Uniti Atom/Nova/Star - New firmware - March/April 2018 Comments

Not doing a factory reset on downgrading, then upgrading and performing an immediate factory reset did it for me.  Loving 2.6 now, the extra detail is now balanced out. Foot is tapping again.

I also suffered SQ degradation on my Nova after installing 2.6, although I was initially sidetracked by the loss of Album Art when streaming from Unitiserve. Its taken 2 resets of the Nova but normal service seems to have been resumed. I wonder if Naim will let me have the 2.3 download for comparison purposes.

After reading the positive results form factory resets (which I'd done before), I decided to try the 2.6 update again for a 3rd time.

Installed it, factory reset ..... dis-improvement from 2.3 at lower volume.

factory reset a further time .... still no improvement.

Reverted again to 2.3 and I'm sitting here at the breakfast table listening to music which is much more alive, separation/soundstage and base at my normal 24 volume.

i'm sorry ... in my case the FW2.6 sound sounds higher pitched (too much treble and not enough bass) compared to what I've been used to listening to on the Atom.

I've said it before ... 2.6 is too tiring on my ears to listen to, the urge to switch it off after a few minutes is overwhelming ... something I've never experienced with my Mu-So's or Atom before.

I'm staying on 2.3 until Naim sort this out. 

Daveas posted:

I also suffered SQ degradation on my Nova after installing 2.6, although I was initially sidetracked by the loss of Album Art when streaming from Unitiserve. Its taken 2 resets of the Nova but normal service seems to have been resumed. I wonder if Naim will let me have the 2.3 download for comparison purposes.

Hi Daveas

I'm in the same position, same set up, I haven't undertaken any resets of the Nova, did it clear up the artwork issue as well as the sound degradation ?

I emailed Naim and they sent me the 2.3 download info, along with the proviso if I revert I won't be supported in future. They also said their working on a fix for the artwork issue.

glasnaim posted:

Daveas posted:

I also suffered SQ degradation on my Nova after installing 2.6, although I was initially sidetracked by the loss of Album Art when streaming from Unitiserve. Its taken 2 resets of the Nova but normal service seems to have been resumed. I wonder if Naim will let me have the 2.3 download for comparison purposes.

Hi Daveas

I'm in the same position, same set up, I haven't undertaken any resets of the Nova, did it clear up the artwork issue as well as the sound degradation ?

I emailed Naim and they sent me the 2.3 download info, along with the proviso if I revert I won't be supported in future. They also said their working on a fix for the artwork issue.

No It didn't sort out the missing album art, I was also told that they're working on it. I guess it might need a firmware update, I wonder who's going to chance being the first to download that?

Did you revert to 2.3?

Dave

Daveas posted:

glasnaim posted:

Daveas posted:

I also suffered SQ degradation on my Nova after installing 2.6, although I was initially sidetracked by the loss of Album Art when streaming from Unitiserve. Its taken 2 resets of the Nova but normal service seems to have been resumed. I wonder if Naim will let me have the 2.3 download for comparison purposes.

Hi Daveas

I'm in the same position, same set up, I haven't undertaken any resets of the Nova, did it clear up the artwork issue as well as the sound degradation ?

I emailed Naim and they sent me the 2.3 download info, along with the proviso if I revert I won't be supported in future. They also said their working on a fix for the artwork issue.

No It didn't sort out the missing album art, I was also told that they're working on it. I guess it might need a firmware update, I wonder who's going to chance being the first to download that?

Did you revert to 2.3?

Dave

Thanks for the information, given the current scenario I will let someone else go first with that download.

No I haven't reverted to 2.3 yet.

When are we going to get the missing power / volume output levels back? The power which I paid you for?

If I buy a HD tv and the manufacturer pushes a firmware 'upgrade' to which reverts it back to SD, am I meant to just lap it up because a handful of people at Naim decided so? I 100% believe this is a ploy to make your ND series seem like more of an upgrade. 

Also, I'm sure the factory reset doesn't help a single thing. Volume levels are the same, as is the weak, flat, depressing sound.

I'm honestly blown away by all of this. It seems you can no longer be safe to buy a product for its sound, as it could change completely the very next day when the software is updated. How the hell is that even legal? It makes all naim hi-fi reviews completely useless as you're buying something based on a review of the sound that no longer exists in the state it did at the time of the review.

Daveas posted:

 

 

 

 

No It didn't sort out the missing album art, I was also told that they're working on it. I guess it might need a firmware update, I wonder who's going to chance being the first to download that?

That will be the beta testers.....

best

David

dave-mac posted:

When are we going to get the missing power / volume output levels back?

Not sure if you mean the max volume/balance sliders in the app.

If you're on 2.6 but have not updated the mobile app to latest version you won't see them.

Equally if you've upgraded the app to current one but have gone back to 2.3 they won't be there either.

Ok can people advise what device they used to update to 2.6 (Apple or Android)?

Also do you run both Android and Apple?

Obsydian posted:

Ok can people advise what device they used to update to 2.6 (Apple or Android)?

Also do you run both Android and Apple?

Apple, don't run Android.

Alley Cat posted:

dave-mac posted:

When are we going to get the missing power / volume output levels back?

Not sure if you mean the max volume/balance sliders in the app.

If you're on 2.6 but have not updated the mobile app to latest version you won't see them.

Equally if you've upgraded the app to current one but have gone back to 2.3 they won't be there either.

Thank you, but I'm referring to the lowered output levels (what used to be 28 now has to be 38 for comparable volume).

Here is another possible issue .... 

Chromecast.

I could be wrong, but when I got my Atom first it was on 2.3 and I was sure there was a menu and setup for chromecast. I don't use it so I never paid much attention to it.

When I downgraded today back to 2.3 from 2.6 and set up the Atom with the remote rather than the App it warned me I could no longer use Chromecast unless I upgraded to the latest 2.6 firmware.

Can anyone else confirm if chromecast was part of 2.3 and anyone who upgraded and subsequently downgraded has lost the chromecast functionality?.

Android for me. 

I have to say I am all fazed but this. Updated factory reset Atom, sounds dreadful but left it for about two weeks as was out of the country with work, Came back still awful. Downgraded to 2.3 no reset sounded good. Updated back to 2,6 and reset. Sounds great.  I think Naim have some work on their hands to try and improve this situation and ensure it doesn't happen again.

EoinKav posted:

Here is another possible issue .... 

Chromecast.

I could be wrong, but when I got my Atom first it was on 2.3 and I was sure there was a menu and setup for chromecast. I don't use it so I never paid much attention to it.

When I downgraded today back to 2.3 from 2.6 and set up the Atom with the remote rather than the App it warned me I could no longer use Chromecast unless I upgraded to the latest 2.6 firmware.

Can anyone else confirm if chromecast was part of 2.3 and anyone who upgraded and subsequently downgraded has lost the chromecast functionality?.

When I first got my Atom which was on 2.3  Chromecast didn't work properly, something about the serial number not being registered with them on first setup. It took Naim to talk to google to reset something and then it would connect and work. Both times I updated it asked my to run through Chromecast setup, but as i never reset downgrading I cant say if it was working when back in 2.3. It all works though for me in 2,6.  

dave-mac posted:

Alley Cat posted:

dave-mac posted:

When are we going to get the missing power / volume output levels back?

Not sure if you mean the max volume/balance sliders in the app.

If you're on 2.6 but have not updated the mobile app to latest version you won't see them.

Equally if you've upgraded the app to current one but have gone back to 2.3 they won't be there either.

Thank you, but I'm referring to the lowered output levels (what used to be 28 now has to be 38 for comparable volume).

Did you ever adjust the max voulme output in the app up from 85?

If so and you've reverted and factory restored you can no longer alter that in the app on 2.3 and ould need to go to 2.6, alter to >85 and then downgrade without a factory restore to retain it as far as I can see.

EoinKav posted:

Here is another possible issue .... 

 

Can anyone else confirm if chromecast was part of 2.3 and anyone who upgraded and subsequently downgraded has lost the chromecast functionality?.

Chromecast was available in 2.3 and the version prior to that.

I've upgraded/downgraded a few times but haven't factory restored recently as I never found any difference, but when I did so last week and went through setup there was no warning about Chromecast - that would be quite an issue if we could not use Chromecast on 2.3.

SimonPeterArnold posted:

Mercky posted:

I can’t get my head around 2.6, tonight I was listening to a favourite prog on iradio which plays an eclectic mix of music, it’s only 128k but it sounded excellent I have to say. Right now I’m listening to Jon Hassell ‘Tonight the Moon came dropping it’s clothes’ on Tidal and it sounds sublime, bags of detail AND bass! Am I burning in to 2.6? 

This has happened to me to. I downgraded back to 2.3 and then after some listening went back to 2.6 to compare. This time 2.6 sounded completely different , gone is the harshness and the depth has returned. Its a complete mystery to me. I have to say I am happy to stick with this 2.6 now.

This is utterly baffling - unless you're now getting a different 2.6 - what's the build number and DSP version?

I've got some other thoughts I'll post separately.

Pulse Code posted:

No amount of resets will restore the sound (or make it better), I've gone from 2.3.1 > 2.6 > 2.3 > 2.6 > 2.3 with endless factory resets before and after and the results with 2.3 and 2.6 were exactly the same.

It's weird Pulse Code, resets made no difference for me either - unless there were some hardware differences or an obscure state preventing it working properly it's hard to see how it works for some, not for others.

Alley Cat posted:

SimonPeterArnold posted:

Mercky posted:

I can’t get my head around 2.6, tonight I was listening to a favourite prog on iradio which plays an eclectic mix of music, it’s only 128k but it sounded excellent I have to say. Right now I’m listening to Jon Hassell ‘Tonight the Moon came dropping it’s clothes’ on Tidal and it sounds sublime, bags of detail AND bass! Am I burning in to 2.6? 

This has happened to me to. I downgraded back to 2.3 and then after some listening went back to 2.6 to compare. This time 2.6 sounded completely different , gone is the harshness and the depth has returned. Its a complete mystery to me. I have to say I am happy to stick with this 2.6 now.

This is utterly baffling - unless you're now getting a different 2.6 - what's the build number and DSP version?

I've got some other thoughts I'll post separately.

Nothings changed in any version numbers from the first time I upgraded.

System 2.6.9508

Build 4514

OS Version 2.6.2074

Boot Version 0.70.2003a.0

Host Version 1.4.1.14229

Host BSL1 version 1.0.0.13823

Host BSL2 version 1.3.0.13823

DSP version 1.255.59.0

A few thoughts.

While some of us didn't like/initially like 2.6/2.3.1, it's easy to say and quite understandble to everyone that this might just be down to individual sound preferences in the context of a given system.

What's niggling me however is that most negative experiences have not been subtle changes in perceived audio quality but huge night/day differences in overall tonal balance which I'd assume would have been quite obvious to the 'listening panel' too - if that group did not see a big tonal difference, then I'd have to wonder if that's because 2.3.1/2.6 didn't install properly for a subset of owners who had negative reactions?  Given several users (not me) downgrading/upgrading and eventually finding it worked well, or simply a unit just sounding poor then 'stabilising' and sounding fine again, there's either something peculiar going on or we're all delusional.

I think one of the 4.6 threads suggested that some updates were incremental not full - so for example if you were on 4.2, skipped 4.4 and went to 4.6 you'd not get Tidal as 4.4 installed the support for that.

By extrapolation I suspect there might be some aspects of updating that could be non-reversible if some features are modular.  I may be wrong but certainly possible.

2.3.1 was the real bad version sonically for me (2.6 better but strikingly different to 2.3) - as I've said before I never took note of the DSP version of 2.3.1, maybe the same as 2.6, maybe not.  Could the 2.3.1 update have installed something that caused sonic detriment that is not overwritten by 2.6?  If so, those who went directly from 2.3 to 2.6 might have skipped that negative effect entirely.  Obsydian started a thread after 2.3.1 and myself and a few others had the same experience.  This thread came later after we all started cluttering the 4.6 type threads with comments on the newer Uniti machines.

There's also food for thought about the potential transient nature of services such as Spotify/Tidal/Chromecast when supported by firmware - those companies ony have to change their APIs for services to cease to function in devices going forwards if a company no longer supports a legacy product and cannot offer updates for continued functionality.  Equally Tidal etc might go bust and the service is no longer there.  I'm sure manyhave seen older DVD/BluRay players with 'apps' lose for example YouTube functionality when APIs changed.  This is not intended as any criticism of nam products it's just the reality of internet services that may change or cease to be available.

There is another possibility Gents, contrary to my previous posts I’m suspicious that in fact doing factory resets etc does nothing at all. 2.6 is 2.6 and there are no variables bar different users perception, those who think it’s now ok have merely become accustomed to it, my self included, those who aren’t happy have changed back to 2.3 and never ‘acclimatised’ to 2.6 and may never like it anyway. Not a popular notion I’m sure. 2.6 does sound different to 2.3, we know that, so there’s always going to a difference in what we’re hearing regardless. Anyway, as I said, it’s a possibility we perhaps shouldn’t discount

SimonPeterArnold posted:

Alley Cat posted:

SimonPeterArnold posted:

Mercky posted:

I can’t get my head around 2.6, tonight I was listening to a favourite prog on iradio which plays an eclectic mix of music, it’s only 128k but it sounded excellent I have to say. Right now I’m listening to Jon Hassell ‘Tonight the Moon came dropping it’s clothes’ on Tidal and it sounds sublime, bags of detail AND bass! Am I burning in to 2.6? 

This has happened to me to. I downgraded back to 2.3 and then after some listening went back to 2.6 to compare. This time 2.6 sounded completely different , gone is the harshness and the depth has returned. Its a complete mystery to me. I have to say I am happy to stick with this 2.6 now.

This is utterly baffling - unless you're now getting a different 2.6 - what's the build number and DSP version?

I've got some other thoughts I'll post separately.

Nothings changed in any version numbers from the first time I upgraded.

System 2.6.9508

Build 4514

OS Version 2.6.2074

Boot Version 0.70.2003a.0

Host Version 1.4.1.14229

Host BSL1 version 1.0.0.13823

Host BSL2 version 1.3.0.13823

DSP version 1.255.59.0

 

Thanks for that.  All the versions are hard to remember!

Another thought - could some things get dynamically downloaded from Naim servers during an update separately from the main firmware file - another potential source for errors to creep in.

Not intended to sound like conspiracy but Naim clearly had not envisaged making older firmware versions readily available for download - perhaps simply to avoid confusion and encourage users to be up to date, but I did wonder if this might also be to avoid having the firmware readily downloadable for intellectual property protection reasons and to avoid reverse engineering - dynamically downloading some features of an update separately to the main firmware file would alos afford such protection I guess.  Mere speculation and probably completely wrong!

Phil suggested earlier they have a good feel for which machines have updated to which versions etc - seems likely the devices 'phone home' for various things from time to time and probably identify themselves by serial number/firmware version.