NDX

I have both HDX and nDAC in my system, and I recently purchased a NDX. It is now slowly burning in as I started experimenting. I think it makes no sense to REPLACE HDX+nDAC with NDX. I have not yet directly compared the dac sections of NDX and nDAC, but those who have, report a slight superiority of nDAC. So, it may mean a step backward for you. Or, you may prefer the slightly softer sound of NDX to nDAC. I guess it will turn out to be more a matter of taste.

Furthermore, I am not sure you will get the same quality of rips from UServe. I had compared rips from HDX and UServe, as I explained in this post, and there was a big difference. I was using the on-board drives of both devices, so I don't know if the difference would be significant using a NAS drive as you do.

HDX and nDAC are both great devices, don't rush to get rid of them; and their digital out/in harmonize very well. Maybe you could upgrade elsewhere like the PS to DAC, or simply some new feet to the DAC. They made a spectacular improvement to my nDAC (and HDX).

NDX makes more sense if you have downloaded files in different locations on the network and you want to control playback from a UPnP control software in your computer and start dJing, and make queues and playlists on the go, which you can now do to some extent using your Naim Desktop Client.

NDX is also a wonderful sounding, great device, but I am not sure yet if it makes sense for me to keep it. I think it will end up in my girlfriend's house. She is more a computer geek than me!

Shouldn't this be in Streaming Audio?

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

I second that Allen, me personally could not discover a difference between a HDX rip vs an XLD rip via the NDX, so I doubt any differences between Unitiserve and HDX

AllenB and lawoftrust,
There is a very interesting ongoing thread on rips, which make me realize, that ripping (and digital audio in general) is more complicated than usually assumed.
I cannot claim that the rips of HDX and UServe are different. I don't have the technical means to compare this. What I noted earlier was that these devices sound quite different from their dig out through nDAC. This may have different reasons than the actual rip. Interestingly, I am doing my initial listening sessions with NDX now, and according to first impressions, those devices sound different also as UPnP servers. Does the difference occur during the ripping or during the reading of the harddrives and processing the information? I cannot know. Can I change the save location of rips by HDX and UServe? Maybe if I could make the rip in one device but store it in the other device, I could test this during the limited time left for me with both devices.

Aysil, which one you prefer?

HDX far superior to UServe!

aysil, it's strange. Some other forum members report no audible difference between HDX and UnityServe when running through nDAC.

Keep in mind that HDX is OK to be on the same power line as amps but UnityServe uses SMPS and you should avoid plugging it into the same power line as it will contaminate the mains. 

Could it be the reason for your strange findings? If you still have both gears at home could you experiment with plugging UnityServe into a separate line (away from naim amps)?

Last week I compared the NS01 to the UServe, preferred the NS - but could imagine some people preferring the US.

I've still got a couple of rips I did with the US. I'll re-rip with the NS and do a comparison.

M

AMA,
UServe was on the same powerline as HDX so it should have been "contaminating the mains" as I was listening to HDX as well. The amplifiers and all other equipment are on separate  isolated power line.
Why should my findings be strange? Just looking at those two devices, and the SMPS you mention, and the immense price difference, it seems, on the contrary, strange to me to expect they could sound the same.
I am preparing a new forum topic entry for next week dedicated to this and other "source component" issues. Let's discuss this there instead of going further off the topic of this thread, please.

Because some other people did not find the difference.
I also did not find the difference between UnityServe and Logitech Transporter in a home demo. 

The price is not an issue as UnityServe and HDX are two essentially  different products with a different set of functionality.

Besides nDAC is a true reclocking DAC which levels up the performance of closely performing bitstream sources. I was thinking that TP and UnityServe and HDX may possibly  output low-jitter bitstream which is perfectly reclocked by nDAC. Under this assumption the only changes in SQ can go down to the system interference which can only transmit through the coaxial cable or the mains.

Of course, it quite may be that both TP and UnityServe are inferior to HDX (because for example both TP and UnityServe use SMPS while HDX uses linear PS) and hence the difference between transports is huge and can not be properly reclocked. If this is the case it will make me rush around to find a better source for my nDAC -- for example HDX or NDX.

And I'm still puzzled why other users could not hear a difference between HDX and UnityServe through nDAC