I’m new to this forum, and it’s a pleasure to meet you all.
I own two Naim Uniti Atoms: the standard version for speakers and the Headphone Edition. I’ve genuinely loved both units and have been extremely happy with them until now.
However, yesterday something rather unexpected happened. I updated the firmware on both devices to version 3.12, and since then all the music stored on my SSDs — converted to ALAC and played via USB — appears to have lost part of its metadata. Playback also seems slightly slower than before.
The cover art and artist information still appear correctly, but the track names are no longer displayed. Instead, they simply show as “1, 2, 3, 4…” rather than the actual song titles.
Does anyone know how this might be fixed?
The drives are two 2TB SSDs containing a very large music library. If a complete reindexing is required, it could potentially take days, as indexing was already extremely slow before — roughly two or three minutes per album. What makes this particularly strange is that I’ve owned the Naim HE for months and the other Atom for years, and both units have always read these libraries perfectly on the first attempt.
On top of that, I also feel that the sound with the new firmware seems slightly more muffled and less open than before.
I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.
Factory reset ONE Atom to determine if that action rectifies the issue - NOTE you WILL lose all your settings and presets on that Atom when you do so.
If successful, you can reapply settings and presets manually, referencing those on your second Atom, always assuming they were configured identically .
Thanks for the suggestion. However, since I am running a massive 2TB library on each SSD, forcing a factory reset would wipe the database and trigger a full re-indexing from scratch. Given that the indexing speed has degraded to 2-3 minutes per album under v3.12, a full rebuild would take days and put an immense processing load on the unit during summer heat.
Since this metadata loss and the flat sound signature happened on both units (Standard and HE) at the exact same time right after the update, it is clear that v3.12 has a bug handling local ALAC files via USB.
Massive is correct. However, Naim only claims to support 1TB SSD drives on its USB port. Which doesn’t mean it will completely fail with larger drives but does mean that issues are possible. More than a year ago, I participated in a thread regarding drive size. There was a range of experience as to what size drives (and USB sticks) worked or didn’t work.
I need to add a crucial and deeply concerning update regarding firmware v3.12. While the ALAC USB metadata bug is highly annoying, it is not my main issue. My deepest concern is the unacceptable change in the sound signature, which goes far beyond a mere software glitch.
I am currently testing my standard Atom using the Coaxial input connected to my CD player. This is a reference setup I know inside out, playing discs I have listened to hundreds of times. The verdict is devastating: the sound is completely ruined. The iconic, warm, dynamic, and emotional ‘Naim Sound’ that made me spend thousands of euros on these devices is completely gone. It has been replaced by a flat, clinical, and lifeless presentation.
This proves that v3.12 has permanently altered the internal DSP digital filtering, affecting even pure hardware inputs like the coaxial port.
Honestly, I feel as if someone had entered my house and swapped my high-end Naim amplifiers for a completely different brand without my consent. It is not fair. I didn’t buy the Uniti Atom and the Atom HE for their screens or apps; I bought them exclusively for their sound.
Sounds like you need to do a reset of the unit. A few members here posted that they experienced poor sound after the update which they reported was completely cured after a reset of the unit.
Naim instructions for updating firmware on older units said that you should do a factory reset afterwards, and they often still recommend it, so I suggest you give it a try.
If there’s an issue with ALAC, try using FLAC (or WAV) to eliminate any issues with the format. If you don’t want to wait, you could copy a few albums to a USB stick and try those.
Thank you all for your inputs. I have performed further testing to isolate the issue, and the ‘1TB size limit’ theory is officially ruled out.
I copied a small selection of tracks onto a brand new 1TB SSD. The exact same behavior occurs: every track formatted in FLAC and ALAC loses its title and shows up generically as ‘1, 2, 3…’. However, any track formatted in AIFF reads instantly with perfect speed and correct titles, regardless of whether it’s on a 1TB, 2TB, or even an 8TB drive.
This is undeniable proof that firmware v3.12 introduces a severe software regression affecting how the system decompresses and parses metadata tags specifically inside compressed lossless containers (FLAC/ALAC) via local USB.
Regarding the sound degradation, I am glad to hear other members are reporting the poor sound quality after this update. It proves my ears aren’t fooling me. However, forcing a factory reset is an unacceptable workaround when the core issue lies in a faulty firmware code that degrades audio performance across all inputs, including Coaxial. Naim needs to address this bug directly.
I have a Nova on 3.12. I just loaded 10 albums (ALAC and FLAC) onto a USB Stick. The Nova had no problem with the metadata. So it’s clearly not a universal problem with the firmware. (In addition, I don’t recall anyone else on the main 3.12 thread reporting it.)
As for sound quality, that is a subjective matter. I do note that @Richard.Dane reported that a few members reported sound quality problems that were corrected by a reset. Having generally followed the main 3.12 thread, I think it is fair to say that most people were satisfied or even enthusiastic about it, even though a fair number reported changes in the sound quality.
Thank you all for your insights. I have performed further testing, and the ‘1TB size limit’ theory is now completely debunked.
I just tested a LaCie 1TB SSD containing only 400 GB of music (well under the 1TB official limit), all formatted in ALAC. The exact same bug occurs: all track titles disappear and show up as ‘1, 2, 3…’. However, when testing an 8TB drive formatted in AIFF, the Atom reads it instantly with perfect speed and correct titles.
This confirms that the issue has nothing to do with drive capacity or brand. It is a strict and severe software regression in firmware v3.12 regarding how it parses compressed lossless containers (FLAC/ALAC) on the Atom platform. Testing 10 albums on a top-of-the-line Uniti Nova (which has a faster processor and more RAM) is not a valid comparison for a massive local library bug.
As for the sound degradation, the fact that even the forum moderator (@Richard.Dane) acknowledged that multiple members reported poor sound quality after the update proves this is a widespread acoustic alteration. Forcing a factory reset and risking days of slow re-indexing is an unacceptable workaround for a faulty firmware code that alters the sonic signature across all inputs, including Coaxial. Naim needs to address this directly.
Actually all I mentioned was that a few members (IIRC two. three?) reported that they had poor sound after the update - as opposed to the majority (100+) who mentioned that performance was great, probably even better than before. Those who reported poor sound also reported that sound was far better after a reset.
Just perform a reset and you should hopefully find your sound issue is cured. The reset function is put there by manufacturers for a reason, so don’t be afraid to use it when you have issues.
Clearly you do have an issue at the moment, but whether it’s a SW bug around ALAC, or just a SW corruption, it’s hard to say. I would be inclined to go for the latter due to the slow indexing you are also seeing. I would suggest you bite the bullet and do the reset, and you may even find you SQ comes back, and the metadata is no longer an issue. If you still have issues, then it’s a matter of raising a ticket
And yet nobody in this forum, to the best of my knowledge, has had this metadata issue other than you. (I think several people may have had issues with cover art.)
In the first test you described above you said you copied a “small selection of tracks,” and had the same problem. From that test, it appears unlikely that the processor speed and RAM were factors.
By the way, were these tracks copied from your 2TB drives? If so, they may have already been corrupted. On a similar note, were the AIFF files copies conversions of FLAC or ALAC files, or were they separate? It’s my understanding that they store metadata differently.
One thing I’d do is download a program like MediaMonkey (free) to see if it can find the metadata.
You might also try opening a ticket with Naim support.
Hi Richard, thank you for chiming in. I completely understand that the majority of users might be satisfied, but we must look at the objective facts of my specific case.
Following the forum’s advice, I spent my evening performing a full hardware factory reset (using the Play + Input buttons) on my standard Atom. I configured everything from scratch. The result? The issues are notcured.
The Audio Regression is Real: Even after a deep factory reset, the sonic signature remains flat, analytical, and compressed. The gain curve on the volume pot has clearly been altered (what used to be a volume level of 38 now sounds at 28), which heavily reduces dynamic headroom across all inputs, including Coaxial.
The Metadata Bug Persists: To eliminate any doubt regarding drive sizes, I tested a LaCie 2TB SSD containing only 800 GB of music (well below Naim’s official 1TB limit) formatted in ALAC. The track titles are still missing (‘1, 2, 3…’). However, when plugging in an 8TB drive formatted in AIFF, it reads instantly with perfect titles.
This is not a corrupt cache issue that a reset can fix; it is an objective software regression in firmware v3.12 regarding how the Atom architecture decompresses compressed lossless containers (ALAC/FLAC) and handles DSP gain.
.