He’s actually got a Uniti version 1, without the 192/24 board, not a SuperUniti…
Fair play, I got mixed up… thanks David.
That said, the Bridge solution is still viable and my original Qute with the old 24/96 board was a good intranet streamer. I wonder if anyone who didn’t upgrade has actual positive or negative experience to share instead of me just running my mouth haha.
For the other part of the record, I agree that looking completely elsewhere for a modern solution makes great sense… but I sorta read the “I got a great deal on a slightly broken Gen 1 Uniti and fixed the screen” as an indication that this was a “rescue mission” project. I was suggesting the exploration of Bridges since Roon is already in the house, as that’s probably the easiest next thing to try as part of the rescue.
FWIW, I have tried the RoPieee Bridge to my Nova just to see if it works and to learn whether I can hear anything different between, say, Tidal via Naim app and Tidal via Roon RAAT and Tidal via Roon UPnP. I don’t think I can, so am content to use whichever interface pleases me the most on any given day. I think @simon.pepper is also using a Bridge (maybe the Sonore one? It was a standalone hardware thing iirc but I’m not sure of the brand) and he likes it fine… albeit on a 192/24 board 272 I think.
Thanks for the thoughtful and comprehensive reply. I have the original standard Uniti model, not the super. I spoke somewhat overly vaguely when i used the term ‘limitations’. What i should have specified more clearly is that in order to run it from any current version(s) of the Naim app, it would have to have its internal 24/96 board rplaced with a 24/92, which are long out of production and out of stock. Could be done, but would require cannibalizing a unit with a working 24/192 board, bought in some ‘for parts only’ status. (this, from what I have been able to gather from reliable sources). This makes the OG Uniti the only device that i have to control either by touching it’s front-panel buttons or from the IR remote (I know i could set up some sort of blaster/repeater rig). Defintiely a first-world problem.
The screen offers some fie naviagation features, but nothing like the Roon/Bluesound sort of smartphone/tablet/desktop/laptop harem of possibilities offered in both Apple and Windows/Android flavors by the above-mentioned ecosystems. There’s also a click between tracks- so defintely not gapless. The on-screen navigation seems to place 'album tracks in alphabetic order (reminds me of some older-school portable audio players, where the work-around was to put the track number as the leading character(s) of the file name to get proper playback sequence).
I will investigate the bridge approach - although I don’t have a pi in my aresnal at home (yet). I assume you would use it spdif into the Uniti, in which case the 24/96 barrier is still there. Am I misunderstanding how the 'bridge would connect to the Uniti?
Yes, I got lost, sorry! I had a Super that was super, hence the ease of my confusion!
So this will have to go on “hold” for a while longer anyway, since RPi aren’t quite available on shelves yet… although the outlook is supposed to be improving as supply chains ease up a bit.
Yes, it was probably making too many assumptions here! When you put on the Bridge, the Uniti sees a UPnP feed which it can process and play… and on the other side, Roon sees a Roon Ready device that can be selected in your control app and treated just like all the other modern gear you’ve tried. You would use the Roon app transparently, and completely avoid the need to install or run the native Naim app.
In my tests here, the Roon app via the Bridge puts the Nova into Server mode and just starts playing. The Nova shows it’s “Streaming from LMS” (the engine underneath the Bridge), but has no metadata for the stream (in my case, neither album/title/artist metadata, nor cover art). I’m guessing that you might have to use the Uniti remote to select the Server input, then see how things go when the Roon app “pushes” the selected stream out over the Bridge via UPnP.
TL;DR: with a Roon Bridge, your UPnP capable streamer becomes a “regular” Roon Endpoint
I bought the Uniti for US$350 with the notion that I would simply use it as an analog integrated amp, so i could use speakers in the large-ish bedroom i use as my work-from-home office. I did not know it had FM, and cared not whether the cd player even worked. Did not realize that tthe screen was dead when I bought it (completely my fault) and did not know that the app would not talk too it. (Again, my bad).
Once I hooked it up, and figured out which buttons on the remote were mapped to which analog inputs, i discovered the Naim magic, and love the way it sounds with my speakers. (I am not a fan of Class-D amps yet). Then, come to find, that the cd player not only works but sounds good, and that it has a tuner in it, and i just happen to have an unused Magnum Dynalab whip FM antenna languishing in my basement. And, guess what–the tuner sounds pretty darn good too, and i am even listening to some FM, which I have not done for years.
Next up was figuring out if i could do any sort of network or file playback. I tried some USB drives, and discovered that my Uniti likes FAT32 formatting, but did not like many of my higher-res flac files, and i don[t think it played and DSFs (but dont quote me on that one yet).
I was able to get it to play via Twonky, using the Twonky ‘app’ installed on my ASUS NAS, and the little player app on the ASUS IP web browser page. T would play while saying “no server found” on the Uniti screen, which made me smile.
A day later, the serveers I had enabled on my netowrk were proerly showing up on the Naim screen (it may just have been because of my relatively large directories and relatively slow ARM-based cpu NAS devices, but now i could use the navigation and transport controls on the Uniti remote, but this is not an optimal solution.
I have an iFi zen stream (borrowed) connected spdif to the Uniti, and a HiFi Rose 150B connected analog to it. Have not tried to properly A-B-C them. The thought of trying an ND5 XS2 would be if i can find a great price on one, and primairly as i would imagine it has even more of the Naim secret sauce that I enjoy.
That’s truly awesome, and great to hear how much your “bargain basement” purchase has given in return.
You could also check out the Super SuperUniti thread Super Superuniti which is running simultaneously and mentions BubleUPnP, yet another way to stream Tidal (and Qobuz I think) to older gear. If you’re comfortable installing UPnP servers on your NAS, that’s also easy to set up and test out (I ran it in a Docker container on my Synology).
Truthfully, you may never spend a better $350…
This still surprises me, as I had no idea that the latest Naim app does not work with the 24/96 board devices. It is definitely worth checking in with Naim Support to step your way through the upgrade process and get the Uniti on its latest firmware version, as that’s a more likely (and solvable) reason for the app fail imho.
If I understood things correctly, the app has capabilities that require ‘more’ than the 24/96 board can provide, and my unit is running super-old firmware, and i wold need to do some heroic, iterative firmware upgrades- perhaps those will work out
so, i guess 'never say “never” '-- but am waiting to hear from support on how to walk thru the upgrade stpes for the firmware
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No this is all wrong guys! The Naim app works just fine with all the products whether they have the 192/24 board or not.
What doesn’t work without the 192/24 board is 1) screen replacement done by Naim 2) Spotify 3) Tidal and 4) any DSD playback. But this is nothing to do with the app. It’s a shortcoming of the original Uniti.
But if this is really on firmware version 1.1 then there could be all sorts of other things that don’t work. There must be lots of bugs that got sorted on the way to 4.8
If it were me, I would try to get the firmware sorted out (it should be on 4.8 which also works fine on units that don’t have 192/24 boards). But I would be concerned that there may be a fault on its network card.
Back in the day, beta testing firmware for the original Uniti hardware, what once seemed heroic - finding or making cables for RS233 or adapting to new computers that lacked drivers or cautiously reading and re-reading the step-by-step process - soon became routine and much less fraught. Upgrading and reverting was a normal part of problem solving with the Naim team. After you’ve gathered the bits and done the first of probably less than seven version updates, you’ll be an expert and will quickly find yourself totally up to date.
And, afaik, the additional app capabilities are there to support newer hardware with additional capabilities… but you should have control over all of the features that your unit is capable of - it should be transparent to you and you will only be offered controls for the functions that your device supports (ie there won’t be a Tidal button since your board can’t support Tidal natively). That was my experience with a 24/96 Qute (no Tidal) and a 24/192 SU (Tidal).
Let the complete resurrection continue!
Snap, David… our posts crossed, but I totally agree that (subject to up to date firmware) the Uniti should work with the current Naim app.
Maybe, but the Uniti seems to be finding the Twonky server on the Asus NAS and playing from there (via remote control or front panel selection), so I view that as a very positive sign!
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David, et. al.
Thanks for helping me sort this. I am in contact with Focal-Naim USA support to help me get the firmware thing sorted. I have (for other reasons) alrealdy got a USB to Serial cable to make the connection, and now that I have a working screen, it can help me get the firmware sorted. It is realy running an ancient version, and it looks like I may have to load a few versions in the proper sequence, to get it modernized. The I will be able too see what it can or cannot do via app control. It’s an intellectual puzzle/challenge at this point, but i do have some notion that the internally-connected 1-box apporach has some benefits sonically- grounding, i2s vs spdif and external cables and connectors for example.
in the interim, I have installed roon brodge in an older unused laptop, and have it connected to an old Musical Fidelty V-Link 24/96 USB to Spdif converter, via AQ Diamond Toslink cable into the Uniti, playing from Roon as I type this. (I had to set the iFi Zen streamer to downconvert to 24/86 for it to work via coax digital into the Uniti. I think the Birdge gizmo may sound a bit better, but just judging from poor memory so far.
I also have an old M2Tech Young Dac, with a me-built upgraded psu unit, which I may try out as well - using its anlog outs into the Uniti.
I remember going thru the whole cics cply ritual on Audioasylum, doin ghte stripped o=down win xp builds etc…
My first pc was a Kaypro IV (i am old!). I remember the whole ‘plug and pRay’ aspect of home computiing and the budding file playback stuff. Have a stack of old portable music players as well…
Sounds like we’re comparable in age - I remember the Kaypro and have bricked my share of things during upgrades (and let the magic smoke escape from more than my fair share of transistors). The scars remain, however, and I still tremble a bit when, say, doing a bios update on my laptop or a Nuc…
With that proud heritage, this stuff should be easy for you once the Support team sends you all the sequential firmware versions you need.
For sure keep us posted!
(I worked with a friend who had a Kaypro IV “luggable” to develop the code and hardware to energize muscle stimulators that are now commonly used in physiotherapy. He quit school early to become a zillionaire. I did not. )
Kaypro, the company, referred to their machines as “transportable”, not “portable”. Mine weighed 26 Lbs, iirc (not sure why i even remember that at all).
Looks like Focal-Naim support will get back to me next week with instructions and some links to firmware and a d/l-er. In the mean-time, with great quality files, this roon usb to converter to optical to d2 input on Uniti sounds quite darn good.
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I am using the SonoreUPnP Bridge which I run on a Sonore UltraRendu/UltraCap LPS 1 platform, with the UPnP feed going into an NDS with dual Power Supplies, an 555DR on the Digital Socket1 circuitry.
I also use a Uptone EtherREGEN feeding the NDS on its Port B output (the isolated bridged output) with a Chord Sarum Tuned Array Streaming cable.
I believe with this configuration I am getting the best out of the NDS Network player and the PCM1704U based architecture with brass platform isolation as Reference level, while still having support for all the internet streaming services and any file format (DSD128+, MQA, DXD etc.) via the Roon Core.
Plus access to Roon ARC etc.
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Thanks for helping me along the journey. I’ve decided to put aside the quest for getting this beastie to stream well. I am happy the screen is working, as it is quite useful. I changed out my phono cartridge to an EMT HSD-006, and along with the alignment via an also newly acquired Feickert protractor, I am also setting aside adding a Stageline at this time. (My current mc phono pre works wonders with the 006.)
All that said, a friend is curreently loaning me his original version, Olive AP 250 amp, which is driving my speakers much better than the Uniti did (it’s a good-better thing, not a bad–good thing).
So, at the expense of a potentially dumb question, which of these two combos would sound better- usually assumptions, and just in terms of sonic merit.
Uniti via the 250 amp. or
Supernait 3, fed from Uniti has a combo cd player, fm tuner, dac for youtube videos played on my pc.
All of this is for a home office system, btw.
Darn, but the Uniti-250 combo sond great
Parallel threads.
Clearly the 250 is better.
The 250 is certainly a superior power amp to the one in the Supernait, as long as it’s in good condition and not in need of a recap. On the other hand, the Supernait has a superior preamp to the one in the Uniti, which has a line out, meaning that you can bypass its built in preamp and just use it as a source.
The Supernait 3 also has a decent phono stage built in, so you may be able to do without a separate one.
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