NAC-N 172 XS owner asks: where do I go from here?

Naim DAC.

Dear Audiofool,

very nice overview and a very nice system indeed !

I don't think you are missing something and indeed need to go to a seperate streamer and seperate pre amplifier as a next step. It all depends on budget you are willing to spend.

a good step up would be the 152XS with FlatCap XS accompanied by ND5XS. Later on a XP5XS could come to the table. You would build a system around the XS series in this case.

If you future plans are towards Classic series, I would pass the above step and go directly into NAC202/HiCap with NDX. Costly, but apparantly very good and all choices open for future upgrades.

The choice to further built around XS series or Classic series is probably the mist important one and only thorough auditioning can give an answer to that question.

Cheers

Iver

In what way do you feel that the Uniti software needs "LOTS" of work?

Are you meaning the software that runs on the 172 itself or the n-Stream app on the iPhone / iPad?

What do you feel needs fixing?

I'd be very grateful for your thoughts and suggestions if you would share them with me - you can email me at phil.harris@naimnet.com .

Thanks

Phil

I find Uniti software (firmware) excellent, especially the latest iteration of it.

Would be nice though if Naim compiled an app for Windows Phone 8, too.

(just a suggestion ...)

We are aware of all the other platforms out there but at the moment are concentrating development on the iOS platform as it gives us a much more stable base to work with - unfortunately creating the Windows and Android versions is not as easy as hitting a cross compile checkbox.

We do hope to support other platforms in the future but at this time are trying to concentrate efforts onto making the best user experience we can.

BR

Phil

Thanks for the suggestions Iver. I've become hopelessly addicted to controlling the system inputs, volume etc with n-stream on the iPad. Do I loose that functionality with the NAC202? I gather there are some naim preamps that allow n-stream to control NAC the inputs and volume?

The volume control on the NAC202 can still be controlled from the ND5XS / NDX via the n-Stream app.

Cheers

Phil

Thanks Phil. I'll email you a list of my suggestions / issues. 

Good to know. Thanks Phil.

Firstly if you are very happy, why upgrade, bank the money for now and enjoy!

However, you have put together a bit of a mullet and some correction at the source end and pre-amp is recommended to restore balance.

A way to achieve this could be to go for an NDX into your existing pre-amp (analogue input), you may have an issue with a shortage of inputs so may need to put the Oppo into a digital input on the NDX.

Next I would be looking for a Nac282 pre-amp, with a Hi-cap (or Supercap if you are feeling flush!).  From then on your upgrades should focus on the source, i.e. power supplies for he NDX, then a Naim DAC or NDS.

NDX's and 282's come up used quite often and used Hicaps are very common so if you are patient you could save quite a bit of cash doing this used.

Richard

Of course your are correct Richard on the ‘if it ain’t broke don't fix it’ concept. However, like most of us on this forum, I'm always on the quest for better sound. To me music on a hard drive accessed by high quality network players (HDX, NDS) is the present and future of HiFi. Based on all of your comments I've only scratched the surface of how good I can make my hard drive music sound. I gather that my system is speaker / amplifier heavy? I keep hoping someone will tell me to sit tight as the naim 272 network streaming preamp/ DAC is on the way. But sadly you all seem to be telling me the the only way forward with naim is with a 3 box analog preamp where most of the inputs and or tape loops will go unused? 

Richard I like your NDX feeding analog into the 172 idea. Sure it’s redundant having two network streamers in this set up. However, it’s a one box ‘the journey is the reward’ kinda thing that allows me to hear how much better the streamer/DAC portion of the NDX is over the 172 and then I could do the 202/HiCap as phase two, then a power supply on the NDX as phase three? Since I have the 250.2 do I need two power supplies for a 202?

Hi,

I understand your point of view.

Are you going to report about the comparosion NAC-N 172 XS streamer/DAC/pre in comparison to NDX streamer/DAC analog into NAC-N172 XS as pre?

I'd be tempted to try a Powerline on the 172 before anything else.

its a new unit, enjoy it and forget about upgrading. the best upgrade is to buy more albums

We hear what you are saying, but the "user experience" for the growing proportion of non iOS users is severely compromised. If Naim can't cope with software development (and there is no shame in that - we love you for your hifi) then you should either outsource to people who can (Bubble springs to mind) or make it open source. I can't see a downside for you guys as you don't have a revenue stream from the apps and it would stop us moaning so much! 

Please don't claim that "we can't trust anyone else to do it properly" - that is arguably true for Hifi but patently isn't for apps.

No, you only need 1 Hicap to power a 202.  The 250.2 cannot power a pre-amp, hence the need for a Hicap.  Power amps lower down the range (like the NAP200) can power the pre-amp direct, but the Hicap can still be used as an upgrade.

I think you need to establish what you end game is, one that suits your ears and budget.  Personally I would not have put £9.5K worth of power amp and speakers with a £1.6k source/pre, hence the mullet comment.

So with this in mind I would not discount downgrading the speakers to something in the £2k range and looking at rebalancing the system if you cannot stretch to upgrading to a source/pre that will rebalance the system.

Richard

Understood. Thanks for the info. For someone like me who listens 85% of the time to the network steaming source what's more important the preamp or the streamer? Why not save money on the preamp portion and go for a NAC 202 or NAC 152 vs NAC 282 and put the money into NDX or NDS? 

You speak strange truth!

How about Powerline on the amp as well? If I could only do one, the Powerline on the 172 is more worthwhile than on the 250.2?

£900 on two Powerlines is virtually half the price of a used NDX. The priority is to introduce a really good source and preamp. I'd agree with others that NDX/282 is the way to go for a balanced system.

Got it. Thanks for the feedback.

Yes if I acquire an NDX I'll report back with my impressions.