There are solutions to “black box” other than “add screen” though. Like make something softer on the eye and also put flowers in the room and hang a few pictures.
If you don’t intend to still be using it in 20 years or are confident the screen will last that long, then great. But I do generally intend to get a couple decades out of something or more, and don’t like the odds. I have laptops that still work after 25 years and three monitors that died in 18 months. It’s more gamble than I would be up for on a big ticket item.
I’ve made a point of buying recent streamers that don’t have a screen (Limetree Bridge, Volumio Rivo+, Primare NP5) as I don’t want the distraction and prefer to hear my music rather than look at it.
When I did have screens (UQs, Atom, Linn Akurate, Auralic Vega S1) I switched them off. It is something that is going to fail at some point in time and, as stated, degrades the SQ.
Oh, and I had a MXN10 for a brief period but bettered by the dedicated streamers as you would expect. The new Cambridge L/R active speakers look interesting btw.
I don’t want to be tied to my phone. I switch on the radio in the morning by pressing buttons on the front of the Atom to get the station I want. That would be hard without a screen.
Sometimes I get the feeling that many on here enjoy telling us what they don’t like about things. It’s all terribly negative.
Maybe I’m shallow but I think it looks nice with the screen, and long may Naim continue using them.
So many threads on here bring Arsėne Wenger’s famous ‘Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home’ quote to mind. The screen on my NDX2 is rather lovely I have to say.
I really agree with the sentiment of not being tied to my phone (ok the irony of posting here via my phone is not lost on me) an it’s one of the reasons I’ve not been the biggest fan of streaming.
I’ve got Wiim Ultra and two Pro Pluses, on rare occasions I’ve used the touch screen on the ultra I have thought that it was straightforward and well executed. Then as you say the album art etc.
A nice shoebox streamer with a touch screen well executed gives the best of both worlds.
I agree with the sentiment entirely. My phone sits in my pocket when I’m out and on the bedside table when I’m in. It has no other locations ever unless I’m expecting a call. However, I’d also never contemplate using my phone to control my streamer. That’s what tablets are for.
Tied to a tablet? Not really. Select an album to play, select what’s up next or maybe even select a smart mix of albums. Use my streaming app maybe once every couple of hours other than on days/nights when I fancy flicking through a few things.
I do agree with @HungryHalibut that the screen on the Atom looks lovely. Works better aesthetically than on any other Naim box. Like most screens on a streamer I struggle to see why a manufacturer would persist when, as noted above, stuff like OLED and other screen technologies are moving at a ludicrously fast pace, they add to the cost, build in obsolescence and add an obvious point of failure. Is there anything more infuriating than a music making device having to be returned for a non musical reason.
Many people like screens. Others don’t. Hardly a revelation, is it?
The market, in general, currently favours screens and Naim (& others) do have to consider how they can appeal to the widest market. Having a screen, that turns off when not in use seems like a reasonable compromise.
I bought a new Atom He a couple of months back (what cracking value that is!) and I’m using it as a Streaming Dac/pre in to a (Moon) power amp (together with driving my Audeze cans). The screen comes on when I use the remote to change sources, adjust volume, start stop stream, etc, otherwise it’s off. I use Roon with the Roon Remote on an iPad; no being tied to a PC here. Music selected, plays from Atom, remote control then used. Easy to see volume and input from my listening chair. far superior to a rotary control that has no visual indication of setting.
We all have our own priorities. There’s no ‘wrong’ here, although many do like to perpetually respond to the ‘someone is wrong on the internet’ scenario.
