Is the device viable as Musil servers this days? Are nay limitations in comparison to the modern device?
It works ok, in the sense that you can rip CDs and serve them up as a hard disc player or using upnp.
But the operating system is Windows XP Embedded so is well out of support, including that you have to use the wholly deprecated SMB1 protocol if you want to add or edit anything in the downloads folder. And if the hard disc drive fails, you cannot fit a new one yourself and Naim will not supply the operating system image. So at that point you either throw it away or pay Naim £500 to mend it for you.
Personally I wouldn’t consider one these days.
That depends on what the ‘modern’ device is. In many ways the Core that replaced the US is more limited in what it can do, so personally I wouldn’t buy one.
The US can still be an easy way to get your CD collection ripped with a minimum of fuss if you prefer not to have to use a computer. Just be aware that it’s an old bit of hardware now, and while Naim can still, as far as I’m aware, support it, that may not always be the case.
Looking at what others have said regarding OS, and (drive) mech support, I would consider the entry level Innuos products as an up-to-date alternative.
ATB, J
Indeed, if buying new an Innuos Zen Mini would be my first choice.
All I would say is, if you can pick one up for what your would pay for a PC of similar vintage without the naim logo it might be worth a punt.
With a small amount of effort the case can be used for a micro ATX motherboard…
I can always dd the drive and make my own image, not an issue. But kinda weird that the os is on the hard drive with music.
Innuos are not getting my money. In the end its 1x hard drive nas. for 200-500€, yeah … but not more.
You can’t do that. It’s something to do with pairing the drive to the hardware. Lots of people have tried to do what you suggest. Also anyway cloning the image assumes that the image on the existing drive remains un-damaged and accessible.
The OS is on the hard drive because there is no other storage in the Unitiserve. It’s a very old design now.
1 Like
What do you mean. I can definitely clone the drive and will be identical, to the original. If naim did something to prevent me from doing it, I would call it unacceptable.
I still have my old US but it’s not a patch on the Core. The US often makes you feel it’s about to die and as a result you’re always seem to be prepared for it to fail.
1 Like
I don’t recall the details now, but I think the hard disc electronic serial number is paired with the main board and this isn’t something you can do retrospectively. It’s true for HDX as well as US.
Anyway believe what you like. It’s nothing to me.
1 Like
Hard drive storage is a very small part of an Innuos Zen Mini. It’s also a CD ripper, metadata editor, UPnP server, Roon server, SPDIF source, analogue source, and a streamer for web services such as Tidal, Spotify etc. If you don’t need any of that, sure, buy a Synology NAS for a lot less money.
3 Likes
Yeah exactly. I just a dlna enabled storage.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.