Network amplifiers are definitely the talk of the town in 2021 and with the brand new Cambridge Audio EVO Series and Bluesound NODE and POWERNODE making a lot of waves already, Naim had to do something different to widen the gap. Rather than replace the already excellent Uniti Atom with a brand new model, Naim have decided to focus on the desktop headphone listener who wants it all in one clean package. The Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition is designed to be the ultimate solo listening source.
Unlike traditional headphone amplifiers and DACs, which require a separate computer or streaming device, Uniti Atom Headphone Edition is a fully formed music-streaming system: just add headphones.
For a lot of listeners, the Uniti Atom Headphone Edition will serve another purpose. It can also double-up as a streaming pre-amplifier, feeding active loudspeakers or a power amplifier driving passive speakers.
We can envision the Uniti Atom Headphone Edition working really well with the Acoustic Energy AE1 active loudspeakers creating one dynamic sounding system.
You also don’t need to use a Naim power amplifier in this particular scenario either.
The new Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition is fully re-engineered to offer the optimal personal listening performance. Using trickle-down technology from its flagship Statement amplifier, Naim has engineered a new discrete headphone amplifier, capable of powering even the most premium headphones – such as Focal Utopia which are part of the Naim/Focal product lineup.
Naim’s unique music-streaming platform serves up incredible sound quality, allowing you to escape into your own digital music collection, services such as Qobuz, TIDAL and Spotify, and a world of Internet radio – including a curated collection of HD stations – and podcasts. AirPlay 2 support, Chromecast built-in and Roon Ready status add even more streaming options, while analogue and digital inputs mean you can connect many other sources, too – including turntables – and a USB input supports playback from sticks/drives. Enjoy a huge range of music file formats, in resolutions up to 32bit/384kHz.
The new discrete transistor circuit design enables Uniti Atom Headphone Edition to gain balanced headphone outputs, on both 4 pin XLR and Pentaconn, maximizing the performance of high-end headphones with those connections. There is also a standard 6.3mm output.
“We have designed this special edition of the mighty Uniti Atom to be the premium music streaming system for solo listening – just add headphones to escape into your own world of high-quality sound,” said Paul Neville, Naim Research & Development Director.
Uniti Atom Headphone Edition is priced at $3,290, matching the price of the standard Uniti Atom. It joins the following members of the Naim Uniti range:
- Uniti Atom – the compact music streaming player: $3290 at Crutchfield
- Uniti Star – the CD-playing & music streaming player: $4990 at Crutchfield
- Uniti Nova – the powerful music streaming player: $5990 at Amazon
- Uniti Core – powerful music hub with bit-perfect CD ripping: $2790
For more information: naimaudio.com/product/uniti-atom-headphone
Where to buy: $3290 at Crutchfield | Amazon
ABOUT NAIM
Founded in 1973, Naim is an award-winning music systems manufacturer based in Salisbury, UK. With a history rooted in engineering and design excellence, Naim has won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise on three occasions, most recently for its ground-breaking design of digital music systems.
Naim shares the same intense relationship with music as its customers, a passion that has driven them to design and engineer audio products including streaming players, amplifiers and wireless speaker systems that connect people with their music. For Naim, music always comes first. Every product is the subject of intense scrutiny from a team of engineers who spend months or years perfecting designs, never content until the music speaks to their hearts and souls as well as their heads.
ABOUT FOCAL NAIM NORTH AMERICA
Born from the merger of Focal, world leader in acoustic sound made in France, and Naim Audio, world leader in British-made hi-fi electronics, VerVent Audio Group’s brand subsidiaries signal a new investment phase and direction for VerVent in the US and Canada. By creating its own distribution entity, the group is striving to turn the North American territory into the market leader for Focal which turned 40 in 2019, and Naim which just turned 45.
