Im with you- one week into the delivery of the ndx2 sn3 tunetotots the atom he 250dr acquits itself nicely with my bowers 705s2s as im banished to the guestroom I keep thinking the new 272 is going to be more uniti and less classic
For those who use some usb key or disk with the Atom HE, which one please ? does it works flawlessly ?
It seems i have some strange behavior with sandisk micro SD 512 Go, until today i only experienced some droupouts 10 seconds sometimes before the end of songs and since today the Atom turned completely buggy while reading RHCP last album (96 kHz / 24b) … It took very long seconds to execute commands like songs change, the unit was very laggy, even using front panel buttons … several dropouts during songs … i tryed to take the control with roon and i got an error saying the unit refused to play a song … it looked like a proc overload or full memory, dunno. After a shutdown - power disconnect, it worked well some times and then same problem again when i played that album again … I just saw that the album art was a bit big (4.2 Mo) and changed it for a lighter one but that’s rather strange … Since then no problem while playing other albums. Anyone has encounter this kind of problems ?
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Btw no problem when reading through Roon the same album stocked on my Roon server (with the same 4.2 Mo album cover) …
So it seems clearly related to the Atom’s USB.
I have a sandisk 1 tb ssd connected to the Atom HE and in the past i had occasional drop outs playing tracks. Powering off and on seems to cure the problem, maybe it’s some kind of cache build up, but i am only guessing.
Not sure if want to go thru the trouble but have you tried to restore it and start fresh? I also see there is a Clear image cache and Rebuild music database options in the Other settings. But I’m just throwing out possible solutions since I never tried usb. Maybe someone can chime in with real fix.
Following a house fire (no injuries) I got an Atom HE and Focal Clears (balanced connection). I find them to be a sublime combination. Initially I was slightly worried that the Atom would not be flexible enough to expand the system. Since then I have added a Chord TToby (balanced connection), a Cyrus CD1 (digital coaxial connection) and KEF LS50’s. Recently, I added Roon. So far I am super happy. Soon will add Tom Evans Groove and an LP12.
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Yes, I often look at that single box that is the Atom HE and wonder… how have they managed it?!?
I intend to use the Atom HE as a Pre into a Tube Amp as well. This will give me a streamer, DAC and SS amp plus a tube amp in two boxes with minimal wiring. It’s certainly an amazing piece of kit!
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Ive had atom HE for two weeks now, it is clearly becoming more musical and resolving. Im listening right now with some stellias, its possible they are each coming into their own towgether. I was at first a little underwhelmed, but as this stuff breaks in it just gets more involving. I also use it as a pre/streamer into a 250dr, which it performs almost with a 272 as such. The overall usefulness exceeds the 272. I tested the headphone amp on the 272, which is nice, but its not up to HE spec, and I would strenuously argue that it approaches 272 as a pre/streamer source. Im thinking the 272 replacement could would should be a uniti- id guess this could be a new box size for naim- if they can pack a an amp in an atom box, maybe a power supply…hmmm
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The headphone amp on the 272 was its weakest link.
Yes- its been fascinating being able to try these combinations, they are distinct and each offers something. The HE is pretty compelling for the price vs other new pre streamers in this lineup. I do have an ndx2 with my sn3 and am very curious about the various combinations using sn3 as pre into 250dr with ndx2, or obviously the 272 as pre with ndx2 and sn3 and or 250dr. Kind of crazy eh?
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The 272 was in many respects just a Superuniti without the power amp, and I guess any replacement would be essentially a revamped Nova. Whether they’ll call it an HE and offer the selection of headphones outputs is anyone’s guess.
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It seems that the problem was related to a particular version of the album which made the Atom to bug. I purchased another version of the album on Qobuz and this time no problem.
The strange thing is that on Hugo2Go or Mojo2Poly or through Roon the “faulty” album was playing well. Strange but the main thing is that it’s now sorted, I hope this won’t occur again …
Maybe you can send this case to Naim
Support @Will so they can look into it? I am sure this is something they should be able to fix and make the firmware more robust for faulty files.
BR,
Richard
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I had both for several weeks the 272 headphone output (without power) is worse than the HE in direct comparison but really does the trick (with Focal Clear MG), the 272 preamp with 250.2 and Focal 1028be is better… I returned the HE and listened to my Clear with the 272/XPSDR.
I compared the 272 with Arcam Rhead, Beyer A20, Chord Mojo and each time the 272 is better…
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Hi @Radikal, I’d be interested to know how the Linn Akurate 4200 is going with your set up? One has become available to me at a decent price.
I remember you used the HE as a pre-amp - wonder if you can lend your professional and user experience to my set up.
I have an HE and a Naim XS2 (with HiCap DR) and have tried RCA with AV bypass and also RCA into standard input on XS2.
Both seem comparable but was not sure if I should be setting HE up yo play at higher volume to achieve Unity Gain - tried it at around the 50 mark.
Any advice gratefully received
I’m very satisfied with the Akurate 4200. It’s sounds great with the Atom HE as source. But today a new NDX 2 arrived who will replace the Atom HE. (Sorry for my bad english)
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Good to know, thanks. Have fun with the NDX2…
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Ok I’m going to put on my big boy pants and give a view after a few weeks listening. Admittedly my set up might be a little niche however I felt it was worth documenting.
So everyone I asked an opinion of this (authorised dealers etc) said the pre-amp on the HE was far superior to the XS2, and so I should employ AV Bypass.
After a lot of A/B testing using 2 weeks intervals I can tell you my preference. Note I can’t tell you what sounds better just my preference.
My baseline was a Lindemann Source 2 - for those that have not heard it is an incredible bit of kit - one of the few that still uses AKM Dacs from before the fire. Smooth doesn’t even start to describe. However it doesn’t meet the ‘partner test’. Yes that is a thing. It’s white, boxy and out of context from the rest of the AV system. Enter a trip to my trusted Naim dealer and after a demo on much more expensive and ‘reputable’ streamers I heard the HE and was amazed at the Vinyl sound it provided. So the goal was to replicate that at home.
How disappointed was I on returning home to find that sound had disappeared. Of course there were many reasons that could be so, however none to my mind could explain the sheer differential I heard. It just sounded ………flat.
On A/V Bypass my sense was that at an enjoyable volume it was meh! and came alive at 60+ which for my room was too loud. When connected to the amp at what I though was Unity again (around 50) it was exactly the same as with AV Bypass.
Next I turned it up to 80 and compensated via the Nait XS2 volume. I have no words for the difference in dynamics. It turned out that was the main element I was missing everything else was exact but that increase in voltage provided the separation required to move the music from pleasant to present.
Hope that helps any prospective buyers with the sort of unique set up I have.
Best.
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Does the HE support any kind of EQ or headphone profiles/filters?
Although I had a brief home demo, I did not see anything like that and there does not seem to be any mention of EQing in this thread.
As a very digital headphone amp, I would be surprised if it doesn’t provide EQ options. That said, I suspect it doesn’t. If not, is it something that can be added in a future software update? (I’d tag Naim, but not sure who to tag specifically)
I know I can use PEQ or convolution filters via Roon, but it would have been interesting to apply them directly in HE so that it applies for all sources.
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