Roon Ready - Naim Uniti Nova PE. Why not Naim Uniti Core?

[Echolane]

I am a Roonie half the time. The rest of the time I’m using my Naim Uniti Core. Today I got a Newsletter from Roon that included a list of the latest hardware that was certified Roon Ready. It listed the Naim Uniti Nova PE. But not my Naim Uniti Core, darn it.

I turned to Roon because the Uniti Core didn’t give me access to Qobuz or Tidal as Roon does. Nor does it allow me to connect with internet radio. Had the Uniti Core been Roon ready it would have saved me the expense of a Roon Nucleus and a second hard drive!

What does it take to get hardware certified as Roon Ready?

Is there any chance that the Naim Uniti Core could be certified Roon Ready? Why does Naim not seem interested to upgrade its capabilities?

[Innocent_Bystander]

My understanding is that the Core was designed as a music store, in effect a specialised music NAS, most commonly serving its stored music files across a network to a streamer, the streamer normally also providing an option to access online streaming services if desired. Whilst the Core also has the benefit of an internal renderer that can be used feed a DAC direct, avoiding the need to play music across a network and freeing up choice of DAC if a streamer with its extra services is not needed, I think that is intended for playing only the internally stored collection.

To enable the Core to run Roon would, I imagine, require an awful lot more processing power and RAM than it has built into it given its design use.

[Mike_S]

The Core is a music server, not a streamer. You can access it through a Roon ready streamer, just like any other music server.

[davidhendon]

@Innocent_Bystander

I think that is intended for playing only the internally stored collection.

Actually that isn’t quite correct, as the Core is also designed to play from any local storage. So you can keep your music on NASs and USB HDs in addition to or instead of the internal HDD. And you can choose where of all of those to rip.

@Mike_S

The Core is a music server, not a streamer. You can access it through a Roon ready streamer, just like any other music server.

This is completely correct though and is what Naim said to me when I asked that same question soon after the Core’s first release.

@Innocent_Bystander

To enable the Core to run Roon would, I imagine, require an awful lot more processing power and RAM than it has built into it given its design use.

I believe the Core does have the processing power needed for Roon actually, although I don’t know about the installed RAM.

[glos_olly]

You can, but to run Roon you need Roon Core installed somewhere on your network and ironically a Uniti Core can’t be that place. Makes no sense to me when all Naim’s streamers are Roon ready.

Still it lead me to discover Antipodes when I decided the risk of HDD failure on my UnitiServe was getting too high, so not all bad.