ATOM vs NOVA vs DAC+AMP

I still feel that the Atom is "amazing".  The whole package is compelling.  Naim has produced quite a product there.

Perol posted:

I never really understand why people buy brand-new item "X" just to realise shortly after, they wanted item "Y"

 

I believe the term is "buyers remorse". 

Leon Wadsworth posted:

Perol posted:

I never really understand why people buy brand-new item "X" just to realise shortly after, they wanted item "Y"

I believe the term is "buyers remorse". 

I am not a native speaker and I'm struggling with regret and remorse. When does regret turn into remorse? Or the other way round? Anyway: there are many possible reasons for buying am item and then realizing in hindsight that one wanted something different. The most straightforward way out is to recongnize that one has made a mistake, perhaps accept a loss of money and go on. Not a big deal, actually.     

Regret is wishing you hadn't done it. Remorse is determination to not do it again.

Regret can develop into remorse and remorse can recede into regret. Staying put in either state, involves acceptance.

Best

David

W'eve all been in the place where we had to make a choice / sacrifice when it comes to a purchasing decision, to "cut thy cloth accordingly".

Ungraditis is one thing but when one purchase is promptly followed by another, to upgrade, it more than likely comes down to buyers remorse/regret no?

I was in the same situation looking at the Atom / Star / Nova when I had the Unitiqute 2 just over a year ago. I stumped up for the Nova knowing I would regret doing anything else having had plenty of buyers remorse moments in the past. Or more aptly perhaps; Buyers Regret?

Happy listening.

ive tested the atom vs nova at home one weekend,with my AE ref 1 speakers....

me and my wife did some serious A/B testing of the two

the nova is a little bit more detailed,a little more refined

,but we both felt the atom was the more fun of the two

we were actually supprised of how little diffrences ther were

even thogh i really trided to motivate myself going for the nova ,i couldnt =)

i think the atom is fantastic for its price

best regards peter

I love my Atom and have no need or itch to upgrade to a Nova. It suits my listening needs perfectly. 

I bought 2 Musos in quick succession, liked them so much I bought an Atom very shortly after. Idea being I could use all 3 items independently or together as a multi room system.

More expensive than the Bose or Sonus systems I was looking at around that time, but the power and sound of the Muso really appealed to me.

I have no desire to further explore the rabbit hole, these systems give excellent audio quality for the investment thus far. Content in my ignorance I am!.

Your self-discipline is admirable! Most people seem to need a new toy to play with every now and then. 

I liked my Atom but i found it a bit inconsistent, granted it was around the time of all the firmware faffing last summer but the sound signature seemed different every time I turned it on. The Nova which replaced it seems more resolved and drives my speakers with more authority. I think speaker choice is crucial for the Atom and I suspect it's happiest synergy wise with smaller bookshelf/ stand mounters and to be fair that's probably what it was intended to be used with. It's a lot prettier then the Nova too!

 LOL, believe me I have plenty of other vices where I get to feed that never ending need.

Thankfully they are far more economical.

Like I say ignorance is bliss! 

I regret buying my Atom now. The top end is harsh and midrange is thin. Love many of its features though, just not what I expected.

I too have done a side by side comparison between the Nova and Atom. The Nova has a darker sound albeit more controlled. The top end is still harsh though. I do not have highly relieving speakers either. (Dynaudio Excites).

Last week I had a home demo of the PS Audio Stellar S300 amp and DAC. Completely different concept I know but the sound quality was amazing.

iangw posted:

I regret buying my Atom now. The top end is harsh and midrange is thin. Love many of its features though, just not what I expected.

I too have done a side by side comparison between the Nova and Atom. The Nova has a darker sound albeit more controlled. The top end is still harsh though. I do not have highly relieving speakers either. (Dynaudio Excites).

Last week I had a home demo of the PS Audio Stellar S300 amp and DAC. Completely different concept I know but the sound quality was amazing.

 

maybe a switch of speakercables  will help?

ive read that for example many think nac a5 cable sounds harsh and flat ,and recomends chord

Hmmm. I have the Atom driving X12 in home office and it sounds phenomenal. Perhaps it’s because I listen at low volume and mostly as background music. Usually listen to Radio Paradise and only occasionally turn up the volume to hear a song I like. I use nac a5 cables! 

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor, I guess.

Mercky posted:

I liked my Atom but i found it a bit inconsistent, granted it was around the time of all the firmware faffing last summer but the sound signature seemed different every time I turned it on. The Nova which replaced it seems more resolved and drives my speakers with more authority. I think speaker choice is crucial for the Atom and I suspect it's happiest synergy wise with smaller bookshelf/ stand mounters and to be fair that's probably what it was intended to be used with. It's a lot prettier then the Nova too!

Its a lot better now. Mines been consistently good since they replaced it. The whole range seems ito be blighted a bit if you ask me, going by how many units Obsydian has had. Mine has its wobbles in other ways which is still down to Naims dodgy software but I love it for all its foebles.

Like with all audio systems, matching components is of the utmost importance. My Atom drives Dynaudio Contour S 3.4 LE loudspeakers with great results. The sound is full, musical and there is little to desire. Nevertheless I added a NAP 200 power amp to improve the sound quality but NOT to alter the overall sound signature as this is perfect to my ears. Matching with the right interlinks (if any) and loudspeaker cable is the final touch or even more. 

Bobfa posted:

 The change in system design is not as much about audio quality as it is about simplicity and the UNITY stuff just wins.

If the change is not mainly about audio quality then why change? Trading in the Atom would be a waste of money (unless you have found a decent deal). My advice would be to be careful and don’t fall for forum hype. Because then you will end up looking at ££££ speakers and cable and rack and so on. Take your time in your decision making. It’s a lot of money. 

I’m new here and this is an interesting thread for me. I have an Atom and am having a rollercoaster ride with SQ. At times it is a joy and I can’t wait to listen, but at others, it can sound harsh with a hard to describe edge on the top end.

I've been trying to work out if there are external influences but having upgraded the power line and removed various switched mode power supplies, I haven’t been able to identity anything consistent.  I use an RA power kord an tried the supplied naim cable as well.

I’ve been considering the Nova as it gets rave reviews and if it sounds better than my Atom when it’s on song, then it would be worth every penny. I just want to enjoy music and for too much of the time, at the moment, that’s not happening for me with the Atom.

What you are saying does not make sense to me.  What would be changing?  Are you using different streaming services?  Bluetooth?  I spent a lot of time with the Atom and even wrote a review for Computer Audiophile.  I did two things outside of the Atom.  I put a Transparent Audio power cord and speaker cables on it.  Makes a difference.  My Atom is connected with Ethernet for simplicity but I played with WiFi and really could not hear a difference on my systems design and speakers.  I use Roon on a server that is stuck away from the listening rooms.  

The Atom is terrific. Sounds terrific and is terrific to use.
The Nova is absolutely even more terrific.
Different levels of terrific but if I could only have one system, I'd be happy enough with my Atom.

Bobfa posted:

What you are saying does not make sense to me.  What would be changing?  Are you using different streaming services?  Bluetooth?  I spent a lot of time with the Atom and even wrote a review for Computer Audiophile.  I did two things outside of the Atom.  I put a Transparent Audio power cord and speaker cables on it.  Makes a difference.  My Atom is connected with Ethernet for simplicity but I played with WiFi and really could not hear a difference on my systems design and speakers.  I use Roon on a server that is stuck away from the listening rooms.  

Doesn’t make sense to me either... Take yesterday for instance: at first switch on in the morning a little harsh but warmed up and sounded good within an hour. During mid afternoon it sounded fantastic, drew me away from the work I should have been doing. Went for tea around 6 and after thought I’d sneak a few more songs before domestic rules come in to force . Now it was harsh, not as bad as it can be but worse than it was a few hours previous.

I'm streaming Qobuz sublime, I thought at one point this was the culprit but even the songs I have on the rear USB vary from time to time. I use bubble UPNP on an android phone to control. 

Makes me wonder if it is particularly sensitive to external influences especially re mains interference or something else. I was interested by earlier comments suggesting similar experiences so I’ll probably need to go to the dealer and check it out. However I fear that will cost me a couple of grand 

I’ve tried TIdal, Spotify and local music from a USB. All sound similar but the harsh top end is still present.

i recently took my Atom to a friends house to try. It sounded similar but the top end harshness was still there.

I borrowed a mains conditional but that made no difference.

i’ve also Tried swapping cables - speaker, mains and cat5e to cat6. - no improvement

i’m going to try to see if I can have a home demo of a Nova to try for a few days. My initial impression of the Nova was that it was a little harsh too. Hopefully it will be better than the Atom though.

My Atom can and does sound good, it’s just let down with its top end.

Is there anyone here from Naim that can comment?

iangw posted:

I’ve tried TIdal, Spotify and local music from a USB. All sound similar but the harsh top end is still present.

i recently took my Atom to a friends house to try. It sounded similar but the top end harshness was still there.

I borrowed a mains conditional but that made no difference.

i’ve also Tried swapping cables - speaker, mains and cat5e to cat6. - no improvement

i’m going to try to see if I can have a home demo of a Nova to try for a few days. My initial impression of the Nova was that it was a little harsh too. Hopefully it will be better than the Atom though.

My Atom can and does sound good, it’s just let down with its top end.

Is there anyone here from Naim that can comment?

How old is your Atom? Harshness does go after a decent run in. My Nova was quite harsh to start with and is only smoothing out after quite a few months. You could also try leaving it on and seeing if that helps.

If your Atom has been updated to the latest firmware I'd suggest you research this thread.

https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/uniti-2-6-1?page=1

Harsh top end / tedium to the listening experience sounds very familiar.

There is a new update due (unknown timeframe) which may or may not improve things, it might be worth holding out for it before changing systems.

Mike Sullivan posted:

iangw posted:

I’ve tried TIdal, Spotify and local music from a USB. All sound similar but the harsh top end is still present.

i recently took my Atom to a friends house to try. It sounded similar but the top end harshness was still there.

I borrowed a mains conditional but that made no difference.

i’ve also Tried swapping cables - speaker, mains and cat5e to cat6. - no improvement

i’m going to try to see if I can have a home demo of a Nova to try for a few days. My initial impression of the Nova was that it was a little harsh too. Hopefully it will be better than the Atom though.

My Atom can and does sound good, it’s just let down with its top end.

Is there anyone here from Naim that can comment?

How old is your Atom? Harshness does go after a decent run in. My Nova was quite harsh to start with and is only smoothing out after quite a few months. You could also try leaving it on and seeing if that helps.

It’s about 6 months old but hasn’t really been used much, probably under 100 hours so far, I’ll run it over the weekend see how it goes. Thanks 

EoinKav posted:

If your Atom has been updated to the latest firmware I'd suggest you research this thread.

https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/uniti-2-6-1?page=1

Harsh top end / tedium to the listening experience sounds very familiar.

There is a new update due (unknown timeframe) which may or may not improve things, it might be worth holding out for it before changing systems.

 

I was aware of this and am using 2.6.1 which, when the Atom is in a good mood, sounds wonderful.