I am considering purchasing a Uniti Core to run alongside my Nova. I have ripped all my CD’s (1000 plus) via a Mac to ALAC (Apple Lossless) and they sit on a hard drive. I don’t think I could face re ripping all my CD’s again.
Would I be able to import my ALAC files into FLAC on the Uniti Core?
If yes, would the metadata (Artist, Title, Track details) be retained?
Are you able to create playlists (not a show stopper)?
Are you able to back up in anyway once done i.e. connect an external USB SSD that the Uniti Core will perform back up’s to?
The Core can handle ALAC, so there is no need to convert to FLAC.
Metadata should be accessible in either format. The Core does have the ability to display only a very limited range of metadata fields.
You can create playlists on the Naim app.
Wouldn’t buy one myself, especially as you don’t need it as a CD ripper, but it will work.
Answering the backup question. Yes you can back up to a USB hard disc and you can schedule a backup to a NAS for example. These backups are differential, by which I mean they only back up the changed items each time, so it’s quick.
Personally I keep two USB hard disc back ups in different places outside the actual house.
Save yourself over £2000 by getting a NAS or RPI and running Asset uPNP server.
Innuos now embed this server in their products.
The software on the Core is very poor. We own one but only use for ripping. As said above the Core only manages a very small subset of available tags, and there are frequent problems with metadata retrieval.
You can already rip, and there are great free tag management packages out there. You really don’t need a Core.