UnitiServe-SSD Vs HDX-SSD

Read this very thread - the costs have been mentioned at least twice..!

quote:

Originally posted by SC:
With a bit of reflection, I'm more of the opinion the smarter - longer term - money is on the HDX........

I almost made the call. And then the numbers told me there was possibly another story...

I can wait for a demonstration.

I've been comparing secure rips (dbPoweramp) played via my Macbook Pro into the Supernait dac and comparing them with the CDX2/HiLine/Powerline. Whilst the Supernait dac is good the CDX2 combo is noticeably better*. So anything I do get has to beat that.

I don't want to 'be brave' and end up in a BBC Micro/Acorn Electron situation (if that means anything to anybody other than me).

*Just realised I need to compare it to the Macbook & Supernait dac powered by a Powerline to be absolutely fair. Will come back to you on the outcome of that.

quote:

Originally posted by Develyn:
Pre-ordered a Unitiserve with my dealer yesterday. Appears to be late July or August. Will pair with my Uniti.

Develyn,

Good quality rips and accurate metadata plus a powerful aggregator.

It will make a great combination with your Uniti.

quote:

Originally posted by John Bailey:

quote:

Originally posted by SC:
With a bit of reflection, I'm more of the opinion the smarter - longer term - money is on the HDX........

I almost made the call. And then the numbers told me there was possibly another story...

I can wait for a demonstration.

I've been comparing secure rips (dbPoweramp) played via my Macbook Pro into the Supernait dac and comparing them with the CDX2/HiLine/Powerline. Whilst the Supernait dac is good the CDX2 combo is noticeably better*. So anything I do get has to beat that.

I don't want to 'be brave' and end up in a BBC Micro/Acorn Electron situation (if that means anything to anybody other than me).

*Just realised I need to compare it to the Macbook & Supernait dac powered by a Powerline to be absolutely fair. Will come back to you on the outcome of that.

** Tried again with the Powerline on the Supernait's Hicap. Better performance (with the internal dac) than before but the CDX2 has a darker, less splashy and more cohesive presentation. Internal dac very good though.

All this via Stax 404/SRM-006t headphones by the way.

quote:

Originally posted by Aleg:

I cannot see what is missing from this device to fulfill my wishes except we cannot know it SQ yet.

It can:
- play from network shares,
- play most of the modern codecs,
- play all (176.4?) HiRes sample frequencies,
- manage the music with all required meta data,
- it can be controled from iPod, PC/Mac, etc.

For me it is the slimmed down HDX I was looking for, the ripping engine is nice, though not necessary for me. I'm just curious about sound quality of course.

It also acts as a UPnP media server which I don't need to use (and certainly won't).

aleg

Sorry - displayng my ignorance here - but does the UnitiServe act as a network client. I.e, can it sit in front of the nDac in the hifi rack and wirelessly access the NAS hooked up to the router in another room?
Or does it have to be physically connected to the router/NAS, with something else streaming into the nDac.

I didn't get how to control UnitiServe.
It seems that it's not equipped with remote.
Web site is showing one pic with Apple iTouch (I believe)-- as the only way to control it?

quote:

Originally posted by MartinCA:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Aleg:

I cannot see what is missing from this device to fulfill my wishes except we cannot know it SQ yet.

It can:
- play from network shares,
- play most of the modern codecs,
- play all (176.4?) HiRes sample frequencies,
- manage the music with all required meta data,
- it can be controled from iPod, PC/Mac, etc.

For me it is the slimmed down HDX I was looking for, the ripping engine is nice, though not necessary for me. I'm just curious about sound quality of course.

It also acts as a UPnP media server which I don't need to use (and certainly won't).
[quote]

Sorry - displayng my ignorance here - but does the UnitiServe act as a network client. I.e, can it sit in front of the nDac in the hifi rack and wirelessly access the NAS hooked up to the router in another room?
Or does it have to be physically connected to the router/NAS, with something else streaming into the nDac.

It will not stream wirelessly but it only needs to be connected with ethernet cable to the same network router where the NAS resides on. It doesn't have to be physicaly connected to a NAS directly.

You could make it wireless by connecting it via an ethernet cable to a wireless bridge. But that would probably have to be a high speed wireless network with low levels of other traffic, e.g. 802.11n, if you would like to play high-res audio. I would try to get à wired connection first.

-
aleg

quote:

Originally posted by AMA:
I didn't get how to control UnitiServe.
It seems that it's not equipped with remote.
Web site is showing one pic with Apple iTouch (I believe)-- as the only way to control it?

According to the specs it can be controled by

quote:

USER CONTROL INTERFACES
Front Panel Logo Touch-sensitive eject and shutdown mode function
TV Monitor 4:3 and 16:9 customisable TV interface USB touch screen compatible
Web Interface PC and Mac internet browser compatible Adobe Flash user interface
Handheld User interface app for iPhone and iPod Touch devices
AMX and Creston Installer-customisable reference apps available

and I also read that the DTC now used for HDX can also be used for the UnitiServe.

It is in fact a kind of headless computer (though you can put a head on it via VGA and PS-2 mouse and keyboard)

And it is of course also a UPnP mediastreamer so you could use a UPnP mediarenderer and control point to control playback (uniti, unitiqute etc), if you are in to UPnP streaming.


-
aleg

quote:

Originally posted by Aleg:
It will not stream wirelessly but it only needs to be connected with ethernet cable to the same network router where the NAS resides on. It doesn't have to be physicaly connected to a NAS directly.

You could make it wireless by connecting it via an ethernet cable to a wireless bridge. But that would probably have to be a high speed wireless network with low levels of other traffic, e.g. 802.11n, if you would like to play high-res audio. I would try to get à wired connection first.

aleg

Well - I have an 11n router, but it is in another room, so it looks like the bridge would be the best option. Better wait and see what it sounds like!!

Question @ Naim;

is there a plan to have HDX-SSD as Upnp client (via SW update)? As I understand, you have it already implemented in Uniti range.
Many thanks for your great gear!
Ralf

quote:

Originally posted by T38.45:
Question @ Naim;

is there a plan to have HDX-SSD as Upnp client (via SW update)? As I understand, you have it already implemented in Uniti range.
Many thanks for your great gear!
Ralf

It (technically) is already a client to itself(!)-but there would be no sonic or technical advantage, inasmuch as any NAS with music files could be scanned directly by the HDX itself, and played without any interposing layers of complexity in between.

UPnP itself provides no "goodness" as regards sound quality (it's simply a transfer and control protocol), and the HDX already features gapless 192kHz playback without a single bit of UPnP required. In fact, it can be argued that use of a UPnP control point to control local playback of the HDX would be a regressive step (backwards), as one would lose the ability to search relationally via the HDX GUI.

One only has to see the clumsiness of "custom Twonky builds" for NAS-based UPnP/DLNA servers to understand how hacked together the interfaces of some UPnP-only solutions (using tagged files) can become.

Do not be easily fooled by the claims made by progenitors of UPnP-only solutions, as sound quality at playback lies strictly within the player and its architecture itself, given the best quality files possible (source first, of course). Wait, and do a proper comparison.

The Uniti range uses a completely different media player architecture which has little in common with the HDX, UnitiServe or NS-Series server architecture.

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
The Uniti range uses a completely different media player architecture which has little in common with the HDX, UnitiServe or NS-Series server architecture.

Isn't the UnitiServe part of the Uniti range David, or does it just share the Uniti brand but not the architecture?

Server + player architecture different than player-only architecture....

Did anybody make some progress on the original question of this thread? Is there any advantage (soundwise) of the HDX-SSD vs the UnityServe-SSD?

As the UnitiServe needs an nDAC, then I would expect it to sound better than the bare HDX, as the DAC is better (That may change with the new PCI card for the HDX). I take it that's the comparison you had in mind, as UnitiServe + DAC is around the same price as HDX?
My only concern would be gapless playback. Will it be supported by UnitiServe out of the box? Or will it come along later, like the UnitiQute, as alluded to by Paul Stephenson in another thread?
I couldn't countenance any streamer that didn't have gapless playback

quote:

Originally posted by Nero:
As the UnitiServe needs an nDAC, then I would expect it to sound better than the bare HDX, as the DAC is better (That may change with the new PCI card for the HDX). I take it that's the comparison you had in mind, as UnitiServe + DAC is around the same price as HDX?
My only concern would be gapless playback. Will it be supported by UnitiServe out of the box? Or will it come along later, like the UnitiQute, as alluded to by Paul Stephenson in another thread?
I couldn't countenance any streamer that didn't have gapless playback

My assumption/idea is that local playback through a DAC will be gapless. The issue with playback not being gapless is AFAIK only in the context of UPnP streaming.

I can't recall anybody complaining about not having gapless playback on an HDX.

-
aleg

HDX, NS-Series servers and UnitiServe all support gapless playback via the local analog or digital outputs, and have done so since day one.

My question only refers to HDX vs UnityServe feeding the DAC digitally. I am just curious whether there will be any difference and if Naim intends/expects there to be one.

quote:

Originally posted by lawoftrust:
Did anybody make some progress on the original question of this thread? Is there any advantage (soundwise) of the HDX-SSD vs the UnityServe-SSD?

We can only guess, we only know UnitiServe is based on HDX. Naim could elaborate more on the differences/similarities between them?

- Do they use the same PCI sound device?
- Are their digital output the same?(in terms of jitter, isolation...)
- Is there any difference in terms of specific power regulation of the components involved in the digital output?

HDX has a white paper, I hope UnitiServe will also have one...

I second that, an official statement would be very useful for any further decision to be made by potential customers.

Guys,

Even with a white paper, you still need to audition. So, I don't really see what the actual relevance is to what you want.

I think that everything should be very clear after a demo, then each person can decide what product suits their needs and whether the cost is justified. I think a demo with the NS01 should be included as well. I haven't heard anything about any changes to an SSD version or to the PCI card etc...

All I know is that for over a year and a half many people told me that their MAC/$1K DAC was much better than either my HDX/555PS or equivalent to a 555CDP, so what is a white paper going to provide?

I agree audition is more useful but I also would like to know what's inside the new box.

This is not new, just like the excellent Hdx white paper provides details about its architecture and power regulation, or the same with different CDP and the explanation about the mech they use...
If HDX would be a better transport than the Serve then there might be a technical foundation!
IMHO "based on HDX" in a very poor tech description...

Allen,

that sounds like a very promising, upcoming report from your side

Georg

Look forward to all that Allen...

Been thinking about the HDX-SSD. I presume there is just the ONE SSD fitted ? So, unlike the twin HDD version, there is no internal back-up of the OS...? I appreciate it is easy for the user to backup the archive/music store, where ever located, but the HDX OS...? OK, the likelihood of SSD failure compared to HDD is much much smaller, but just a thought...

Mind you, I presume this is the same situation with the Serve, regardless of HD version - back-up is 100% dependent on external arrangement...

The rips should be the same but it's been hinted that the new board is a clear sonic upgrade when it arrives. Still interested in your take as is.