Anyone tried the Atom HE with Acoustic Energy AE1 and Elac Navis ARB51 active speakers?
Hello and welcome to the Forum. This review covers one off:
Thanks very much Clare - it reinforces my prejudices - and I must have a listen.
Another question: I realise the Atom HE doesn’t have HDMI but I can’t resolve the back panel inputs so is there a way to connect it to a TV?
Try the optical TOSLINK connection.
Good afternoon. Is there a delay in supplying dealers with the units? I have been told 16 weeks by my local dealer is this about right? Thank you
Demand is off the charts for the product - it’s as simple as that. We have a big back order list we are working through as production time and resources allow
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Thanks Clare. I’ll take that as a yes then👍🏼and get my order in.
So glad I was one of the first adopters.
Whilst I too have noticed a subtle difference between the innate NAIM app for QOBUZ and via ROON, have also reverted to Roon as I can change music easily on laptop. Unfortunately the NAIM app for MacOS only supports the M1 chip. @Clare is there any plans to make this backward compatible with older MacBooks (which are not all that old) and Intel chips?
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Whereas I cannot detect any difference between the two with the headphones I have, I very much doubt that this has to do with the Atom HE. I know you are not necessarily implying this but thought I’d mention here on the thread.
Should manifest itself on all the streaming products then as it sounds like a difference between the decoding of the source stream on Roon vs the on board chipset on the streamers.
Silly question as the answer is mostly likely no but you are not using any DSP on Roon?
I’m also wondering if sending the already encoded bitstream over the wire vs creating that on board can have an effect depending on the networking gear used.
With the limited resources and many existing plans we have in progress (eg support for music streaming service developments), I fear it isn’t something we could prioritise. Paging @tomvamos for any more insight!
No. Not using any DSP.
Roon via 2.4ghz wifi although the router is 3 metres from the Roon core.
As to the cause, I’m not going to speculate as it can be a number of things. And I’m not implying one is better than the other.
Listening with Focal Utopia.
It’s a very subtle difference.
There are some members (I believe a minority) who hear a difference. I found that interesting and tried, and I thought that maybe I did, too. However, I also thought that volume was a little lower with Roon, and after trying to adjust for this, I did not really hear a difference anymore. However, this was by ear and I cannot tell you if Roon volume was really a bit lower, or if was the same and turning it up a tiny bit more masked/balanced a real difference. In any case, any sound and volume difference was tiny, for me. (I have everything wired, same cables, 8switch, separate Roon Rock)
Sorry, is off-topic here
You could, as a test, try to wire the Roon Core in. When I was running on WiFi when I started with Roon I had some sound artifacts.
I was utterly convinced that WiFi should not do anything but Roon does recommend to wire the core in, so I did and the noise artifacts disappeared. Then I asked about it on the Roon forum and some folks came with a believable explanation regarding how Wifi shedules and sends the data packets timing wise.
If I did not hear actual issues disappear I would not have believed it myself.
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Hi @Dr_kevy,
At the beginning of this year we started to look in to the feasibility of the adaptions and tasks required to create and maintain a non-M1 MacOS compatible Naim app. After a much discussion we set out the headline stories in a single epic (forgive the Scrum jargon) and then had to stop there due to other priorities.
In short, we’d like to do it and we’ve documented the top-level deliverables but for now it’s an unscheduled set of backlog stories while our focus is pointed elsewhere.
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Sounds like it’s time to hire some new employees 
Thanks for the prompt reply. Totally understand. The Naim app appears inherently more stable than Roon and was hopeful of using it as a substitute as well as negating having to use a network transport solution as above.
Lifetime Roon subscriber. And hopefully Naim don’t ever charge a subscription for its excellent app,
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I believe roon only recommends wired due to possible dropouts, not sound quality. I have my roon core wired but the Uniti HE is wireless and haven’t had a single dropout with roon no matter if hires 24/192 files are playing. With my previous streamer, I would get dropouts with hires unless wired in. I feel leaving it wireless removes any possible RFI noise from the router.
And as far as differences between roon and the Naim app with Qobuz, it’s the soundstage and slight tone that’s different. When I tried that mono Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie, roon was a little more spread out while Naim had it all very narrow focused. Which was right, I’m not sure but preferred roon in this case. But it’s all very subtle and roon app is just so much easier to use. I’m listening with Focal Utopia with Danacable Lazuli Reference, which is very revealing of its source.
I dunno the exact reason behind Roon’s recommendation. All I can comment on is what I experienced. I had a digital interference like noise in the silence between tracks. It was very audible. I posted the issue on the Roon forum. As part of tests I was doing in communication with a Roon agent I tried wiring the Core in. The noise went away. The agent commented to say that Ethernet is always recommended for Roon.
Based on the noise I was hearing, if this was always present in the music but drowned out in the presence of sound in the stream it could very well have caused a sound quality degradation.
So far from me saying this is a silver bullet solution to everything, all I would suggest to anyone having Roon SQ questions on the Atom HE (or any device for that matter) is to wire the Core in for a test. Patch cables are extremely cheap and relocating the Core and doing a test usually takes a few minutes depending on location and accessibility of devices. It should then be instantly clear if it is a solution or snake oil for that particular problem.
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So just saying the core be wired but the HE can stay wireless?
I’ve always had the core wired since I’d have to go into the settings somewhere on the Intel Nuc just to figure how to enable it wirelessly. But I’m actually using a wireless extender and that has ethernet connections.
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I actually don’t have a proper opinion on that one yet as I have not run the streamers wireless enought to really know. I had my HE wireless the other day and it sounded as good as wired. But standard mode of operation is a two satellite NetGear Orbi mesh system. Star and Roon Core wired into the satellite below and HE wired into the satellite upstairs.
Just for clarity I had the noise issue on my Star last year when I first trialed Roon.