After reading all the issues with the N-vi, is now a good time to go for it?

Bearing in mind I have a Sky HD box to input to the optical and will be running the front left and right over Naim system (202,250, B&W804s).

I am being swayed by the sound quality of the N-vi plus the one box solution over the large two box alternatives.

I'd go for it. Mine's been in just over two weeks now and no problems. Very impressed with the little box. Picture quality is superb and the sound is very close behind.

Cheers

James

awaiting my replacement n-vi, the one i am using was updated with the latest software about 10 days ago, ita a lot better than it was, but have still had to re-boot a couple of times when switching back to the optical input to get the dsp modes to click in, hope this helps ?

thanks for the replies

I need a switch box too as the video scaler is still in progress......but I am still very tempted........and this is without a demo!!!!

Hi,

I installed mine on monday, completely bowled over by the picture quality, even better than the demo. No problems at all (so far), and in any case the 5 year warranty gives me all the confidence i need.

I would guess that the time is right, the clue for me, that everything is well, was the recent Naim mailshot.

Regards Mike.

@ nap-ster:

Did you do a demo? and what was your experiënce? Was/is it a big gap or wil it sounds close ? NAC202 vs n-Vi ?

No I haven't as yet.

Although I am very tempted to go down the N-Vi route there are still a few concerns. (See the other current N-Vi thread for instance).

As I will be mostly using it for feeding a SkyHD optical into there is still this problem I believe. I am working away from home a lot and do not really want to leave my wife trying to figure out how to get the thing to work. We have had enough issues over the SkyHD box!!!

I have been looking at other alternatives to the N-Vi. However, the "large Japanese box" option isn't very appealing either.

I am currently in the process of putting my 37" LCD on a wall mount then having the AV bit on a low 2 shelf stand underneath with the centre speaker on the top shelf. I was hoping to get the Sky box and the DVD/AV amp bit alongside. So I must admit to having an aesthetic/ "no more boxes please" side to my upgrade options.

As it happens I am currently running a Cambridge Audio 540 between the Sky box and the 202 and using it to power the centre and rears. It is a neat compact unit but I know I can obviously do much better.

The other option I had been considering was the Arcam 350.

We have had enough issues over the SkyHD box!!!

I have been using the n-vi with the skyhd box for a few months now with little agro, if any, occasional audio mute when changing sky channels which forces a re-boot on the sky box otherwise no issues.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul Stephenson:
I have been using the n-vi with the skyhd box for a few months now with little agro, if any, occasional audio mute when changing sky channels which forces a re-boot on the sky box otherwise no issues.

Paul,

By "occasional mute" do you mean if you switch between a PCM and DD5 channel? If so then deep joy ... you've replicated one of my remaining bugbears with the n-Vi's optical input.

So, if the boss has seen the problem, can I take it that the midnight oil is burning and no stone is being left unturned in the search for a fix?

Duncan

P.S. Cunning ploy to reboot the Sky box BTW, much quicker than rebooting the n-Vi!

@ nap-ster:

You'r not gone trade in your NAC202 for the n-Vi ??

Now that hadn't even crossed my mind Robbert.

However, I'm not sure that the N-Vi would be a forward step over a 202 (with NAPSC and FC2) as I listen 75% to CD rather than the TV.

quote:

Cunning ploy to reboot the Sky box BTW, much quicker than rebooting the n-Vi!

Over on this side of the pond, the n-Vi has exhibited no problems switching from PCM channels (music-only channels) to encoded-audio channels (Dolby Digital) from a Comcast HD box.

Nor (as tested last night) does it seem to have problems with PCM or AC3 streams out of DVD Studio Pro from my G5 iMac, on optical input.

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
Over on this side of the pond, the n-Vi has exhibited no problems switching from PCM channels (music-only channels) to encoded-audio channels (Dolby Digital) from a Comcast HD box.

Nor (as tested last night) does it seem to have problems with PCM or AC3 streams out of DVD Studio Pro from my G5 iMac, on optical input.

Dave,

Does your response mean that Naim don't acknowledge any issues to do with the optical input? In which case my box must be faulty and I'll ask my dealer to replace it. Fourth time lucky maybe?

Duncan

Don't have any experience with Sky box here.

Non sequitur, Dave! I asked if Naim acknowledge, or not, an issue with the optical input and you tell me you don't have Sky.

My dealer has asked the same question of Naim and hasn't had a response either ...

All I want to know is ... is it a) my (3rd) box or b) a bug. Simple really, you would have thought.

Duncan

duncan, i think its the n-vi, because i have a telewest tv-drive, and even after my software update mine has lost sound via the optical input a couple of times wnen switching from say pcm stereo to a dolby 5-1 signal,

[

quote:

forces a re-boot on the sky box otherwise no issues.

and to be brutally honest this is still too much to be expected for a £3k piece of kit

It doesn't seem to me that the n-Vi is necessarily the culprit, if the audio mutes using a skybox optical source. I didn't take Paul's post to mean that re-booting the skybox was any more than re-establishing a lock that both the skybox AND n-Vi are responsible for. Thus Dave's comments are relevant because it indicates other optical sources that ARE working OK with the n-Vi.

In other words, when it comes to optical connections (and HDMI for that matter) it takes two to Tango.

As I am just about to dive into HD Satellite myself, I am well aware of all the issues concerning Satellite receivers available in the US. There appears to be many instances when a satellite box won't consistently maintain an optical audio link, or where lip syncing (5.1 feeds) is an issue. One could certainly say that optical connections in general are not failsafe, and that user results will vary. The advantage of course is electrical isolation.

Thanks Chris, at last an answer to this that makes sense! Does that mean then that their is not, nor can ever be, a solution in the pipeline. That this is "just the way things are"?

Doesn't cover the other optical issue BTW ... moving away from that input to another and then back. I would think that you can hardly blame Sky in that instance as nothing has changed at its end of the link ...

Duncan

duncan, i still think its the n-vi, because i had the telewest tv-drive before i bought the n-vi running optical into denon 3805, never had any problems then when switching from pcm stereo to a 5-1 signal ?

we are still looking at this, i did not get this muting with my previous sky box and n-vi, we think its the skyhdbox not shaking hands but we are working on it,if its an n-vi software update it will happen if its the skybox we will talk to them as I did with my skybox when it first came out with some issues.

All of this feedback helps, really...in the U.S., we test things here with different equipment than would be used at the factory; this helps multiply the operational permutations and combinations of connected equipment, to expand the software and hardware testing process.

It was always quite a surprise to me (when I worked in professional audio installations) that things would go wrong, even when everything was followed by the book as regards connection(s) and installation (software and hardware), until I understood the bug reporting and software testing/feedback process as being an integral part of the design.

We live in an era when "nothing works", so to speak, until the software bugs are replicated and fixed. The faster the details are passed through the appropriate channels (info@naim-audio.com is a good place to start), and the more information is made available to fix the problems, the faster the bug fix process goes.

By no means, Duncan, was I denying that your issues were irrelevant–I was trying to replicate them here, with different equipment, to establish the scope of the issue for our customers in the U.S. (and our own stuff, too, as Chris mentioned above!)....

Later today I'll know how the DishNetworks VIP622 does with my Naim HT (at least with an AV2 and I'll also try an n-Vi). There appears to be plenty of variables when it comes to optical transmission. Driver, transmitter, receiver, optical cable, connection quality, software versions at source and decoder etc. all come into play. As for HDMI...

It's a brave new world!

Guys,

Thanks for the feedback. That's all I was after really, just to know that a flag had been raised and had been noted.

Paul, FYI my box is a bog standard Sky+ job, not the HD contraption. Muting is not guranteed. Most (not all) traversals between PCM 2.0 and DD 2.0 are fine, and some (not all) traversals between PCM 2.0 and DD 5.1 are fine.

Similar story switching inputs: I've never noted what Sky signal type I was arriving at when I get the failure. I will do in future and report back if it's of help.

Duncan

Not that it applies to us, but have you provided Naim U.K. with the relevant model number, firmware versions of the Sky box (there may be quite a few of these listed), etc.?

We track this here for U.S. customers in our own technical database, BTW, and are formulating a reporting system for these issues to HQ.

Dave,

If the Sky version numbers are of use then I will gladly post them to Adam. Tomorrow maybe ... beer beckons just now!

Duncan

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
Not that it applies to us, but have you provided Naim U.K. with the relevant model number, firmware versions of the Sky box (there may be quite a few of these listed), etc.?

Dave, I think Duncan's dealer has contacted us recently. we need the model/firmware revision of the sky box etc as you say.

I think i must be very lucky with my n/vi i have a humax hi def box daisy chain with my sky and a humax free view box the opt works ok with all. regards munch

update: VIP622/AV2 combo works fine on optical