SSD conversion booked

quote:

and there is the possibility that the sound card could improve things further still.

No possibility about it. The sound card upgrade gives an appreciable improvement - equivalent level to hiline or powerline IMHO.
Incidentally while I don't usually post on how good equipment - you really need to hear for yourself in your home environment. But I have to say how stunningly good the HDX/DAC/555PS is in my active DBL system. The DAC reveals all, not just all the minutae of detail but also the recording ambience and any effects added. This can have its downside on some poorly recorded or over produced CDs but with decent recordings I can't honestly see (hear) how it can be bettered by any source (OK maybe the LP12 sounds more "natural" as an analogue player but certainly no more detailed or dynamic)

Cheers
Jon

Harry - does mean you can store your music on the HDX's Solid State Drive or is there a link to an external hard disk somewhere? I'm definitely interested in having all my digital music on a player with no moving parts. When I've looked at SSD for an Apple based system it looked expensive and limited in storage. If the the HDX could gain two 500 GB SSDs that would be something - IMHO Naim should have a no mirror option and let you back-up to a cheap external disk drive. That would give 1TB of storage or enough for around 2,000 CDs.

Interested to hear how it goes

ATB Rotf

No the SSD is only 16Gb, enough for the OS and temporary storage for the rip before moving it to the network storage.

One of the big changes in the last major software update was rip to network.

John

Jonn. I haven't done A/B with anything except a CDX2 so I can only go on memory from extended and extensive listening sessions. For what that's worth I concur with you. I have banished all notions of moving in the direction of CDS3. I don't know how my 555PS/nDAC/HDX compares to other top flight systems and I have no inclination to find out. I have more than I ever thought possible at a price point I can live with. If the new sound card can further this I will be delighted.

ROTF. Fixedwheel got to it first. If I'd known the SSD version was in the wings I would have held back on my HDX purchase. Through the nDAC I've compared ripped files played back from the internal HDD with the same files ripped to NAS and found no difference. I prefer to take responsibility for the safety of my music via a mirrored NAS and separately stored USB backup than have to send a failed HDX back to the factory and hope my music can be recovered. And however quiet the internal HDDs may be I don't think it hurts to eliminate them from the HDX.

we are all just ripping the 16 bit most have never been happy with. it is stll going to be several years or more before we all high res we want.

the only bonus is convienience and easy access of our music. what will happen to nas drives in the same time

My primary goal was to get better sound quality out of 16bit rips. The convenience factor was something I under estimated but would now find it hard to give up.

Thanks Harry and John - I'll continue my search then as I've no wish to run a wired network to my main room. I'm sure the HDX upgrade you're doing will be a big success as it seems ideal to get disks as far as away as possible.

ROTF if it's of any interest I have a wireless hub in my office and installed a wireless bridge in the lounge with four wired ports available. HDX into one, NAS into the second and two spare. Works like a dream. I can also get the HDX to stream back to my office PC with no breaks or jumps in output. As the crow files the wireless hub and bridge are slightly less than 20 feet apart and separated by two stone walls.

When you upgrade the HDD do you have to re-rip all your CDs again or can you just copy the rips from your HDX to the NAS prior to sending the HDX to Naim for the upgrade?

If you don't mind me asking how much is the upgrade to a SSD?

I have all my files ripped to NAS Richard so no reripping or redistribution will be necessary. I haven't been quoted a firm price on the conversion yet and I'm a bit curious about it myself! IIRC the figure being batted about was around £250. It's going in on Wednesday.

Thanks for that, Harry. I would be interested in to hear your thoughts on the upgrade after you've got your HDX back.

I will report.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Adams:
When you upgrade the HDD do you have to re-rip all your CDs again or can you just copy the rips from your HDX to the NAS prior to sending the HDX to Naim for the upgrade?

If you don't mind me asking how much is the upgrade to a SSD?

There is a command in the HDX to move music between music stores (internal or on the NAS). It is slow but it works (leave it running during the night).

I am still waiting for(ever it seems) the swedish price for this upgrade but I got the english price from Naim early on and the SSD upgrade was (in my case, 2008 HDX) then GBP 595 (plus GBP250 for the RAM/PCI upgrade) which seems fair. From the pictures I think it looks as if they simplify the internal mechanics a bit when doing this.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Harry K:
I have all my files ripped to NAS Richard so no reripping or redistribution will be necessary. /QUOTE]

So my HDX with SSD upgrade was returned yesterday but it doesn't know about my NAS store (where all my ripped music is). When you add a Music Store it MUST BE EMPTY, the HDX tells me. So how do I re-introduce my old NAS music store to my 'new' HDX?? Help anyone?

I did not have a problem with that when the new software came out.

The HDX should "see" the available network connected devices, in your case the NAS. If you use tools on the DTC and select your NAS--> choose re-scan.

quote:

Originally posted by rjstaines:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Harry K:
I have all my files ripped to NAS Richard so no reripping or redistribution will be necessary. /QUOTE]

So my HDX with SSD upgrade was returned yesterday but it doesn't know about my NAS store (where all my ripped music is). When you add a Music Store it MUST BE EMPTY, the HDX tells me. So how do I re-introduce my old NAS music store to my 'new' HDX?? Help anyone?

If it was originally a Naim Music Store, then you should probably ignore the "must be empty" part of the message. (I suspect this situation will be addressed in future service packs.)

Don't you simply select what was your old Store as a Share and then elevate it from Share status to Store status?

Or is that what you have already tried?

Because it says share 'must be empty' before being elevated to a music store, I did not want to risk it over-writing the previous contents, so I spoke to Naim... and David Denver is absolutely correct - you ignore the 'must be empty' warning and elevate the share of what was the old music store, complete with all your ripped music, to a music store on the upgraded HDX... and voila, it does a scan and presents all your music back to you after a few (15ish)minutes (for 550 CDs).

Apparently the 'must be empty' warning is just that - a warning, not a mandatory dictate!

Glad it worker out - thanks for sharing. I will be in that position in a few days when the replacement for my faulty HDX-SSD arrives...

This has gone through a few twists and turns. It was at Salisbury for five weeks before I was regrettably informed that contrary to their expectations they would no be doing the swap. It was possible but they couldn't do it on this occasion. It was dispatched with the RAM and sound card upgrade done free of charge which kind of defeated the object of sending it back to base - the dealer could have done these in a fraction of the time. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the complimentary upgrade. By the time it got back to the dealer word came out that in fact they could do the SSD conversion and the unit was promptly U-turned.

It seems that my eagerness to get it converted and Naim's eagerness to accommodate me fell short of what was practical when the chips actually went down. But we're all on the same page now and I am looking forward to meeting my HDX-SSD when the work is completed. I understand that the local agent, Jason has been twisting, turning and jumping a lot on my behalf. If you read this forum Jason I would like to express my appreciation to you for hanging onto it and steering it through. The delay has been frustrating but the rewards beckon. It's also put me in a more positive frame of mind about getting a 252/300 home for audition. So this may turn out to be a bigger save than imagined.

The HDX-SSD is back. I will be picking it up tomorrow. Cost of the conversion was £650. When it's been up and running for a bit I'll post some comments.

And very nice it sounds too. A change in work plans enabled me to collect it today. I can't compare it in any depth to before the modification because it's been gone so long but the signs are good. The matter has been complicated by my bringing home a 252/Super/300 which is obviously performing at a very high level. I'm hearing things that weren't there before - that old cliché. But it’s true. Mid next week I will return the rig and install the currently owned amp. Then I’ll sit back for a couple of weeks, listening and ruminating contentedly. The Naim amps are lacking something that I’m accustomed to (the best off the top description I can give is organic smoothness) but the transparency, resolution and above all, the boogie factor (another well worn cliché) are very appealing. I like them very much. The crunch will be if I can live without them. Lots of listening to do before then, not to mention quite a few rips.
The unit came back with the same MAC and display address and essentially just dropped in. Half an hour to mount, scan and index the NAS and we were off. To fill the time I played off a USB stick. The box came back looking brand new, complete with immaculate touch screen with pull off film. Looks like it’s had a new back plate but I could be wrong about that. It is proclaimed to be an HDX-SSD on the back and I get an impression that “remanufactured” would be a justified description of the work done. It’s all in the presentation I guess.

Having spent an enjoyable few days with a 252/300, now ordered, it's been back on the old set up for a week. The unit was away for a long time so it has taken me some time to form any conclusions from memory. The differences appear small to the extent that it has taken us some time to agree that there are any. A little more transparency and a detail is the consensus. A worthwhile upgrade but not day and night. A touch more detailed and enjoyable.

double post

Harry, Allen,

I have read your experiences of HDX, modified HDX, Qute, Mac/INT202 into nDAC/555ps with interest. The take away message for me is that the differences are pretty small. I guess at this level we are putting a lot of effort into wringing out the last few drops of goodness.

Many people here seem to think that a USB stick into the nDAC is as good as it gets. I am not sure on this one but it’s fair to say that a USB stick sounds really good and certainly no worse than my MBP/HiFace. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above components compared with USB stick, if you get the chance.

Gav