Poll - New firmware: sound upgrade or downgrade?

On my ND555, the remote was paired even thought the ‘pair the remote’ screen never went away.

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But does the wine affect the hardware or software of your brain?

The firmware definitely (and unintentionally it seems) introduces aspects of the NC sound to OC kit, I said that on my initial impressions post on the other thread….

We like the extra edge to midrange, dynamic on guitars etc. which is a NC trait. Leaner sounding. But our OC kit still retains its character, it hasn’t swung totally to what people are describing as “more hifi” than musical.

The nDAC was always known for being darker and organic sounding, so perhaps it’s pushing back a little and that’s why we’re still enjoying our system very much. Our SF speakers are also perhaps slightly smoother than others (but we’ve never found them lacking sparkle or speed, especially with 300DR).

Effects of the new FW seem to exhibit most on live recordings. Little details in the background, intonation etc. you just didn’t pick up on before. I guess this is what people call a “lower noise floor”.

But there are people with very similar system reporting unhappiness and listening fatigue. So who knows.

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If naim/streaming unlimited on purpose have altered the sound the way it seems the minimum you could ask them doing is

1, Publish a change log when software goes live. A change log everyone using the product can access without searching a forum. Use the album art and push a QR code that takes everyone to a page where everything is written clearly. “New software available. Read more here before installation”
2, In the change log include “Improvements has been made to audio performance” (which I understand Naim think they have). Users that want zero changes to their boxes can then neglect the update or await feedback from those that are not that worried about it.

At least customers can await installing it doing so. Forcing them into an unknown and not giving them the option later to fall back to the software they had due to some legal issues between Streaming unlimited and Naim is so so…

Things moved bit to quick here and not synchronised between UK and France me think…

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Quite a few of the threads on this forum would be much shorter/happier if Naim did one simple thing: communicate. For a company in 2024 its comms with its loyal customers are awful IMHO; just look at the number of unhappy posts on Tidal Max and this FW update’s various problems, big and small.

Naim clearly knows he value of good comms for new sales - see its slick social media output on all the main platforms.

Conversely, in July 2024 Naim wrote to me as follows in a generic email: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused - as soon as we have a clear date of release for Tidal Max, we will send a formal communication to our retailers and customers.” It never did.

This forum is the obvious place for Naim to engage officially and put its loyal customers’ minds at rest, yet it chooses to remain consistently sphinx-like.

I am not suggesting we are entitled to know its every corporate or R&D decision, but information and engagement can help to allay concerns and quell rumour, as well as providing reassurance to anyone who is unhappy that they are not being ignored or shouting into a void having spent £000s.

Admitting publicly there are issues to be addressed and that there is a plan to address them is no longer a sign of corporate weakness; quite the opposite.

I have yet to notice a change in SQ either way, having not put in the necessary listening time, but I can empathise with those who are now deeply disappointed. I wish them a speedy, hassle-free solution, as well as some official reassurance to that effect from Naim.

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Thanks - but was hoping to avoid doing that (factory reset) and seems crazy that it should be necessary

The biggest improvement I noticed (even pre-FW update, so without Tidal Max streams) is when I started using Tidal Connect rather than the Naim app (both via my iPhone) for streaming Tidal. Am I missing something here or is that just obvious?

I understand what you are saying, but think how an official statement along the lines of ‘we’ve recently released updated firmware for our Unitis, New Classics, Mu-so etc streamers. Some of our customers aren’t happy with perceived changes in sound quality, which we are investigating with a view to make further changes to address the concerns’ would go down in the wider market? It’s really not a good look, and just a alerts a much wider population to a potential issue. It’s a minority that are having issues, and it’s a small minority of Naim owners that actually look at the forum. Sledgehammers and nuts come to mind, in the bigger scheme of things.

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I had a similar problem on my 222 after I updated the firmware, which was solved when I unplugged the unit from the mains. After plugging the unit back in, it paired when I followed the instructions in the manual (on the 222 press the play button on the fron panel then hold the home button on the remote for three seconds)

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Thanks - I´ll try this before doing the factory reset solution and losing all my settings!

Can’t comment, as we barely ever open the naim app.

All Tidal listening here is via Connect (and we’ve augmented our SuperUniti in the office to allow this some time ago).

Others are making the same comment as you though

Does make you wonder if something in the StreamUnlimited SDK is influencing sound. Or maybe the naim app is chattier than Connect, could be all sorts of reasons.

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its possible, but the part of the streamer is quite separate - and is connected to the rest of the platform by LVDS. On the ND555 it’s EM isolated as well.

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I think that was a factory reset, not just a mains plug pull. It doesn’t go through the pairing cycle after every power down, obviously.

But there has been good comms on the internet radio thread(s)! Where obviously Naim are reading forum comments, requests and feedback regularly. So they are happy to communicate on good news stories, but perhaps not so much when the news is not so good.

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But the news is not so good for a small subset of owners. Publicising it does nobody any good. It’s impossible to tie down the causal factors, and why some people are unhappy while many aren’t. I’m not defending Naim here, but when you think it through, official comms really won’t be helpful.

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I think that this is the voice of reason.

I get that there is alot of emotion on the firmware situation. I don’t like the changes in sound quality to be honest.

However, these things are complicated and a quick fix is not going to happen.

Give things space and time. Continue to listen to your system and tey not to worry about it. I reckon in time everything will come good.

For me it’s the HF that give a shrill. It’s like the system is on steroids on HF.

I can listen to it no problem, but the sound quality is worse overall. I can always switch to LP12 if it becomes too much.

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It’s a tricky situation. There are far more happy users, who feel there is a worthwhile improvement, than there are unhappy ones. The balancing act is to make the unhappy happy, without making the happy unhappy. There is a big risk in this.

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Are there any ND555 + two ps users reporting sound is better? This group seems to be over represented in saying sound is worse.

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It isn’t as good. But I wouldn’t sell my system over it. I am between sounds worse and makes no difference category.

I could live with it, put it that way.

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And it still sounds great to be honest. I cannot understand that a Node sounds better tbf. It isn’t that bad.

Simple terms. It sounds like treble has been turned up 2 notches too high creating HF shrill at times.

Depends what you listen to. I like dark and deep. Now it sounds a bit too strained on HF. Not by much, but certainly enough for some to say I am turning it off.

For me I am going with it and enjoying the music stiĺl.

They need to make some subtlw adjustments on HF to get it right.

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