Tact personified.
That’s where AirPlay 2 comes in 
YES! THANK YOU! i had an atom as a head phone amp and returned it. I am very excited to try this!
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Good point!
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Old Macs had inbuilt digital out; but they removed this feature.
“Worst case” (from signal path), you can use the analog out/in, just with your active speakers. 
Well, that’s all my insider knowledge used up.
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We’re on a similar path here I think. My first question to you is, Do you already have a Core @paulbysea?
Also thank you for making it happy to work with other gear. I have a few headphone tube amps and its great to know i can use them happily as well.
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That’s assuming your computer runs MacOS…
Many don’t. I actually was recently trying to use the USB as an input for measuring the room using REW. Airplay is not an option, Chromecast only works from certain application supporting it. Only Bluetooth left. A USB input would have been nice.
Which begs the question, which boxes will be cut… So far we’ve “lost” the 272 and gained the Atom HE, so amounts are unchanged.
Let the speculation begin!
I think Clare was referring to cutting down the box count in your system, which this new Atom HE can do rather nicely, even going as far as coming in a small box itself.
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What a fascinating product. Well done Naim!
I had an Atom and I though it was excellent. I used it as a pre too into an external power amp and it was a really useful upgrade. I pondered at the time the possibility of using the Atom as a streaming pre into active ATC’s. I moved it on but the use case has lingered in my mind.
I also had cause to put headphone option into the system via a Headline/NAPSC only last week. This would have made a really interesting option indeed.
Anyway, really nice product!
Is it a bit cheaper with the power amp missing?
It has AptX HD Bluetooth. Seriously, between that, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, UPnP, Roon, and Qobuz, TIDAL and Spotify covered directly, that should cover vast majority of connectivity options
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Not with all the extra features and re-engineering involved
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Not quite. It is still an iPad in a way but e.g. has a keyboard (option?) and really serve different use cases
This is some interesting news indeed. Been looking for a solution of getting the kind of headphone quality I get with my Star upstairs in my office. It may be exactly what I am looking for.
So a few questions:
- Will this equal or outperform the headphone amp on my Star?
- I actually considered getting a normal Atom for this purpose. I assume this will outperform that on headphones by a large margin?
- I assume it slots into multi room and will be able to play vinyl that is connected to my Star?
- Question from total ignorance to see if this fits at all into my future succession planning. How close would adding a good power amp get to a NDX2 / Supernait 3 combo?
Appreciate your time in answering these.
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Yes to outperforming ANY Uniti headphone output - this is a whole new headphone amp design.
And yes, works in a multi-room setup - same as other Naim streaming products.
Re product comparisons - demo at your dealer!
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The 272 is still listed as current on the Naim product page.