Some help on burning in, my Uniti has played 50 to 60 hours, the sound is good but I still find it less resolving in showing clearly the detail in music as of some of my dac’s.
Complex music on the IFi pro idsd offers more detail than on the unity, even my dsd gryphon will let listen some details that ara not so audible in the Uniti they are there but almost imperceptible, the uniti shadows some information on the utopia.
How much will the Uniti change with the burn in?
Still having the transformer noise, and still waiting for IFi dc blocker to arrive, regarding transformer noise also still waiting for a reply from the dealer.
My Focal Clear Mg’s arrived a few months before my Atom HE. To get some benefit from the headphones before the Atom was delivered (global delays) I purchased an iFi Zen DAC v2 from Amazon.
It sounded great being fed from a MacBook via a standard USB cable.
When the Atom arrived I couldn’t wait to plug it in. What a disappointment. Harsh, loud, flat, no detail.
But……
Now, quite a few months later, it is a musical joy. The Atom took an age to sound its best; as did the Clear Mg’s.
With regard to hum, is this your first bit of hifi with a toroidal transformer? Have you tried to identify what might be causing the noisy mains? Maybe try a few different locations around your home.
My neighbour has just taken delivery of a dCS Bartok HE. It sounds bloody awful compared to my Atom - at the moment…. I’m sure when it’s been running for a few hundred hours it will sound brilliant.
Leave it on, nice and loud and come back in a day or two.
Edit - I’ve just read the history. Have you tried it bare? Just the standard cable?
I will let it play to burn in a week or two in roon radio and then listen to it.
I have other gear, my NDX 2 is on a repair at the moment at NAIM in UK Wi-Fi was not working, It produced noise but almost not audible, this one is noisier, actually in my office the noise is lower but is the only place, but still more than the NDX 2.
Beside Naim I never had other gear that produced noise from the transformer, at least that I have noticed so much. And I have had a lot of gear in the last 30 years.
From Sony, Marantz , M. Levinson, LINN, Denon, VTL, Halcro, Aura,and some more, never had a noisier one, maybe lucky, Naim are a first for me on the noise issue.
@sonwleo It did take quite a while. I would say at the 50hr mark it was very good but still improved a bit from then. My headphones were fully burned as was the power cable, which took a lot longer.
I find the Atom HE may not be as resolving as some of the standalone DACs I’ve used such as the TT2 and less so the Hugo2 but, the sense of depth of stage, superb tonal balance in sub-mids are far more engaging. Seems to reveal more texture in the bass. I certainly find it better than the Hugo2 and while the TT2 is better in technical terms, I do find the Atom HE more musically engaging. I wouldn’t say the Atom HE is a warm amp but rather it sounds fuller than the Chord DACs. The detail is there, just not quite so in your face, if you see what I mean.
I tweaked the upgraded power cable I was using more recently. It did have Furutech Rhodium plugs but I changed these to the Rhodium NCF versions. They took quite a while to settle down but again, they brought even more bass texture and better imaging. The Atom HE does seem to scale in terms of the PC used.
As for burning in, I just left mine running 24/7 for about 2 weeks. Just to be sure. From memory, I’m sure I didn’t notice much if any difference from the middle of the 2nd week.
I demo’d the Atom HE at home against a Hugo2 and found it to be similar to your description. I don’t feel it had the detail of the Hugo, and I found it slightly harsh in the upper mid, almost sibilant with higher volumes. This was through both speakers and “warm” headphones. I’m guessing it would have been well run in but maybe it wasn’t, it had a faulty wifi module in it too which the dealer wasn’t aware of as they’d just used Ethernet connection so it went back to Naim on my return. Needless to say I kept the Hugo/2go
Sounds most unlike the Atom HE. Maybe there was more wrong with it than just the WiFi.
I have the a Hugo2 as well which I enjoy and compared to the Atom HE, I’ve found it has a brighter presentation. The Atom HE has more weight in the bass and mids and while the highs don’t sound rolled off compared to the H2, they aren’t as obvious. The H2 certainly has more air and detail but the weight and fuller sounding bass of the Atom HE and lower mids make it my goto system & the H2 is for travelling
I can only compare to e demo Dave both with and without MScaler - and from memory. But I would say the HE has greater vocal and instrumental texture - and better PRaT.
I’d agree with that. I’ve mentioned before but while the H2 provides a little more detail, the HE isn’t bad in that area and more than makes up for it with the texture and PRaT. I even prefer the HE over the TT2 because of the way it handles the bass etc.
Edit… I’d say the layering / imaging are also very impressive while remaining very natural.
DC Blocker did not remove the transformer noise, I have not had a great experience with Naim, my NDX 2 broke in less than a year is in repair for almost two months now, the date to receive it again is maybe the end of July, this Uniti Atom is the most noisier unit I have ever owned.
At the moment the only two products I Am facing issues are the two Naim products I own. This somehow makes me feel strange about Naim.
As this uniti HE is the only one the dealer received in my country, probably will have to wait months before I receive a new one, and this is if the dealer exchanges the Uniti atom.
For an example the transformer noise of the atom is more present than my synology with 12 disks on in the same room. I thought I was only me, but my wife and daughter also noticed the same, barely hear the server but clearly hear the atom.
Maybe the noise is a kind of add on for music… extra detail to listen with my utopia that are open back headphones, the noise is an extra bonus.
Sorry for the bad mood, but two in a row from the same brand to the same costumer is really bad luck. I will wait to see what the dealer will do.
I’d say incredibly unlucky, I’ve been a Naim customer through three generations of Naim products and 30 years - and have always good products and good service
In my case is a coincidence, just talked to the dealer and it will look at the unit, and if it proves to be a defect will change it for a new one when he receives more units.
That’s my take too. The Chord products might sound like they have more detail on first listen but think that might only be in the highs. The Atom HE has a bit more texture and detail from the mids down. You sort of need to let the Naim wash over you and be immersed in the sound. Has more body and weight than the Dave/mscaler. The Dave/mscaler may have had better timing but didn’t equate to getting my foot tapping or better enjoyment.
Well, I finally managed to get around to getting myself a Uniti Atom HE. This is my first Naim product and love it so far.
I’m currently burning it in, and this might sounds like a silly question, but was just wondering, when burning in, what volume level is recommended? Low, Mid or High level volume?
I would just use a normal volume. The higher the volume the harder the amp part gets to work though. You should connect headphones though for burn it to make sure the amp gets proper use. The rest of the system is not really volume dependant.
