New Firmware update v. 3.6.0

[anon37685938]

Update done on my Atom and all running ok. Definite sound quality improvement quite substantial in fact.
Just a note on the Atom and Unitiqute I have never had any issues with these systems and find them to be the best systems at this price level that Naim have ever made.

Long may Naim continue to produce these and also the updates to the system, it’s not so long ago that if you wanted an update you had to buy another item now you just update the firmware and you get added features that were not there when you bought it. I think that is bloody marvellous.

[NigelB]

Updated to 3.6 on my ND555 with no problems and I have already reported a lovely SQ uplift.

Unfortunately I have just suffered a random reboot, which I have reported to Naim.

So 3.6 has not fixed all rebooting misbehaviour, well not for me anyway.

I will go back to Beta testing when the new Beta is available and try to help fix the residual rebooting behaviour.

[ravenswood101]

A strange one here for the last 2 evenings. Radio 3 on 320 dies every few minutes and then comes back for 3 minutes to go again. I’ve not seen this before and am really missing my NAT01 which I sold a few months ago!

[billywindsock]

After the update my kit sounds the same as it did before the update. Where is the improvement coming from? Why is there no mention of improved sound quality in the update notes?

[Richard.Dane]

Billy, see my earlier post;

New Firmware update v. 3.6.0

When any change to product is made, no matter how minor, whether physical or in firmware, the sound performance is always checked right at the end, and must be signed off by Roy. Such is the resolution at this level, any changes to anything, no matter how small, and even including firmware, can potentially have an effect on sound. AFAIK Naim have found ways to tweak this though, so performance can be maintained or even improved where possible. There are some very experienced and long-standing…

[Reh]

Nice

[BertBird]

So after a bit more of listening, I can confirm that I like the new firmware from a sound-perspective more than what we had.
What I hear:

• More 3D sound with more depth
• Better articulated bass
• More clean / lean sound

[Thomas]

I spent another couple of hours listening to my favorite tracks and enjoying the changes the 3.6 brought.

God, that low end!
What a change!

But, how to describe that? While going deep and being powerful, everything seems to be a tab tighter. Not more detailed, I’d say more separated and therefore intelligible. I perceive more information, or intelligibility, in low mids and below.

More specifically, there is a better separation in bass drum kicks and between instruments. As a result, the powerful end, of the first movement, of Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto became more interesting, same thing for Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto in D minor.

While the mid to low-end has been improved, I have mixed feelings regarding the upper mids and highs.

Highs seem to have been brought to the front while mids, and upper mids, are a little restrained, less present. I felt like an imbalance. The Violin and the pianoforte sound a little thinner and brighter (not in a bad way, just different).

That shift in the upper mids and highs allows for a deeper sound stage, more 3D, which is rather enjoyable.

Is that really an “imbalance” I’m perceiving, or me being used to some noise/graininess? I don’t know. It wouldn’t be the first time…

When the noise floor is lowered and sound cleaned from some graininess, my first impression is always: “it sounds thinner”.

After some time, the brain adjusts, and there is only music. I got that impression when listening to some extremely revealing systems.

How did Naim achieve those changes, I have no idea.

I wonder what’s really included in the package they call “the firmware”

My reference albums, for today :

[DanT]

I updated last night using my iPhone and had no issues what so ever, the NDX2 did its thing and after probably 6-7 minutes was back to normal. When it came back online, the app on my iPhone discovered the device without any issues.

I too am noticing better low end. Overall pleased.

[Dusty]

Update

Left my system running all day, music was still playing when I got in from work…phew! Now listening to “Return to Ommadawn”. Where did that bass come from. Naim, I’m not giving it back!

Gold * guys. Great work.

[dave-marshall]

I reported a few days back that I could hear no discernible changes to the sound on my ND 555.

Well, I’ve been out most of today, but, just for fun, powered it down this morning for 30 mins or so.

Bloody Nora!

What’s going on?

Deeper, yet more controlled bass, drums sound, well, like drums, more 3D detail, more separation between instruments … Naim … don’t know how you’ve done this, but you ain’t getting it back!

[Meni]

Agree the bass is in a better control and drums also three dimensions …but lack for me sharpness I had before

[nbpf]

@Mark84

@Alley_Cat

The sonic signature can and does change due to firmware changes - this is not intentional.

Sorry but I highly doubt that this is the case.

Naim could definitely update features and software without changing the sound. They will have control over everything. If the sound is changing then they are changing the filter in the dac software. This will definitely be intentional.

This is what I initially thought and, if it were true, it would indeed allow addressing functionality issues and sound quality improvements in different firmware releases.

According to previous discussions in this forum, this is not the case and bug fix releases and releases that aim at improving functionalities almost always have some implications on the sound quality.

Then, of course, even if most users find such implications positive, there is a minority that finds them negative.

[Alley_Cat]

@Mark84

@Alley_Cat

The sonic signature can and does change due to firmware changes - this is not intentional.

Sorry but I highly doubt that this is the case.

Naim could definitely update features and software without changing the sound. They will have control over everything. If the sound is changing then they are changing the filter in the dac software. This will definitely be intentional.

I understand your scepticism Mark84.

This explanation is quite detailed, but even seemingly minor code changes can alter things unintentionally it seems:

Is Naim losing its way?

The basic ‘DSP‘ reconstruction filter has not changed since the Naim DAC days. The tweaking is the code execution and memory reading/writing timing and the noise that put on the ground plane and powerlines. This noise, despite being infinitesimally small can modulate clocks ana analogue electronic ground planes and powerlines and this changes the FR minutely. Naim had started to manage this to the point they could almost control it like an eq through noise shaping as a consequence of care…

There are too many things which just don’t seem logical with hi-fi especially digital audio, but do seem to affect things.

How on earth do different ethernet cables sound different passing the same data for example?

[litemotiv]

@Alley_Cat

How on earth do different ethernet cables sound different passing the same data for example?

They don’t…

[Alley_Cat]

The cable itself presumably doesn’t but may affect noise getting into a streamer 's sensitive circuitry from the network.

I tried 4 or 5 ethernet cables a few years ago. They did indeed sound different, the most expensive was actually quite a good improvement but I went for one of the cheapest which simply gave ‘bang for buck’ plus has retaining clips I was unlikely to break as I so often did with cheap computer ethernet cables.

I’m probably missing out not tweaking my router/switch/PSUs for various little boxes but I don’t really have the patience to test when there are more logical options to change which ought to have an effect.

[Richard.Dane]

Can we please keep this thread on topic so it’s just for members to report their update experience, particularly if there are issues. If members wish to discuss other aspects then by all means please start a separate thread. Thanks.

[Alley_Cat]

Not sure if that’s a general comment Richard, is it fair to say that it’s accepted that changes to firmware could potentially affect the sound? It seems to have been my experience over the years whatever the reason.

I’m more pragmatic about such things these days, and just tend to roll with the firmware releases.

[Alley_Cat]

@Naim.Marketing

Worth noting I had zero trouble doing the update on my iPhone on iOS 14.4. Plenty more reports of seamless updates, too. so this one could be a head-scratcher.

Zero issues updating here on a Nova or with post-update recognition of the device by the app (latest iOS too).

I’ll leave it to the techs, but suspect this and many other vagaries are down to differences in home networking environments which have always been variable when it comes to using any kind of streaming device, audio or otherwise.

[Richard.Dane]

Yes, AC, see my earlier post as well as some of the others (like Simon’s very detailed technical explanation) above.