New streaming system advice please...

If you have a PC or Mac I would ditch the Untiserve idea and just run minimiserver on the computer. The UntiQute 2 is great. I just picked up a secondhand one myself and have been very pleased with it. If you must have CDP then keep the one you have but once you start streaming you'll probably never use it anyway. 

Thanks for the reply. I probably will make the decision to ditch cd playback and then move to a fully streaming system. Still undecided about whether to buy a secondhand HDX and run it analogue into a 5i, or to buy a new Qute 2 with a secondhand Unitiserve. 

The HDX is a HDD player and server rather than a streamer, the NDX is the comparable streamer.  For the later you will need a UPnP server to 'send' it the music files. A NAS is probably best for this though you can install UPnP servers onto home PCs. The consensus here is that an NDX sounds better than an HDX but my deal has the opposite view.  Both are very good. 

The natural partner for an HDX or NDX is a classic series pre/power amp or an SN2.  You might be better going with an NaitXS and an ND5SX. More balanced for similar money. just a thought.

My advice is don't buy either an HDX or a UnitiServe. I'd get a nas to keep your music on, and then the best streaming system you can afford. Perhaps a 172/155? Alternatively an ND5xs and Nait XS2?

Thanks for all the advice. I have spent this evening looking at all the options and it does get a bit daunting. My existing system should net me circa £1200 giving me a total budget of up to £3500. The advantage of a secondhand HDX plus a Nait 5i gives me everything, Internet radio, cd playback, cd recording and hard drive storage. My other option would be to buy a new Qute 2 then try and pick up a secondhand Unitiserve but I am open to suggestions before I do some listening.....

I gave you two suggestions above..... You say you will ditch cd, so you don't need to play them. Ripping on your laptop and copying to a nas will give exactly the same rips as a UnitiServe.  

Personally I like the convenience of a Unitiserve, but it is an expensive way to do things, especially as you would also need a NAS for backing up your music to, so if cash is limited then, as several have said, I also would suggest a NAS and then spend more money in the streamer. If you think you might just need CD playback still, consider the Unitilite or Uniti2. A pre-owned or ex-demo one without Bluetooth could be quite a good buy as apparently many buyers are put off examples without Bluetooth.  But if you think you may want to go further on the upgrade road in the short/medium term then I think HungryHalibut's recommendations would be better than mine.

best

David

What about a uniti2? That gives you everything you need in one box.

My choice in your position would be NaitXS with ND5SX. Great balance, very good as is but expandable should you catch the bug.  Should be achievable on your budget.

Over to you - happy hunting.

Hungryhalibut posted:

My advice is don't buy either an HDX or a UnitiServe. I'd get a nas to keep your music on, and then the best streaming system you can afford. Perhaps a 172/155? Alternatively an ND5xs and Nait XS2?

As above, simplest setup with your speculative budget is a SuperUniti, then you need some decent speakers. Don't bother with HDX/US.

Your idea for a 172/155 system is a possibility as well so thanks for the advice.

My choice would be the HDX option and use this as your analogue streaming source.  The NDX option is marginally better sounding, but a whole lot more expensive, so shy away from that.   The advantage the HDX has is that you can add a power supply (XPS for example) - this makes it a rather wonderful player, IMHO  (it's what I used to own before adding an NDS, and ditching the HDX analogue out - and moving the XPS from the HDX to the NDS).

I've used the HDX source with both a NAIT 5i and a Qute... it works well with either, and can happily stay in place if you decide to climb the integrated / power amp / pre-amp upgrade ladder  (as you know you will...sooner or later).

Eh? The HDX option is a lot more expensive than an NDX and a nas. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Eh? The HDX option is a lot more expensive than an NDX and a nas. 

Yep, you're quite right HH, but OP is talking 'pre-loved' though so availability comes into play and price lists go out the window... but you are right

...but I'd still advocate the HDX.

The Naim range is very complex and causes challenges to the new entrant, as we see here. When I first got into streaming I bought a UnitiServe because I was scared of ripping with a laptop and believed the hype that Naim rips were better. I find that ripping with my Sony is far better and more flexible, and that a £400 nas sounds better than a £2,400 UnitiServe. But if anyone had said that to me three years ago I'd have said they were talking rubbish. 

I can only speak from experience but with your budget I assembled a NAS (Westen Digital My Cloud £120) NAP200 (Preloved £800) NAC-N172xs ( Preloved £1100) and PMC GB1i speakers ( New but reduced to £1200). Any laptop with a CD drive will do the ripping for you, a brand new one would be £250.

It is a balanced and completely adorable system which helps keeps the upgrade bug at bay.  The other other big advantage from my perspective is that all the moving parts are in cheap  commodity grade components that can be swapped out at the first sign of an issue. 

If you're looking at the Used market, you could get a good Superuniti for about £2000. I don't know much about your speakers, but you might want to consider putting a fair chunk of the remaining budget towards upgrading these, plus you'll need a NAS and a few cables. A 172 and a NAP200 should be within budget too. 

If you buy older used gear, bear in mind that you'll need to budget for a service too if you want it to sound at its best. Also, there are quite a few old amps which have had unofficial or DIY modifications, so you don't always know what you're getting. Lots of Naim dealers sell ex-dem and trade in gear, so it's worth seeking them out too.

HDX and Unitiserve both also have the advantage that you can continue to play CD's before you've ripped them all. Ripping being a time consuming job that I personally spread over 18 months.
Both of the above offer a one box solution without having to use your computer to rip, (possibly tying up resources or being in an inconvenient location) plus, using the computer you'll still need a NAS and a good network etc.

HDX and Unitiserve are Nice and easy!

Thanks for all the previous advice, clearly there is a range of options open to me to investigate. The Cocktail Audio X30 has built in Internet radio recording facility ( to the hard drive ) which I might have to sacrifice, any ideas how this might be retained within a Naim based system ?.

From what I can see from the Cocktail Audio X30 manual, there appear to be both analogue and digital outputs.  You should be able to feed one of those into your Naim amplifier without any difficulty at all.

best

David

Thanks for the reply, just to clarify my  plan was to sell the X30. My question would be how to record Internet radio within a new totally Naim system. The X30 seems to be the only device that has an ability to record from Internet radio, which was one of the main reasons why I purchased it. I can see nothing in the current Naim range that offers this facility.

No you are right that this facility isn't offered by the Naim server products at present, and none of the others have hard discs.

best

David

I've never thought of recording Internet radio. The BBC stuff is available on demand via Naim streamers. 

What do you want to record? If it is just BBC radio the Naim iradio applet has a full range of podcasts and on demand content. It is at a lower bit rate than live content but OK for casual listening.

I tend to record from various Internet radio stations, I have about 20 favourite stations mainly located in USA and Germany. The X30 has a one touch record function and saves the recording to the internal hard drive. I wonder if there is any software that could replicate the function of the X30. Nonthing in the Naim range allows direct recording from Internet radio streams.

I just typed 'how do I record Internet radio' into Google and there are loads of programs that you can load onto your computer. Why not do the research?