new or old(ish)?

ChrisSU posted:

If you're happy with what the SU is doing now, I would go for it. It's easy enough for you to read up on the advantages of the new streaming platform that the Atom etc. will have, but if you buy one, I suspect you will miss the sound quality of the SU, and the extra clout of it's power amp.

One thing I would check out is how old the SU is, and how much warranty the dealer will give you on it. Is it new, ex-demo, or second hand? (Many dealers take used ones back from customers as trade-ins.) If it's the latter, the dealer is probably charging you the same price as a 2 year old one on the used market.

Thanks Chris, the used SU is a trade-in from another customer, who bought it from my dealer a year ago. It's a 2015 model with BT. I would get 2 years warranty on it from the dealer. If I don't go for the SU now. I will still have a chance to buy the loan model I am listening to right now, for a reduced price. But for that money, I think I could as well just get the Uniti Star.

Dom -

Your responses are consistent and your thinking is sound; you know what you want. It's okay to wait and get what you want when they start shipping! Good deals on things we don't really want are not good deals...

Regards alan

DomTomLondon posted:

But this is a time limited offer

Don't be pressured into making a decision on guesswork. There will always be another used SU coming onto the market, so if you're not sure, get a demo of the Atom when it's available before you commit. 

ChrisSU posted:

DomTomLondon posted:

But this is a time limited offer

Don't be pressured into making a decision on guesswork. There will always be another used SU coming onto the market, so if you're not sure, get a demo of the Atom when it's available before you commit. 

Yes, I will definitely be doing a home comparison between the SuperUniti I have on loan now and the new Atom. Now I'm also thinking that I should ask to hear the Uniti Star at the same time.

So unfortunately, the Star and Nova won't be available until close to the end of Summer. Which leaves me with either going for the Atom when it finally arrives this May (?) or keeping the SuperUniti (if I can get a good deal on it) So, time to wait a bit still.

I am also starting to think about possibly adding a NAP200 or even 250 to the Atom at a later date. if I find it under powered. I'm sure there will be a few on the S/H market. But it will kind of defeat the One-box solution that I quite like with the Uniti range.

I'm sad to hear this Dom - is this a new Naim (or Dealer) confirmed further delay on Nova and Star beyond June as in the "sticky" thread? Is there new info confirming May arrival of Atom (or otherwise)? My own patience level is low, and I miss my SU already but there seems to be no obvious path forward in the immediate term. I am already scheming to upgrade Qute to Atom as an interim measure...and facing the entire summer as I have things at the moment seems like a bit of a self-imposed hardship! I'm not really thinking of adding more power to the Qute in the interim as features missing (esp native Tidal) from the original v1 board are a bit of a deal breaker for me.

Hope you don't mind commiserating with another eager upgrader! 

Regards

DomTomLondon posted:

 

From what I'm able to determine, SU converts the DSD stream to a very high-res PCM signal before feeding it to it's DAC. So it's not quite the same as a pure DSD signal. I'm only guessing, but assume, that the new Uniti range use new DACs what allow for DSD playback without any conversion.

 

 

I'm wondering how you determined this and if anyone can confirm that your assumption is correct?

It may well be expectation bias but I'm upsampling to DSD 64 in Roon and sending it to my SuperUniti and definitely think the sound is better. 

If what you say is true, it shows what a callow individual I am who is gullible enough to think the more flasting  lights the better!

.sjb

Sloop John B posted:

DomTomLondon posted:

 

From what I'm able to determine, SU converts the DSD stream to a very high-res PCM signal before feeding it to it's DAC. So it's not quite the same as a pure DSD signal. I'm only guessing, but assume, that the new Uniti range use new DACs what allow for DSD playback without any conversion.

 

 

I'm wondering how you determined this and if anyone can confirm that your assumption is correct?

It may well be expectation bias but I'm upsampling to DSD 64 in Roon and sending it to my SuperUniti and definitely think the sound is better. 

If what you say is true, it shows what a callow individual I am who is gullible enough to think the more flasting  lights the better!

.sjb

Hi sjb.  

This is what Naim say about it... “DSD files can be played back via the UPnP™, electrical S/PDIF or USB inputs. To keep the DSD audio routing as pure as possible the digital header information is stripped out by the DSP leaving only the audio. This is then optimised for the DAC by down sampling the stream to 40bit/768kHz, using Naim Audio software to maintain the high sample rate and accuracy. This adapted DSD stream then enters the DAC, bypassing the DACs internal digital filter.”

So I might be wrong, but it seems the stream is re-sampled to PCM, although at a very high-res PCM. So it’s a totally multibit rather than delta-sigma DAC so DSD has to be converted to PCM.

At the Bristol Show I was told that the Nova would be available in July. I would imagine the same would be true for Atom and Star as I believe the delay is largely software/app related so would affect all the new Uniti streamers. The Core seems to have been released with a few outstanding issues (e,g, metadat editing,) as it is still functional in spite of those whereas the streamers would be more compromised.

If you can wait until then there are likely to be lots of s/h Superunitis around at very advantageous prices - including mine!

alan33 posted:

I'm sad to hear this Dom - is this a new Naim (or Dealer) confirmed further delay on Nova and Star beyond June as in the "sticky" thread? Is there new info confirming May arrival of Atom (or otherwise)? My own patience level is low, and I miss my SU already but there seems to be no obvious path forward in the immediate term. I am already scheming to upgrade Qute to Atom as an interim measure...and facing the entire summer as I have things at the moment seems like a bit of a self-imposed hardship! I'm not really thinking of adding more power to the Qute in the interim as features missing (esp native Tidal) from the original v1 board are a bit of a deal breaker for me.

Hope you don't mind commiserating with another eager upgrader! 

Regards

Alan, I can't really say, but yes it's frustrating. In fact I was itching to just maybe dip into some savings and get the Unit Star instead of the Atom. But I don't want to wait even longer, so it will need to be the Atom or SU.

Pev posted:

At the Bristol Show I was told that the Nova would be available in July. I would imagine the same would be true for Atom and Star as I believe the delay is largely software/app related so would affect all the new Uniti streamers. The Core seems to have been released with a few outstanding issues (e,g, metadat editing,) as it is still functional in spite of those whereas the streamers would be more compromised.

If you can wait until then there are likely to be lots of s/h Superunitis around at very advantageous prices - including mine!

Pev, I like what you did there... I will keep your SU in mind ;-)

Personally I would go for the SU too, classic Naim looks and sound with enough power to get the very best out of your speakers as has been stated take the SU and then trade it in against the Atom in July.