Naim Uniti Nova

Thanks Paul

Cheers Ged

Hello. As I was testing a pre-release Atom, I can only presume that Naim decided to lift out the Roon support in final Atoms until it is certified. Technically it seemed to be working fine in my setup over the course of quite a few hours of listening. In any case I hope to have a second chance at evaluating another unit in the near future, curious to know if indeed Roon has being postponed.

Yes, I get mixed answers from Naim regarding a Roon support for Uniti players. Guess I’ll use it with Airplay until further news.
Thanks

Only six months ago I was considering one of the Naim streamers but since adopting Roon I have decided that any future purchases need to be Roon compatible, preferably Certified.
I am already eyeing up Bluesound to augment my Sonos system and eventually replace it for example and it will be a streamer/DAC next up for purchase. Probably not one by Naim then…

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Did you guys read the news in the KEF LS50W thread? Apparently Naim integration is coming very soon (no further details at this point).

To be clear, I was told “over the next year”. The good folks at Roon and their partners have quite a few integrations on their plate!

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Hi all not sure I understand this. I have a Naim Superuniti with a headless Mac mini as a roon server. This works great with my high res file collection and tidal and is not limited to airplay (which downsamples to 44/1 / 16 bit. I feed the SuperUnit through the SPDIF input using an Audiophilleo usb to SPDIF converter - there are others on the market that can do this as well.

This system sounds great, the Nova is an upgrade to the SuperUniti and can be used the same way I believe.

Hi Martin,
The sort of compatibility under discussion is direct connection to Ethernet. So Roon Core will see the Naim device as a player, without requiring any intermediate device to feed audio into the Naim.
This is why the Pi devices are so popular, they provide a cheap Roon endpoint that allows a non- Roon ready device to be driven via SPDIF or USB. The Roon software once integrated into an endpoint/device replaces this.
To quote from the Partner part of this site:

Roon Ready network players from our partners have Roon’s high-resolution streaming technology built right in.
Roon will discover them on your network, deliver the highest possible quality audio, and even allow volume control right from the Roon user interface! ’

Thanks, is the only real advantage the volume control from Roon? Using the Audiophilleo (which the Roon recognizes as an available zone) its set to the max audio quality that the Naim can handle (192/24 PCM only). I assume feeding the Naim with bitperfect PCM allows the Naim to do its stuff as a DAC and use its native filters and oversampling, etc. So would there be any improvement in SQ if the Naim was seen as an endpoint itself?
Thanks again, Marty

Hi Martin , I think the SuperUniti can handle DSD 64

No, the advantage depends upon your network setup. For your use case, there is little advantage I suppose. In my case, the Roon/ROCK lives in the garage sat on top of the NAS. The only way music gets into the house is over Ethernet. At the moment it is played via Roon through several Sonos and a few PCs (running Roon Bridge software) throughout the house and in the garden (wifi).
A few of the Sonos/amplifier devices are due to be upgraded soon, which is where something like the Naim could be used as I like the ‘all in one’ approach. But it is only ‘all in one’ if it can accept Roon fed to it over Ethernet. I am looking at the Kef LS50W for the same reason, but only if it will work with Roon out of the box.

sorry yes you are correct!

Ah, got it! Thank you. yes for me this is not so relevant. Best, Marty

And this is the beauty of Roon; Adaptable to different setups, allowing integration of what you have whilst making you think about what you want… :grinning:

Just been to my local dealer and auditioned the Atom and the Nova alongside some Rega amps. Confirmed that the Atom / Nova are not yet Roon ready beyond the airplay option. I ended up purchasing the Nova to pair with some Dynaudio speakers.

Fingers crossed that Naim integrates Roon in the near future :slight_smile:

in the meantime it sounds great with Roon on a Macbook pro + M2Tech HiFace USB - SPDIF

Cheers

Hi Yiannis,

great news on the Nova. I am looking at the Atom for our kitchen/diner. Will audition it in the next month or so, give Naim some time to release the expected software update. I want to avoid them pulling a fast one by making only the top of the line models Roon ready. Not that I’m sure they would do such a thing…

What Dynaudio speakers are you pairing them with?

Hi Tony,

Totally agree :slight_smile:
Re the Nova, I am currently using the entry level Dynaudio M10s and it sounds fantastic. I will eventually move to a higher Dynaudio model but I am waiting for the new excite series before I check options.

I auditioned the Atom and the Nova with Dynaudio M10 and PMC 25.21
Atom + M10s sounded amazing and much preferred this over the PMCs. The latter had a better openness but lacked punch compared to the M10s. I went with the Nova as I wanted that extra headroom. Visually, I preferred the Atom. Somehow it looks better to my eyes.

I greatly recommend the Atom + M10s or something similarly punch. Big caveat of course: How much space from back wall you can accomodate. I imagine that if you want to place speakers close to wall then PMCs or Neat IOTAs might be better. Also check Guru speakers as they are back in the UK.

Cheers

Thanks, sounds encouraging and the type of sound I am after in that location. The price is right too for the M10s. They will be close to a wall though so Roon DSP will be used to tuned the sound whatever speaker I end up with. I previously had some Dynaudios in that location of a similar size. Not sure of the model number but think it was Audience 42. They went very loud with no change in character. The M10s sound similar judging by reviews.

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Just received this:

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