Radiomir1964
New Head-Fier
Just received my Furukawa cable, may be less Prat...
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Naim Audio Uniti Atom Headphone Edition
- Thread starter lumdicks
- Start date
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
The upgrade power cable had a worse effect? At least you can say they make a difference. They do say to burn in cable for a while.
I got a Vovox Excelsus at someone’s recommendation on the Naim forum. Think it was close to $400 but knew it was the only upgrade that could be done for the Naim and cheaper than many other cables. I haven’t swapped out the cable in a while but I remember the bass improving with better flow, impact and the vocals sounding more natural. It’s pretty subtle. I get bigger changes swapping out pads on my ZMF Caldera.
Think I’ll test it again. It’s kind of hard since to power back up takes a minute or two, so can’t do a quick switch.
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
Testing stock cable vs Vovox using Daft Punk GLBTM outakes since it’s got a great bass beat and stings in the background.
With the Vovox the whole things seems more alive. The bass hits little harder and has more texture. The background strings are more prominent, richer, and textured. Just seems like there is more weight to the instruments. I’ve gone back and forth a few times and the improvements are easy to notice over time. I was going to say it’s all very subtle but now I find the whole thing more immersive.
Now not sure if everyone would hear what I’m hearing. In the US you get a generic power cable, not the powerline lite. I also have upgraded ZMF Silver cable, their highest level on the revealing Caldera. So kind of hard to recommend a $400 power cable. But it is keeping me from spending more for an external amp. My Naim HE with the Caldera pairs so nicely and now know the power cable helped further that feeling.
With the Vovox the whole things seems more alive. The bass hits little harder and has more texture. The background strings are more prominent, richer, and textured. Just seems like there is more weight to the instruments. I’ve gone back and forth a few times and the improvements are easy to notice over time. I was going to say it’s all very subtle but now I find the whole thing more immersive.
Now not sure if everyone would hear what I’m hearing. In the US you get a generic power cable, not the powerline lite. I also have upgraded ZMF Silver cable, their highest level on the revealing Caldera. So kind of hard to recommend a $400 power cable. But it is keeping me from spending more for an external amp. My Naim HE with the Caldera pairs so nicely and now know the power cable helped further that feeling.
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Radiomir1964
New Head-Fier
Furukawa cable is for my Meze, I don't upgrade power cable yet, Powerline Lite seems like a generic cable made in China
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
Oh gotcha. I should have looked that up.
I will say an upgrade power cable can help with PRaT. I suppose a headphone cable can too but have limited experience. I have just noticed more clarity, soundstage and air with mine. It probably moves it more in the technical direction than musical but the Caldera is already very euphoric and musical. And when go back to stock, I miss the extra detail.
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tmarshl
500+ Head-Fier
Lol. I also own the dCS Bartók, and I would agree. This is a great AIO System.
ResidentAlien
Head-Fier
Does the Uniti Atom HE support Apple Music natively and not reliant on Airplay2?
Also How is it for powering planets such as Dan Clark Audio Aeon2 Noire and Quad Era-1 ?
Thanks in advance.
Also How is it for powering planets such as Dan Clark Audio Aeon2 Noire and Quad Era-1 ?
Thanks in advance.
Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
No native support on the Atom HE. You’ll have to use airplay. There was a concern a while back that the Apple Music app streamed lossy AAC to airplay. I don’t know if this was ever disproven or fixed.
It drives the DCA stealth and Diana V2 beautifully. Your A2N and Quads will be no issue.
ResidentAlien
Head-Fier
Thank you. I suppose I could use my iPhone via usb to Camera adaptor but kinda defeats the object of a streamer I guess.
Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
I only mentioned the issue to make you aware. I honestly can’t tell any sonic degradation using airplay from Apple Music app. YMMV. Maybe try direct usb from your phone and from airplay and see if you can hear a difference.
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
I believe 256k aac is still all you get with Apple Music and Airplay. There is talk about an Airplay update happening in iOS 17 but who knows if they’ll update Apple Music at that point. I’m finding the differences are subtle as far as soundstage and little details. Still sounds great for casual listening but I’m sticking with roon and Qobuz until Apple Music is truely lossless over Airplay.
I was able to use an iPad mini with a usb to coaxial converter into the Naim to get lossless and hires. But then no album artwork and the playback buttons don’t work on the the remote. Sounds great but takes away from the ease of the built in streamer. I already had the coaxial converter from years ago so was just a test. Nice that the usb c output of the iPad mini didn’t need to use camera connector. Be nice when all apple products are in usb c.
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Daniel Johnston
Headphoneus Supremus
Dang. I was hoping my info was out of date. I like the classical app and wonder if it’s also lossy. I’m pretty good at picking up compression artifacts in classical music.
iamoneagain
Headphoneus Supremus
I believe they’re both lossy since really using the same backend. I was kind of hoping they’d upgrade it now that the Classical app came out since more likely to use on a home setup. That’s why I’m still have some hope the Apple will update Airplay. And in another post roon even mentioned that they had talks with Apple and they were willing to work with roon but still had restrictions to only playback on Apple products. So at least shows there is some interest on Apple’s part to please the audiophile market. Just not enough to make it work.
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ResidentAlien
Head-Fier
May have to renew my Qobuz subscription lol
ResidentAlien
Head-Fier
How would the focal Arche compare to the Uniti Atom in terms of sound quality and sound signature?
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