New Uniti Core

I fear, even though your units are in good working order, and the core to promise what its specs might indicate ,  you all have to join this now:

 Dead UnitiServes Society

How will the Core compare with the Unitiserve and with the Melco, I wonder? It doesn't copy the Melco's trick of direct connection to the streamer by ethernet.

Keith

PBenny1066 posted:

As an early adopter of the Unitiserve, and still happily using it, I was just wondering what the newly announced Uniti Core might be ? Good to see that NAIM haven't thrown in the towel with music servers, as some had predicted they would.

After a quick look at the new announcement it seems like a new UServe. But I wonder what might be the difference between the Core and the Serve ? It does have a linear PS. 

Any ideas ?

Paul

 

 

 

Im in the same boat as you Paul (early adopter as well as a happy user of the Unitiserve still). It looks as if the Core has the possibility for users / retailers to fit the HDD drives rather than in the case of the US of it going back to Salisbury.

Also it has wireless updates a linear power supply and a nice new style case. That's it in terms of feature differences from what I can see.

Question is whether it will serve music over the network any differently, ie. as per KRM's point - how will it compare SQ wise with our Unitiserve's alt. Melco's.

Guess this will come out in the wash over coming months.....

Apart from that: DSD format, higher resolution file support and no internet radio... But the design is great, let's see if a DAC and a new streamer hit the market as well in future

KRM posted:

How will the Core compare with the Unitiserve and with the Melco, I wonder? It doesn't copy the Melco's trick of direct connection to the streamer by ethernet.

Keith

N.B. the Melco can do away with any need for ethernet at all except for adding new music from another source - it can provide a rendered output to the DAC via usb 

Well- I see Core as a successor to a UnitiServe. If and whenmy US SSD decides to die completely, Core will be the next one in

Adam Zielinski posted:

Well- I see Core as a successor to a UnitiServe. If and whenmy US SSD decides to die completely, Core will be the next one in

You are so fickle. And what is to become of the Society that you have just made me a big wig of? I can't see there being a Dead Core Society so what are we supposed to do?

Core looks great if you don't already have a Unitiserve but less compelling if you already have a Unitiserve. 

Still, hats off to Naim for their endeavours and here's looking forward to a new Classic series. 

nigelb posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

Well- I see Core as a successor to a UnitiServe. If and whenmy US SSD decides to die completely, Core will be the next one in

You are so fickle. And what is to become of the Society that you have just made me a big wig of? I can't see there being a Dead Core Society so what are we supposed to do?

Fear not Nigel. Dead UnitiServes Society lives on.

My ns01 that had shown signs of problems over the last weeks, decided to die Tuesday, really at the right time! I wonder what a ns01 from will be sold for now we know the prices for a core? My problem is my special love and only love relationship with the desktop client! If I want to keep that the Core is not an option!

The other very important issue for me is to be able to control all server features from the app. This will have to wait for the next update to the app that must be hidden in the secret development department somewhere.

At least my system sounds  broken, probably because my power amps are at Naim for the DR treatment.

Claus

Anyone know if the Core is based on the Win XP embedded/DigiFi platform used in the uServe?

I think the Core uses a Naim optimized version of Linux for the OS.

Presumably, the Core has the following advantages over UnityServe:

 - Optimized OS for music serving (competitor to microrendu?).

 - Improved ripping software.

 - improvements to vibration-control design.

 - linear power supply.

 - control from new Naim app.

 - possible improvements to SPDIF output?

 - field installation of hdd/ssd.

 - flexible use of usb or networked disk drives.

 - many supported file formats, including dsd.

 - easy to update firmware.

 - possible future support for roon?

 - new design for ease of manufacture reduces selling price.

 - it is presumably a more robust design, avoiding issues experienced by UnitiServe owners?

What else???

Charlie

Phil Harris confirmed the ripping software is the same as the Userve when I tried sort clarification of the word "unique" in the blurb.

Keith

Noogle posted:

Anyone know if the Core is based on the Win XP embedded/DigiFi platform used in the uServe?

It does not use that platform. This is entirely new.

KRM posted:

Phil Harris confirmed the ripping software is the same as the Userve when I tried sort clarification of the word "unique" in the blurb.

Keith

I think there must have been a misunderstanding then between you and Phil. The new devices have a common platform which is not Windows based. So any application that ran on US or HDX will not run on the new boxes.

Swapping my UServe for one of the new units just looked like a requirement now that the new unit uses proper, not MShite, software. It might be a bit more stable than my UServe as well.

KRM posted:

Phil Harris confirmed the ripping software is the same as the Userve when I tried sort clarification of the word "unique" in the blurb.

Keith

No ... I don't think I could have stated further from what you're saying there ... I specifically pointed out that it was on a new and different platform which means that it cannot be the same ripping software...

"Unique as in 'not the same engine as used in the existing server platform' (which it can't be as it's a different platform) and unique as in 'not used on any other manufacturers ripping product' as it has been developed in house by our software guys."

However that does not mean that the entire wheel has to be reinvented at the same time - the work done on the ripping engine for the UnitiServe was used in creating the ripping engine for the new platform however it was recoded, optimised and tailored for the new platform and operating system.

Phil

Is the core still limitted to cds only or can it rip dvd also? As I understand it my last replaced cd drive in my now dead ns01 is actually a dvd drive.

Claus

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Swapping my UServe for one of the new units just looked like a requirement now that the new unit uses proper, not MShite, software. It might be a bit more stable than my UServe as well.

My ns01 has been 100 pct stable. Only hardware problems has taken it down, or rather hardware problems and a few very few restarts when the remote seemed to stop working.

Claus

Claus-Thoegersen posted:

Is the core still limitted to cds only or can it rip dvd also? As I understand it my last replaced cd drive in my now dead ns01 is actually a dvd drive.

Claus

Core is still CD only ... There is no provision for ripping DVD-A discs.

Cheers

Phil

Phil Harris posted:

KRM posted:

Phil Harris confirmed the ripping software is the same as the Userve when I tried sort clarification of the word "unique" in the blurb.

Keith

No ... I don't think I could have stated further from what you're saying there ... I specifically pointed out that it was on a new and different platform which means that it cannot be the same ripping software...

"Unique as in 'not the same engine as used in the existing server platform' (which it can't be as it's a different platform) and unique as in 'not used on any other manufacturers ripping product' as it has been developed in house by our software guys."

However that does not mean that the entire wheel has to be reinvented at the same time - the work done on the ripping engine for the UnitiServe was used in creating the ripping engine for the new platform however it was recoded, optimised and tailored for the new platform and operating system.

Phil

Sorry Phil, you're right and I misinterpreted/misread/misrepresented your post. I thought you were attempting to justify the use of the word unique because it's in the new platform, but that it's still using the same ripping process which is unique to Naim. In fact, there are two ripping processes which are both unique to Naim - the new one and the old one. You said it's  "at least as good" which I wrongly read as the new platform not making Naim rips worse (because I'm too cynical).

Keith

cynical is good :-)

Question for Phil -

have you heard the new Core, and if so how would you characterise it, compared to the Serve ? If you haven't heard it, perhaps you could tell us what was the design brief (i.e. design intent) for the Core ?

cheers

Paul

Phil,

Can you comment on the impact on sound quality, if any, of the new operating system in this new Unity range?  

Charlie

CharlieP posted:

Phil,

Can you comment on the impact on sound quality, if any, of the new operating system in this new Unity range?  

Charlie

Flippant sounding but serious answer : How about when they're released you go have a listen...?

Seriously - it's not possible to say that "This specific OS has x, y, z of a sonic character" when the product as a whole cannot be auditioned without the OS and the OS can't be run from outside the product - the various parts are intrinsically linked, hardware and software, and it's not possible to separate out the OS from the equation.

Phil