Shrinkflation then. That explains the Lite also a bit better.
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I think Star Lite is actually better than any of those, showing a bit of wit. OK I know Iâm easily pleased.
Roger
I think with Powerline Lite and Fraim Lite the wit is purely accidental.
.sjb
It seems that the Uniti prices are going through a fluid phase right now. The Atoms will also increase from âŹ2599 to âŹ2999 from September 1st.
Strange price trajectory for the Unitis which had been steadily increasing up to Aug 2023, before dropping to their current prices, and now increasing again.
And also pretty impressive for a digital streaming series of products to be still current 9 years after launch. Says something about the power of the streaming card.
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It also says something about the Naim software development team. Integration of streaming services, keeping dependencies up-to-date, the new internet radio aggregation service etc. Not an easy task at all.
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Not sure of your point. The Star (old one with CD drive) required attachment of a USB stick, USB hard drive or insertion of an SD card to rip CDs. What changes?
Not really. Innuos Stream can rip to WAV too. Vendors offer this to cater for those who have a preference or believe one format sounds superior.
What is odd is the way naim products store metadata and edits in parallel JSON files, meaning data is lost when raw files are copied off the naim device for use on another device, or the USB device is attached elsewhere.
We use our NAS for various things, audio storage being one of them.
SWMBO uses the Core to rip CDs, as she is non technically minded. She was persuaded to buy a Core for âeasy rippingâ, a revenue stream naim have now closed.
As for functionality which is not needed, I guess naim agree with you. Until recently they offered the Core and Star to rip CDs, but now offer nothing.
USB to S/PDIF is one way ahead here with naim devices.
We use an SMSL PO100 Pro, a few years old now. There are likely refreshed models available from SMSL and others.
It also offers toslink output, so no need for a fancy digital cable for gaming use. You could just use optical instead of S/PDIF.
Connects our PS5 to nDAC.
The Nova which replaced a faulty few month old Atom (Nova had not been released when I got that) was planned for a second room. My main system had been in storage so the Nova was intended as a temporary streaming amp solution.
Was planning on an NDX2 and did a few A/B demos in the main system but as early firmwares improved I was surprised how good the Nova sounded compared to NDX 2 (clearly better) at one stage so stuck with the Nova as I felt I would have needed a PSU for the Nova at additional cost to get a significant sound improvement for me.
Sometimes with hi-fi things work or are acceptable enough to continue/wait for other options to appear.
Appreciate the nDAC was excellent, sourcing one might be tricky.
Nova looks smart though I donât need the display on it to be honest. Nearly got an ND5 XS2 from older stock a few months ago but then they sold out unexpectedly for me, though last several months have been busy due to a variety of family matters which have taken priority.
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We use the Pro version. Slightly different casing.
Cannot remember why, youâd have to compare specs. We might just have gotten a deal.
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The name makes sense. The Naim Uniti Star weighs 10.5 kg (23.1 lbs), while the Uniti Star Lite weighs 9.5 kg (20.9 lbs).
I always thought there were recurring problems with the ripping software, the drive, and interference from the display, which caused errors during the ripping process. Wasnât that why it was eventually decided to switch off the display while ripping? I can see that the fact that the drivers are no longer available brought opportunity to ged rid of the problemâŚ
Yes, as previously posted on here, it was discovered that a certain setting of the display could cause the error - eventually fixed in FW a while back, and unrelated to the eventual need to drop the internal CD drive.
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Uncharacteristically ungenerous thought? But who knows for sure? Perhaps itâs my wordplay infested mind over-working.
However when names rather than numbers came in, someone at Naim must have initially thought of the Atom, Star, Nova sequence and they or a successor might still be working there.
Roger
I suppose itâs just as well that the Naim Feather was disregarded early on in the process then.
.sjb
I donât know. The Star Fetherlite could be a big seller.
So itâs a scottish star, as you wrote fether
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A competitior of the Star lite received a bad review in Whathifi. Not common for them.
Cambridge Evo 300 streaming amplifer :
â-
Bland dynamics
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Lacklustre sense of drive
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Not as clear or detailed as main rivalâ
You never know with Naim just by looking at specs. I bought my Uniti Star after A/Bâing it w/the Nova. the Nova sound had a bit more depth, but seemed to lack a high end. It was Iike the string section left on a break. I liked having the CD player, and have consistently used it at least once or twice a yearâŚ.
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Very good FR, but the correct spelling would be faither.
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