Does this make sense?

Posted by: gmischol on 06 August 2014

My current system: HDX and XPS2DR into Weiss-DAC 202 over BNC, NAP 250.2 as poweramp

I'm considering upgrading to a NDS, but I am not sure if it makes sense to take the digital output from the NDS to the Weiss DAC 202? (The WeissDAC has no analog inputs.)

The reason I want to change lies in the SQ of the HDX which really seems to inferior to my MacBook Air over FireWire in to the DAC but I do not want to have my MacBook as the source. 

And my HDX has been unreliable since I bought it. The firs model was DOA, the second shows a lot of weird behavior as has been recently discusses here on the forum, and beside the here known issues it has frequent dropout during playback and if no music plays I got crackles coming out from the speakers. I brought it back for a check to my dealer but they didn't find anything wrong. I'm sure it's the HDX because when I hook up the MacBook Air there is no such noise. And the SQ of the HDX is really audibly inferior to the MacBook.

Any advice is appreciated.

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by Huge
Originally Posted by gmischol:

...

also when turning lights on or off in the house there are no more dropouts.

...

Gaudenz

I think it's time to call an electrician to check your house wiring - mainly for your own safety. 

 

Helping the audio system may well be a secondary benefit.

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by gmischol
Originally Posted by Huge:
Originally Posted by gmischol:

...

also when turning lights on or off in the house there are no more dropouts.

...

Gaudenz

I think it's time to call an electrician to check your house wiring - mainly for your own safety. 

 

Helping the audio system may well be a secondary benefit.

That's what I already have done, they stayed for over 4h and measured everything and didn't find any fault. And this only happens with the HDX, not with other sources. So as has been discussed by others on this forum, it seems to be a problem with the HDX

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by Bart
Originally Posted by lovethatsound:
Naim already know about this problem with the hdx coaxial interference and should have a fix for it soon . Their are more posts about this topic further down on this forum.

This is the first I recall hearing about this issue; can you point me to other posts about it from the past?

 

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by Huge
Originally Posted by gmischol:
...

That's what I already have done, they stayed for over 4h and measured everything and didn't find any fault...

Thanks for posting, I'm relieved to hear that.

 

Good luck with the HDX problem.

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by lovethatsound
The post is called
I think my hdx is broken again (2 weeks after naim service)
Posted on: 11 August 2014 by DavidDever

+1 to have your AC mains wiring checked; the Mac mini uses a two-prong (ungrounded) switching supply while the HDX (and other Naim equipment) must be earthed.

 

The HDX coaxial out is isolated using a pulse transformer (DA101), so should generally be less susceptible to issues such as the original poster described, with the exception of random changes in mains ground potential....

Posted on: 11 August 2014 by gmischol

It's not a Mac Mini, it's a MacBook Air, but that's probably the same grounding

Posted on: 12 August 2014 by YanC
Originally Posted by gmischol:
Originally Posted by james n:

Hmm - i didn't find the Weiss driving a Naim power amp a very satisfactory arrangement. I'd get the 250 fronted by a decent Naim preamp - 282, 252 (yawn) + Supercap. 

Well, this may depend on the cable used between the Weiss DAC and the NAP 250. I find it sounds very good. A preamp and power supply is not really an option, because of place restrictions and WAF.

 

How do you connect the 202 with the 250?

Cable/Output?

 

I tried connecting them directly but wasn't very happy with the result either, but this gives me hope.