HDX - my first listen and impressions

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:

'Cos iTunes sounds shite. :P

Dave

You are a Mac user - what other playback programs do you like?

Gregg

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
[QUOTE]'Cos iTunes sounds shite. :P

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
'Cos iTunes sounds shite. :P

I really like your conviction and directness. But could it be that your heart has already made a decision on behalf of your ears?

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:

quote:

Originally posted by imperialline:
Why can't HDX be built on top of Mac/iTunes or even Linux?

'Cos iTunes sounds shite. :P

Oh dear. Choice of interface will always be the very least of anyone's worries, imo. Much bigger fish to fry elsewhere.

Here's mine as the longest hdx user here, the touch screen works really well, I really enjoy it. The last thing I want in my listening room is a laptop it reminds me of business,the whole experience of using the hdx as a hifi piece is glorious. I Select the music and listen, were is the beef? If you get turned on by looking at file types,sizes and logs then I agree but playing music is a dream.
jon tens of pounds, joke my friend, pass on your contacts you did realise the screen needs some thing to drive it!
good weekend to all
Paul

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Stephenson:
jon tens of pounds, joke my friend, pass on your contacts you did realise the screen needs some thing to drive it!
good weekend to all
Paul

Gimme a break :-) :-) That sort of screen tech has been used on countless PDAs. Didnt know about the lump of cleverness behind it in your implementation, but that would possibly explain the two IP addresses taken by HDX -- one for main board, one for display. In which case, display is a lot more than a display :-)

yes the technology has been around a while but the superb quality high res version we use with all the circuitry behind costs a lot. Plus our volumes are quite low compared to a playstation or similar we will only do 5000 hdx plyers this month!

Allen yes you can use the web tablett to drive the hdx, it costs #2000pounds.
We also use the nokia 810 I think its called at a resonable price, you can use your tv screen the hdx is so versatile there are so many ways to use the interface.As I said I am not sure about the great screen debate, the hdx is for listening to music not navigating programs,its used for seconds! Once you own it and live with it you will see what I mean.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Stephenson:
yes the technology has been around a while but the superb quality high res version we use with all the circuitry behind costs a lot. Plus our volumes are quite low compared to a playstation or similar we will only do 5000 hdx plyers this month!

FIVE THOUSAND????? Wow!

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Stephenson:
Here's mine as the longest hdx user here, the touch screen works really well, I really enjoy it. The last thing I want in my listening room is a laptop it reminds me of business,the whole experience of using the hdx as a hifi piece is glorious. I Select the music and listen, were is the beef? If you get turned on by looking at file types,sizes and logs then I agree but playing music is a dream.

Being straight with you, Paul, the "beef" (for me at least) is the price! I don't doubt it is a capable bit of kit, though.

However, just as it is apparently a "dream" to use, for me it will be a "dream" to be able to afford one in the first place!

jonh I wish!
Jonr,I fully understand and I wish truly it could be 1500, the volumes would be very very different.

quote:

Originally posted by imperialline:
Why can't HDX be built on top of Mac/iTunes or even Linux?

Why should it be when XP embeded does a good job as it is? I am not sure that is inside the Linn DS but I am sure that the remote options and especially the desktop client is far better, more stable and usable than the current open source Linn Gui. Yes I have special needs for an interface that can talk, but in many ways HDX in other terms to is just better. Open source is not by itself just better than Mac or XP. Forget the open source religion and enjoy the HDX for both in terms of the most important thing the music quality and the options for controlling it!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve S1:
Oh dear. Choice of interface will always be the very least of anyone's worries, imo. Much bigger fish to fry elsewhere.

Hmm, well until you see one that really stands out. I have to give Sooloos their due on the user interface! The player, not so much, but the large touch screen has wife acceptance all over it!

quote:

You are a Mac user - what other playback programs do you like?

Gregg

I don't–and it has less to do with technical issues or performance than the manner in which I like to listen to music (often by label, engineer or associated personnel).

In order to be able to pull this of, you need to have metadata richer than the most obnoxious music know-it-all you can find. There have been efforts to create a "genius" environment, but these are often based around a commercial model of selling rather than a music management (media you already own) model.

If I have to do all the work–why bother using a computer? I've been through all of the old-school index card / library-science-from-a-music-geek perspectives on this, and I'm just not happy with the available offerings.

And–damn it, I'm sick and tired of bright-skinned music programs that illuminate the entire listening room–black backgrounds are mandatory.

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:
am I the only one who likes that cute little touch screen?

no!

Well I reckon for sure ...

That if there were no screen on the HDX, some people would be saying they wanted it for sake of convenience when nearby to their system

If it required the kind of manipulation to control, that would be needed without touch (scrolling through menu's with buttons), people would say it would have been nice to have in this day and age! So if the best thing is to provide, rather than leave people wanting more ... then Naim got it right!

Personally, I like the capability for (always ready) spontaneous direct access, and the fact that the HDX can be a totally self contained music source solution, that is of no hindrance to use.

Hi Guys,

I listened to the HDX at the weekend, very detailed, however I agree with the comments about the interface. The guy I was chatting to basically said with Hard Drive servers people fell into two camps - ease of use =Sonos, music = Naim.
I don't agree with him, I think many people who can run to an HDX already want both usability and musicality, I do not believe it is either /or. I run a mac with an ipod touch and the ability to sit and browse through your albums and songs from the comfort of your chair is great, to me it is like the days of flicking through your LP sleeves.
I am planning to go for an HDX next year once/if the user interface/remote control issue has been sorted as I am sure it will ( the guy in the store said that Naim were really wanting to get feedback from owners, which I think is a extremely positive thing )
My impression was that the touchscreen was clunky, and from what I read it is the same screen that is used in the Sony PS(?), but I don't really care where it comes from as long as I can run the HDX with a remote as good as an itouch, for those of you that haven't tried an itouch as a remote with itunes, I suggest you give it a go to understand how easy and user friendly ( and cheap) a remote for driving hard drive music can be.
Just my opinions of course,
Barrie

Barrie, is there a specific issue with the HDX UI? I have used mine now for a week and I have to say it is pretty easy to use and responds very quickly. I do not really use the HDX screen other than to follow load/unload during ripping and run everything else via Tablet PC.

There are some "quirks" in the way the UI functions and I have e-mailed Naim to let them know. I do not know if the things I've written are "known" already or not.

I will say that I would like it if both the Desk Top Client and IP address UI functioned more like Sonos. I have no problem whatsoever of the "Current Playlist" or "Queue" format for organizing what you are listening to there and then. What I do really like about Sonos is that you have your music (albums, artists, etc..) on one side and your "Queue" on the opposite side of the page and it is essentially drag and drop to make a playlist which can be played or saved as a "playlist." There is no switching back/forth with "add to" and the like.

From my perspective, I'd like to see Naim organize the DTC more like Sonos. The player window at the top is fine, but the "written text" portion I'd like to see like my Sonos DTC so that it becomes drag and drop by "add to playlist" with a right click and put the album information on the right page with a left click. This avoid the "add to" and constant screen changes.

The IP UI I really like seeing the Large pictures with album art, time of play, next track. Sonos does this on the Hand Controller and it is great. The Naim IP UI would require a slight redesign since the way it is currently done there is not enough room on the screen to accomodate full functionality wrt pause/stop etc... The IP UI still is not real time "yet" as the Sonos HC does with automatic changing of album art as tracks/artists change depending upon which window you have opened for viewing what is "playing now" or on your current playlist. Again the same thing for making playlist using a mouse to right and left click so you don't have to switch back and forth with screens to make playlists etc... The real difference here is that the Sonos HC starts off like the DTC, but "evolves" into it's other format like the Naim IP UI after the playlist has started and you click a different button. While Naim might not want to do this since the IP UI mimics the HDX front screen at least if the DTC is updated to a more Sonos like system and the IP UI becomes full real time this would really solve the "major issues' from my pov.

Again, I'm really pleased with the performance of the HDX, I think it's terrific and has continued to improve during "burn in." The biggest change was between days 2-3 and I would leave the unit "powered up" all the time as opposed to stand by.

The UI issues are hopefully being sorted out and improved upon. The design and appearance of the screens is nicly done on the IP UI, but there are some functional issues IMO, but certainly nothing as I've seen written and nowhere near being a deal breaker. I do hope Naim really see these posts and do try to make the eventual UI and functions more Sonos like or user friendly. Even Squeezebox redesigned their UI after Sonos really became more popular. I don't know software programming, but I hope these changes wouldn't be too difficult to institute.

We use a Nokia N800 here via Wi-Fi, set to use the same interface as the HDX front panel. This seems to work reasonably well, and can be used with any of the NaimNet servers running 1.4b software or above (now all titled as "Naim Hard Disk Player" from the browser UI).

Transport controls, as on the front panel, only require a quick screen press to recall, then they will disappear.

I don't really use the Desktop Client myself for general listening, as its interface is far too left-brain. I can wholly understand, however, in gary1's case, the desire to see a more detailed view a la the Sonos interface from the Desktop Client–this falls in line with certain server-visualization tools I've seen on the IT side.

Hi Gary,
I think the headings etc are fine, it is more from a user perspective, if you have to just use the screen, it seems daft to have all your music on a server and then have to wander over to it all the time as it sort of defeats one of the beauties of hard drive in terms of it's ability to allow easier accesability to them content. Some of the reviews I have read have also had comments about the quality of the supplied remote, a really good remote a la itouch is fine ( or the ability to run an itouch), as personaly I would like to stay away from anything that smacked of a PC ( even a sub-tablet sized) as I personally don't want it to be a "computer" merely a control, and I sort of resent that you have to buy extras just to get ease of function which should be standard from a fairly expensive bit of kit (oh sorry sir, the wheels for your BMW are extra )and it smacks of the Linn solution, which I don't like either ( but hey that's just me )
I know that the teething issues and functionality issues are being sorted as I understand there has already been an upgrade (at least on my dealers HDX ), and I am really happy about this as it shows that Naim listens and it has built in upgradability into the system. As I mentioned it is the way I want yo go, but I will just hold back until the initial adjustments have settled down. I think your comment about Naim seeing the post is right on the money, but I am confident that they must trawl the forum for helpful feedback. Maybe they could set up an HDX forum, either just for users such as yourself who has real world experience of the kit, or for wannabes like me who have nice-to-haves which if included would help us make the jump.
As for deal breaker - I nearly ordered one on Sunday, but the girlfriend wasn't convinced (not put off, just not convinced)and I reckon the ease of use was a key point, so I have now put it on hold for a year.
I am really pleased that you are enjoying your HDX. it is a great bit of kit, and I am sure that it will continue to sound even better as it burns in.
Enjoy it
Barrie

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gary1:
Barrie, is there a specific issue with the HDX UI? I have used mine now for a week and I have to say it is pretty easy to use and responds very quickly. I do not really use the HDX screen other than to follow load/unload during ripping and run everything else via Tablet PC.

There are some "quirks" in the way the UI functions and I have e-mailed Naim to let them know. I do not know if the things I've written are "known" already or not.

I will say that I would like it if both the Desk Top Client and IP address UI functioned more like Sonos. I have no problem whatsoever of the "Current Playlist" or "Queue" format for organizing what you are listening to there and then. What I do really like about Sonos is that you have your music (albums, artists, etc..) on one side and your "Queue" on the opposite side of the page and it is essentially drag and drop to make a playlist which can be played or saved as a "playlist." There is no switching back/forth with "add to" and the like.

From my perspective, I'd like to see Naim organize the DTC more like Sonos. The player window at the top is fine, but the "written text" portion I'd like to see like my Sonos DTC so that it becomes drag and drop by "add to playlist" with a right click and put the album information on the right page with a left click. This avoid the "add to" and constant screen changes.

Interesting comments on the desktop clinet. I use mine basically just to play albums, but I do not really know how to make a playlist that is not just an album selected from the music library tab.

I have asked naim to include more keyboard access to the DTC. It is quite good but not perfect, maybe 70 percent of the functions can be performed without owning a mouse.
I suspect that many HDX owners have ideas and suggestions for the development, and I would also think that many users would actually take the time to write these things down on this forum or directly to Naim.

One issue I have with the DTC is that new albums are not automatically added to the music library you have to update the DTC before the ripped album appears on the list. Another when ripping the disk is ejected from the HDX before the whole process of storing the music is done. This is probably only a problem because I do not read the screen on the HDX, so I faulsy believe that when the disc is ejected I can play the album. A minor issue, this is only an advantage when you rip many discs at the same time, the way HDX behaves now it saves you a few minutes for each rip.

Claus

Barrie,

I can understand the "PC thing". Personally I like DD's solution, except that I already had the Tablet leftover from work and it's a great UI for the HDX. I'd really like to see a dedicated Sonos type HC, but fear it will be too costly for Naim to develop given the pricing for the Naimnet Tablet they have. It would also need the stylet for drag/drop purposes.

Haven't even used the remote other than volume control since the Tablet sits on the table or couch next to me.

People seem to talk like the HDX can only be controlled from the front panel.

Word on the street is Adobe are getting Apple to buckle on Flash for iPhone/iPod

Surely problem solved for many a user? for like 200 quid.

Gary,

If Flash is available that will be great, the itouch really is a neat control

Barrie

They will buckle eventually, the new phone platform from google has flash and Apple won't be happy about that.