Who'd you rather? NDX vs Akurate DS

Tried the Naim super plug (forget it's name) and did hear a difference .. Mrs Tog said it was had to go back ...together with the £1500 worth of speaker cable that was on loan ...so it might have been that I was hearing .. Majik!

Togurate (sounds like a laxative)

I am not sure if of interest to the original OP, as I do not know what is available in Canada, but I would draw attention to the fact that the NDX can be supplied with an excellent FM/Dab/IRadio tuner. I base this assessment on the quality of the tuner in the Qute which I have found to be excellent; I can't imagine that the one available for the NDX will be any less good.

Regards
Peter

Why has nobody mentioned ethernet over power line solutions? Many on the Linn forum are using these with great success.
Can be used with the NDX too

Gregg

quote:

Originally posted by Aleg:

quote:

Originally posted by likesmusic:
... but not power supplies to power a £2k DAC that draws negligbile current, ....

I bet you've never heard the Naim DAC without and with PSU's

aleg

likesmusic, seriously -- take a listen for XPS on nDAC or CDX2. It can change your mind completely. There is no magic in this -- PS linearity has nothing to do with power and current consumption. High quality linear PS which is able to reject the entry ripples should be as big as possible even it feeds a negligible consumption. Pls, have a look how big are the power supplies from other hi-end brands. Many of them are even bigger and more expensive than Naim.

How do Linn manage to do it with a power supply inside the box that doesn't need fancy mains cables. And that is retro-fittable when they upgrade it at a relatively modest cost?

I'm sure Naims strategy has sonic benefits for Naims kit, but for Tog to accuse Linn of trying to sell extra boxes is pretty unfair. An Akurate DS, say, is one box. An NDX plus power supply feeding a Naim DAC plus power supply is four boxes, four fancy mains cables and four shelves. It may well sound better, but it is a lot more boxes than Linn want to sell you.

I suspect that Tog was poking fun at Linn in response to the question posed as to why they would produce an Akurate DS streamer with only one method of connecting to a source. I'm sure that he wasn't implying this was a commercial decision but one steeped in a purely philosophical approach to the purity of the sound that can only come from wired networking and connection to equipment of a Celtic nomenclature.

The fact that it looks like it was designed by a committee hired by Denon on a slack afternoon is understandably irrelevant.

Tog would no doubt agree that Naim on the other hand is a totally philanthropic brand devoted to providing it customers with the most economical hifi available.

Tog

quote:

An Akurate DS, say, is one box. An NDX plus power supply feeding a Naim DAC plus power supply is four boxes, four fancy mains cables and four shelves. It may well sound better, but it is a lot more boxes than Linn want to sell you.

The NDX is one box. Everything else is an OPTION, some will add some of these, some may add all; many will be happy with it as it is.

Until the NDX becomes available how do any of us know whether or not it will require anything to equal the ADS. The ADS does not offer me what I require regardless of how good it may sound. Its called choice; why cant we just celebrate the fact that we have two great British company's that offer us excellent products to select from?

Peter

quote:

Originally posted by glevethan:
Why has nobody mentioned ethernet over power line solutions? Many on the Linn forum are using these with great success.
Can be used with the NDX too

Gregg

Well over here we have expierienced PLAs, and tried Plasma TVs and noisy PSU and all had varying impacts to the sound. Typical affects were robbing the life out of the music, creating a slightly hard sound, Plasmas and dirty SMPS were limited to the same mains spur, but PLA seemed to get everywhere... If you put a scope across the mains you can see the crud/ hash that PLA is injecting everywhere - and the higher frequency PLA interference couples across wires and even reduced my broadband sync speed. Horrible stuff, I really think every PLA device should come with a health warning.. . I assumed that RF interference was affecting my Naim equipment. tests were done with CDX2 with XPS. Your experience might vary, but please don't move to my village if you use PLA, because it really does get everywhere.

Simon

quote:

Originally posted by glevethan:
Why has nobody mentioned ethernet over power line solutions? Many on the Linn forum are using these with great success.
Can be used with the NDX too

Gregg

My experience with 200Mbs Powerlines is bad as well.

In my place they had to cross from one spur over the consumer unit to another spur. That didn't work.

Also on the same spur I noticed a rapid decline of network speed with increased distance between two adapters.

So for me it was a no go, regardless of the effect on the sound quality.

-
aleg

Given that the NDX has wireless capabilities, I would like to give it a try. I know wired is better, but WTF? The Sonos works fine, so I would expect the NDX to do equally as well.

The other options of the NDX also appeal (upgradeable power supply, digital ipod input, etc.). Will just have to wait until the NDX finally makes its way to Canada to try it.

Agree - if it works wifi should not affect the sound at all. The only reason manufacturers like Linn /Naim don't like it is that wifi brings too many variables to an installation.

Tog

quote:

I know wired is better

Not always.

....the new Akurate DS got digi out now... some folks in Linn forum think that Linn plans to build a Klimax DAC .... some rumours that Klimax DS gets new motherboard as well.....interesting times.... i think i'll switch back to vinyl :-)

Ralf

quote:

Originally posted by AMA:

quote:

I know wired is better

Not always.

What?........Well 99.9% of the time perhaps – the other 0.1% wireless is almost as good.

The new Akurate DS is a big big jump. I reckon its underpriced. In some ways arguably as good as the Klimax.

i guess as well, that the new ads will be very close to the klimax. since linn is working on a new mother board for the klimax...

the ndx will need to deliver....but i guess we will know that first after x mass...

The new ADS is a bit puzzling .. I saw the 'Source' selector on the front panel and guessed, hoped even, that it might have some extra digital inputs, but it doesn't. So though Linn praise open systems, their DAC isn't 'open' to other non UPnP sources. But the new ADS does have a volume control, albeit digital, and digital as well as line outs. So, it's some of the way to being a pre-amp.

Apart from having a radio transmitter inside the box ...

quote:

Originally posted by Tog:
Agree - if it works wifi should not affect the sound at all. The only reason manufacturers like Linn /Naim don't like it is that wifi brings too many variables to an installation.

Tog

But will it boogie or is it just hi-fi?

quote:

Originally posted by rich2513:
The new Akurate DS is a big big jump. I reckon its underpriced. In some ways arguably as good as the Klimax.

quote:

Originally posted by rich2513:
The new Akurate DS is a big big jump. I reckon its underpriced. In some ways arguably as good as the Klimax.

The original seemed overpriced IMHO - very expensive for a DAC with Ethernet in a not so nice looking box. However with no digital inputs the new ADS seems rather limited in its functionality compared with the Naim offering - at least its digital output lets you use the nDAC/555PS

quote:

Originally posted by jlarsson:
But will it boogie or is it just hi-fi?

quote:

Originally posted by rich2513:
The new Akurate DS is a big big jump. I reckon its underpriced. In some ways arguably as good as the Klimax.

It certainly sounded less 'Hifi' than an HDX/DAC/555ps

And yes, I guess 'funky' would be a good word to use.

quote:

Originally posted by rich2513:

quote:

Originally posted by jlarsson:
But will it boogie or is it just hi-fi?

quote:

Originally posted by rich2513:
The new Akurate DS is a big big jump. I reckon its underpriced. In some ways arguably as good as the Klimax.

It certainly sounded less 'Hifi' than an HDX/DAC/555ps

And yes, I guess 'funky' would be a good word to use.

rich2513, I am close to 'investing' in a new source. AllenB's posts have been most informative but your post has got me interested. I prefered the original DS to the HDX but not a 5XS/DAC which was more exciting though maybe lost some detail to the DS. Are you saying the new DS combines the virtures of Linn with the Naim groove, or is it still a Linn?

Data, i would say its well worth a listen.

So much is system dependent but at my house it seemed to have plenty of drive or 'go'.

I'd give the Weiss202 a listen as well if you can and maybe the Cantata if you possibly can. NDX should be interesting but for me only if it works with its own dac and just one other box (an xps/555ps).

rich2513, I have heard the 202 and it is very nice. I will add the Linn to my list. Like you I am waiting to dem the NDX, the last piece of the puzzle. Anyone know when it's coming out?

@ rich2513:

I compared the Resolution Audio Cantata vs. the CDX2-2/DC 1/Naim DAC in a 100% Naim system (282/HiCap/250) playing CDs - no hard drive based playback for the Cantata. The Cantata and the Naim DAC both used a Hi-Line (one DIN to DIN and one RCA to DIN)- fair demo. The CDX2/DAC was so much ahead of the Cantata. Before the test I was almost sure that the Cantata with its asyncronous USB will replace my CDX2-2/DAC, but it was very clear from the very first track that the CDX2-2/DAC is so much better. And the Canata was burnt in... After this very fair test I can not understand all the good reviews of the Cantata at all even taking into consideration that I used the Cantata with CDs and that the Cantata is supposed to offer slightly better sound quality when being used via USB as a streaming client, but the CDX2-2/DAC was soooooo much better!