Star or Nova?

Nova components - no clear answer.

Nova does not have a drive.

Nova to rip, unsure.

Pretty difficult to pin down some of the specs in the range I feel but ultimately it's down to how they sound and if you can justify the expenditure of one over another.

Maybe some of the older products fill the gap but to me perhaps if using an Atom/Nova/Star as a secondary system and primary source for that then I'm not sure how many of the extra inputs will be used - for me I'd probably prefer a pure streamer with integrated pre/power amp and dispense with several inputs I'd only use in a main multi-source system where I'd need the extra inputs.  Ultimately no one size device fits all and I'm probably in the minority.

If Nova hasnt got a drive what is it supposed to be? Is it a higher spec, better quality Atom? Or have I got it wrong. Also, how are people supposed to make a choice if no specs available?

@Mods Is it possible to kindly merge this thread with JGreggs similar one please? It would avoid duplication and keep all info in one place.

iliria posted:

If Nova hasnt got a drive what is it supposed to be? Is it a higher spec, better quality Atom? Or have I got it wrong. Also, how are people supposed to make a choice if no specs available?

I would see the Nova to be the upgrade from the Atom for sound quality.  The Star is closer to the Atom than the Nova in terms of sound quality*, but allows the playback (and ripping) of CDs in addition to the Atom's functions.

As for spec's ... they tell you very little as to how something sounds.  The "headline" spec of an extra 10w is pretty irrelevant.

* though of course no one has heard a Star yet. 

I heard the Star playing Soprano N1 and it was pretty decent, a bit more refined than Atom, but less authority than a Nova.

I had a quick listen to a Nova earlier today, playing through some Dynaudio Contour 20s. It sounded great. I think the design with the groove in the middle looks odd though, like it's two boxes side by side, but it's certainly a very nice piece of kit. 

So it sounds like sound quality and CD ripping are the main differences. The former I can understand but the latter is a bit of a shame because it means that if one wants the higher sound quality and the CD ripping capabilities they would have to buy both the Nova and a Core.

Unless Nova has ripping capabilities through an external CD player connected to it??

You should not write off the Star if you want cd ripping and great sound, give it a demo. They played through a Focal Sopra no1, a £7000 speaker and sounded very good indeed. I already had the Core so went for a Nova. The Nova cannot rip cds, even from external sources.

iliria posted:

So it sounds like sound quality and CD ripping are the main differences. The former I can understand but the latter is a bit of a shame because it means that if one wants the higher sound quality and the CD ripping capabilities they would have to buy both the Nova and a Core.

 

Unless Nova has ripping capabilities through an external CD player connected to it??

Nova and Atom where advertised to have the capability to rip CDs with an external USB drive. That no longer seems to be the case. I still have the original press release.

DomTomLondon posted:

Nova and Atom where advertised to have the capability to rip CDs with an external USB drive. That no longer seems to be the case. I still have the original press release.

I remember that I did hear about this a while back but havent heard it mentioned since. That's why I was trying to clarify what was happening.

Gazza, I am definitely thinking of getting the Star because for me that is the only true "all in one player". Had Nova been equipped with a CD player like the Star I would have been prepared to splash the extra £1k. But since it doesnt I have no intention of spending that much more just for the slight sound quality difference.

I used to think that out of all the Uniti range the Atom gave the most "bang per buck". However the more I have learned about the range the more I am convinced that that title belongs to the Star.

I own a SN2/CDX2 with relevant  PSUs and I 'm thinking to replace them with one of these all-in-one to reduce the number of black boxes and cables...but I'm afraid to reduce drammatically the sound quality. My little son is 10 months old and I is growing and I have I less and less time to listen seriously. How much less quality will reach my Kudos C20? 

damy79 posted:

I own a SN2/CDX2 with relevant  PSUs and I 'm thinking to replace them with one of these all-in-one to reduce the number of black boxes and cables...but I'm afraid to reduce drammatically the sound quality. My little son is 10 months old and I is growing and I have I less and less time to listen seriously. How much less quality will reach my Kudos C20? 

I suspect that bearing in mind the quieter listening levels that are forced on parents of young children, you will not find the quality so much worse and the big reduction in real estate taken up by the HiFi, that you will need to keep away from inquisitive fingers, may well more than offset the possible loss of quality.

At the announcement Naim did suggest that Nova and I think Atom would be able to rip using a USB drive. But that isn't part of the released products and when questioned on this in the forum  a couple of months back, Phil said that he had no information about it being on a development roadmap or not. That suggests probably sometime in the future but probably not anytime soon.

So a key decision will be what to do about CDs. There are several options. You could rip all your CDs on a PC and then stream the digital files from your PC or a NAS to one of the new unitis. The Star will have ripping included so that really is the one box solution.  Or you could buy a Core and an Atom, which would give you a different balance of features, performance and convenience.

But the first decision is whether you like the sound. If it were me, I would probably try to hear an Atom and/or Nova on speakers similar or identical to mine, ideally at home and then decide whether this is going nowhere or wait until I could hear a Star in a similar setup. When I heard the three units st the factory in December, in my opinion the Nova was a long way ahead of the Atom, as you would expect, but the Star was closer to the Nova than the Atom. But these were played very loud into Sopra 1s, so perhaps a bigger challenge to the little Atom than realistic domestic premises with children asleep upstairs!

best

David

David Hendon posted:

 

 Or you could buy a Core and an Atom, which would give you a different balance of features, performance and convenience.

I thought about that option but decided against it considering that the two together cost more than the Star and you dont gain anything whilst at the same time you loose sound quality and power. Not to mention that one of the reasons why people would buy a Uniti model would be to reduce the number of black boxes, cables and clutter.

Thank you Dave for your detailed feedback. I think the best way may be to listen to the new Uniti and then evaluate if the loss of quality worth the space reduction of black boxes and cables. All my 1000 CDs have been alredy ripped with EAC in Flac format and are stored in 3 HDs.

Took delivery of my Nova on Monday (nine months after selling my SU!). Hooked up to PMC Twenty.23s.

Physically it's exquisite; the sound is beautiful and it's considerably more user friendly than my previous Qute or SU.

:-) 

GaryISL posted:

Took delivery of my Nova on Monday (nine months after selling my SU!). Hooked up to PMC Twenty.23s.

Physically it's exquisite; the sound is beautiful and it's considerably more user friendly than my previous Qute or SU.

:-) 

Congrats on the new purchase. I'm sure it sounds brilliant. I am curious however to know why you find it more user friendly, as I found the new uniti less user friendly. Especially the new remote control, or the lack of its functions, I should say.

To answer OP about components: the Nova uses both SMT and through-hole technology: they can then use better components (filtering capacitors for example are all Polypropylene...)

Atom and Star are almost only SMT.

Nova's transformer is larger and has more secondary windings, so more regulators, giving more separation between blocks resulting in less noise and better control.

The 10w difference between the Star and Nova is almost irrelevant, the big difference is the power supply. Nova has more authority and control, 

In terms of user friendliness, im refering to the experience of using my iTunes library on a local NAS (w Minim Server) and Spotify. On the old units i encountered more difficulty in setup and the experience just seemed more 'buggy'.

On the Nova w new app its vastly better, like the hardware and software were built for eachother , which never felt the case previously. Its still not quite Apple levels of 'it just works' (ive noticed a couple of tiny bugs) but generally the experience is great.

I also cannot commend the design enough: this might be sacreligious here, but i never really liked the green logo and black boxes. The design of the new range however is right up my street. Truly superb!

Hungryhalibut posted:

I had a quick listen to a Nova earlier today, playing through some Dynaudio Contour 20s. It sounded great. I think the design with the groove in the middle looks odd though, like it's two boxes side by side, but it's certainly a very nice piece of kit. 

I quite like the groove! Must be a marmite thing. Interesting combination, two very nice bits of kit. Did the music get anywhere near the level of your home system? Contour 20s and special forty look interesting speakers but I'd be concerned in my room about having enough space around them for that rear port. What were your thoughts on the 20s?

They sounded really good, and look lovely. It wasn't a critical demo so it would be inappropriate to say more really. They certainly wouldn't work in my room as it's only 3.6m wide, so the closer speakers go to the wall the better. 

Thanks HH. I don't understand why there are not more front bass port speakers around for your typical small UK living room.

And I don't understand why manufacturers insist on using horrible chuffing ports in the first place. I've never managed to get sported speaker to work satisfactorily in my room. 

Good point!