Eagerly waiting for my Uniti Core

Congratulations with your purchase!!

Naim recommends Samsung 850 EVO 512GB/1TB solid state drives, I'd stick to these ... 

Hey Klout 

thanks for that information 

If I recall well what I read somewhere on the forum the ssd drives will enable the unit to run cooler than a classic hdd. Is that true ?

I could be wrong but I believe that the Samsung EVO 850 SSD has now been superceded by the EVO 860 SSD.

Which is what I am currently using. It works just fine.

Enjoy your Core always great to save a few bucks and the music will sound even sweeter.

I can only confirm that when I owned a Core with SSD, the unit stayed cool - no difference in temperature when on or off ...

That’s great news guys 

And definitely yes could not be happier to find a mint unit that affordable. 

It should be with me in a week or so 

I think from my own experience that you'll prefer the Core to a NAS. Interesting observations I found ; Core vs Qnap 251 ts. Both similar amount of musical information but presented differently, reliably tell differences between Core and Qnap, preferring Core. However setting up the Qnap as music store for the Core I found my wife and I could not reliably tell whether the internal Core HDD was used or the Qnap. All testing was back to back with two set of ears. Incidentally I'm using hdd's in both Core (Naim recommended Seagate video hdd) and Qnap (Seagate Nas HDD's). The video HDD is deathly silent in the Core whereas the standard Seagate Nas HDD's in the Qnap click away to them self's. Happy listening. Rich 

Totally agree with the above senitiments. Mine has a Samsung SSD and is cool running and quiet so it sits quite happily on the equipment rack. My QNAP serves as backup and is located well away in the study. I just love the convenience of ripping CDs via the front slot and importing hi res music files is a breeze. Fabulous piece of kit and beautifully designed too. Only thing is that I’d like a green power and logo lights to match the rest of the system...minor in the overall scheme of things though

Yes if you use the recommended HDD then your Core will work fine but it will run hot and you will hear the drive running unless you put your Core to "deep sleep". Otherwise the HDD runs 24/7. The Samsung SSD is fine and as TK421 says the recommended disc has been replaced by the 860 EVO and that has been reported as working fine. With the SSD the Core is silent unless you are ripping and runs quite cool.

One other thing. There have been quite a few firmware upgrades to the Core since it was introduced by Naim and as it's ex-demo, it may not be on the latest, so lookout for the offer to update and do that.

best

David

Thanks all for the input. 

Well it seems then that the Samsung ssd it'd be probably the 2tb version.

As for the various update of the core firmware, I’ll make sure to run the last firmware as the dealer never used the unit. He only unpacks it to show the unit was in good working order and we did realize that It was not up to date. My dealer promise to do so by the way.

Does the unit has to be hard wired to the router through the Ethernet port for use or could it connect to my network tthrough WiFi (or is WiFi protocol solely usable for streaming, meaning that the unit shall be wired to the router anyway) ??

The latter would be more convenient to me as my router is at the other end of my listening room and I’d rather install the core right next to my Atom. 

I'm afraid the UnitiCore doesn't have wifi and so you have to connect it by ethernet to your router.

best

David

Hey David

reading on the naim website and the core documentation  it does seem to be able to stream using WiFi to another Uniti device.

however I think that to do so once hardwired to a router. 

I also intend to set up a backup routine of the core to my synology NAS. I read various posts on the forum but it’s not really clear to me how to do that. The core support page discloses the various steps, including one that suggests that the backup drive has to be formatted. However my Nas has  tons of music stored on it and I would not want to delete those by formatting the drives. 

So to back up the core to the synology, and if I’m getting right what I read somewhere, should I create a dedicated workgroup on the NAS with dedicated backup folder?? Would that prevent my already stored music on the NAS to be erased when the Core will ask for formatting the drives to enable the initial backup process ? I.e the formatting process will be limited to that folder only?

The Core itself has no wifi components, so you have to connect it to the router via ethernet. But after that you can stream files from the Core over wifi to a streamer although this does not always perform as well (i.e. as reliably) as ethernet. But if your router is in the same room, I expect it will be ok.

On backup, I'm not sure how this works with a NAS. Often people find that the Core has difficulty to see a share on a NAS and this is something Naim are working on at the moment. What I do is periodically do an incremental backup to a USB hard drive that I keep somewhere away from the hifi. But I expect another member will be able to answer your NAS backup question.

best

David

Nas back up is a pain but I've done it on my Qnap. I first made a folder on the Nas called 'Naim backup' and make sure that there are no hidden folders such as recycle or indeed anything else within that folder or the backup will fail. Go to Naim app settings backup and select your Nas and folder. When backing up to Nas the Naim app will not ask to format the drive. Drive format is only required when backup to usb is selected. Hope this helps. Rich 

Thanks Rich for the info, that is reassuring, because when reading the naim support page of the core, It seemed to me the Core systematically format the drives. 

If this does not apply to a Nas, then my music library there shall not be affected and removed. 

thank you all for this info. 

Just wondering: is there a way to have the Uniti Core syncing with my Synology NAS so that when adding a new file (e.g. new album, ...) to the Core, it is copied on the NAS, i'm not talking about back-ups but actual duplicates? 

The back up is a duplicate. It can be played from the nas just like any other wav rip.

I think it has to be a backup because the Core doesn't have a built-in auto copying utility so far as I know. But you could tell it to backup each night at 3am for example and as it's an incremental backup, it wouldn't actually copy anything unless there was something new.

best

David

Bouba posted:

Just wondering: is there a way to have the Uniti Core syncing with my Synology NAS so that when adding a new file (e.g. new album, ...) to the Core, it is copied on the NAS, i'm not talking about back-ups but actual duplicates? 

I back up my Unitiserve to a Synology NAS, and run Minimserver on that, so the backup is available as a usable music library. I dare say there is other software that could copy your files to a different location, or you could do it manually, but using the daily automated backup works fine for me. 

That is absolutely great news; I feared I had to install and mess with various softwares downloaded for the Synology but if the backup can be used just as backed up by the Core that’d be a life-saviour allowing to spare efforts every time I add a new album 

As you music is (presumably) already on the Synology NAS, you don't necessarily even have to transfer it to internal storage on the Core. You have the option of keeping it where it is, and letting the Core serve it to your streamer. If you later add music files to the Core internal drive, it can display it all as a single library even if it exists in multiple locations.

Hello--FWIW--Support info

I don't own a Core, but may soon.  I worked in the HDD industry for 7 years.  As head of Advanced Development for Spindles, I can confirm that that a HDD spindle does consume power when running, and its not small.  The SSD has no spindle, so is lower power.  The HDD spindle is a hydro dynamic oil bearing these days, replacing ball bearings years ago.

The HDD has a spinning disk, which has windage, which also consumes power.  Again SSD's do not have this. 

I also am passionate about Astronomy, and all my storage uses either Intel or Samsung SSD's.  Would not own a spinning disk.  I have both the EVO 850 and EVO 860, and recently EVO 960.  I think they are just evolution of the same series.  These are 1T and 2T units.  So quite.  So quick.  So far sooooo reliable.

Just confirming info from another angle that supports all that has been said.

Bailyhill