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Naim Uniti Atom Review (Streamer & Amp)

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sspfr

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One weakness of Naim Uniti Atom is that it does not have Alexa. Google Assistant is probably better, but more people use Alexa.

From privacy point of view I prefer to press buttons than let Jeff interpret my shopping preferences from my music tastes :).
 

Mart68

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it's an interesting product but it's not really comparable to the Naim Uniti.

The Uniti is a sort of halfway-house between traditional separates and everything hidden away and automated. You can have your choice of speakers, for example (assuming it can drive them). Personally I would not want my sound coming out of the ceiling from a cheap coax driver, even if there were 16 of them.

Automation of household appliances I can see as useful for the very elderly or someone with a disability, but I can close the blinds myself, it's not a big deal. Nor do I need my refrigerator to be able to talk to my telephone. I don't see the value-add of an Alexa type unit either, even if I don't mind that it's sat there profiling me.
 
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MacCali

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The Atom sounds fantastic and can power any speaker I've used with it. The Naim App is better than most. But regardless of measurements, the thing sounds fantastic for the money and the functionality.
I’m not hear to disagree with you or debate. But I own a system with a sinad of less than 40 and it’s by far poorer than poor in performance yet doesn’t sound like complete garbage.

The issue here is the cost to performance.

You can get a 250 dollar standalone streamer that will destroy any of the streaming functions this unit has and you can use your favorite player or service to stream on it.

Not an issue with power here or what it drives or how it sounds. Basically if you paid full price you got taxed deeply and for you it may not be a factor, but for someone else trying to get something of quality and assuming the price to performance is there it clearly is not.

Seems like just a bit of piecing together a system can save you a couple thousand dollars with precisely the same performance.

If that mission to achieve is better to be done with one shot, and cost is no object we ain’t mad at you. Amir or anyone here ain’t paying your bills.

I just find things like this disrespectful to be honest, company got no integrity and are taking you to cleaners for mediocre performance which as stated even garbage performance ain’t that bad sounding to the ears. Probably 200 dollars more invested into the product would have provided a good margin of improvement
 

DWI

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From privacy point of view I prefer to press buttons than let Jeff interpret my shopping preferences from my music tastes :).
We don’t use Alexa to buy stuff, so it never volunteers to suggest. It only speaks when spoken to. Like any child, it is only as good as the amount you train it.
 

DWI

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I’m not hear to disagree with you or debate. But I own a system with a sinad of less than 40 and it’s by far poorer than poor in performance yet doesn’t sound like complete garbage.

The issue here is the cost to performance.

You can get a 250 dollar standalone streamer that will destroy any of the streaming functions this unit has and you can use your favorite player or service to stream on it.

Not an issue with power here or what it drives or how it sounds. Basically if you paid full price you got taxed deeply and for you it may not be a factor, but for someone else trying to get something of quality and assuming the price to performance is there it clearly is not.

Seems like just a bit of piecing together a system can save you a couple thousand dollars with precisely the same performance.

If that mission to achieve is better to be done with one shot, and cost is no object we ain’t mad at you. Amir or anyone here ain’t paying your bills.

I just find things like this disrespectful to be honest, company got no integrity and are taking you to cleaners for mediocre performance which as stated even garbage performance ain’t that bad sounding to the ears. Probably 200 dollars more invested into the product would have provided a good margin of improvement.
What plug-and-play Roon Ready streamer costs $250? In the UK, a Bluesound Node 2i (£550), Topping D90SE (£900) and LA90 amplifier (£800) costs more (£2250) than the Naim Uniti Atom (£2000) and you get a load of boxes and wires and no voice control.

The main indicator of poor resolution is the multi tone test and at -1db FS it is much better, giving 16 bits resolution. The Chinese site gave that measurement, ASR did not. I used the previous version for years and was very happy with it.

My Auralic Aries Mini + Quad 909 system cost £900, the Mini was new and the 909 factory recapped and refurbished like new, 140w power. That’s value.
 

DWI

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it's an interesting product but it's not really comparable to the Naim Uniti.

The Uniti is a sort of halfway-house between traditional separates and everything hidden away and automated. You can have your choice of speakers, for example (assuming it can drive them). Personally I would not want my sound coming out of the ceiling from a cheap coax driver, even if there were 16 of them.

Automation of household appliances I can see as useful for the very elderly or someone with a disability, but I can close the blinds myself, it's not a big deal. Nor do I need my refrigerator to be able to talk to my telephone. I don't see the value-add of an Alexa type unit either, even if I don't mind that it's sat there profiling me.
I thought cheap is good? And it’s a seriously good speaker.

You may not like home automation, but lots of people do. Everyone is doing it, for example LG ThinQ connects just about everything they make. Ring is utterly brilliant and basically put the traditional home security industry out of business, which is why Amazon bought it (for $1 billion). Besides how it works, it’s genius is the ease of installation as it it wireless and battery powered. Zuma dramatically reduces wiring and switching, so installation costs are dramatically reduced, often to £0, and maintenance also to £0.
 

Mart68

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I thought cheap is good? And it’s a seriously good speaker.

You may not like home automation, but lots of people do. Everyone is doing it, for example LG ThinQ connects just about everything they make. Ring is utterly brilliant and basically put the traditional home security industry out of business, which is why Amazon bought it (for $1 billion). Besides how it works, it’s genius is the ease of installation as it it wireless and battery powered. Zuma dramatically reduces wiring and switching, so installation costs are dramatically reduced, often to £0, and maintenance also to £0.
Cheap plus good performance is good - but we'd have to see some measurements before we can be sure that it is a good speaker. Not that it needs to be, I mean it's in a ceiling firing down. I am sure it is more than adequate for that purpose but ceiling speakers are not a high fidelity set up. The target market is not hi-fi enthusiasts.

I have nothing against home automation and can appreciate its real value in some cases, but for me and I suspect a lot of people it's not essential by any stretch. I haven't even bothered to connect my smart television to the internet.

I suppose for younger people it is the latest thing and they want it. For us older types who recall a world where you had to get up out of your chair just to change channel on the TV -and have to actually tune it in manually to that channel each time - it's a case of 'I lived without it for fifty years so I can happily carry on living without it.'
 
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DWI

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Cheap plus good performance is good - but we'd have to see some measurements before we can be sure that it is a good speaker. Not that it needs to be, I mean it's in a ceiling firing down. I am sure it is more than adequate for that purpose but ceiling speakers are not a high fidelity set up. The target market is not hi-fi enthusiasts.

I have nothing against home automation and can appreciate its real value in some cases, but for me and I suspect a lot of people it's not essential by any stretch. I haven't even bothered to connect my smart television to the internet.

I suppose for younger people it is the latest thing and they want it. For us older types who recall a world where you had to get up out of your chair just to change channel on the TV -and have to actually tune it in manually to that channel each time - it's a case of 'I lived without it for fifty years so I can happily carry on living without it.'
It's interesting reading your comments because they are full of the prejudices I had before hearing the unit. How can it be good if so small and so cheap? At the time I had a pair of Raidho speakers that cost a fortune (bought used) with a 4" driver that barely gets down to 80Hz (use the Raidho with a sub and they are amazingly good). This is 3.5", goes to about 55Hz -3db and 40Hz -6dB. It can go very loud as well.

It measures very well (I've seen them but they are not published) and measured them myself.

They don't fire down. They have a baffle and DSP so you cannot detect the point source, even if you are standing right underneath it. They tested this with a bunch of hardened engineers from Abbey Road, played the units and asked them where the sound was coming from. None realised it was coming from the ceiling. They had no idea. I've done this with friends and they simply don't believe me.

It is high fidelity and the market market incudes hi-fi enthusiasts. It is designed by serious hifi professionals, the speaker and DSP was designed by the former chief engineer of B&W who also created Vivid Audio and the former head of R&D and Managing Director of Naim.

It's called innovation. The Uniti Atom is popular because it is plug-and-play, looks great and works great, and is also good value. Increasingly people are using mono speakers with wide dispersion, mine can be used mono or stereo, I'm currently listening in stereo with 3 speakers on each side.

The units I use take things to another level, as they have solve a wide range of issues at the same time, besides the sound, for example operating at very low heat levels, very low power (consume 8w max), ultra-fast syncronisation and a patented installation system (a unit can be installed and the software set up in a couple of minutes).

You can look at places like https://www.red-dot.org and see the huge amount of innovation going on. JBL happen to be one of the more innovative brands.

Amir's attacks on regular 2-channel high-end audio based on SINAD seem to me to be misplaced, not because what he says does not have merit, but because so many people are innovating and people will change how they listen to music, and much of high-end is likely to die of natural causes.
 

DWI

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<OT> Sweeping Generalization of The Year and sooo not true ofc:) if anything, following ASR is an antidote to the sheer nonsense and paranoia of chasing upgrades </OT>
I always enjoy upgrades, especially if they are free. None of my audio systems were Roon Ready when I bought them, but they are all now, thanks to free software upgrades. They have transformed how I listen to music and didn't cost me a cent.

My main player is modular, so can can have partial hardware upgrades, the last component change was 5 years ago. The unit itself is 12 years old.

You need a very good service platform to operate modular upgradeability, but it's popular, for example the Linn Selekt DSM. All Linn going back to 2009 are upgradeable to current versions, many other brands, Brinkmann comes to mind.
 

Mart68

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It's interesting reading your comments because they are full of the prejudices I had before hearing the unit. How can it be good if so small and so cheap? At the time I had a pair of Raidho speakers that cost a fortune (bought used) with a 4" driver that barely gets down to 80Hz (use the Raidho with a sub and they are amazingly good). This is 3.5", goes to about 55Hz -3db and 40Hz -6dB. It can go very loud as well.

It measures very well (I've seen them but they are not published) and measured them myself.

They don't fire down. They have a baffle and DSP so you cannot detect the point source, even if you are standing right underneath it. They tested this with a bunch of hardened engineers from Abbey Road, played the units and asked them where the sound was coming from. None realised it was coming from the ceiling. They had no idea. I've done this with friends and they simply don't believe me.

It is high fidelity and the market market incudes hi-fi enthusiasts. It is designed by serious hifi professionals, the speaker and DSP was designed by the former chief engineer of B&W who also created Vivid Audio and the former head of R&D and Managing Director of Naim.

It's called innovation. The Uniti Atom is popular because it is plug-and-play, looks great and works great, and is also good value. Increasingly people are using mono speakers with wide dispersion, mine can be used mono or stereo, I'm currently listening in stereo with 3 speakers on each side.

The units I use take things to another level, as they have solve a wide range of issues at the same time, besides the sound, for example operating at very low heat levels, very low power (consume 8w max), ultra-fast syncronisation and a patented installation system (a unit can be installed and the software set up in a couple of minutes).

You can look at places like https://www.red-dot.org and see the huge amount of innovation going on. JBL happen to be one of the more innovative brands.

Amir's attacks on regular 2-channel high-end audio based on SINAD seem to me to be misplaced, not because what he says does not have merit, but because so many people are innovating and people will change how they listen to music, and much of high-end is likely to die of natural causes.
I appreciate your perspective. I did look up the unit when you first mentioned it. I agree that the market is moving and that this is the future. It's just not in my future. That's partly simple prejudice as you correctly ascertained.

I'd happily have a demo of the device if I came across it, at this point I certainly wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. But I like my big speakers and racks of equipment :)
 

DWI

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I appreciate your perspective. I did look up the unit when you first mentioned it. I agree that the market is moving and that this is the future. It's just not in my future. That's partly simple prejudice as you correctly ascertained.

I'd happily have a demo of the device if I came across it, at this point I certainly wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. But I like my big speakers and racks of equipment :)
I have both, big speakers in one room and multiple speakers in that room and most other rooms. There are 6 ceiling speakers in the main music room, designed for audio, and I'm listening to them now, in preference to a pair of Wilson floorstanders. I love the Wilsons (always have liked their sound) but the multiple speakers give a more immersive sound. For some music (Bach on strings today) it's more pleasurable and sounds more intimate, like a good chamber performance. Tonally they are really not that far off the Wilsons, even though all 6 cost about £2,000.

The way the 6 speakers are aligned, two above me and 4 in front, it generates an incredible 3D soundstage in front of me that seems to go from floor to ceiling, with good imaging, bigger overall than I get from the Wilsons. The Wilsons give extremely precise imaging, scary at times, but it is more 2-dimensional.

I don't like racks of equipment and if I didn't play lots of vinyl I would have the all-in-one player in another room with speaker cables coming though the wall. Roon does the rest. Alas, I have a turntable, turntable power supply, phono amp, phono power supply. 4 boxes to spin a record.

There are various Dolby Atmos systems around, being pushed hard by Amazon. Not sure how they distribute, using Bluetooth, SD or HD. My system works because of ultra-fast HD synchronisation (the music is sent to a master unit, which then distributes it). Bluetooth data volumes are increasing, but the broadcast lag is dreadful. All these things will get a lot better very soon and pass you by !!!!
 
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sarumbear

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No need for a patent to hide an antenna. Just use plexiglass instead of metal for part of your enclosure.
As if any modern mobile phone has any visible antennae?
 

DWI

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As if any modern mobile phone has any visible antennae?
My ceiling units are operating wirelessly at 24/192, dozens at a time in sealed steel units the size of your fist packed in tight with loads of electronics and an amplifer, also broadcasting to each other. It's not a problem. Some initial wifi problems were fixed with software updates, it not just the hardware.

The bigger issue is having a decent wifi system. Several companies selling streaming kit have told me that most of their customer service queries end up being a poor wifi network, not their fault, which is why most companies recommend wired networks.

I use Ubiquiti wired access points, recommended by someone on the Roon forum. They do the job at a very good price and have magnificent control software. It's an enterprise solution normal people like me understand.
 

sarumbear

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But those are patented.
There are millions of phones manufactured each year by hundred or so companies. I doubt they are paying patent fees. Besides, a design patent expires within around a dozen years. Even iPhone has been around longer.
 

PeteL

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There are millions of phones manufactured each year by hundred or so companies. I doubt they are paying patent fees. Besides, a design patent expires within around a dozen years. Even iPhone has been around longer.
OK, not sure where it's going though, the point is you can't put an antenna inside an enclosure if there is no non metallic area to allow transmission, there are some patents from phone manufacturers that had to invent technologies in order to either use the metal parts of the phone as part of the antenna system or had to use antenna designs that are innovative to a point that they had to advance the state of science in RF to make their antenna work, and some other just use plastic. Also keep in mind that when you purchase a chip based antenna accompanied by a reference design or any chip based solution, part of the cost of the chip is for licensing. The maker of the chip has the patent, you don't need to have one. Patents in Canada and in the us last 20 years.

But how is it related with my comment exactly? What I said is that putting an antenna in a plastic box is not patent worthy because that it's been known to work for almost a century, you don't invent anything, you don't get a patent, sorry if I was not clear I guess?
 
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pablolie

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WiFi and Bluetooth and 5G are radically different technologies. With Bluetooth you really don't need (and don't want) antennas. With WiFi it's a matter of semi-short distance coverage. Optional for the access point, but multiple access points with intelligence are always better even w/o any antenna. With 5G there are a lot of elaborate tricks - if you look at tower design and coverage (and expense), you'll realize why smartphones can get away with internal antennas. It's the whole point. Some of us remember when every wireless device needed a large antenna (and was still not always functional).

There's no excuse to have a bad home WiFi environment these days other than being cheap on the wrong thing. There are completely easy to use and sophisticated kits out there. Really has little to do with antennas. There is stuff like DSPs and beam forming and what not. Tons of vendor white papers out there.
 

PeteL

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WiFi and Bluetooth and 5G are radically different technologies. With Bluetooth you really don't need (and don't want) antennas.
Sorry pablolie... No RF transmission works without an antenna...
 
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