I’ve had my Superuniti for 1.5 years and I’m very happy with the sound quality. Where I have some frustration is getting the most out of all the inputs and formats I’m using or would like to use. Reading the posts here it appears the Nova platform has been improved significantly and would enable easier use of newer formats and improved networking.
For those who’ve gone from the SU to Nova I’d love to hear your thoughts on the improvements. I have some concerns about sound quality b/c I don’t want to lose what I have. If there’s a current discussion on this topic already in progress I apologize, I’ve all but given up on searching since the move to the new site.
I made that move when the Nova first came out about 18 months ago and have not regretted it for a nanosecond. I mostly did it for the massively improved streaming options (I don’t do CDs) but was more than pleasantly surprised by a very obvious uplift in overall sound quality (unlike some 552 purchasers it seems ). I use a turntable with it and that sounded better as well so don’t worry about the d/a conversion. I can’t feed back on wifi performanmce as mine is wired in but it should be better than the SU.
Go for it!
I went from a Uniti 2 to the Uniti Star and the sound quality has been much improved. I know these are different products but essentially it’s from the old platform to the new, and the new is much better. There are no more music dropouts, I feel that it sound has more feeling and it’s less cold like some other digital products sound.
Hi @ElMarko, I bought a Nova and kept my Superuniti in another set up for approx 9 months, so I was listening to both boxes. Eventually I replaced the Superuniti with another Nova, primarily for the streaming/roon functionality.
Does the Nova sound better, yes a bit more refined/detailed but the Superuniti is a good all in one. Best to demo the Nova and see what you think, improvement yes, night and day no.
Pev999 feed-back is quite interesting because on my side it’s the opposite.
Actually, I still have my SU which I miss, and I am still reluctant to sell it.
I prefer the sound of my SU. I tried ROON for 3 months but at the end, I was not using it that much.
TIDAL and UPNP are finally enough for me.
Regarding the sound, the Nova is too bright, and the bass has gone.
Some people find the sound refined, detailed, opened, I call it bright.
I definitely suggest to try it at home before any decision. It may be speaker and room dependant.
The new streaming platform is nice. I have it on my ND555, not on my Qute. For the Qute I added on a little raspberry pi based box (Allo DigiOne) that serves as a Roon endpoint, and that has satisfied me. I still like the Qute, and now it’s a Roon endpoint for rather little money. So depending on what you want out of the new platform, a bolt-on MIGHT be all you need.
Your observations echo my concerns. I don’t like overly forward or bright presentations and I’m quite sensitive to it. I use a pair of Kef 104.2s which have great low end response and have always paired well with Naim amps perhaps with the exception of the first gen Supernait. I really want to get up on the next gen platform but not at the expense of sound quality.
Thanks, I’ve seen mention of this raspberry pi and didn’t know what it is. I’m also learning about the bubbleUPnP server which I hope to install this weekend. Maybe these can be workable solutions.
If you’re looking for an endpoint that you can connect to an older Naim streamer to add Roon capabilities, you can Google up the All DigiOne device. It’s based on the raspberry pi hardware platform, but comes pretty much ready to ‘plug and play’ out of the box with software pre-installed and being housed in a little case with the necessary connectors. You dont need to know how to program a pi to use it! And it has some added on hardware bits that make it sound better than a generic pi board on its own.
Having installed the Bubble UPnP server on my QNAP I can confirm that TIDAL streams sound much better than through the TIDAL input on the SU and is achieving similar benefits to streaming from a local file source.
From comments I read here I am under the impression this functionality (better sounding TIDAL input) is native to the new generation streamers, ie Nova, and the BubbleUPnP is not necessary. Is this the case? I’ve read some contradicting comments recently and want to make sure I understand.
). I use a turntable with it and that sounded better as well so don’t worry about the d/a conversion. I can’t feed back on wifi performanmce as mine is wired in but it should be better than the SU.