Uniti Atom: first use...and first issues as well

I think my similar issue with the phono input from my Rega Fono Mini AD2 must be relevant to show its not just a HDMI or TV model specific issue... The audio hasn't yet completely gone via this input but the right channel increasingly distorts to a crackle - pull the plug, restart and fine... Until the next time.

I'm contemplating getting the Atom this weekend. But all these issues people are having are making think it's a bad choice and it's not quite ready for Primetime.

If you spend enough time on the forum, you would end up convincing yourself not to buy anything. The Unitis are a high volume product, perhaps a few more problems......but I have Core and Nova, no hardware problems.

Sorry to hear about all these issues. I'm starting to feel better about returning my Atom. Maybe it's best to wait for Atom V2 when all these issues are ironed out.

Hi All Naim lover,

After read Bouba experience with Naim Uniti Atom (HDMI ver), I know that we have reach the same problem.

My problem is:

While listening (i.e. TV , Bluray , USB , Tidal, etc.) , the system will drop out initially the Right channel , then about 1 ~ 2 mins , the Left channel out too. The drop out was not related to loudness of volume.

After about 3 mins, both channel up again. Seems a "watchdog" mechanism is bulid-in to the system software, it will awake the amplify section of Atom. Besides, pressing the power for few seconds for a hard reboot , also fix this problem.

It occurs randomly, but with 5~6 hours continues listening, it will come out at least 2 times.

At 1st, I think it may be the software problem (as I buy it on 2017-July, the 1st batch of shippment), after upgraded to latest ver.2.3, the problem still exist.

My Setup:

Naim Uniti atom (non HDMI ver. , with original Naim PowerLite which come out of box) , with plenty space for machine Cooling

Neat Acoustics Elite SX speaker

Naim NACA5 speaker cable.

LAN cable connect to router.

Coaxial Cable (for Bluray player) , Optical cable (for TV)

USB HDD at the back.

Regards,

Terry

Hi,

exactly the same problem also... Right speaker disconnecting after several hours of TV watching via HDMI arc input.

NAIM uniti atom

Tony, what Make and model TV are you using with the Atom. Is it Samsung?  I believe that Naim is looking into this so have you notified them (with relevant details) of your issue?

I've had this too, with an Atom and Samsung TV. I've only noticed it once - a sharp click, and the R channel died. Then it started working again, at some point.

Richard, my TV is "Sony Bravia KD65XE9305". I didn't notify NAIM yet, because I'm sure it is small software problem and will be fixed with future updates.

Also, I've noticed, If I change the volume a little bit (for example, from 40 to 41 and back to 40) the countdown renews. I mean, If I do not change the volume, the right speaker disconnects after ~2 hours, but If after 1 hour I will change the volume like I said, then the right channel will be off 2 hours starting from the volume change. So overall that would be 3 hours .

So I think changing the volume do some kind of "reset" or something.

In other words, If I change the volume at least one time in an hour, the speakers do not disconnect. I do the volume change with TV romote control. I don;t know if this trick will work with NAIM unity remote control.

surely overheating indication is a internal fault .the speaker cable issue will put new customers off.in todays market with this type of unit should be designed to be so.  ive delayed trialling the nova till the range is issue free 

Sad to hear others are having the same issues. 

Well, on my side, since my last visit, I received a brand new Atom replacement for my unit from my dealer. He told me that naim simply found the unit was faulty. 

So my new Atom came 2 weeks ago and seems to be from the latest batch, brand new, but guess what, I'm still having exactly the same issues again and again. The unit is still playing music just fine though. 

Naim was kind enough to replace the unit but now even my dealer is speechless. So to me this is definitively not a hardware issue. 

Kudos to naim for having replaced my unit after 2 returns to my dealer's shop, than to Focal, however the problem is still there.  So I do hope they'll investigate to find a solution, otherwise it's pointless to buy something intended not only to play music but also to be connected to a TV set. 

To me on the list of issues with the Atom, this is top priority for a fix. 

I had exactly the same issue with my first Atom - one of the first units delivered in Germany last August - right channel would drop after crackling sound, followed by left. Sometimes both at once. This only occurred when watching TV after several hours - optical in (no HDMI). Took the unit back in early October (at the time there were no posts about the issue) and it was immediately replaced (thanks to the Naim distributor MusicLine and my AD here in Hamburg). 

The second unit apparently had a faulty wiring harness (see my post from Jan 16) and became non-responsive after a few weeks. The unit was repaired by MusicLine here in Germany. Got it back and now the channel dropping is happening again! Just like the original unit! 

So far it only happens when watching TV. I have a Sony Bravia XBR55X850B using a Van den Hul Toslink connection. 

This issue has cost me a considerable amount of time and frustration, and I'm really growing tired of schlepping faulty Atoms back and forth. 

Please get this sorted, Naim. 

If a customer says he has a problem with a NAIM product, the first thing the dealer should do is exchange the product.  That's why they have such a high dealer markup - customer service.   After my poor experiences with my NAIM dealer here in the US, I won't be buying anything else from him (after spening over $30,000 on Naim equipment over the last 10 years), which probably means I won't be buying any future NAIM products.

Does anybody from NAIM read this forum?

That would be great to hear official opinion from NAIM about this problem. Because it is not serious to replace the unit and get new one with exactly the same problem.

Phil does occasionally, your best contacting support directly or go to your dealer.

Also, I noticed another problem in Uniti Atom - hiss from speakers. The hiss isn't dependent on volume level. I hear it on zero volume. It is not a problem in day time. But late at night the hiss becomes noticeable from 3 meters distance and then it becomes a problem.

Did anybody else noticed the hiss on zero volume?

No excessive hiss for me. Are you hearing it for all sources? 

Yes, I hear it for all sources. Also I've tried many different things without success (like connecting the amp to another power source, disconnecting all electric appliances, changing speaker cables, etc...).

Tony, a small amount of hiss is normal with all Naim amps - its level will somewhat depend on other factors such as acoustics, sensitivity of speakers, speaker cable, how bright the speakers are at a particular HF, etc...  I haven't really noticed it on the few occasions I've used an Atom.  If you are concerned then I would talk to your dealer and compare with their demo unit.

AndyHamburg posted:

I had exactly the same issue with my first Atom - one of the first units delivered in Germany last August - right channel would drop after crackling sound, followed by left. Sometimes both at once. This only occurred when watching TV after several hours - optical in (no HDMI). Took the unit back in early October (at the time there were no posts about the issue) and it was immediately replaced (thanks to the Naim distributor MusicLine and my AD here in Hamburg). 

The second unit apparently had a faulty wiring harness (see my post from Jan 16) and became non-responsive after a few weeks. The unit was repaired by MusicLine here in Germany. Got it back and now the channel dropping is happening again! Just like the original unit! 

So far it only happens when watching TV. I have a Sony Bravia XBR55X850B using a Van den Hul Toslink connection. 

This issue has cost me a considerable amount of time and frustration, and I'm really growing tired of schlepping faulty Atoms back and forth. 

Please get this sorted, Naim. 

I could not agree more.

I don't know whether Phil or someone else from Naim is reading the forum, but the frustration is just getting worse for Atom's user.

 I have to say great thanks to my dealer who's been very understanding and felt my frustration and he did it best to help with the issue.

Naim and its distributor is the one to blame: Great Customer service (in every regards, the best I"ve come to deal with) does not necessarily help if not accompanied with Communication.

I've emailed the Naim support and even called the support line from France. They were clueless (which I can understand as there're not technicians from the factory) and only able to advise doing the basic tests I already performed by my own since the very first times I experienced the dropouts issues.

Now I blame Naim for being unable to even communicate on what's happeing here with the Atom units, even to say "we have no clue about what's happening but will take a closer look about it"

My dealer told me my replacement unit is of the latest production batch and should have no issue at all. He does not know what to do because he and I both fear to get it replaced a third time and having the same issue again, that'd be wasting time for both of us and money for him. 

I've read about this very same issue all across the Streaming section of this forum and apparently more units are involved than I initially thought (I even thought my ears were playing tricks on me at first !!)

So please Naim, for god's sake, couldn't you just tell us what the heck is going on ?

Very frustrating experience yesterday: I enjoyed my unit all day long yesterday streaming tunes through Upnp from my Synology Nas (at least when the unit was able to run the "discovery" process to hook up to the Synology nas- because the app itself did seem to have issue scanning the network  to list the available server although all dedicated firewall settings were set the right way, and please don't nobody talks about blood* network set up issues, mine is very simple and has been operating for years with no issues with my UQ2 and my other kits and appliances), playing at "realistic" volume and no issue of any kind from 11am til around 9.pm until I decided to watch a movie. Those blood* dropouts occured again and again every 2 to 3 hours.

I'm getting tired of it.

Hi,

We don't spend all our time on the forums - that just isn't possible - which is why we ask anyone needing support to contact us directly (information in the sticky at the top of each forum or on the right hand side of each thread) then we can do so - doing non-trivial support on forum threads unfortunately just isn't practical.

The software guys are still looking into the cause of the dropouts whilst playing from TV but I have no information as to what is causing it or when there will be a fix for it.

Phil

Hi Phil, and thank you for your feedback. Appreciated.

I can confirm I already contacted the Uniti support-desk and after re-repeating the symptoms and tested I've run so far again and again, I've been told by the support team that the issue is certainly not software related. However, from what you're saying, I can only assume that the issue may be software related, which I tend to as well.

If so, now the only question is should I send my Unit back again knowing that the 3rd replacement unit may well have the same issue, or just wait until further information from Naim about any fix or firmware update to solve this?

Thanks Phil for the update here.

Bouba, on the basis of Phil's info - i.e. that the software people are looking into the issue - I would suggest holding fire until the results and any fix/update are known and available. 

Appreciated that the software team finally address this problem, hope our Atom will be patched soon, I still think it is a good machine with plenty of functions that simplify our Hifi setup.