Hi - I have had my Unitistar for a year and am enjoying it immensely but have struck an issue which I can’t resolve.
I have ripped all my CDs (400) to a hard drive plugged into the rear USB port. I can access this from my iPhone and play all albums. However I can’t do so with the unitistar remote.
All advice is to navigate to the USB icon which I have done - it should offer rear or front USB options but doesn’t. I’ve tried the HDD in front and back USB ports but no joy. I’ve checked your forum but can’t find a resolution there.
Although happy to play stored music via the naim app on my iPhone, if I’m away from home the remote is the only option for others.
I’m not a techie sort but have been able to work my way through the setup, playing and ripping CDs, streaming, playing my collection of LPs, playing TV through the unitistar and speakers. I have a working understanding of the technology but have been unable to crack this one.
A step by step troubleshooting guide would be very helpful. Can you help?
Hi Don, my guess is that this problem is related to the fact that the Star has a dedicated ‘music store’ folder where it puts CD rips, and it treats this folder slightly differently to others. So if you remove that drive and stick it in a different USB port, it gets confused.
I would suggest that you copy the music to another USB drive. Just connect them both to a computer and use it to copy them, just like any other files you would move on a computer.
If my theory is correct, the copies should play from either USB port. (Perhaps you already have copies you could try? You should at least have a backup or two.)
I don’t have a Star, but Naim say that about all their streamers, yet it’s possible to browse the USB input via the remote. If they said that you couldn’t browse them by tag view via the server input that would be correct, but folder view via the remote works fine on my streamers, so I’m guessing the Star is no different.
If this is the Music Store of the OP’s Star, then it may behave differently than a USB stick in an NDX2.
Don’t forget that for no obvious reason except that Naim designed it this way, it’s not possible to use a Star’s Music Store on a USB drive in anything except the original Star. You can’t plug it into a Nova and expect to be able to play the music, for example.
Yes, I understand that the Star music store is different to other music folders, that was the point of my original post, and why I suggested that he should try a copy of it instead.
I would be surprised if the Star was incapable of playing from folders which are not its own designated music stores, but I don’t have one to test that.
Hi and many thanks for all responses. The USB Storage is a formatted 2Tb unit. It seems odd that Naim would provide a remote that allow you to rip and store CDs to a HDD but doesn’t let you play from it. In the set up instructions it does mention playing from such a store.
Using remote when I go to “available audio inputs”, USB is an option, when I press that the msg is “There are no connected USB devices”. So I assume this means there can be USB devices operable from the remote, otherwise why is it there?
On another issue - does each unitistar have a unique number - how do you find it? Initial setup was done by supplier.
Update - Hi again - copied the external drive as recommended, useful to have a backup. However same problem - won’t play using the Unitistar remote. However (early one morning vexing away) found I can access the naim unitistar app, and contents of the external drive, via Apple TV using my LG tv remote. It’s a lot more clunky to use but it does work. So my issue sorted but still unresolved insofar as using the actual unitistar remote for this purpose. As someone suggested it may just be the way naim has set it up and wants it.
Cheers
The serial number is unique and it’s on the back of the unit. You can also find it in the Naim app under Settings-About-Serial Number. The serial number is included in the network name of the unit, unless that name has been altered during setup or subsequently.
The second of your two images is correct. There is a USB icon in the display, and if you navigate to it using the remote you will be able to browse the files and play them. At least, that is the case with my Atom and NDX2, so it seems reasonable to assume that it’s possible on a Star. Perhaps for some odd reason associated with the Star using the USB port for its own music store it’s different, and this doesn’t work. It might help is another Star user could test this.
Well that is interesting - I could have sworn when I tried this on my Nova ages ago (I"ve had it since release after an Atom failed) that it didn’t work. Will try again as unless a firmware update has enabled this at some stage I’m puzzled.
Well, there’s a surprise - stuck a 512GB Sandisk Ultra Fit Flash drive with audio files on it into the front USB of the Nova and could browse by genre and play audio. I’m virtually certain this never worked when I first had the Nova!
The USB device is smaller than my thumbnail - incredible the capacity we can get from tiny solid state devices these days.
