Unitiserve 2T ripping issues

Try putting them back in and having another go. Some CDs take two or three attempts.

Are they clean? Sometimes a bit of polish can help.

Out of over 2,000 CDs, I've had six fail. One was Aerial by Kate Bush. A kind Forum member sent me their copy and it ripped happily. If any anyone has Dig, Lazarus, Dig, send it over...........

It's all very odd.

"Ariel" by Kate Bush failed here also 

I know, some cd's accept rip when I try again, for the most Second or third time. The ones I mention I havé tried several times with no success. I have tried washing also. It seems like classical boxes makes it worse. DG, Decca and so on are ok.

I have ripped about 1000 cd' and have about the same amount left to rip. About 20-30 cd's have failed So far. The Dupre box by EMI 5 cd's failed only there.

I was advised to rip on my Mac and drag them into US, but it's not quite the same IMO.

I guess I just have to put them aside (was my plan already) and find a good way to rip them later. I just thought it was to many, thats why I wondered.

Thanks anyway

Like you, I've had a few that didn't work the first time, but were fine the second. My six that won't rip have been tried numerous times on several occasions, and just won't co-operate.

One other thing I meant to say - if you don't have the power supply for the Serve (see my profile), then get yourself one. It makes a significant difference on my modest system, so on your much better one the improvement should be greater. It's well worth it.

I plan do purchase one, but I'm strict spending any more money on hifi now. Do you think the lineaer PS  will influence on ripping reliability also?

I very much doubt it, but your music will sound a lot better.

Okay, before certain people muddy the waters too far let's clarify two things pointed out.

Who is talking about problems with the ripping engine on the U-Serve? The issue is problem CD's are not able to be ripped. A known problem on any hard drive regardless of ripping engine due to the production, copyright protection or damage to the CD. Just do a quick search on the web and it will become clear. It occurs on a Macmini in ITunes, on a pc and a Vortexbox if you go to the Forums you will read various experiences.

Interestingly, the disc's Stover is having problems with could have copy prevention features. This makes intentional errors in the cd audio data that most cd player will use error correction to overcome, but this is not always possible. The fact that the U-Serve will not rip it is actually a good thing as you may find that you have a ripped copy with an error so that you can't play it. Or you may have a ripped album where one or two tracks show an error or simply will not play, because the ripping engine rips bitperfect it will not rip the CD even though it could rip 99% okay, this of course is not perfect. If a MacMini or Vortexbox or pc decides to rip that CD beware for errors.

With regard to the external linear PSU; the fact that the overriding evidence is that it improves the SQ of the U-Serve, does not immediately mean that the one supplied in the U-Serve is somehow not a good quality one. Otherwise you could accord the same poor argument to any Naim box or piece of HiFi from any company, if the 'option' is to upgrade it. Or, in fact seek better SQ improvements by trying different quality cables between a MacMini and a Dac. Or adding a PSU to anything.

"However, HH and several others always advocate the need to improve the US's power supply. "

The usual loaded wording...all HH is doing is suggesting a way to improve an already excellent sounding UPnP server. Why this should be seen as negative rather than positive we can only...continually wonder.

Jason.

I used to own a UnitiServe and out of over 1500 discs, it refused to rip about two. It did eat a few discs though and I spent ages with a bent paperclip trying to get the unit to eject them.

When the unit went back to Naim to be looked at, they kept my copy of the 'troublesome' disc and sent a new replacement. Interestingly, I have since found a few Naim Label artists in my collection whilst they tested the unit.

Hi Alex,

Yes, a similar fail rate to all U-Serve users, ie. 0.13333333% fail rate. Mine is actually double that at 0.3 %. If you search other Forums about this you will find this percentage being pretty good considering all the potential reasons why a CD will not rip over a lifetimes use.

Honestly, talk about scaremongering!

Jason.

Anyone tried doing a direct copy of the original disc onto a CD-R, then trying to rip the copy? Have tried this once or twice on discs that don't rip well and worked for me.

The irony is certainly not lost, but this sniping is becoming somewhat tiresome. I and some others like the UnitiServe and value its convenience. Others think it's overpriced and/or unreliable. That's about it really.

...and juvenile and very, very negative, it's a great shame.

Jason.

No that would not work -- the uServe (I am pretty sure) will not copy a flac or wav disc..it wants the 'real' cd format.

My intension with this thread was to find out if anyone else had the same experience and only that.

Seems like they have not, at least not with that amount of cd's.

Except from the ripping issue, US is just a great product and suits my need perfectly.

Both Naim and my dealer are taking my problem seriously and I will send it to Sweden for a check. Before that I will send some of the problem cd's to dealer for testripping by their US.

S

Blah, blah, blah!

I would suggest a sabbatical, but that clearly did not work.

Jason.

Hi Wat,

There is a long history of sniping at the uServe that predates your participation on the forum.  Mine too.

That's where "that" comes from. 

Now, Wat, you finally managed to really annoy me. Even if you were deliberately getting it wrong I cannot let you mislead others.

Queen are my least favourite band. I cannot abide them. The mighty Smiths are my very favourite; the best band ever.

These distinctions are far more significant than whether or not the UnitiServe is a bag of nails.

WOW.  This is big.  HH using an emoticon.

Only for the avoidance of doubt. Some people are so literal.

Indeed. My first one ripped flawlessly but scratched several discs near the end of its life. The new 2TB replacement has never failed to extract a CD.

But more important questions linger :

1/ Does the U/S benefit from varying its support ? Will cones or glass plate sound better than three of these ? :

2/ Do rips made while using a linear PS (I got there first Nigel ; please send my 25 % of your referral fees) sound better than those made using the regular PS ?