Naim Audio Uniti Atom Headphone Edition

[Daniel Johnston]

I am getting the Subtonic STORM in a couple of weeks, they are absurdly hard to drive. Hoping that there will be no buz…

The impedance of the Subtonic (6.1) and the output impedance of the Naim (4.7) are fairly close. The ZR1 are 40ohm. The sensitivity of both IEMs is the same (103db/Vrms).

I've not used one before, but maybe the iFi IEMatch might be needed.

I know the Naim is way overkill for IEMs, but it such an excellent Roon endpoint and streamer. None of my DAPs can match the stability and ease of use.

 

[NYanakiev]

Yeap. I ordered the ifi to see if it makes a difference. No such thing as overkill, I have friends who use speaker amps to drive iems.

The difference is massive with hard to drive iems. One thing I learned is that it gets loud doesn't equal it sounds as best as it gets.

I am a bit conflicted about the Naim, it is good but I don't think it beats my Hugo 2 and 2Go.

EDIT: comparing the 2 side by side. The Atom sounds better with the Utopia 2022.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Yeap. I ordered the ifi to see if it makes a difference. No such thing as overkill, I have friends who use speaker amps to drive iems.

The difference is massive with hard to drive iems. One thing I learned is that it gets loud doesn't equal it sounds as best as it gets.

I am a bit conflicted about the Naim, it is good but I don't think it beats my Hugo 2 and 2Go.

EDIT: comparing the 2 side by side. The Atom sounds better with the Utopia 2022.

I found the Naim better overall as well than Hugo 2/2go. Add in the non buggy streaming features of the Naim and you have a winner.

 

[NYanakiev]

Not getting any bugs with the Chord duo.
Luckily, using the Fiio iematch has sorted out the buzzing I have been getting with iems.

Seems like the Atom is a keeper.

 

[supermj]

I'm using IEM's on my Atom HE while my Focal Utopias are away for repair, sounds great.

 

[iamoneagain]

Funny thing is the Naim HE did take me some time to warm up to it. Coming from Chord, it’s all about details and layering. The Naim was more about the weight, rhythm and texture of music. And think Chord can end up sounding better on short listening. But on extended listening sessions, it felt like I was more drawn in and immersed in the music than I was with Chord.

Even with headphones it was about finding the right balance between technical and musical. I thought the Expanse was technically better than the Utopia but after some time, realized the Utopia was more musical. I now have the Caldera and they pair wonderfully with the Naim HE and are just as musical as the Utopia, just a slightly different presentation.

Still curious what hooking a separate headphone amp to the Naim would do to my performance. The Caldera are said to work better with solid state and do sound great already. So not sure makes any sense to complicate my setup and spend more money for very little gain.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Funny thing is the Naim HE did take me some time to warm up to it. Coming from Chord, it’s all about details and layering. The Naim was more about the weight, rhythm and texture of music. And think Chord can end up sounding better on short listening. But on extended listening sessions, it felt like I was more drawn in and immersed in the music than I was with Chord.

Even with headphones it was about finding the right balance between technical and musical. I thought the Expanse was technically better than the Utopia but after some time, realized the Utopia was more musical. I now have the Caldera and they pair wonderfully with the Naim HE and are just as musical as the Utopia, just a slightly different presentation.

Still curious what hooking a separate headphone amp to the Naim would do to my performance. The Caldera are said to work better with solid state and do sound great already. So not sure makes any sense to complicate my setup and spend more money for very little gain.

I briefly used the Naim as a preamp to the Folkvanger and Woo WA8. My concern would be the line out voltage overdriving the headphone amp. I don't think you are technically double amping, but having two volume controls in the mix doesn't make things simple.

 

[Toonartist]

Funny thing is the Naim HE did take me some time to warm up to it. Coming from Chord, it’s all about details and layering. The Naim was more about the weight, rhythm and texture of music. And think Chord can end up sounding better on short listening. But on extended listening sessions, it felt like I was more drawn in and immersed in the music than I was with Chord.

Even with headphones it was about finding the right balance between technical and musical. I thought the Expanse was technically better than the Utopia but after some time, realized the Utopia was more musical. I now have the Caldera and they pair wonderfully with the Naim HE and are just as musical as the Utopia, just a slightly different presentation.

Still curious what hooking a separate headphone amp to the Naim would do to my performance. The Caldera are said to work better with solid state and do sound great already. So not sure makes any sense to complicate my setup and spend more money for very little gain.

The only way to know would be to try… ideally at a local dealers so no money is lost.

Personally I always wanted to try Tubes and i’m glad I did. The Atom HE acts as a great Pre into the Nirvana. I just set the Nirvana to 10pm on the vol dial, fairly low, and use the remote with the HE to suit listening requirements. About 45 for the Elites.

I agree 100% with Chord vs Naim. I was wowed by the weight and layering. Slightly less detail but a lot less fatiguing for long listening sessions!

I do know a few who use Tubes with the Caldera so they will go together well!

 

[iamoneagain]

The only way to know would be to try… ideally at a local dealers so no money is lost.

Personally I always wanted to try Tubes and i’m glad I did. The Atom HE acts as a great Pre into the Nirvana. I just set the Nirvana to 10pm on the vol dial, fairly low, and use the remote with the HE to suit listening requirements. About 45 for the Elites.

I agree 100% with Chord vs Naim. I was wowed by the weight and layering. Slightly less detail but a lot less fatiguing for long listening sessions!

I do know a few who use Tubes with the Caldera so they will go together well!

The crazy thing is I don’t think there are any good dealers within San Diego. Have to drive up to LA. I was even surprised there was no way to try the Expanse locally when they are actually made here.

I’ll probably just wait for SoCal CanJam and do some comparisons there. I know the Naim HE will be setup in the Focal station and I can just bring my Caldera with me. I can then test them on different setups and see if I’m wowed by anything.

I did that with the Expanse and was shocked they sounded better on the Naim HE than the $30k DCS Lina stack. Best I heard was the Woo Luna 22 tube amp. Would imagine that pairs well with Caldera but not spending $9k on an amp.

The other thing to consider is I mostly listen to 80’s and newer alternative music, so how much better setup do I really need. If it’s already fun and resolving, think that might be good enough.

 

[Toonartist]

Maybe looking at a small tube amp that doesn't cost the earth but gives you a different flavour to the HE which I think is excellent for most genres... something like an Icon HP8 or the new Cayin HA-3A which is receiving great reviews at the moment... some of them are using the Caldera with it as well. The maxed out HP8 (in terms of upgrades) and the HA-3A are both about £1500 or less. Maybe reach out to some other Caldera owners to see who has what and what it offers over SS.

Edit... forgot to say. I've had a demo of the HP8 and it has similar tone to the Atom HE but with more smoothness... I was really impressed with it. That said... the HA-3A is turning heads and I know I'd pop for one myself if it hadn't been that I'm sorted tube wise!

 

[iamoneagain]

Maybe looking at a small tube amp that doesn't cost the earth but gives you a different flavour to the HE which I think is excellent for most genres... something like an Icon HP8 or the new Cayin HA-3A which is receiving great reviews at the moment... some of them are using the Caldera with it as well. The maxed out HP8 (in terms of upgrades) and the HA-3A are both about £1500 or less. Maybe reach out to some other Caldera owners to see who has what and what it offers over SS.

Like that the Cayin HA-3A has 4.4mm balanced out so wouldn’t have don’t have to swap out current cable. I suppose best way to use this combo is keep the amp at set level and use preamp volume on the Naim HE?

 

[Toonartist]

Like that the Cayin HA-3A has 4.4mm balanced out so wouldn’t have don’t have to swap out current cable. I suppose best way to use this combo is keep the amp at set level and use preamp volume on the Naim HE?

Correct. That’s what I do. You know all about the perks of being able to go from YouTube to Roon or AirPlay 2 for music or movies with ease with the Atom HE… well, it opens those same features to which ever tube amp etc you have attached.

The HA-3A is also Compact and would look good along side. See if anyone over on that thread that has the amp is near where you live… could be worth a try anyway to see if you like it!

 

[iamoneagain]

Correct. That’s what I do. You know all about the perks of being able to go from YouTube to Roon or AirPlay 2 for music or movies with ease with the Atom HE… well, it opens those same features to which ever tube amp etc you have attached.

The HA-3A is also Compact and would look good along side. See if anyone over on that thread that has the amp is near where you live… could be worth a try anyway to see if you like it!

Reading a review of the amp sounds like what I’d be looking for. Gets foot tapping, has good weight, slight tube bass bloom, more exciting than technical. I’ll read up on it more but if I were to get a headphone amp, this seems at the top of the list. What I most liked about the few tube amp I’ve heard in the past is the more liquid flow and that touch of bloom. The Naim HE leans more tube sound than most solid state but it’s still not in that liquid sound category.

 

[Toonartist]

Reading a review of the amp sounds like what I’d be looking for. Gets foot tapping, has good weight, slight tube bass bloom, more exciting than technical. I’ll read up on it more but if I were to get a headphone amp, this seems at the top of the list. What I most liked about the few tube amp I’ve heard in the past is the more liquid flow and that touch of bloom. The Naim HE leans more tube sound than most solid state but it’s still not in that liquid sound category.

Don’t forget, the tubes it comes with are just to get you going. They sound good but as with most tube amps, roll the tubes for some NOS ones and you’ll see more improvement again.

Different tubes will offer different sounds. A set for brighter analytical… one for rich darker sound with depth or a set that has great top, bottom extension and highly dynamic.

I have a chart somewhere for 12au7 tubes describing the sound… I’ll dig it out later and send to you in a PM if you’re interested. The Nirvana uses the same tube as an input tube and they do impact on the sound quite a bit

The Atom HE still imparts its characteristics so if you pick a tube from the chart you’ll have a better idea how much influence it has and, whether you should move to a brighter or darker sounding tube. Just set aside a couple hundred or more $ for tubes to get you under way

 

[iamoneagain]

Don’t forget, the tubes it comes with are just to get you going. They sound good but as with most tube amps, roll the tubes for some NOS ones and you’ll see more improvement again.

Different tubes will offer different sounds. A set for brighter analytical… one for rich darker sound with depth or a set that has great top, bottom extension and highly dynamic.

I have a chart somewhere for 12au7 tubes describing the sound… I’ll dig it out later and send to you in a PM if you’re interested. The Nirvana uses the same tube as an input tube and they do impact on the sound quite a bit

The Atom HE still imparts its characteristics so if you pick a tube from the chart you’ll have a better idea how much influence it has and, whether you should move to a brighter or darker sounding tube. Just set aside a couple hundred or more $ for tubes to get you under way

Thanks for all the info. I kind of figured people don’t just stick with stock. I guess there’s 2 ways of looking at this. 1. Either it takes away from the simplicity of owning the Naim HE. Buy it and you’re done. 2. Or it brings you back into this hobby of playing around with the sound. I suppose I don’t mind fine tuning the sound but kind of like to find what I like and lock it in.

It not too much investment to try and improve the sound over the Naim HE and get the most out the headphones. The Caldera really are one of the best headphones I’ve owned. Like it better than the original Utopia, AT L3000, and Grado PS-1. And those were all pretty amazing headphones.