I have noticed when I have ripped CDs on my Core, that the whole machine vibrates, sometimes very strongly when reading CDs. I know the Core checks on Exact Audio Copy for any errors and auto corrects them, but I can’t help feeling that the vibration can’t be good for ‘business’. Even when an album has been ripped, my SSD is very close in proximity to a lot of digital gubbins inside the Core. So it made me wonder if it is worth adopting the principle of a ‘quiet room’ for the HDD or SSD that Naim use in the 500 series and above, for DACs, Clocks, etc. As it is possible to buy a 30cm SATA 3 extension cable very cheaply, would it be beneficial to add an ‘internal’ drive externally, on the end of an extension cable but mounted in such a way that it is better protected from noise, vibration etc?
Does it do it on all discs, or just difficult discs with errors? Mine can rattle a bit with discs with lots of tracks such as compilations, or errors. Perhaps a trip to your dealer to make sure all is OK.
I would get the Core checked out by your dealer. My Unitiserve whirrs away gently while ripping, and I would question any drive that vibrated the whole thing.
My core vibrated badly on some CDs too…I must admit I wasn’t impressed with that when I first got it …and found that sticking some blue tack behind the front panel and the first “fin” helped a lot
When it eventually went back to the dealer it turned out the front panel …which seems to be glued to the case…was not glued properly
It happens to some extent when ripping all cds, but it is very noticeable with particular ones. If I put my fingertips on any part of the case, it is easy to feel when ripping any cd, but on the difficult ones it is highly audible. My dealer is supposed to be getting an RMA for it. Is it normal to have to wait a couple of weeks for this authorisation?
Two weeks doesn’t sound unrealistic when the product isn’t actually “broken”
Let’s hope it is sorted out swiftly…no CD is perfect…and some a lot worse than others…I remember some company used to sell an expensive CD lathe for trimming the CDs outer edge so that it ran true…was supposed to improve the sound quality as well
Just checked …it is a company called audio desk and it’s still for sale…
The HDD, being mechanical, may be at risk of write errors if the vibration really is excessive, though that should be detected by the control software if it is set to confirm writes (but no idea if that is the case in the Core’s software). An SSD should itself be immune (unless it has a fault like a dry joint).
Of course, the CD itself could have read errors if vibration is excessive, while physical connectors (plugs),anywhere is the unit could play up.
If pnly some disks it seems likely that the disks themselves may be at fault, maybe slightly eccentric, or incorrectly sized hole, or an unbalanced label (e.g. a semicircular not circular label). The higher the speed of spinning for the rip, the worse would be the effect, so even if negligible at normal play speeds, vibration may be much higher when ripping at anything above 1x speed. (I don’t know the Core’s ripping speed, but it is normal to rip at much higher read speeds than normal CD play.)
I don’t know the cores rip speed either…but mine will rip a 20 min CD (assuming there is no issues with it ) in about 4 mins …so I’m guessing a 5X rip speed
So the disk is probably spinning at a good bit faster (5X ?) than normal
I suppose this is bound to cause more vibration than regular speed
20 min CD? I don’t think I’ve ever come across one as short as that!
Most HDD’s are constantly checking for errors. Most make errors when no vibration is present and it’s fixed with Error Correcting Codes. Used Reed Soloman back in the day. Native error rates of read and write used to be one in ten to the eighth, which at these bit rates is horrible. The ECC code used to push that to one in ten to the 15th or 16th. This was a decade ago, before I retired.
My experience with HDD’s made me switch to SSD’s when they got reasonable. I have about 10 SSD’s in various computers, and no HDD’s. HDD’s are amazing devices mechanically and electronically and software wise.
I think this is completely normal and is nothing to worry about, especially if you have an SSD in there.
Best
David
You obviously don’t listen to the punk albums I do 
My Dealer arranged for the Core to go back to Naim under warranty. They replaced the main motherboard and the drive itself, so it’s now a virtually new machine. There must, therefore, have been some issues. However, it’s all fixed now, thankfully.
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