Almost, but more to decouple a digital audio source from a multi-use computer with attendant noise pollution. Also, ease of use and excellent sound quality. Effectively a dedicated `CD player without needing to insert CDs to play them. But the market has transitioned to hi-res online streaming now as the dominant digital source, although that won’t quite match a good local streaming set-up.
Yes, I remember Roy George telling me many years ago at the advent of computer audio that having your typical personal computer anywhere near a hifi system, let alone connected to it, was the last thing you would want.
That stuck with me, and these days I even power down and disconnect anything digital (including my Core) when I want to listen to vinyl or analogue reel in the main system. Whether it makes a profound difference, I don’t really know for sure, but it certainly seems to help a little bit.
Oh yes, and if I plug in one of MacBooks in the music room, it definitely impacts my vinyl listening adversely. Not quite as much as plugging the laptop in through a surge protector which made the entire hifi system unlistenable, but noticeable all the same.
A £600 Mac mini M4 solely running Audirvāna on the network.
Ticks all those boxes.
To be honest I think that focusing on cd rip is focusing only on one part of the story. Why not considering the possibility to buy and store hi res files?
It amazes me how many people on this forum dislike something they’ve NEVER owned or HEARD!! Honestly, if you don’t own one, no one cares what you think!!
As for Rovi, MusicBrainz etc its FREE!! and these services update their catalogues every couple of months anyway… Naim could use a paid prescription based Metadata service, but I guarantee people would moan about that too!
Perhaps because they are plug-n-play hifi specific devices not requiring sometimes fiddly setup. (Or at least that is what they purport to be!)
Possibly also with a proportion of hifi people, especially those with expensive systems, the term “reassuringly expensive” might apply, making them feel they have a much better product.
Agree. System is much better without computers anywhere near. Mine is upstairs and linked by upnp over the (optimised) network.
It’s still using a computer rather than a dedicated music server. I used to use a Mac and uPnP set up and I’ve found the Core way better - better ripping, better UI and better sound quality. It just does what it’s designed to do with no fuss and has excellent audio quality for both ripping and downloads. It’s a pity is being discontinued.
I wonder if there is any reason why it looks like a laboratory hotplate?
Not noticed before, but I’m not xire I’ve seen a pic from that angle before now.
Audirvāna user for 13 years for all those reasons.
I purchased a Core very recently, so somewhat annoying they have now stopped making them… but as being someone that spends their day working in the tech sector, the last thing I wanted in my own relaxation time, was to spend even more time in front of a computer messing around ripping CD’s etc, I just wanted to be able to switch off from techie stuff with something of utter simplicity.
The Core rip’s as needed, when serving files it sits there silent, so it does what I wanted it to do, and in my view, as long as a rip finishes reporting 100% and zero errors, I have that comfortable feeling that if Naim are happy this means it’s a good enough representation of the original CD, then that’s surely good enough for me…
This!
Similarly, I work in tech and I absolutely don’t want to mess with it when I’m off the clock. When you are up to your neck in it all day, you don’t want it obviously in your living spaces. Although I don’t use a core but rip manually to a NAS, I am also always conscious of the fact there are 3 other members of the household who have no idea how the music makes it’s way to their rooms and I’m to blame for that. If I fall into a sinkhole, there is no chance they will figure it out. Devices, like the Core, are worth every penny for solving that problem alone.
The only reason I held back from getting such a device is I stash all that stuff in a dedicated 21U rack in a machine room. If Naim had made rack mount ears for the Core and a 1U height, I might have bought one. I hold out hope for something similar in the CI range.
I love my Core. I ripped all my CDs ages ago but still buy/find the odd one and get given them. Occasionally have to muck around with metadata (especially as I have a habit of finding CDs which are not on the databases) but really not an issue.
Don’t be annoyed, be pleased you got it before they stopped!
I can actually see the appeal of this as a plug it in and not worry device.
It is very overpriced though for what it does…… (nice case an all that I know).
I have a 2024 new Mac Mini M4 that cost me £500 (education discount), Audirvāna (and a NAS, but that’s optional) that does the same thing really pretty neatly as well. DbPowerRip, copy it to the music folder, Audirvāna synchronises it, and you are done….
I’ve had my Core for about 18 months now. It replaced a Cocktail Audio X45, whose parent company, the Korean company Novatron, discontinued its web interface in favor of an app that did not work.
My first step was to feed the Core my backup from the X45, which yielded mixed results. The Core’s software recognized maybe half of the artist names, but practically all the album titles. So searching for a specific recording is an adventure.
The sound, however, betters the X45 exponentially. Truly detailed, realistic music, regardless of genre and whether hi-rez PCM or DSD (all in WAV format). Happy with the unit until I discover an upgrade in a few years.
I am sure this was from the horse’s mouth, but it is odd that NaimAudio.com still lists the Uniti Core as current.
Any chance this was an ‘idea’ and not a ‘done deal’?
Unfortunately the content on the Naim website is of varying quality, and it is slow to react to changes. After the big update last April changes to errors are still awaited.
The Core has only just been discontinued, but there are still units available to buy. As long as Cores are still available with dealers then Naim will keep it on the website.