NEW! Uniti Atom Headphone Edition – and streaming pre-amp!

I’m only using Focal Utopia with balanced Danacable Lazuli Reference cable. Sounds amazing. Haven’t tried anything else yet. Wanting to see reviews of it with the Stealth.

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AKG K702 :notes: saving up for a better one

Me too. Same phones, same cables. Great minds think alike :grinning:

That is because aside from Stax the Utopias are end game headphones. They have been since their introduction 4 years ago.

During development they were voiced using the Naim nDac and HeadAmp GSX MK2

Best
Gregg

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I don’t know why I haven’t heard of the HeadAmp GSX. Must be looking at the wrong forums.
I assume it doesn’t have a remote.
I wonder how NDX2->HeadAmp GSX->250 DR would work?
I’m still looking for something to replace my 500 system.

In the headphone community the GSX MK2 is an incredibly famous and legendary amp.

You need to hang out on Headfi - the headphone world has exploded during the last decade. I frequented there from 2000-2003 and then signed up here ( which then took up all of my time :laughing:)
I went back to Headfi in 2017 and when I saw what was going on in the headphone world I said - Dorothy we are not in Kansas anymore.

Today’s young people do not buy 2 channel - it is all headphones. A top headphone system can easily cost the equivalent of a good Naim system.

Naim were smart with the Atom HE trying to make inroads into that world. I would speculate more than half of Chords business takes place in the headphone realm (they are kings on Headfi), and dCS has made huge inroads with the Bartok all in one w/ headphone amplifier. It has been a great gateway drug for them.

I hope Naim can make similar inroads over there with the HE

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I’ve been pushing the Naim HE over at head-fi. It seems all in one systems are somewhat frowned upon over there other than the dcs Bartok. People like building their systems.

But for me, I so happy with just the Naim HE. At one point I built up to the Chord Dave, added the mscaler, added external battery. Got Link II streamer, added linear power supply. I actually tried to get used pair of Wave bnc cables but the maker never got back to me.

At that point I didn’t see spending another $1200 just for some cables and decided to give Focal Arche a try and was just as happy. Then when the Naim HE came out, wasn’t sold on it at first since didn’t need a streamer but liked the idea of the all in one box solution. I only kept Focal Arche and streamer around in case needed 2nd headphone setup. The Naim HE is almost a transportable within the house since just unplug and plug back and all ready to go. It just not practical if using in two spots everyday.

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Is there a place I can download the Uniti Atom Headphone user manual? I looked on the naim site and couldn’t find one. For products this complicated, I really like to read the freaking manual before I buy.

I’m not sure an Atom HE manual is available for download yet. There is the online support portal though where you can view Q&As;

There’s also the main Atom support page to view and the guide to get you started to download;

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/uniti-atom

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I think it doesn’t have a traditional manual. There are a series of videos under support that explain everything.

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It’s not as complicated as you might think. It might look like it as there are so many ways to use it but most people only use a few different ways. I use HDD attached with the Naim app, and also airplay. Oh and also the optical for tv. Once you have one it’s pretty easy to figure out.

How would you like to use it?

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I’m super interested in the very few preamps that can switch between headphone out and line out via remote. It seems like this can do that, but I wanted to read the section on it to make sure there wasn’t a hidden catch.

I’d also like to know if the outputs can be configured as fixed and/or variable.

Integrating head-fit and 2 channel is a pain.

Understood. Always a good idea to make sure it does as you need it to.

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So far as I can tell, there is no function of the remote that will do that.
I believe this is how it works.

If you are using the RCA headphone connection, it will switch there when active and the preamp isn’t active. Otherwise, the preamp has priority.
If you are using the balanced out for headphones there is a button on the front to choose which output will be connected.
You must press the button to use the balanced headphone connection.
The good news is that you can control which is active. The bad news is that you have to get up and operate that button to change it. In other words, it isn’t controlled by the remote.

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Very helpful! Thank you.

The outputs are variable.

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Hi! I have one question. If 3 headphones are connected at the same time, is it possible to output sound to only 1 of them?

Based on what I read, no. They would all output at the same time. You can’t select between them. Most likely you’d only want to hook up one set at a time for best performance. The other issue with multiple headphones is if they’re different kinds, volume level could be different at the same volume level setting. Not sure I’ve seen an amp that let you switch between the different headphone outputs. Usually plug and play.

Thanks for the answer! I was interested in the phrase from the naim support portal:
“ You can keep any set of headphones plugged in – great for convenience, but also saving unnecessary wear and tear on the headphone jacks.”

For example SPL Phonitor XE allows you to do this.

I have one and no you can’t. It either drives the headphones or the pre-amp.

In my experience it is not an issue though. I have a set of Focal Clear MG wired into the XLR but then sometimes wire my Celestee into the unbalanced socket. And I really cannot sense any real difference in SQ with both plugged in.

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