Obsolescence - Which Way To Go?

The Naim app only displays what it receives from the music server. The SBT probably pulls the images in from an external source.

I agree with those who maintain the simplicity of playing music from mac software to work satisfactorily through a dac and on the amplifier. I have maintained this configuration over the years and have only updated each of the components in the chain.

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In R3 Record Review each Saturday morning they have a review usually of a well know claasical piece and choose a winner with acknowledgements to runners up. You will often find the “winner” is not always stated in any particular format. So there is no guarantee it will be available on CD, forget LPs, and may only be on a download basis only. Sometimes deleted.
To find this you need to go to their website. Old foggies, not us of course, and those not computer literate, sorry ask friend?

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A quick Google search reveals that Vivaldi wrote a single concerto for two celli, RV 531 in g minor. Plug vivaldi rv 531 into Discogs, omitting all other keywords because of translation concerns, filter for LP, and there are 46 hits, of which maybe 12 are matches. So if you heard this on the radio and were tempted by it, you could be ordering a vinyl copy for your enjoyment within minutes.

Vinyl is poorly served with new classical releases, but it’s hardly a lost cause. I find that resisting temptation is the biggest challenge.

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However, it may be that the version as was played is not amongst them and if you choose one at random without hearing it is possible you may be disappointed if it sounds significantly different.

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It is a reasonable expectation that hifi components from Naim are updated as services change, after all they are very expensive. I am appalled that neither my Uniti nor my Unitilite is being upgraded whilst newer models are.

The Uniti was conceived at a time where the landscape was rather different. Streaming of locally stored content was seen as the main thing, with streaming services being more of a side attraction due to file and resolution limits. Naim upgraded as far as they could but the original streaming engine could only go so far. This is why Naim developed their current new streaming platform. Unfortunately the design is quite different and so not a straightforward retro-fit item. Naim do though keep the old platform supported and updated, but can’t add extra native streaming services. However there are digital inputs that will allow you to add other devices that will allow you to use later streaming services while still taking advantage of the high quality Naim amplification.

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Maybe so, but if you found multiple matches for the work you were interested in, you could then search the usual places (YouTube, etc.) for samples to find one that was to your liking. Taking the Vivaldi RV 531 as an example, I see that Discogs lists versions by Yo-Yo Ma and Hogwood / Bylsma, both of which can be checked out on YouTube.

It’s been many years since I listened to R3’s Record Review, but I seem to recall that they would often consider “classic” versions of particular works as well as more recent recordings, so unless they were reviewing a particularly obscure work, or there was one and only one version of the work that you liked, you’d have at least a sporting chance of finding a version to your taste on vinyl.

In fact I am planning to add at a Mac Mini to my Uniti Qute for that scenario.

It has never quite given me the flexibility I thought it would (for varying reasons) but it still seems a popular product -second hand

There are lots of things to be appalled about but the inability to get new streaming services on a Uniti is probably not one of them. Mildly disappointed possibly but appalled, no. I cannot get them on my 272 either. So you change it, add another box, or suck it up, as some might say.

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I didn’t mean to suggest you couldn’t, my observation merely relating to your original suggestion which hadn’t thrown in the additional notion of listening to different versions.

Although I don’t have one, I’ve always felt that Naim have missed the boat of opportunities with their (restricted) view on what constitutes a “server” with the introduction of their Uniti Core. If ever there was a time to update the Core firmware with as many “bridge” functions as possible, this would be it: a ton of old streaming platform gear is out there, and many of those owners would (happily?) consider or prefer a Naim upgrade / modernization path.

Your old NDX, SuperUniti or 272 can’t handle things like Qobuz, Roon, Tidal Connect, and whatever comes along tomorrow the same way as our new platform? No problem… here’s a one box upgrade path for you that looks and sounds the part and brings all our modern external service expertise to you, with less pain or overhead than the impossible-to-implement retrofit of new streaming boards into older boxes some might prefer / expect.

Maybe it’s just me, but servers serve… and taking that to mean the Core serves exclusively from local storage seems at odds with “everyone else’s” interpretation of the word. The discussion and surprise at the lack of internet radio, which iirc had been available on the old UnitiServe points to this mismatch in interpretation…

Maybe @Stevesky will be along to explain why this can’t happen with the current Core hardware, but I wonder whether a Core2 is really needed to play this bridge role and fill in the gap for a fully functional new gen streamer-only product in the Naim lineup.

Regards alan

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On a different thread on the some what limited metadata and other flaws issues, Steve did not see any need to update the Core, despite the customers views. @davidhendon did you get any further, or is it a case of what you have is what you will be getting…full stop.

As somebody from a commercial computer environment this make a lot of sense to me.
:+1:

Over the years starting as someone involved with MBC hardware design and software, plus 30 years being in the field of IT and comms products/sales, the biggest factor I find with calling ‘time’ to product updates is memory. I mean a lack of ROM and RAM. It seems that IT products (and HiFi now needs to be considered to be in that genre) are never designed day one with enough ROM and RAM to cope with potential future software features and updates. This might be put down to a cost thing… adding an extra few meg increases the raw price of the product which, over a few years, adds up to quite a few USD. Second factor is capabilities of the processor: Faster etc… costs more money and a manufacturer might well decide that an extra few dollars isn’t worth it. Of course, being naturally skeptic, I can also see good reasons why building in some form of obsolescence is a good thing - if you see what I mean.

But also relative is that even if you put in the very latest highest spec processor and maxed out RAM & ROM at the premium pricesof the day, within 5 years it will be average, and within 10 years will cease to be upgradeable in meaningful terms. And from those times there needs to be subtracted the final development stage/testing time and gearing up of production etc, which may easily be a year or two.

But no problem at all for a device streaming from a local store, simply not needing updating, working as designed forever(!?) - the obsolescence problem is due to external factors beyond the control of the streamer designers, other than trying to ensure as much capacity as reasonably possible for new programming, unless they have a crystal ball.

External factors being the biggest issue, if you think Naim suffer then just look at smart TVs - twice now I’ve “lost” streaming services due to updates by the purveyors of said service going beyond the hardware capacity.

Tend to treat a TV as just a screen now and resort to external devices to supply content.

In the car I use a 10 year old iPod which is considered obsolete but still lets me load music on its HDD and listen…

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Yes… certainly there are a ton of reasons why having control over your own music is advantageous. I can see why people go for a ‘cloud’ service. I must spend £20 to £30 on new music each month (CDs/bandcamp/etc…) and I’ll freely admit 90% of the time I get the new music and decide I don’t really like it. If I’d had gone the cloud/streaming route then I suppose that wouldn’t have happened. Of course it would have cost me much the same anyway on the service.

However a relevant thing happened the other day. I was at work and decided to spend an hour having a good tidy up of my stored music: Checking genre, images, etc… Then I set the system at work, where I backup to from home, to sync with my store at home. There was 15gig to do and it took 6 hours. When I got home SWMBO was complaining that the internet radio hadn’t worked at home all day. In my case she just played a few albums which come from our home server. So despite the internet effectively being ‘down’ music and life continued.

Does Ford update the engines of their cars as more fuel-efficient designs are developed? No? Its outrageous - I’m appalled!!

Seriously, Naim - indeed no company - can reasonably be expected to make their current equipment compatible with any or all potential future services or newer technologies. To expect them to do so suggests an over-developed sense of entitlement.

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Isn’t the issue more like fuel specification being changed, making your old engine obsolete. Yes, that happens, but the lifespan or stability of fuel specifications is long, whereas software and hardware changes come around much faster.

Having said that, I do agree with your sentiment. Naim do not control the eco system within which they have to operate, and customer demand (or companies desires to fuel customer demand??) drives the evolution of consumer IT products.