David, very true I ordered a Core the day they were released but still had a wait of around five/six months before it was avalible this after a lengthy demo at my dealer and as you say there was no editing facility to start with.
Being a complete computer numpty I do like the Core and with all the updates since its release it does all I want editing wise and is easy to use.
At the time SSD drives were horrendously expensive compared to todays prices I opted for and still use a Seagate 2TB video HDD which has performed well and is totally silent in operation back up is to a Seagate 2TB HDD.
In the last week I have removed my NAS from my network as I it is no longer used everything on my iMac is backed up to in the Cloud plus I back up to a separate HDD using Time Machine fairly regularly which is stored away from the house.
I bought mine without a demo. I think I was about the third person to order it from my dealer. To start with I used a Seagate HDD but I didn’t like how hot it got. And I could hear the drive running, but that’s mainly because it is not far from my ears in my study (!) and so it was annoying me when I was listening in there. So I bought an SSD, partly to give me an excuse to transfer everything from my US again, as I was engaged in a long discussion with the people at Salisbury about the undesirability of the Core ignoring user edits in imports from US. That was something else that got fixed when they added metadata editing.
Now my Core’s SSD is nearly full and so I have bought a bigger one and I need sometime to swap it over and restore from my backup. In the meantime I’ll keep enjoying the music!
Best
After a couple of months my first Core got hot on two occasions when ripping and cutout my dealer rung Naim and spoke to Jason he immediately agreed to send a new one.
The new one was dispatched and installed within three days and has performed flawlessly since remaining a lot cooler than my first one when ripping a lot of discs which does not happen as much these days.
Mine has worked fine through lots of beta testing except that from new when I first power it up, it often sits there with the lights on doing nothing, not responsive to any button press and not on the network. I found if I turn the power off and on again instantly, it boots up as normal. I emailed Phil for advice and after chasing him twice, eventually a month later, he just said “take it back to the dealer for a service or replacement”.
Anyway I didn’t do that and I still know that if it doesn’t start when I plug it in, it needs a quick interruption of the mains to sort it out. Otherwise it’s been fine. (A friend tells me his Core which is a similar age to mine is the same incidentally, so that feels like a bad batch of relays or something).
Best
David
Perhaps Jason tries to uplift the sales of the Core after its fiasco beginnings.
I think personally that something like an nd555 deserves better than the core.
I find the entry level Melco better sounding with my nds vs my past unitserve / linear ps and uniticore I tested.
There are 2 better models of Melco in their line, vs mine.
Strongly disagree - the Core is ideal for ND555 - I speak from personal experience as I run this setup. Bear in mind that the ND555 was developed by Naim using the Core, and makes an ideal pairing.
Personally, when I auditioned Melco, I found it listless (overly mellow) and lacking character - certainly not for me (IMHO). Others may love it - YMMV.
@Darkebear, @Meni, @Bart, @BertBird, and some others use a Melco with their Nd555.
When I auditioned first the Melco, it was uninvolving. I discovered that Direct mode was settled by default. Without that mode, the Melco came to life.
I wanted to like the Core, it looks good but it’s expensive for what it is. It surprises me that at the time Naim were making their new kit Roon ready they didn’t build Roon functionality into the Core.
I bought an Innuos Zen to replace my Unitiserve. Great sound and gives me Roon.
I could have written about Innuos too. They are on the same level as Melco.
Uniticore is not bad, is musical, with Naim prat and nice case. With an nd5xs2 or bare ndx2, it’s a good product.
But the Nd555 deserves better, like Innuos Zenith SE, Innuos Statement, Melco n1z or N10.
Only my opinion, but shared by some here.
I use a Roon Nucleus and Roon, and a nas for storing the music library and for backup. I’ve not been interested in going down the ‘expensive nas’ route, especially as I like what Roon does.
I heard no sacrifice moving from streaming from a UServe to streaming with a nas and Asset or Minimserver. I’m similarly happy with Roon.
There was also some mixing of Fraim corner piece finishes on one rack.
I’m sure I remember reading somewhere here that this causes a bloom to settle onto the otherwise uninterrupted inky blackness. I’m a bit surprised that Jason agreed to take the risk.