Its massively different to the last one on my machine, For the better mind. Maybe having the amp in makes a difference?
"having the amp in " What does it mean.
I agree with you that the bass is better controlled and better mids and highs, but it makes the sound colder. My reference for this is Alice in Chains MTV unplugged. The live atmosphere is a little bit reduced, otherwise now there is more drive in the sound and “faster”.
It would be interesting to hear opinion from people who have subwoofers. I think this update should work very well if subwoofer is installed. Very detailed mids and highs + deep and fast punch from subwoofer.
I completely agree.
I never had the chance to listen to more expensive Naim equipment. But do more expensive Naim systems have “warmer” or “colder” sound in general?
Maybe this “colder” sound is more similar to other Naim gear. Maybe Naim takes more expensive gear as reference point and tries to make sound quality as much as possible similar to it.
They are not just streamers they are an all in one so perhaps any tweaks are more susceptible to change as it effects the amp side as well.
I definitely don’t find it colder in my system and as I have said no reduction in bass in fact quite the opposite. The update last year was noted for removing quite a lot of bass and midrange in favour of the high range. This seems a return to how the machine originally sounded when I bought it 18 months ago.
In my opinion the improvement of the sound has come from the last version update
- I hear quiet sounds that I have not noticed before
- The extended frequency response increases space and reverberation.
- Increased dynamics and resolution of sound without distortion, even at high volume levels.
- Each sound is better defined
- Response to impulses is faster
- The bass is weaker but faster, the sound is more “live”.
We should have already developed a common understanding of how the SQ has changed. It’s quite interesting.
You can on the nd555, so i would say you can with the ndx2.
As a Star owner, I didn’t want to read that
So as I expected, SQ changed after two days (starting from 3.2 update installation).
Bass came back, a little bit to boomy side, as it was before the update. Mids and Highs are much quieter, as it was before.
So in my case update didn’t change the sound at all. It was just temporary deviation from sound quality and (as always) the sound came back after several days.
And yes, I‘m sure, from time to time SQ will become different (as it was immediately after 3.2 update installation) for unknown reason. And it will change again for unknown reason. I’m experiencing this year and a half.
80 percent of time, SQ is boomy and warm. And 20 percent of time it is bright and cold with a lot of detail.
Mystery continues…
I’m really quite nervous about this update. I had an Atom and struggled with the variable sound quality and ultimately changed it for a Nova which I’ve had for 5 months now. I’ve spent that time fine tuning, upgrading the power block and speaker cables, moving Roon to a NUC, splitting my Wi-fi channels so streaming is all alone on 5GHz, fixing room reflections and playing with the speaker positioning.
I almost pressed the install button this evening but I was having such a sublime listen experience I didn’t dare. If it turned out to be worse and there is no going back I’d be furious.
I am watching this thread carefully and appreciate those that are blazing a trail - it shouldn’t be like this but it is and we live with it for the times when everything is on song.
Looking forward to more opinions although the mixed feedback thus far shows just how variable it all is and how ultimately, I know I’m just going to have to try it myself.
I understand you very well. Actually wi-fi network was the worst thing concerning SQ fluctuations. No matter it is 2.4 or 5Ghz. From my own experience I would strongly recommend you to use wired connection with high quality Ethernet cable. And what is more important – not to do conclusions immediately. Leave the cable for several days or week and only then compare the differences with wi-fi.
I think the general consensus is positive regarding SQ, there would have already been an angry mob on here.
Saying that, I agree with you that if your happy with what you’ve got, there’s no reason to rush, let other people’s experiences guide the way
Thanks, I have tried hard wire and generally it doesn’t appear to make any difference. Right now I am enjoying the best sound I have managed to extract and with the Nova, it seems much more consistent. When it does drift off, it’s by smaller and smaller margins and that’s why I’m reluctant to change. Maybe I’ll wait until it drastically goes off and then do the upgrade.
Is there anything in there for the Super Uniti of is it only for new streamers?
New Uniti streamers only, the older ones I suspect are unlikely to see much in the way of firmware updates in the future, or at least unlikely to see new features added.
For what it’s worth, my Atom is sounding as good now as it ever did. While that is, I’m sure, partly down to a change of speaker cable, it certainly sounds consistently engaging and musical. In the past, I have thought of it as often sounding a bit dull at times, and very much a source of background music compared to my main, NDX based system, but recently, I have really been enjoying it.
I’ll be updating the Nova later today. I tend to run with the notion that Naim are the experts and know what they are doing, so I trust an upgrade to be worth it.