Who has given up on Userve and where did you go.

Thats a complicated question really. If you like the sound quality and convenience then it comes down to perception.

You could purchase a small form factor silent pc of some kind, with disk drive and run something like daphile server on it. SQ might be different though.

In terms of what the serve does, i.e. automagically finding all your music on the network, I am not aware of any other product that does that in this context.

In short to replace the uServe with something just the same will be a struggle. if you change how you do it, then your options open right out. i.e. NAS + Streamer.

Once all your CD's are ripped a US has a lot of unwanted features.   

Not sure the SQ is really that better, maybe different,  but how much different.

Are you considering a NAS with PC/Laptop with a DVD read/write & something like dBpoweramp for ripping.   Its the way the vast majority of Naim'ites do it,  & that majority is significantly more outside Naim even when the US type rip/store boxes are in the mix.

If you've ripped everything you physically own, I'd wait for the next revision of Naim streaming sources (the Uniti range was recently updated with Bluetooth, and it stands to reason that the network players such as NDX and ND5 XS are due for a feature / hardware refresh to match). Add a decently-powered (both in terms of processing power as well as power supply) NAS with built-in UPnP services (or added on via Asset UPnP, MinimServer or otherwise) and you're all set.

After some hardware issues with my US and then it's exclusion from the Spotify firmware upgrade I decided it was time to look else where. The streamer I found and have been using since is not a Naim product, when it arrived I signed up to Tidal and started trawling it's huge cd quality catalogue, rarely going back to my music stored on the NAS, to be honest the whole set up seems to good to be true. I haven't bought or ripped a cd for months which means that facility on the US has been rendered redundent, the new streamer has airplay, internet radio, automatic firmware upgrades, will stream from Qobuz, Wimp or Tidal, handle DSD over wifi and play directly from any usb storage device including any size hard drives or card readers all controlled remotely via a tablet device. With excellent sound quality and good looks I'm very pleased.

Fitz55...I had the UnitiServe SSD version. When it worked, it was great. It also has an excellent server too. But sadly, it just had to go! It went back to Salisbury three times in the space of 18 months, for various faults.

I had decided that streaming from a NAS, or other storage device, was the way I wanted to go, so I replaced the UnitiServe with a ND5 XS, and have never looked back. If I could have afforded it, I would have gone for the NDS, a much higher spec streamer. But I lost so much money when I sold the Unitiserve!

Minimserver on Synology NAS.

Faster, flexible, and stable.

Thanks for that.I am in the same situation, Userve great when working. I should have mentioned that I have an SSD and a Nas. I will look at streamer option. Are you still ripping CDs and if so how. I have dbpoweramp on my pc and could use that although not as easy as the Userve.

I very rarely buy CDs now, most of my music is 24/96 Hi-Res, downloaded from the various Hi-Res sites. On the rare occasion that I do buy a CD, I rip it using XLD, which gives a bit perfect rip. There is  of course, other bit perfect ripping software out there. I am a Mac user, so XLD (which is free) worked well.

Any clue on the make/model of the streamer?

I use a UnitiServe directly into a variety of DACs, and as a UPnP server for a UnitiLite and mu-so. My first 1TB UnitiServe had several issues and eventually Naim replaced it with a 2 TB version that has been rock solid.

As alternatives to the UnitiServe, I've tried Audirvana on MacBookPro, the Bryston BDP-1 USB, and the CeolBox music server. The latter was the only one that came close to providing the same sound quality as the US, i.e, engagement with the music.

If I were to give up streaming entirely, I could live quite happily with the Creek Evo 50CD player / DAC.

Jan

I have to say my UnitiServe (2 tb) has been "rock solid" as well.  I was having intermittent playback issues for a while, and I was ready to blame the uServe . . . but alas it was a misbehaving Apple Time Capsule. 

If I had to, I could live with a nas running MinimServer.  But I don't have to.

This is an excellent thread.  After the fourth time my Userve has pooped out, I'm desperate for another solution.  As others have said here, when the Userve is actually working, it is brilliant.  I also have a Synology NAS, but that seems to be hard for Naim to "find", which drives me nuts.  I also have no time or talent for any kind computing workarounds.

Surely there must be an option with Naim's simplicity, but that withstands more than a few months before it crashes and takes your entire music library with it.  Again.

Since I have no time or patience for any computer geekery, at this point I'm thinking of just using iTunes (I've been using it for 10+ years and it's never crashed once) with a Hugo.  Which makes my NDX and Unitiqute very expensive internet radios.

A bit disappointing, to say the least.  So I would be very interested if someone has found a  straightforward replacement for uServe.

HDX ?

I think quite a few folks, including myself, use a MacMini (I use it with Playback software) for feeding my streamer via network (or optical): It is an 'open' system and easily backed-up. I had some hopes for a HD5XS, but so far this has not surfaced. Perhaps naim decided to leave this market to others in future, or they are now working on something more advanced (e.g., they mentioned a move to full SSD some years ago). 

Auralic Aries - Just not enough hours in the day for this streamer.

I'm not sure at all why the Naim App, or your NDX, isn't finding any given server running on your Synology nas.  Which server are you running on it?  I'm running both the Synology server, and Minimserver on my Synology nas and both always appear both in the app and on the front panel display of my players as server choices.  There may likely be a nas / server setup issue.  Plenty of folks here use Synology and are happy to help.

I gave up on my Unitiserve when its innards were fried by a lightning strike. I replaced it with another one, courtesy of my house insurance, but if it died again I'd have to have a long, hard think about weather or not to buy another, or just get a NAS for a fraction of the price. I do still rip the odd CD, so I'd miss the ease of use, and I've had no other problems with either USs. I'm afraid I have no experience of any alternative devices to suggest.

I am not sure where to go but I've got 2 options:

[1]. Replace it with Naim Streamer that is capable of utilizing streaming services

[2]. Continue to use Bluesound Node (+Tidal) and part ex US for upgrade: 200 to 250 OR 202 to 282, hopefully i will be able to do both pre/power at the same time.

I'm not quite sure where you're going with this one?

Option 1 means abandoning all the music stored on your US. Naim streamers only support Spotify at the moment, so without the means to play your CD quality/Hires collection, you'll be downgrading.

Option 2 Although the Bluesound can play uncompressed files, it seems to fly in the face of 'source first' logic to pair a £400 streamer with nearly £8000 of Naim amps. I admit I've never heard a Bluesound - so maybe you're onto something?! If nothing else, I guess this would tide you over until Naim sort out their Qobuz/Tidal issues.....

On the contrary, option 1 definitely will allow playback from the US.

Sorry, I don't understand - this is a thread about what to do if you get rid of your US, isn't it?

Quite right. My bad ; replied out of context.

There is of course the NS 01 hard-disk player, if funds permit.

Yes, but, erm... the problem is the Naim hard disk drives' perpensity to fry

It's a short term strategy while awaits Naim's integration with uncompressed music streaming services. I chose US over streamers because i thought it will be future proof but NAIM has stop development on US (servers = no Android app, no sportify)

My commitment is with NAIM as the core of my system is Ndac + XPSdr. The Bluesound is just a stop-gap (modest sum) while i awaits NAIM's development roadmap. I will hang on to my US as long as possible but I hardly buy CDs anymore and i want to explore/enjoy CD quality music streaming services...