Naim Uniti Atom Review (Streamer & Amp)

[Trell]

Music and art cannot be measured with kg, W, m... Yuja Wang is only 156cm tall and is endlessly musical, charming and a good performer, just like Atom

A strawman as no one has claimed this, and it’s really dumb.

 

[DSJR]

The music and art should be in the recording surely, not the bloody electronics-filled box which processes and amplifies it?

 

[Cote Dazur]

Performance of Naim Atom ranges from fair/adequate to rather poor.

Not sure if this the right thread for my question, please move it if it is not as it is more a general question but it was generated from this review and particular the quoted comment.

How do we explain that a reputable company like Naim is producing a product with what is deemed as performance adequate to poor.
Surely they have the material, Human Resources and knowledge to mesure their product at least as well as is done here at ASR.
Since we do not judge from a subjective perspective, the measurement are what matters.
How is Naim allows for a performance issue? Are they measuring something different?
I use Naim, in this example, but the same question would remain for any other well establish hifi company, who also have the same if not better ability to measure than here at ASR, with engineer specialized in their field to see the results of measurements.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Not sure if this the right thread for my question, please move it if it is not as it is more a general question but it was generated from this review and particular the quoted comment.

How do we explain that a reputable company like Naim is producing a product with what is deemed as performance adequate to poor.
Surely they have the material, Human Resources and knowledge to mesure their product at least as well as is done here at ASR.
Since we do not judge from a subjective perspective, the measurement are what matters.
How is Naim allows for a performance issue? Are they measuring something different?
I use Naim, in this example, but the same question would remain for any other well establish hifi company, who also have the same if not better ability to measure than here at ASR, with engineer specialized in their field to see the results of measurements.

Perhaps you should ask Naim?

 

[Garrincha]

Not sure if this the right thread for my question, please move it if it is not as it is more a general question but it was generated from this review and particular the quoted comment.

How do we explain that a reputable company like Naim is producing a product with what is deemed as performance adequate to poor.
Surely they have the material, Human Resources and knowledge to mesure their product at least as well as is done here at ASR.
Since we do not judge from a subjective perspective, the measurement are what matters.
How is Naim allows for a performance issue? Are they measuring something different?
I use Naim, in this example, but the same question would remain for any other well establish hifi company, who also have the same if not better ability to measure than here at ASR, with engineer specialized in their field to see the results of measurements.

As pointed out, you should ask Naim, but an educated guess points to the direction that they use their standing in audiophile circles (as is well established in this very thread) to not care too much about performance and investment in it, just the necessary, to produce high priced gear and cash in. Ever heard about that business strategy?

 

[Cote Dazur]

to not care too much about performance

Don’t you find this strange? Why would Naim, or any of the high profile company, not be interested in performance?
You also mention “investment in it” if one man, Amir, can do measurement in a few hours, it is hard to believe a company selling high performance equipment, would not take the time and have the engineer to do the same.
I know what is said adnauseam in this thread, just does not make any sense.

 

[Garrincha]

Don’t you find this strange? Why would Naim, or any of the high profile company, not be interested in performance?
You also mention “investment in it” if one man, Amir, can do measurement in a few hours, it is hard to believe a company selling high performance equipment, would not take the time and have the engineer to do the same.
I know what is said adnauseam in this thread, just does not make any sense.

Well yes, on the one hand one might really wonder why this is like that, but since devices as the Atom, whose enigneering deficits are limitited enough for still being slightly below the threshold of audibility, they might focus more on design, longevity, service (?) and bling and catering to the public which anyway claims that measurements don't matter to much. I as a customer who strives for both, good measurements and good looks, do not support companies like this. If I would be willing to spend a lot on well designed and built hifi piece of gear, it also has to measure well and be stae of the art engineered, like for example the German brand T+A. Pretending to be high end, but only fulfilling this in price, looks and image but not in performance is in my eyes ridiculous.

 

[Haskil]

Music and art cannot be measured with kg, W, m... Yuja Wang is only 156cm tall and is endlessly musical, charming and a good performer, just like Atom

No ! Yuja Wang is a performer. Naim Atom is a machine for reproducing the interpretations of Yuja Wang. Each time she performs the same work, this pianist changes things in her playing. Each time Atom is used to listen to a record by this pianist, he reproduces it in the same way as the previous time. You cannot compare an interpreter and a sound reproduction machine.

 

[Doodski]

No ! Yuja Wang is a performer. Naim Atom is a machine for reproducing the interpretations of Yuja Wang. Each time she performs the same work, this pianist changes things in her playing. Each time Atom is used to listen to a record by this pianist, he reproduces it in the same way as the previous time. You cannot compare an interpreter and a sound reproduction machine.

You're ruining the fantasy! sigh*

 

[Haskil]

I hope you are aware that this device is not even close to the same level as the Atom, not to mention the sound quality.

I hope you are aware that this device is not even close to the same level as the Atom, not to mention the sound quality.

It wouldn't be the first time that a device cheaper than another would perform better than the more expensive one. I don't know what the performances of the Denon are but I know those of the Atom Uniti measured by ASR. And NAIM's performance is easy to beat

 

[DSJR]

I'll repeat that by 1980's audiophile-product standards, this one performs well. It arguably doesn't *need* to be better and their owners are largely none the wiser as they don't go on forums except in a few cases, the manufacturers one where any criticism will be shut down or deleted I suspect.

 

[Haskil]

I'll repeat that by 1980's audiophile-product standards, this one performs well. It arguably doesn't *need* to be better and their owners are largely none the wiser as they don't go on forums except in a few cases, the manufacturers one where any criticism will be shut down or deleted I suspect.

And some of us are repeating the same thing: we are in 2022 and this Naim Atom could, without being sold more expensively, and of course without disappointing its owners, be much more efficient than it is. Is it so hard to admit?

 

[DSJR]

And some of us are repeating the same thing: we are in 2022 and this Naim Atom could, without being sold more expensively, and of course without disappointing its owners, be much more efficient than it is. Is it so hard to admit?

I'm not disagreeing with you, but (and I hope it's not just UK makers/designers here) the market doesn't realise just how far and how quickly things have moved on since the 90's when for example, higher-output output transistors filtered through, meaning you could have simpler circuits and didn't necessarily need a bank of a dozen or more to do the job (this is second hand info, but I chatted to AVI's designer at length about it then, rather than his mouthpiece who shouted all over the forums at the time). For the Atom owners, the way it works and what it does will be paramount and the maker itself has a presence and one time reputation going back nearly 50 years...

How we tried to put down Quad forty years ago as they'd got a bit insular and set in their ways and look at Naim now, highly profitable (which Quad wasn't at all by this time in the early 80's), yet to me as insular and self-congratulatory to a degree as Quad were back then and still seemingly using that geriatric amp circuit (maybe the Atom doesn't use this circuit?)...

 

[Jimbob54]

Music and art cannot be measured with kg, W, m... Yuja Wang is only 156cm tall and is endlessly musical, charming and a good performer, just like Atom

The Atom is not 156cm tall. Checkmate!

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but (and I hope it's not just UK makers/designers here) the market doesn't realise just how far and how quickly things have moved on since the 90's when for example, higher-output output transistors filtered through, meaning you could have simpler circuits and didn't necessarily need a bank of a dozen or more to do the job (this is second hand info, but I chatted to AVI's designer at length about it then, rather than his mouthpiece who shouted all over the forums at the time). For the Atom owners, the way it works and what it does will be paramount and the maker itself has a presence and one time reputation going back nearly 50 years...

How we tried to put down Quad forty years ago as they'd got a bit insular and set in their ways and look at Naim now, highly profitable (which Quad wasn't at all by this time in the early 80's), yet to me as insular and self-congratulatory to a degree as Quad were back then and still seemingly using that geriatric amp circuit (maybe the Atom doesn't use this circuit?)...

Maybe Peter Walker understood the science, produced the products, and then would not allow his company to be drawn into "subjective" reviews. It's true, I have Quad amplification from my lifelong knowledge of the company.
Blind tested against Naim, Linn etc. And far more expensive amplification than those.
Quads electronics would hold their own

I

 

[FrantzM]

And some of us are repeating the same thing: we are in 2022 and this Naim Atom could, without being sold more expensively, and of course without disappointing its owners, be much more efficient than it is. Is it so hard to admit?

Yes. It is for some

 

[Haskil]

Maybe Peter Walker understood the science, produced the products, and then would not allow his company to be drawn into "subjective" reviews. It's true, I have Quad amplification from my lifelong knowledge of the company.
Blind tested against Naim, Linn etc. And far more expensive amplification than those.
Quads electronics would hold their own

I

Quad belonged to a blessed era of high fidelity : one where the performance of devices was confused with their perceived quality by buyers. The Quads were small, elegant, practical, certainly a little late in terms of chassis sockets. They certainly belonged to a "family" which encouraged them to be used all together and not to marry them too much with devices from other brands. But they were robust and their performance limited to what was then useful and perceptible under the conditions of use recommended by a brand which nevertheless left the owner of its preamplifier and amplifier the possibility of buying loudspeakers from another brand. .. Even if their ESL 57 then 63 were excellent in domestic listening at a level compatible with the good neighbours! The French, I'm French, had great admiration for Peter Walker and I was part of a jury that gave him a grand prize for his entire career.

Each new product of the brand was then studied, the diagram described, the performances measured in a French magazine "La revue du son" then in the hands of real technicians: imagine that we dared to publish diagrams, pages of figures and mathematical demonstrations when a manufacturer came out with a new type of transistor!!! independently of the examination of a device employing it. This was before audiophilia and its deluge of bullshit on cables, accessories, the questioning of performance by a new generation of editors technically uneducated or devoured by their ego: "I hear therefore I am" replaced the "I study, I analyze, therefore I inform". And this generation corresponded with the appearance of supposedly musical electronics and the rejection of all measures to evaluate them. On the contrary, distrust of measurements has gone so far as to put into the heads of audiophiles the fact that devices that measure well are bad at listening... Quad has accompanied the rise of hi-fi and technology like many small national brands that have since disappeared, fortunately left vacuum tubes for the transistor when Rega or even Naim, as soon as they appeared, accompanied the boom in trade and the questioning of technical progress, brands that have imposed what rotted the heads of music lovers by exalting a sectarian spirit.

At the end of 80, Quad organized a major competition at the Paris Sound Festival on the subject of "straight wire with gain" in total contradiction with the audiophile doxa and made its demonstrations using electric cable to power its speakers! Such a brand could only have difficulties with the network of resellers converted to audiophile spells of the mysteries of musicality...

 

[DSJR]

The table-top Quad book is a bit of a revelation into the thinking at the factory. I remember their rep basically saying to us that it wasn't Quad's fault that many speakers coming along in the late 70's to early 80's were 4 ohm models and the first dem of the 63's at a Heathrow? show 'sounded' muffled and awful - the speakers were sat on the floor (so heard way above axis) and the filters on the 44 preamp well in use (source was a Thorens 160 fitted with Shure 75-6S I remember with some disgust at the basic arrogance shown). Tales of the high manufacturing costs of the 57 speakers and massive QC work needed on every 63 speaker made it seems, removing a fair chunk of the huge profits that could have made to help save them in the 90's. Instead, they went all 'two way remote control' in the 77 series just as B&O were abandoning the concept in their short lived 7000 remote system. The 77 system was good though, but the original cosmetic (quickly changed) didn't do it any favours despite the delightful sonic qualities (no nasties subjectively and good reproduction of venue ambience and reverb, I'll leave it there).

Now, Quad did improve in speaker compatibility starting with the dark colour scheme versions of their existing range (preamps acquired RCA sockets, IEC output sockets for the power amp/whatever and I gather the innards were tweaked a bit as well, but can't be certain - Quad did little running 'evolutionary' changes as their products went through their production cycle) and as far as I'm concerned, they fully redeemed themselves with the 66/606 pair, which I still love and deeply respect to this day, especially in the descended models (seriously good 4 ohm drive too!!!). I never got the chance to meet Peter Walker, but he knew a thing or two and did 'listen' to his amps in development - just not to music, but any audible distortions they may have exhibited back then when low wideband distortion figures weren't as easily achieved as today, tuning said distortions as far out of the audio band as possible. Well known designer and consultant Stan Curtis had a huge hand in further refining the products post takeover and the current Artera range need apologise to nobody in my opinion the Artera Stereo power amp further improving slightly on the 606 family performance - early 606's can make for a great cheap powerful and basically well sorted vintage amp I feel.

I look at current Naim gear and wonder really how far they've come apart from religiously increasing their prices every year whether needed or not? Same old amp circuit I believe which I gather pre-dates the Quad 303 (I may be wrong here), but which has been raced tuned to 'make it better' in the manner of a Porsche 911, the top amps use bridged configuration I gather of this circuit rather than something different and powerful and good looking in a sci-fi way as the Statement amp is, it's still a 'brightly lit' and 'intense' listen (has this one ever been properly tested and measured?) when compared with say, a top Chord amp system (too many variables in said systems but Dynaudio Confidence 60's were used in the same room both times and one system gave me a headache after half an hour where the other didn't!)

Thread drift way off with apologies

 

[NoSnakeOil2]

This makes me wonder about reviewers like Andrew Robinson who think the Uniti Atom is the Bee's Knees. Are the problems inaudible or small enough not to make a difference? Alternatively, are the reviewers getting compensation in some form for their reviews?

 

[Engine]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Naim Uniti Atom streamer, DAC and integrated amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $3,799.
View attachment 214470

The overall industry design is attractive and has a high-end look to it. Alas, every part of the unit has an ultra sharp edge from heatsinks to edges of the plexiglass (?) front panel. It is a heavy box which makes you really feel those sharp edges as if they are going to tear into your skin. It was unpleasant every time I had to move or rotate the unit.

The front panel is large and sharp which I like. Alas, and strangely so, it is not a touch screen. In this day and age and at this price, a touchscreen is a requirement in my opinion. A very large rotary control managed the volume. It seem to have some kind of acceleration but wasn't very intuitive.

Here is the back panel:
View attachment 214471

I was surprised to see the compact binding posts that are made only for banana plugs. Likewise there is no USB B to use the unit as a DAC. Maybe you can use the type-A connector for that but even so, it is very unusual choice. Nice to see a floating ground switch. In my testing, it only impacted the networked tests. Otherwise it had no effect.

Inclusion of HDMI is very important to allow sound from TV to be piped into it.

Upon booting and with Ethernet cable plugged in, it nicely told me there is new firmware. It took something like 10 minutes to download the image and then went into a seemingly infinity cycles of booting, dark screen, non-descript progress bar and power button that would fade on or off or solid on. I left there for probably half hour when it finally seem to be ready.

There is the usual app to control it but I opted for the included remote control. It too has very sharp edges but otherwise functional.

Naim Uniti Atom DAC Measurements
I started by testing the unit using Coax due to lack of type-B or type-c USB port. Here is our usual dashboard:
View attachment 214473

Distortion dominates causing our SINAD (noise+distortion) to barely reach into "fair" category:
View attachment 214474

Distortion rises into the noise floor of even 16 bit content so not a good first showing. As noted, changing the grounding mode made no difference in any of these measurements.

The output stage is capable of higher voltage which is nice:

View attachment 214475

Good to see the output does not become all distorted once the internal amplifier is pushed beyond clipping.

Noise performance is not competitive with even budget DACs but almost good enough for 16-bit playback:
View attachment 214477

Multitone distortion was quite high:
View attachment 214478

Jitter display looks clean but noise floor is high and is masking interference patterns:
View attachment 214479

Levels of those spurious tones though is quite low and inaudible (-128 dB).

We have a rather odd filter response:
View attachment 214480

This partially contributes to rather poor noise+distortion relative to frequency:
View attachment 214481

Finally, linearity matches the fair performance of the rest of the system:
View attachment 214482

Naim Uniti Atom Amplifier Measurement
Given the choice of analog or digital input, I tested both which producing 5 watts:
View attachment 214483

View attachment 214484

Performance is very close so I opted to use analog in as that makes the comparison to other amps easier. Notice the high power supply noise at 120 Hz (double mains frequency in US). Overall ranking is well below average:
View attachment 214485

Frequency response test with analog input shows a brick wall filter which indicates input is being digitized:
View attachment 214486

Shame then that no DSP functionality is provided. The roll off filter in the ADC causes some drooping in the high frequencies.

Crosstalk response was kind of shaky but overall good:
View attachment 214487

Multitone test once again shows less than optimal performance:
View attachment 214488

Rated power is low and that is what we see:
View attachment 214489


View attachment 214491

View attachment 214492

Sweeping the frequency for power measurement we get orderly response:

View attachment 214490

Notice the typical sharp drop in power at 20 Hz. This is why you need more powerful amplifier than you think you are getting. Power is needed in bass but the reservoir capacitors in the power supply get depleted and you don't get as much output.

Naim Unit Headphone Amplifier Measurements
I expected the headphone output to be "junk" but it actually is not:

View attachment 214493

That is plenty of output for satisfactory response of high impedance headphones. Noise floor is not competitive with any modern/recommended headphone amp but could have been far worse. At 32 ohm though, available power is much more limited:
View attachment 214494

Sweeping the load we see that the headphone amplifier is not capable of much current delivery:
View attachment 214495

So best to stay with high impedance headphones.

Naim Uniti Atom Streaming Measurements
I ran the streaming tests a day later and here, I noticed noise bleeding into the output:
View attachment 214496

So I tried the ground lift switch and it remedied that:
View attachment 214497

SINAD though is dominated by high distortion so didn't matter one way or the other. And performance is the same as local/coax S/PDIF input.


Conclusions
Performance of Naim Atom ranges from fair/adequate to rather poor. Shame that when you pay so much for a piece of audio, not much design hygiene is included. I suspect more went into software development and enclosure design than making sure the hardware is performant. I hope for a version 2 the company works to substantially improve the performance of these subsystems. I am sure many buy a Naim product thinking they are getting great audio performance.

I can't recommend the Naim Uniti Atom streaming amplifier.

P.S. I was going to give the mailman panther rating to the unit but he is out making deliveries......

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Is there a difference in measurements between voltage 100-120V and 220V? Theoretically it could be?