound signal?

we meant sound dropping off, muting completely, for from a few seconds up to a few minutes. It happens no matter the source (Terrestrial tv, streaming from Apple tv, set top box etc.) The atom will remain normally operating (not going in sleep mode or nothing else), it's just that you are not getting any sound at all coming from the speakers. 

after that randomly varying timelapse, the sound of the tv will come back again as it dropped out 

In my case, it happens only while using the tv, everything seems normal while streaming music

Mine does exactly this too after retrofit of HDMI. Also Sony TV. I feel that the Atom and the TV lose their communication with each other so the TV reverts to its own speakers. I was planning on trying some different HDMI cables first.

Fordy,

Don't waste your money on cables, I did this and buy brand new HDMI cables for several bucks and that did not change anything at all, I also suspected the speakers cables for some TQ and same thing: did not solve the issue. So keep your money in your wallet. 

If Naim is aware of anything, the least they could do is to keep us informed and try to bring answers and maybe solutions, because at this price, I'd expect top-notch support no matter what the problem is. 

Instead of that and after several phone calls, emails and 2 returns to my dealer's then to Focal, Uniti support team just came back saying they can't do anything if my dealer or Focal concluded there's nothing wrong with the unit, without having performing further tests themselves. 

I'm now really upset, because otherwise, the unit just performs quite beautifully when playing music 

I also found that with HDMI ARC, the Atom and TV wouldn't always initially communicate properly. The TV would recognise something on the ARC so switch its speakers off but no sound would appear on the Atom. Turning Atom off and on again would spark it into life. Too unreliable.

I reverted back to an optical dig connection from the TV to the Atom which worked well previously. Shame that my investment in the HDMI upgrade was pointless so far though. I mainly did it for the other family members that can't get their heads around several remotes and working out which volume control to use. HDMI ARC allows the TV remote to control the volume on the Atom. When it works this is optimum for them. Since I disconnected the HDMI though I have noticed that they don't use the Atom at all and just the TV speakers are being used but they don't care really.Otherwise I find the Atom on AND the TV speakers, Lol.

Optical from the TV is less convenient but I found with complex products like this that seem to be forever in Beta testing, that life is too short to get wound up by it.

Thoroughly pleased with the Atom in all other aspects so far though.

PS. It would be good to edit the title of the thread to be more specific on the Atom issue with HDMI ARC though. Maybe then anyone who has an issue or not can report it here. Make and model of the TV is worth reporting too as the issue maybe entirely on the TV side of things as its well known that different TV manufacturers do not implement HDMI ARC equally and issues are very common, whatever the platform.

For the record, my TV is a Sony KD49XE8396.

I second that opinion regarding the reliability of the ARC with the optional HDMI on the Atom pointless if forced to go the Opt out route. 

In my case though, the TV seemlessly pairs with the Atom using the CEC Protocol, enabling volume control and auto On/off of the Atom using the TV remote, which is the very convenience of the ARC and CEC systems as you mentioned, no need to have 3 or 4 different remotes handy. However, I can testify that there is slight lag not for the volume but when pressing the On button of the tv'sremote, for the TV to wake the Atom up from sleep mode. I do know though this is very common and not specific to Naim gear but rather to the CEC protocol itself ("Anynet CEC" on Samsung TVs) 

However, my greatest grief and issue is regarding those sound drops that occurs maybe once every hour or every two hours. 

I came back home from the office during the lunch break and did a complete reset of the TV and re-connect everything, and it worked just fine, but I did not stay enough long to guarantee the problem won't repeat once I get back home tonight to watch my favorite show. 

And as you, I found the Atom to be a thrilling kit, working beautifully and driving all the various speakers I have with authority and sky-rocketing dynamic and pace abilities. 

Just frustrating that one cannot use the HDMI output as intended. 

Not an owner of the new Uniti range, but agree ++ with Fordy's comment that the problem may be on the TV side, rather than with the Atom - though in my experience Sony TVs are usually pretty solid in terms of standards implementation. Fordy, your perceptive remark that "with complex products like this that seem to be forever in Beta testing, that life is too short to get wound up by it" is so true - the key thing is to make sure that a component's strengths outweigh its weaknesses, and learn to live with it. 

My instinct in this scenario would be to plug an HDMI source other than the TV into the Atom - such as a Blueray player, TV STB, games console or some such, and see if this also presents problems? Granted, this is only basic fault finding, as  it doesn't test the ARC element of the cable, but might throw some light on things? 

How many people who have this problem had Atoms retrofitted with HDMI inputs? Mine was factory fitted, and once connected to my Samsung TV, it doesn’t drop the connection. I’m using a very cheap HDMI 1.4 cable. 

Mine is a retrofit

Mine as well. The HDMI card came with the unit within the box but not fitted in, the dealer had to do it before sending me the unit. 

What do you mean? The dealer may have fitted the card the wrong way? That'd be surprising as I was told it's quite an ordinary and not that complex operation to do, and plus the unit returned back to the dealer twice and they told me they double checked to ensure the card was installed the right way. 

If that'd be the cause for all this, Naim should have fitted the card before shipping the units, Richard here suggested that first units sent out were shipped with the HDMI card aside, for the dealers to install them. 

It took my dealer just a couple of mins to fit the HDMI port. I doubt it could be done wrong from a hardware perspective. Maybe the next time the unit gets a software update something might change.

Happy new year........and do I detect over the last 3 months a lack of engagement by a Naim on issues on the Forum. They want you to use their App to log a problem, best of luck.

It may be logged but in Naim style, no acknowledgement, no clue what they are doing.......

Using the feedback section of the app has proven to be useless as I ain’t got any damned feedback from naim just yet, since several weeks now, nor any proposal for a factory return despite the fact that i have really strong  doubgs about the Focal’s technicians skills and competences as regarding this specific issue. 

This really start to kick on my nerves and be a real pain on the arse !!!!!!! 

And yet after several attempts to get a feedback from naim, the Uniti support team just keeps telling me there’s nothing wrong with my unit, without having even seen my unit !! 

As mentioned before, I’m speechless 

After the issues I had I have left the atom playing music continuously for the past week and it has performed faultlessly.

I haven't tried plugging the TV back in and hope, given that multiple people have had the same issue and symptoms that this can be fixed with a firmware update.