I don’t think I quite get it yet; it’s a ‘Lite’ model, but it does have a DIN analog input…What would I want to connect to that which is currently available from Naim?
There’s something else I don’t fully understand. There are countless beautiful, great-sounding headphones—even when connected wirelessly.
Why does Naim ignore this market trend by not integrating a Bluetooth transmitter? … As far as I’m concerned, sound quality isn’t a valid argument, given the audio I get wirelessly on my B&W headphones from my MIIO player…
It’s not just for items of current Naim kit (a phono stage perhaps, but how many will be connecting up an ND333 or ND555? But I guess that’s always possible as a step in the upgrade path), although if you have a legacy Naim CD player or Naim tuner then you could connect it to your Unit Star Lite via that very DIN input. Or you could just use it for connecting any other piece of analogue kit, even those with RCA Phonos, via an RCA Phono to DIN interconnect that Naim can supply via your Naim dealer. After all, Naim still feel that DIN is a superior sounding connector to RCA Phono, even when only used at one end of the connection chain.
Hi HH - no I ripped all the cds from my Star (and Core) to FLAC. It’s a right mess, some are fine but others are mangled - and album art is hit or miss. Music databases are not a new thing so it’s really surprising that Naim haven’t got a standardised system by now. Maybe it’s because the hardware is over 10 years old which is the stone age in processor terms but I suspect there’s more to it than that. As you said Naim no longer make or support the Star or Core so there’s no incentive for them to spend time and money developing and modernising the software for a shrinking userbase.
But in which case why are Eversolo now marketing a very slick new version of their A8 streamer-preamp with a top loading CD player which can rip CDs and create a music store with all information and album art. Different market I guess but from what I can see of the user interface it looks a generation ahead of Naim. I don’t intend to change my Atom HE any time soon but the clunky software still bugs me!
I had one as a loan car while my Golf was being fixed a couple of years ago, I hardly noticed any difference driving apart from the smaller boot space.
I copied it onto an external SSD attached to the rear USB port then access it using the server setting on the app. Which means I can also access it from the standard Atom in my second system. It works but as I said some of the albums don’t have proper data or art. The Star Lite does have the legacy SD card slot but not having the ability to save to it (like the Star) would surely limit its usefulness and as I found upgrading to the Nova, you can’t simply move them across because the music store is locked to the machine which created it! (There is a workaround hence the external SSD)
What the UK market is telling us
The latest BPI data shows that UK CD unit sales fell from 10.8 million in 2023 to 10.5 million in 2024, a much smaller decline than the double-digit falls seen earlier in the decade. �
Then something important happened in 2025: CD revenue increased 3.1% to £99.6m, the format’s best revenue performance since 2021. BPI says the biggest CD sellers were predominantly new/current albums, rather than old catalogue titles. �
So I’d characterise the market as:
Not a mass-market revival — but a potentially healthy niche market.
There appear to be two particularly valuable groups:
Older music fans
People who already own CD players and have large collections.
They are particularly interested in catalogue, nostalgia and replacing/upgrading albums.
BPI research has previously found the average UK CD buyer was considerably older than the average free-streaming consumer. �
Younger dedicated music fans This is the more interesting development. Current artists are selling substantial numbers of CDs. In 2025, for example, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl sold about 227,000 CDs in the UK. Other major CD sellers included Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims. �
That’s significant because it suggests CDs aren’t only being bought by people who grew up with them.
Rock is particularly interesting: it accounted for 36% of UK album consumption in 2025, its strongest position in years. �
And there’s a substantial independent market: 33% of CDs sold in the UK in 2025 were independent releases. �
The overall UK physical music market grew for the third consecutive year in 2025, reaching £278m. Vinyl accounted for most of the growth, but CD revenue itself also increased. �
And BPI reports that 34 of the 43 UK No.1 albums in 2025 achieved their first week at No.1 with a majority of physical sales. �
Marantz manufacturer eight CD players.
“The reference-standard SACD 10 is crafted to be the very best using a fully Marantz designed SACDM-3 transport mechanism for maximum rejection of resonance.”
If they go to all this trouble they must think there is a market for CD players.
Yes, agree. Rega Saturn III is a Little Gem, that I don’t want to lose from my system. Playing a cd is somehow strangely satisfying. Just like playing an LP.
Only issue is that some of my 30+ year old CDs are deteriorating and are becoming unplayable (The best of Joe Cocker for example).
many owners would have some other Naim source on their shelf.