Issues using Uniti Atom as a UPnP server

Posted by: RadebeR on 04 January 2018

Hi -- I have a Uniti Atom, a Muso and a Muso Qb and I'm generally thrilled with all three as "players". Most of my listening is streamed from Spotify but I have a handful (and I'm gradually adding to it) of hi res albums that I have on a USB memory stick connected to the back of the Atom. I would like to use the Atom as a UPnP server so I can play those hi res albums on the Musos but my experience of the Atom as a "server" is very poor. The Atom will show up as a server in the Naim app, the track lists will appear (and everything is nicely indexed in the correct order) but, when I select a track, the relevant Muso will fire up and then play nothing. A factory reset of the Atom solves the problem so I know it can work.... but that lasts for a few hours and then it gives up again. It's not an issue with bandwidth or throughput of my network.... the atom and the muso are hooked up with ethernet and the Qb has a great wifi signal. If I use my Mac as a UPnP server then all 3 devices can pull from it with no issues at all.

Has anyone else experienced this issue or anything like it? Any bright ideas? I know the Uniti Core had plenty of issues so I'm wondering whether a few of those found their way in to the Atom's UPnP server firmware....

Posted on: 04 January 2018 by RadebeR

I should add, turning the Atom's server mode off and then on again also seems to clear the problem so no more need for factory resets... But it's still a pain in the backside.

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by RadebeR

Hi everyone... I'm going to give my post a bump (don't worry, I won't do it again) in case anyone has anything to offer. I guess the lack of response could either mean that very few people are using the Atom as a server for Musos OR that people are happily using it with no problems. If anyone has been able to consistently use the Atom to serve from USB via UPnP to Musos without having to do any restarts/resets then I'd keen to hear from you.

Cheers, Luke

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by sjbabbey

Hi Luke,

I could be wrong (I don't own an Atom or any of the Muso products) but I don't think that the Atom is designed to be used as a server. The Core is the naim server product in the new Uniti range.

It may just be a difference in terminology but are you referring to using the Atom's multiroom function to stream from your Atom to your Musos?

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by ChrisSU

I've had no problems using my Atom as a server to play from a USB stick. My NDX in another system find it and plays with no issues, although it's not something I would normally do, as I store my music on a separate NAS/server. What format are you trying to play? I've tried 16/44 WAV and 24/48 FLAC, but I'm not sure what other Hi-Res formats you can stream this way.

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by ChrisSU

sjbabbey posted:
Hi Luke,
I could be wrong (I don't own an Atom or any of the Muso products) but I don't think that the Atom is designed to be used as a server. The Core is the naim server product in the new Uniti range.
It may just be a difference in terminology but are you referring to using the multiroom function to stream from your Atom to your Musos?

The new Uniti streamers have a server mode to play from local USB storage, so it's not the same as using regular multiroom mode.

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by sjbabbey

Hi Chris,

thanks for clarifying. I did try to access the spec for the Atom but couldn't load naim's products site (possibly due to the downtime we've been notified of).

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by RadebeR

Thanks both for your input. Chrissu -- I'm playing FLAC... mainly 96/24 but also an album in 192/24 and it plays flawlessly when it actually plays. It's a strange one. The app (when viewed from the Muso's point of view) always has the Atom as a source with all the correct track lists... it's just when I hit play nothing plays (the Muso switches to the UPnP source but the track can't be played). If I switch the Atom's server mode off and then back on, it will play fine. It generally plays fine for a few hours and then the problem comes back.

Posted on: 08 January 2018 by ChrisSU

Strange, maybe you have a fault - or maybe it is struggling to cope with the Hi-Res files. I would give Naim a call and ask them.

Posted on: 16 January 2018 by RadebeR

Just as a wee update, I emailed Uniti Support on January 9th and got no response. Pretty disappointing. I guess they are busy ;-)

Posted on: 16 January 2018 by ChrisSU

I think Phil has been away, so they probably are busy - I find the easiest way to get hold of them is to pick up the phone rather than email.

Just a thought - is the firmware up to date on all your streamers - and the app?

Posted on: 16 January 2018 by RadebeR

yeah everything is up to date. It's not a huge deal... just a minor irritation at this stage and I'm otherwise very happy with it.