Naim Blu-ray player?

I doubt it, considering how they have moved away from AV products. More's the pity.

I would be highly surprised if we ever see a Naim blu-ray player Naims future seems to be two channel music products.

I thought of that recently and was hoping that they'd make a bluray player that plays CDs. This way we'd have access to hi def sound like operas or rock concerts. Ah well I can do that with my Samsung but wouldn't that be great in a Uniti?

Sounds like a great idea but from what i read, it doesn't seem as though there's a great deal of difference in picture quality between the players, so could Naim improve on this and at what price? I've no doubt the audio side would be up there with the best but would that be enough to persuade people to pay the extra? Somehow, i doubt it

As good as the DVD 5 is, it is no match to a good blu-ray player.

quote:

Originally posted by Super:
As good as the DVD 5 is, it is no match to a good blu-ray player.

Sorry, i should have said between blu-ray players in general. I didn't mention the DVD5 or mean to give the impression i was was comparing it to other manufacturers blu-ray players.

The problem with AV is that it is developing at an extremly fast rate. It changes every six months or so. The big boys Pioneer, Sony, Denon etc can deal with this and they are responsible for this state of affairs. So they bring out new products every few months.

Naim on the other hand has long term products with production runs in years not months. So by the time they develop a Blueray or AV produst it is already out of date and that goes against what Naim is all about.

So whilst I would love to update my AV2 with an AV3 and swap my Pioneer Blueray with a Naim Blueray it ain't gonna happen for the reasons already stated.

If Naim are to continue to develope and grow their business they must only compete in markets that they can influence the develope of product direction. AV is not that market.

The big boys can't do proper HiFi.

Naim need to focus on a video streaming solution - Blu-ray is a waste of time and will end up just like SACD.

quote:

The big boys can't do proper HiFi.

They can and they have - about 20-odd years ago. Its just not worth it any more...

quote:

Originally posted by mudwolf:
I thought of that recently and was hoping that they'd make a bluray player that plays CDs.

Two dying formats for the price of one? No chance.

The major manufacturers are pouring money into their development of HD-video streaming - Sony's current range of TVs already offer internet video streaming, and viable HD-streaming will happen within a year or two.

Don's above post is on the money, of course. A small hifi company is always going to struggle to compete in this market, and while Naim have their own niche selling amplifiers, and even kit like the Superline, they can't keep up here.

Similarly, the iTunes-derived computer audio model, using hard drives for storage of audio files - adopted by Naim, Linn, and everyone else - is going to look antiquated within ten years. Lossless (if not hi-res) internet streaming, akin to Spotify, is the future.

But that's another story...

The dilemma is, when will the HD streaming solution be viable, and should we wait for it?

As far as I can tell, it will be a few years before streaming HD movies with multichannel HD soundtracks will be a practical reality (especially for us country folk with painfully slow broadband connections, and no plans to improve this in the foreseeable future)

Meanwhile, BluRay discs continue to be produced in ever-larger numbers, both new movies and remasterings of back catalogues, the price of players and discs continue to tumble and the quality can be spectacularly good.

I'm not convinced Naim won't come up with something on the A/V side of things, either an AV3 or a BluRay player based on another manufacturer's mechanism, as has happened with the Oppo BD83. There are a growing number of specialist companies who are bringing out hot-rodded versions of the latter.

I remain optimistic!

quote:

Originally posted by tonym:

As far as I can tell, it will be a few years before streaming HD movies with multichannel HD soundtracks will be a practical reality (especially for us country folk with painfully slow broadband connections, and no plans to improve this in the foreseeable future)

You're so right : DTS Master HD sound only, can need up to 24.5 Mbps ...

I'm not convinced Naim won't come up with something on the A/V side of things, either an AV3 or a BluRay player based on another manufacturer's mechanism, as has happened with the Oppo BD83. There are a growing number of specialist companies who are bringing out hot-rodded versions of the latter.

I remain optimistic![/QUOTE]

Tonym,

I was at Naim last Monday and the direction of AV products with Naim was asked as I am into AV. My earlier post reflects Naims response to me. So although it would be great if Naim could compete in the AV market I would'nt hold your breath. It's a great shame but that is the way of business. The big boys dictate the direction of mass markets.

Don

quote:

I remain optimistic!

Yes, you do...sadly! Apart from the software issues, Naim showed in the DVD5/AV2/n-Vi that they have a really good handle on what makes this stuff tick and how to extract very high performance from it. I still can't understand how a DVD5 with no upsampling or 'clever' stuff could come out with a better picture than most of the highly vaunted almost as expensive other players at the time. And then here's the sound quality of the n-Vi and AV2 which still makes most other systems sound broken.

It's a crying shame, but that's the way it is sadly. I guess once your fingers are burnt it takes a hell of a commitment to readdress the issue.

Blue Ray?

Even microsoft have agreed its game over, people moved from DVD to the internet, blue ray has no future.

Until there's a viable alternative of equal quality, the Blu Ray market will continue to grow. Of course it has no long-term future, neither has any current technology.

Microsoft's view on the situation. Mmm. No vested interest there then...

As HKK have successfully tested Super HD TV perhaps NAIM could go straight to a SHD player?

Best thing NAIM can do is ignore all this side show stuff and concentrate it's strengths improving and releasing products that should make them some money and new friends.
NAIM AV products as good as they are , are of such a short time frame, that as already stated the big boys are the only ones able to absorb the huge costs of development and possible failure.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Blue Ray?

Even microsoft have agreed its game over, people moved from DVD to the internet, blue ray has no future.

The ever expanding blu ray sections in every HMV store I visit suggest not everybody agrees.

I will be honest I'm seriously looking at dropping my current AV kit and just adding a bolt on Denon to a decent two channel set up.

quote:

Originally posted by Neill Ferguson:
I will be honest I'm seriously looking at dropping my current AV kit and just adding a bolt on Denon to a decent two channel set up.

quoting myself lol. I have been looking at the Linn DSI with the majik speaker package which you can now get in any colour you want and a denon box thing.

I dumped my AV kit 2 years ago and have been running my PS3 through the 2-channel since then. I appreciate that I don't get the spatial steering effects and am not as immersed in the movie-watching experience as I had been used to, but I have much better music now...

Of course, mine's a Naim system - why would you want to go over to the Linn (dark) side?

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
As HKK have successfully tested Super HD TV perhaps NAIM could go straight to a SHD player?

Bluray supports SHD in in its latest incarnation. Just there is currently no media or screens!

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Abela:
I dumped my AV kit 2 years ago and have been running my PS3 through the 2-channel since then. I appreciate that I don't get the spatial steering effects and am not as immersed in the movie-watching experience as I had been used to, but I have much better music now...

Of course, mine's a Naim system - why would you want to go over to the Linn (dark) side?

Frank just simple things really, speakers now available in any colour you want, DS range which is very good, products like the DSI and generally at the moment I just feel Linn is every bit as good as Naim. I also feel Naim are getting a little pricey for what they are offering.

Neill,


I agree with your entire statement, if only the sound of Linn would compare what Naim offers me...

Regarding blu-ray technology, I think the future is bright. If I'm not mistaken, the blu-ray association plans to keep the current technology untouched for the next two decades (concerning video and audio encoding) to ensure compatibility between old media and recent players as well as recent media and older hardware. Sure enough, the technology surround blu-ray constantly evolves (bd-live and so on), but this doesn't impact the encoding of the movie. The "big boys" add tons of useless features on every new generation of players, but most basic functionalities are left untouched.

Regarding video steaming, well, we'll need a bandwidth of 70 mbits/s to achieve blu-ray quality. This won't happen before a long time in most countries. Then, there's the obvious difficulty for most lambda users to properly set up the steaming client, connect the tv to the net and so on. Whatever Microsoft has to say about it, steaming for the masses won't be a reality before a long time in my opinion (plus, keep in mind that MS decided the blu-ray sucked the day they releasized Sony would put in on their consoles while MS chose to use the good old DVD).

Regarding physical formats obsolescence, well, I'm still waiting for the VHS tape and the vinyl disc to die for good. Heck, you can even buy an HDD recorder with built-in VHS recorder!! Not talking about the CD, which has been "dying" for nearly a decade now.

My point is, I think there's a place for the blu-ray as much as there's a place for video streaming, dvd and even VHS. They'll be there as long as they sell and we know that many people simply don't want to change their habbits.