[JemHadar]

So, I have been living with the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition for a couple of weeks now...and what a great experience it has been so far.

My previous Head-Fi setup consisted of a Weiss DAC202, Sugden Masterclass HA-4 Headphone Pre-amplifier and Limetree Bridge (by Lindemann). It resided in a half width rack right next to my couch in the living room and was a bit of a hassle to use; three boxes, three power on sequences (each with their own little quirks), three power cords, a bunch of interconnects, no easy access to the volume control on the HA-4, no remote Roon volume control. In short, a mess of different sized boxes and cables transformed in to a fiendish dust trap and spiders paradise.

The performance was stellar though; why would I need anything else? The DAC202 performing almost like a lab instrument highlighting every nook and cranny of the material it was fed without becoming analytical, the HA-4 adding some class-A magic to the mix and the Limetree wirelessly bridging the gap with the Roon server, promoting this motley crew to a very capable, be it limited, Roon Endpoint. How in the world could the Uniti Atom HE best this little stack of marvels? The answer is captured in two words: looks and convenience.

The Atom is smaller than I thought. The finishing is impeccable. That big volume control wheel on top is just a joy to use. Unboxing and setup was a breeze. It all just works right out of the box. Only one awkward thing, which I had seen on a YouTube review; the power socket sits a bit loose in the chassis, apparently this is by design.

The screen is not as bright as I would have liked. However, how it is used is much better than the visuals on my Auralic Aries G2 (man cave). When playing a track, the album cover is displayed using the complete height of the display, no text whatsoever. When one waves his/her hand in front of the screen, the view temporary switches to a smaller thumbnail view of the album cover art, artist name, title and a progress bar. A seemingly trivial feature until one gets used to it. I find it to add substantially to the user experience.

Does it best the previous little stack of dust magnets? It is different. Being ever so slightly more forgiving, the overall tonal balance reminds me a lot of the McIntosh MDA1000 (still on active duty in the man cave), but offering more detail, extension and refinement in a somewhat laidback but very enjoyable presentation. Mind you, the DAC in the Atom HE is excellent and we are talking about minute differences that are augmented here as to convey some sense in how it sounds different.

I find it fascinating how Naim reinvented itself years ago with their Mu-So and Uniti line of products. Before the emergence of these lines I would never have thought I would one day own two Naim products, the other one being a Mu-So (first gen).

No doubt one can achieve similar performance with another one box or multi box solution. However, Naim sets the bar awfully high when it comes to user experience, performance and timeless design.

This is one of those times when I am glad I could not resist my gearhead temptation.