Quality issue

Agreed.

This is a given, resulting from design.
If people have “ problems” with this, they should decided upon demo. And / or choose class D amps instead.

Actually EI transformers are also largely immune to DC offset induced hum. So you can still do linear transformers if desired.

In fact, although toroids emit very little EMI compared to EI transformers, that only applies for optimum operating conditions. DC offset enough to make a toroid hum, quickly saturates their core and they’ll emit more EMI than their derided EI cousin. So toroids are great for optimum performance but worse if conditions are less than perfect.

I’d never assume that an EI transformer is inferior if done right. Doesn’t change the fact I’d never heard of a hummy Naim box until joining the forum though.

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I would be wary of Class D amps for true Hi-Fi, by design they are going to be on the back foot with timing and slew.

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Did you eard the latest D generations ?
I.e.: Primare i35 prisma ou NAD m33?
They’re good…
But I’m with you in terms of warmth of sound.
( or lack of).
Indeed, naim sound is more “fleshy”. And I do prefer the A/B class vs D

I have not had any problems with the NAIM HW products I have owned over the years. No issues there.

But the SW, that is another matter. The SW om my NDX2 seems to be better behaved now, after 2 updates. But requiring 2 updates to be “OK” is not what I expect from Naim.

And do not get me started on the stability and usability (and general level of quality) of the NAIM control app (for the NDX2) on Android! I am so very glad the actual music delivery by the NDX2 (once it’s doing what I want to get it to do) is so incredibility good. It has saved the NDX2 many a time from a trip down 15 floors (without stairs or elevator). I have said it before, and i will repeat it again: the NAIM control app on Android is the worst piece of SW I have ever allowed to live longer then a few test minutes on my android devices. The reason I keep it: it’s the only way you can get optimal performance out of the NDX2. All alternatives (Roon, UPnP, casting, …) either use a sub-optimal stack on the NDX2, or interject a presence (core, …) in the active data path.

Be aware this app is the way many (new) users communicate with their NAIM material. In a sense, to them, the app is NAIM. To me, that explains (a large part) of the negatives one hears about NAIM over the recent times.

Time to get the quality of the NAIM app on par with its Hifi quality!

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The easy answer is to get an iOS device. I control four Naim boxes with mine, including the multiroom, and it’s rock solid. People say ‘ooh, Apple is too expensive’ yet they don’t bat an eyelid spending over £5,000 on a streamer.

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HH, very true I alway used an Android device but several years ago I was having problems with my NDX and Core the dealer suggested I try a iPad.

Was a bit apprehensive at the time but he explained that you had a 14 day returns policy at the local Apple shop in Bath.

I reluctantly purchased one and set it up at home controlling my NDX this solved the problem.

I was so impressed with the iPadthat I did take them upon the returns offer and upgraded to the Pro model a week later.

Withinh three months my Window PC and my Samsung phone were replaced by an iMac and iPhone, like my ND555 bloody expensive but worth every penny.

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You are light motivated, litemotiv?

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Good one, I agree. This thread is all based on speculation and rumour. No company will ever publish ‘reliability’ data for their products. Even if they did, how could you possibly judge it as good, bad or indifferent? And how could you compare it with other brands offering devices with the same functionality at different price points?

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That may be a solution for the stability. But to me that sounds like: you’ve got a nice Ford, but you need a supercar to be able to ride on this road. That is a road design error, not a car selection error. I’d rather have the app SW development be done with as much knowledge on on Android (and care), as the HW/HiFi development on sound quality.

The usability issues of the control app (compared to the competition) are huge. I started making a list, but stopped after some 20 no-go failures. No filtering on the recent favorites (title, composer, genre, …) is just one of them. Feels like the quality that MS used in the 1980’s to release Windows (and I do realize what an insult that is :smiley: )

Or are you telling me that those usability issues are not present on the IOS version of the app? If that is the case, my statement on the SW development are way to kind :upside_down_face:.

I wonder: how do users of a NAIM streaming box, manage their music library. I have found the NAIM control app severely lacking. How do YOU cope?

KR,
Jan

Apostate! Heretic!

I use Roon now but found the Naim app worked fine for me. But then I play streamed music in the same way I play LPs.

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That’s because Naim prioritise sound quality above everything else they say. Probably they have to route the signal in a certain magic way to make it sound 100% and not 99% and that’s why you need to cope with some issues :wink: A dead channel here and there and some broken SW is what you sign up with if you buy Naim because : Sound first!

I’m a simple soul and find I can locate my albums quite happily. I use Asset’s new albums feature so I can get to know the new stuff, and everything is categorised into 16 genres. I decide what sort of music I want and can then sort by album or artist. Perhaps I’ve become inured to mediocrity, but it does what I need and I’m happy to roll with it.

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Every brand have’s faults. For me the importance is if it’s one in a million , or recorrent.

And when ocurred this , whats the behavior of the brand ( to resolve).

I personally think that Naim is on pair with Toyota (or better; Lexus in terms of prices).
It’s one of the best. But ( as I learn mechanic s with my father) everything is subject to failure.

Now statistically it’s easier to ear bad things , to praise. So the first spreads faster

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Why all the criticism of the Naim app? It is a control app, what do you want it to do, the washing up, and hoover the lounge? You open it, select your music, and hit go.

It works for 99.9% of the people 99.9% of the time. OK I made those percentages up, but you get my drift?

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Of course we all want to know whether the problems are rare or common, but without reliable data this cannot be proved. Reported faults on a forum like this have no statistical significance at all. Without actual data ‘reliability’ can’t be measured. All we have here are feelings or impressions of a few individuals and a few reporting their own experience of a particular product. These cannot be the basis for drawing general conclusions.
Based on my personal experience of owning many Naim products over more than 30 years without a single malfunction, I would conclude they are highly reliable and I would not hesitate in recommending them to other. However I may have just been lucky, rather than typical?

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Just the fact that the brand ensures the maintenance of all the products it has built since the beginning, is already a guarantee of quality of service after sale.

For me this is almost unique in the hifi universe.
And since i never had problems (neither my friends that had some type of equipment) with the brand…

I will continue to buy and recommend (Naim)

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It’s not just a control app but a music browsing/search interface for the streaming platforms too, and it could be much better at this. It could also do the basics in a slicker way that matches Naim’s refinement in other places. It could offer better configuration options. It could also stop being such a bad ambassador of the Naim brand, looking at the feedback in the Google Play store makes you cry (and doubt the 99,9% number)