SuperUniti muting itself - various fixes haven't worked!

I’ve been having problems with my SuperUniti muting itself. It’s intermittent and happens both with UPnP and TV (digital input) which are the main sources I use.

It first happened last summer and my dealer (Grahams) had a good look but couldn’t find a fault. However, when it came back (with updated firmware) it stopped muting.

The problem re-started a few weeks ago. I saw that others on this forum have had the same problem so I tried a few things, as follows.

  1. I disabled the central Naim light. This helped for a time but then it all started again.
  2. I tried moving all remotes away from the streamer. This made no difference.
  3. I switched all lighting in the room off. This made no difference.

I wonder if the problem is heat-related as it seems to be a summer “thing”. That said, it was fine yesterday evening but muted overnight (when it should have been cooler).

The device is (inevitably) near some other internet-connected tech including a Humax PVR, Sony Smart Blu Ray, Now TV stick (all very close) and an Alexa device (2 metres away).

It could be from overheating, there is a thermal trip onboard - is the casework very hot when you touch it when it does this? Does it appear to switch off rather than just mute? Or is it still lit up and does the mute button illuminate?

Thanks Richard. It just mutes - equivalent to hitting the “mute” button on the remote. UPnP playback continues. My Naim light is disabled but the right hand display goes a little duller

Ah, ok, that sounds odd, almost like it’s tripping out but still getting some power from something through the source input. I wonder if there’s some sort of earthing issue at play with one of the sources. What exactly is connected up to the SuperUniti source-wise? What is the upnp source device?

Thanks Richard. UPnP is taken from a Qnap NAS (which was changed between last year’s problem and this year’s) via Devolo powerline (and a switch at both ends).

Other external sources are Blu Ray and TV.

OK thanks. Devolos and other ethernet over mains devices can do some really weird and horrid things to the mains (and are not recommended by Naim) so I would recommend changing them for something else ASAP, such as Apple AEs or even hard wired ethernet if possible.

Are the TV and Blu-ray connected optically to the Superuniti or some other way?

Could be a faulty logo/mute switch. I had a SuperUniti serviced recently and the factory changed the logo unit as , they said, some early ones can fail intermittently.

Best

David

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Thanks Richard and David. I was initially cyclical about Richard’s comments about powerline (as this is recommended in the SuperUniti manual). However, I pulled the ethernet cable and had no muting. I then enabled wifi and again no muting.

The fault is intermittent (of course!) so will continue to monitor. Not sure what to do medium-term as running a hard-wired ethernet isn’t really do-able… Perhaps a new logo unit is the way to go but I’m guessing it will be a few £100s.

This does reinforce a growing frustration that the streaming eco-system isn’t really “consumer” grade in terms of ease and reliability of operation and I rather wish I’d know this earlier (I also have a Uniqute which works perfectly - but is hard-wired). My wife HATES the complication :frowning:

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That’s probably a reference to the Naim Power-Line mains cable rather than a recommendation for over the mains networking products (Powerlines) which as already mentioned are awful devices.

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I don’t think the logo can be the problem if you can fix the issue by taking your powerline connection out. They aren’t logically connected to each other at all. I think doing the Ethernet connection is the way to go. You can run the cable outside you know.

I think changing the logo would normally be part of a fixed price service and not something you could get Naim to do on its own. A SuperUniti service is something like £330 plus VAT (or was a year ago).

Best

David

Yes, as James says, the Naim Powerline is a mains lead (a rather good one!), whereas Powerline Ethernet over Mains Adaptors are devilish things, and definitely not recommended by Naim.

Naim did in fact say in all the 1st gen. streamer manuals that so-called ethernet over mains devices could be used where a proper cable wasn’t possible, with the proviso that there may be some effect on sound quality. So the OP is not getting confused here.
Not that I’m saying they should be used. I recall a certain former doyen of Naim’s customer support service saying that the things were the bane of his (working) life.

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Not sure if SuperUniti is the same as 272, but I have this (intermittent) problem on 272 and solve it by using remote to access ‘spanner’ settings and disabling logo mute. This has worked for years, I never use the logo mute anyway, bit of a gimmick.

It is the same in that regard….

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Yes, back in the early days of streaming I recall getting issued with ethernet over mains adaptors to help with accessing the network. They seem like a great solution to many people’s needs where a hard wired network was just not feasible. Unfortunately it didn’t take too long before we discovered that they could cause all sorts of issues, and not just networking ones either.

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Perhaps Naim were a little slow to review the contents of their manuals, as even the 272 manual still contains the Ethernet over mains suggestion. I think they (you) would have learned that particular lesson well before the 272 was released.

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It would appear so. However, I guess they work (sort of), but probably only suitable as a last resort after you’ve tried all the other options.

You’re right Chris. The manual mentions that and the Power-Line mains cable.

OP here. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

I pulled the ethernet cable out and switched to WiFi. Inititally things seemed better which implied the widespread suspicion of the Devolos powerline adaptors was well-placed. But 20 mins ago it muted again without warning while watching T (optical input)…

I’m quite glad it wasn’t the Devolos as they’ve been very reliable with the SuperUniti plus my PVR and smart Blu Ray and hard-wiring would not be straightforward in my home. However it means I’m back to the drawing board.

Any other suggestions? The Naim logo has been permannenly muted for a while.

It could be a faulty logo/mute switch then. I’ll ask @NeilS if he has any other ideas here.