Nope, never. And Apple, imo, don’t want to play well with other hardware vendors as they see it cutting into their own hw sales, even if they have nothing resembling what is being offered by others. It’s a walled garden, and that’s how they like it. But keep on dreaming…
2 Likes
So I was originally against the balanced jack being on the back. But having it in person, it looks much cleaner without that ugly jack on the front if you weren’t using it. And I am using the balanced jack and it only takes up a few inches extra cable to bring around the front and actually looks nice without seeing anything plugged into the front. It’s a beautiful unit to place in a living room setting.
5 Likes
Hi All,
I’am sitting reading about new Atom headphone amp and really like the look and what it can do, but I am also listening to Roon radio with my Hugo2go and thinking would the Nain be a stupid purchase. Any thought would be appreciated.
Cheers S.
The Atom is Naim’s entry level product, and my gut feeling is that the Hugo would sound a lot better. On the other hand the Atom is almost certainly able to drive some more demanding headphones, so depending on what you are using it could be an interesting comparison.
It wlll b a lot more reliable than the 2go I would imagine and have more oomph with the balanced outputs, but only you can decide on what you prefer and what your prioroties are.
Just bought the Naim Atom Uniti Headphone Edition, and I love it. Detail, soundstage, power comparable to my Chord Hugo TT2/M-Scaler combo (I haven’t done a critical comparison - just saying they’re similarly pleasurable). Perfect unit for a living room or nightstand.
2 Likes
I’m thinking of moving my atom to my workshop (where I do 95% of my listening through a set of Quad 2805’s) and putting a benchmark amp and dac in my main system. I’m drawn to the engineering of the benchmark amp and dac…
The atom is a great sounding product to be sure, I love mine. The big volume knob is so good.
Sheldon
Anyone tried using the Atom 's home theater bypass functionality? If so, does the signal get degraded in any way?
Not tested (no need for this on the HE version), but for the analogue input there will a AD and after that a DA and so it’s not untouched.
I use it with my regulalr Atom from my AV amp. Works perfectly and sounds excellent. The analogue ins on the Atom go through an ADC so that the source can be used via Naims multiroom system. All the Unifi range do this.
Ok, I just bought an Arcam PA240 power amp as an addition to my Arcam AVR10 for my front mains. While the sound is excellent, it’s still not as full body as running the RME ADI-2 FS direct into this amp. I’m looking for an excellent pre with home theater bypass to run to the new amp for 2 channel listening.
Please make a comparison and let us know, would love to hear!
1 Like
Have the AHB2 with my esl2905 and CH2 and love it, you should try it out, dont think you will be dissapointed
I’ll work on it!
1 Like
With the Focal Utopia’s, I greatly prefer the Naim HE over the Hugo 2. I even downgraded from a Chord Dave/mscaler and there are plenty of albums I prefer on the Naim HE that I didn’t find satisfying on the Chord setup. Compared to the Hugo 2, the Naim has more weight, fuller sound, impact, and warmth. The Dave setup was technically better and have better resolution and layering but the Naim HE has better flow and weight with the Utopia’s. Think just has to do with synergy. Now,if take those Chord dac and attach separate amp, might be different story but I’ve never tried. I like the one box solution.
6 Likes
Anyone any experience with 300 ohm phones
I am a 100% headphone user using Sennheiser HD800
No problem with headphones like the HD800 and I like it to use with the Atom.
But with low impedance headphones (IEMs like the Campfire Audio Solaris 2020), you’ll hear some hiss and also with headphones which need really a lot of power (like the Hifiman HE-6) there are some restrictions.
1 Like
I understand you have tried the HE version in preamp mode connected to purify amp. After having for a period do you set the combo as a good match. I am thinking of replacing my Meridian 861v4 with the Naim connected to Purify amplifier.
Yes, I have used this combo for more than a year and it was an excellent match, especially with the Dynaudio Controur loudspeakers I had at the time. In the meantime I have switched to active speakers with built-in amplifiers. This also works very good. The Atom HE was/is an excellent preamp in both settings.
BR,
Richard
1 Like
I totally agree with your comments. 
1 Like