Unitiserve HDD vs SSD

Hi,

Functionally, there is no difference. On sound quality, HiFiCritic had this to say :

The UnitiServes did sound different, not by much but enough for us to determine a preference. However, our result is not claimed to be universal. The SSD initially seemed to have an advantage, but we had walked into a trap. While it seemed to have higher definition, sounding more evenly tempered, sophisticated, certainly a little clearer and also somehow more vitally connected, there was also an slightly foreign processed quality, almost a coloration – not quite a 'glare' but more as if the lights at the recording venue had been turned up a little too much. Direct comparison with the HDD version showed that the SSD's subtle 'halo' effect was indeed less natural. And the HDD version has a clear advantage on one aspect of sound quality: music flowed a little better and timing was superior too, with more natural dynamic expression. So despite the SSD's advantage in clarity and audible sophistication, in the end we considered that the hard disk version beat the SSD by about 13% – a significant margin in a HIFICRITIC review context, though in another system the SSD might be preferred.

Full text here.

The U/S works very well as a CD transport, but what's the point, as it's just so simple to rip the CD.

Jan

I have an US-SSD into DAC, persuaded to buy SSD over my inclination for HD on advice of better SQ and reliability, and longer-term plans to use purely as a UPnP server for NDS.

As a S/PDIF source it is now performing musically very well though I have pimped it with alternate power supply and powered USB disk drive in lieu of NAS - all rather a pain and losing usability. However I found the 'glare' arising from data coming over the network spoilt the naturalness of the music for me - I see Naim demoing Statement from USB drives on an HDX too!  I only power up my NAS when ripping, although optimised with another power supply. I like to squeeze the best out of what I've got.....

If you intend driving a DAC then I think the HD is the obvious answer. As a 1-box solution it's brilliant, I had 500 CDs ripped in 8 days, and n-serve offers great usability. Ripping good CDs is so fast you are unlikely to use the 'play' option. Rather than dabbling in computer audio vs CDs you're likely to become a full-on convert. Only US limitation is S/PDIF out vs USB though with higher grade DACs this doesn't seem an issue and holds it's own.  It seems to me USB's benefits are primarily around easy to accept computer interface than SQ per se.

There are easy upgrade options too on the power side too, in this configuration Jan-Eric rates his US S/PDIF as equivalent quality as a streamer to drive a DAC.

The Mac Mini path is more 'open', there is good software, there are also numerous 'hot rod' options so in this regard it has quite a lot of potential though less 'plug and play'.

Having gone through a HDD crash in my HDX, I would probably suggest the SSD for improved reliability.  You have to back up the single HDD of the UnitiServe anyway, so you may as well just have 2 HDDs in your network storage box.

"Even tempered", "sophisticated", "vitally connected", "foreign processed quality", "halo", "flowing", and last but not least "13% better"..............  While I appreciate that sound quality cannot necessarily be measured objectively, these terms make me want to run for the door!

I think the UnitiServe is great. It makes everything so simple. Even if you don't use the internal drive on the HDD, I can't really see why you'd get the SSD version, as it costs more. The optimum way of using it is via Ethernet - as Jan says, ripping a cd is so easy that there is no need to use it as a player. Incidentally, if you want to play a CD, you need to use the spdif connection, so it needs to live near the Hifi.

I fall into the camp of preferring the HDD format.  I know -- I have to own a nas anyway for backup.  But to me, what the HDD does so simply (rip, store, tag, and serve) ALL BY ITSELF IN ONE SELF-CONTAINED SYSTEM is its strongest point.   Further, it serves as a repository for music that you download yourself or obtain other than having it rip the cd.  It does a really great job as a self-contained ripper/storage/server device.

Others will quickly chime in that a "ripnas" or Vortexbox appliance will do all this at a much lower price.  I am sure that's right.

I'm a happy uServe HDD owner.  

NB -- the 2tb HDD format is required IMHO.  If you buy one used, and it's an older version, it won't store externally sourced music.  Only consider the 2tb format that supports such external "Downloads."

Thanks, from the above I can't see why I'd go for the SSD version, the HDD version just providing the option of ripping to internal storage if you so choose.

I always thought that the SSD used some kind of small flash memory to play the music of a NAS, while the HDD plays it from a classic internal hard drive...

And flash is much faster but also much more expensive than a classic hard drive.

But I have to admit I'm not a technician...

The server does not "play" the music.  The only difference is where the files are stored; are they stored on the internal hdd of the server (HDD version) or on another device (nas) (SSD version). 

I have a uServe SSD - very happy with it (just love the whole streaming thing).

My nas is in another room, which is great as the hard drive makes some noise. Does the HDD version make any noise (given that it must be near the pre)?

I figured I would need an external hard drive with the HDD anyway as back up, so went for SSD with the nas set to raid.

The HDD version is pretty quiet, but not TOTALLY silent.  I suspect that the SSD version is a bit quieter.

Query -- if your nas is in another room, you could also put the uServe in the other room.  That's what I did -- locate the uServe on my so-called 'server rack' (where my nas is too) in one part of the house, remote from the room where my main system is.  Once I got my home wired so I could move the nas, it made sense to me to move the uServe there too.  

Others will quickly chime in that a "ripnas" or Vortexbox appliance will do all this at a much lower price.  I am sure that's right.

I've just bought a vortexbox SSD to serve to my NDX and whilst is does appear to do all the unitiserve does (and has internal SSD storage as well) I can fully understand the attraction/value of a unitiserve - especially if used directly into a dac using n-serve. As ever the naim appearance, build, service backup and resale values all count in favour. It's just that for me I can't justify the expense used as a ripper/server only.      

I had a Unitiserve HDD, and after a couple of weeks it started whirring constantly, not that loudly, but enough to be noticeable, and I wouldn't have tolerated it in the listening room next to my mildly humming amplifier. I did query this through my dealer, but the answer was that this was normal.  (Fortunately?) it was fried by a lightning strike and written off - the replacement is absolutely silent, and I have moved that into the listening room.