NDX 2 remote and front panel functionality

I left comment here but I accidentally deleted it. I will start again.
I also, really like engaging with my equipment hence I would love to be able to fully operate it via buttons or at least the remote. I had the original first Uniti and I loved it even, indeed, sometimes it was taking a long time to find what I was looking for, but I enjoyed it. I guess this is similar to playing vinyl records. They need care but once you spin them you enjoy the experience a bit more (at least I do). Also, being able to operate the equipment via remote or the front panel reduces exposure to all these electronics devices (how many times I wanted to pick music via my phone and ended up checking other stuff?). I anyone have kids and try to control their mobile devices usage, having modern audio is no good.
I think operation via the front panel is not possible but the remote is really good and could be utilised.

Anywayā€¦on the positive side. There is a very good function on the Naim app called ā€˜favouritesā€™. I have not used it much until recently but it is actually a game changer. As a user you can add, besides radio stations, album, artists, songs and even playlist to favourites and all of these are available via the screen and can be operated via the remote! Not everything can be added unfortunately (only items from streaming services (Tidal works), music on the properly formatted USB drive connected to player) but it is still a great feature. I have added my most listened albums and some artists I tend to listen more than others. My children are adding their favorite songs, too. Its worth pointing out that for full access to these favorites you need to use screenā€™s icon - not the one on the remote. This function is good, you can fire up what you want quickly and without reaching for the phone or tabled, getting it unlocked etc. I use my remote a lot more since I started using this feature. I am not sure if there are any limits or not but for now all works. I added artist ā€˜RUSHā€™ (Tidal) and now I have access to their all albums for example. If you have not tried this I would encourage you to do so (but remember not everything can be added - I have not managed to add anything from my UPNP NAS sever).

You may well be correct - though I note you state My understanding - albeit Iā€™ve read many threads where Admin or Tech staff have contributed; and the issues Iā€™ve raised are not faults for which Iā€™d consider contacting support (I did do that via my Dealer re: failure of Chromecast-built in) but customer~user comments about things I like/dislike.

It also seems strange that a business which surely must monitor its existing customer base would not review its own forum to garner opinion as to whether its products are meeting expectations. This must be less costly than funding market research.

Iā€™m sure there is lots of grey. Naim staff contributes in some threads about technical problems, but itā€™s not an official support channel. Similarly, I canā€™t imagine that marketing isnā€™t reading, but itā€™s not an official feedback channel.

However, reading the forum wonā€™t make market research unnecessary, because the forum does not represent all Naim customers, not the current ones and certainly not the prospective ones.

Ā£700 for that?! Iā€™ll give you a fiver for it! :joy: :rofl: :joy:

You can get a refurbished Samsung for less than Ā£100.

Yes but it has to run the Android version of the Naim app. The iOS version is much better. Of course if all one needs it for is the remote functionality, it does not matter

My first Naim streamer was an NDX which I upgraded to a ND555 several years ago the screens have very little appeal to me personally and my ND555 screen is permanently off.

Iā€™ve had a NDX2 on loan when my ND555 was away for repair and I can only describe the remote as a cheap and tacky crap and not in keeping with a 5K product.

Obviously I have a ND555 remote plus and R Com remote as supplied with my 552 the have a combined replacement price of over Ā£1000.00 yet neither can adjust the Balance function on the 552 whilst they look nice I wouldnā€™t say there functionality is anything to get excited about.

I have two Samsung TVs the cheapest cost less than a replacement ND555 remote control both were supplied with two remotes one of them being a smart remote.

The Smart remote is stainless steel with superb functionality and ergonomics and is far better than any Naim remote I have.

One of the Samsung remotes slid down the side of my listening chair and being an electric recliner it got mangled up in the mechanism I had to buy a new one cost Ā£70.

Having opened this particular can of worms, Iā€™m slightly comforted to learn that the majority of people who have responded to my original rant share my views.

I was briefly worried I was on my own in thinking that the NDX2 remote is a piece of crap and not in keeping with either the Naim brand nor the product it is supplied with.

The 500 series remote is doubtless more pleasing than the NDX2 one, but judging from the photo earlier in this thread, it looks to have the same buttons and layout but in a better quality case, however, to my eyes, still looks ugly and doesnā€™t appear to offer superior functionality.

That being the case I donā€™t see how Naim can possibly justify a Ā£700 price tag. Even if this isnā€™t the case, and the 500 series remote is functionally superior, that asking price still seems mighty steep.

Still, none of this detracts from my original point, that if oneā€™s mobile device is somehow unavailable, or the app developers make a boob and break the app, thereā€™s still no way of selecting a upnp input via the front panel or from the nasty, tacky, disappointing remote, or the one made from unicorn horn.

Those bollocks look familiarā€¦

G

Iā€™m old school.

G

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In case no one has seen one, here is what the ND5XS remote looks like:


It has a lovely weight to it, not the last word in sophistication but streets ahead of the NDX2 equivalent.

I had the upnp input assigned to the ā€˜PCā€™ button on the second from bottom row of buttons (yes, you could customise them)

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i used to have one supplied with the orginal Uniti. Great remote it wasā€¦and the buttons at te botom for changing inputs very useable. Very easy to navigate even without looking at it.

Naim NDX 2 remote is not that great in material quality, and Naim charges a lot for their remotes.

A little metal build on the remote in the price Naim gear cost is to be expected, and a better quality that does not scratch so easy also.

My old levinson 383 had a total metal remote, ugly as hell but metal, even Denon DCD 2500ne has a metal top remote as the Denon PMA A110 and they cost a lot less than the NDX, also the replacement does not cost as much.

I like the NDX 2 remote in use is simple and intuitive, but build is cheap plastic, worse is a gloss fingerprint magnet.

NAIM could do better, I do not think a better build remote is an excuse for a greater price, but in this case could be, who knows.

ā€¦and, I suspect, that Naim looked at their primary target market for the NDX 2 and decided that absence of a device for app control would be very rare indeed.

I mean, thereā€™s two of us here, no children, and in the room right now are 3 iPhones, an Android phone and two iPads. Plus another iPad in the study.

Sure, I could choose what music to play on my SuperUniti, but it was a) a pretty arduous process and b) on the other side of the room from my seating position, and my eyesight isnā€™t getting any better

My NDX2 is an excellent device with great functionality via the app or indeed via Roon. I use my ipad to control everything - nice and easy.

There is a display which is useful for updates etc. but my NDX2 is in a cupboard away from the listening room so not really needed. Could I live without the screen? Of course.

The remote is not a fantastic product either in looks, material or functions but does allow remote control of certain features. Could I live without the remote? Of course.

However, the app is so good (even though I often use Roon) that all imaginable functions/control are covered - we obviously couldnā€™t live without the app.

Almost everything today is controllable via smart phone or similar device so it makes sense that money is spent by Naim on ensuring great app functionality.

The only gripe I have with my NDX2 is that it will lose the stream and require resetting (long press of power button) quite often. This could be my network but all other devices operate seamlessly.

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As Iā€™ve said in this thread before, and will repeat, I wasnā€™t proposing that the remote or screen is used as an alternative to the app, just that I was surprised that there are some inputs that can only be reached via the app, and if that route is unavailable for whatever reason, all your music carefully ripped and curated onto your NAS server is totally unreachable. My point was that this seems a pretty serious limitation on a device costing as much as the NDX2 costs.
Iā€™m not suggesting one tries to navigate ā€˜000s of tracks via the remote or front panel, but being able to switch to the NAS input and maybe select a playlist doesnā€™t seem to be that much to ask or expect.

The fact that the remote is a piece of plastic sh*te just rubs salt in the wound.

I remember the interface of the fist iPod that came out, a simple interface that worked very well and it made the iPod an attractive alternative to the other slow and complicated devices.

Something like that could be present to navigate upnp servers, and be low on processor resources.

I use Asset as my upnp server and on my old ND5XS (with the green front panel display), when one selected the NAS/upnp input you were presented with Assetā€™s easy to navigate interface where it was a perfectly simple matter to select playlists, artists, albums etc. The app was easier for sure, but not hugely.

If my phone was out of reach or on charge etc, I would quite often use the remote to select stuff to listen to. The fact that this option is totally missing from the superior model baffles me.

Time to email Naim customer support I think

I agree that the lack of accessibility to the uPnP server through the remote keys is a disappointment. For some reason, you can access streaming services using the remote, but not your Uniti Core. WTFā€¦. If Madame Clare was still around Iā€™d be issuing a ā€œPlease explainā€ā€¦.

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It is what it is. You may as well start complaining that too much cheese makes you fat. Itā€™s hardly important.