This is an outrage. I think you should go on a never-ending criticizing spree, shaming Naim for their crappy quality control, failure to keep up with what other manufacturers are doing and refusal to respect and take care of their customers.
Moreover, I cannot believe you voluntarily purchased more of their stuff after you had to relegate your considerable investment in three of their components to boxes in you closet. Certainly does not seem like you got your money’s worth…
[PS: @Serhan TIA for indulging my snark at the expense of your post. I feel like I can go a whole day or two now without having to indulge my natural urge to be snarky.]
A Mac mini as a server can be a false economy, at least IMHE. It was a great tool for learning servers and streamers. Even the BlueSound Node 2i is a step up. Still use my MAC mini, but prefer an Innuos or BlueSound over it. There was a time when it was a reasonable option, say 2015-16, not so much today. Especially confounding are the Apple OS updates which directly impact performance and usability. I just don’t install the updates.
Agreed. When I looked at what the initially inexpensive mini had morphed into over time, I realized I could’ve bought a G1 for the money I’d spent, and it would work and sound better.
Sadly the G1’s tweak-free state didn’t last long though. Literally everything matters, and what most server makers do from a purely sonic-improvement standpoint in their different levels of product - is to upgrade power supplies, increase isolation electrically and physically, etc. etc.
I would love to understand how to choose the best streaming device and periphery (things like Matrix, psu’s, separate isolation etc.) for the money.
I hoped it’s possible to reach close to sota with a budget streamer and the right measures. But then the whole thing seems so unexplored and a can of worms, that I tend to wait and see…not a satisfying situation with the impact of the streaming front end in my eyes currently and really expensive to do it right throughout.
Small Green Coputer claims better performance than a Nucleus at less pice than a Nucleus. Requires a bundled kit including Sonore end point. I am happy with my product after a year and a half. I used support twice and ironed out my issues. Pretty seamless support and Matrix made it better as did some better LPS solutions but Zero Zone supplies they bundle are still quiet and anove wall warts SMPS
During warranty, they paid for repair and shipping. Outside warranty, I paid. So legally, they’re right. Vengeance, settling scores, taking a swipe at them? Nah.
When I bought the first server, I knew of its weaknesses, but needed it badly to rip my 1500 or so CDs and it did a marvellous job. I still have the same rips on a different machine. The new server uses a proprietary OS, and I added Samsung EVO SSD. Zero problems.
Uniti Serve did not have quality control, but rather design weaknesses. It was half cooked product that was dashed to the market in a hurry. The new line proves they have learnt their lesson, especially after they merged with Focal, abandoned their speaker and tonearm line, and focused on amplification and streaming.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, when there are a number of companies that have been doing it for years, and are multiple generations of products in. However, they do seem awfully sensitive/responsive to changes. I mean - when you think that apparently we have a significant improvement in the new PS disc transport - imagine all the additional stuff a streamer has to do.
And it’s not like analog stuff is immune to improvement
The only difference is, in analog I know what to do while with streamers I don’t yet
Even with unlimited money I’d have no idea what exactly needs to be done or is unnecessary when buying a more expensive streaming unit. And I don’t want to try this by buying all the stuff after another as we all did with analog gear over the last decades
The advantage vs. building a system yourself out of a computer, separate software, etc., etc. is that the streamer makers sort this out for you. And they tend to sound better than what you could’ve done. So If you can audition any, it is a matter of picking sound and functionality you like.
Frankly, functionality seems to be a bigger deal to some than sound. If you really feel the need for detailed metadata, Roon is the 800-lb. Gorilla. But it leads to certain other choices.
If, like me, you still choose music by the album or artist, nearly any server OS will work. So then you’re free to choose hardware based on other criteria, as you would an analog device.
I know a G2 in connection with a DS, but I don’t know what would be necessary to put this G2 on a proper level. My impression out of the discussions is not, that that’s it.
Naim are a forward looking company and were making external proprietary power supplies in 1990, many years before PS Audio came up with a regenerator, servers from 2008 and streamers from 2010 (PS Audio streamer anyone?). All of which is banter because the lesson Naim learned with the UnitiServe was to design their software in-house. The UnitiServe wasn’t bad, at a time when most audio servers were rubbish, so were ahead of the game.
It suited me because I could use the Naim n-serve app for my non-Naim device which I did happily for years, although by today’s standards it’s pretty naff.
Yeah - you can keep tweaking, if that’s your thing. Or just buy more/better stuff. Allegedly one of the bigger changes you can make is to add the LeoGX clock.
No no, tweaking is exactly not my thing…if possible I want to do it once to 95% and then listen to music
It just seemed to me that not only the folks with PC solutions go down a necessary tweaking road, but also those with more or less sophisticated streamers.
And I’m not sure if I think a 7-14k streamer”s/clock”s audible improvement is worth that money. So far I think not really…looking for a cheaper solution for 90% of it.
To be just a bit pedantic, Naim introduced the NAPS, its first external power supply, in 1975. The NAPS was replaced by the SNAPS in 1978, followed by the HiCap in 1984.
. Or is it Scottven? 
