anyone compare the bare ndx with the bare dac?

Yes, I had both at home on demo for a week. I wanted to choose between the dac fed by a squeezebox touch and the ndx.

I went for the ndx in the end as I preferred it's slightly less analytical, more analogue style sound. Both options were good though, and certainly miles better than the Touch into a CA Dac that I had been using before. 

David

david ,thanks for your comment.

i 'd like to compare the ndx to cdx2 directly,which one is superb?how?

Hi Paul,

Although I did not have a chance to demo NDX vs CDX2.2, according to my dealer, the NDX sounds better than the CDX2. Of course you should listen for yourself and decide but for me it depends solely on how you want to listen to your collection. Streaming vs CD playback. As simple as that really. At first I was skeptical about streaming, but after critical listening and experiencing first hand how to control my collection via nstream app, plus the availability of musci downloads and sharing collections with your friends, it all favors NDX so thats what I end up buying. I never looked back. Now I concentrate on how to listen to 9,000plus songs downloaded and shared. Imagine How long would it take me to have 9000 songs if I buy them all by CD format. Of course it depends if you already have that huge collection of CDs. Hope that helps. Go and listen both at your dealer.

Hi Paul

One isn't necessarily better than the other - rather they present the music differently.

Both have their strenghts and weaknesses. I would say that the cd player is more up-beat but can sound a bit forced whilst the NDX is smoother but maybe not as exciting, at least on a quick dem.

The difference in character probably comes down to the format each uses. So have a listen for yourself and then decide.

Ray 

Exactly my experience. I preferred the NDX to DAC sound.

But I prefer ND5XS/XP5XS to either! Sounds very complete to me.

The DAC is more accurate.

The NDX is more truthful.

nd5xs < DAC < NDX

Outside this it is all situational, that includes adding PS'.

Vik, can you please explain what you are trying to say with accuracy and truthfulness. I am sorry to me I don't understand your post in a meaningful way. Thanks.

Simon

Paul, although there are similarities with the NDX, NDAC and NDS DAC stages they are quite different in performance (I assume the NDS will be)

The NDAC more accurately reconstructs the analogue signal with less distortion or artefacts. HoweverI system synergy is usually important and it might be this extra resolution is not required and might even draw attention to other system compromises. Therefore the NDX output may be better suited, but on a revealing system the NDX might sound veiled, rough, constrained and a little synthetic compared to NDAC.

Though with no off board powersupply I find the differences are not as pronounced as with.

Simon

Hello Simon;

I meant to say the nDac on its own is more 'plain' than the NDX. It has all the basic ingredients but lacks subtlety, atmosphere and body. That the NDX has all this, paints me a better picture of an event, which it dresses up very nicely.

I see nDac's potential, just that up against the NDX, it sounds hollow. With a power supply though, the tables are turned. I feel it really depends on how its contextualized.

Vik, thanks for the clarification.

Simon

thank all of you.

I undestand what you mean.

naim gears should suit eachother on the grade.

ndc maybe not best suitable for sn

but it still depends on  what sound you really  like

What about NDX+nDAC vs NDX?

How much do you want to spend? Otherwise these are all pointless comparisons.

And how costly it would have been if you did have to actually buy them? 

exactly my point winkyincanada

To n8888,

Just do yourself a favor and not buy based on comments here. This forum is here to help us all but at the end of the day, its your ears and your wallet that dictates. It doesn't matter if it sounds good or not good for us, it won't change what you'd actually be hearing. Its always about the music! Enjoy 

and relax mate!

So you stole them?

@marley: They're serious about this kind of stuff in this forum. (see next comment).

@winkyincanada: Karma's a B****. There really is no enjoyment to be had from drinking down from a fire hose. 9000 songs is really 0 when you can't savor it.

I'm curious (an ever-so-slightly judgemental) when it comes to others' ethics. I buy EVERYTHING I listen to. I am also reluctant to allow friends to use me to steal stuff (borrow and rip my CDs etc) but at the end of the day, I usually don't get too stubborn.

Wait till George hears about this. :-) He'll give marley an earful. :-)

Most of music is ripped from CDs. My other source of music was Microsoft's Zune Pass and now spotify. I don't quite get the point of illegal downloads when you can pay $10 a month and have access to all the music in the world. well most of it anyway.

i'm afraid we got a wrong way on this thread.

let go back on the our experiences on ndx.

thanks