DAC-V1 for 272?

The dac in the 272 may well better the dac in the V-1; should at least listen to it both ways with and without the V-1.

Why not network the UnitiServe and have one library for both listening locations?  The 272 of course is a network player and would lend itself to that.

Two separate music libraries would drive me bonkers.

That was the original set up both running from the US, but the DAC-V1/NAP100 is now in another location entirely so I have a split set of systems now.

Hence using Audirvana with the entire ripped 16/44.1and hi-res library on a single 2TB USB 3.0 drive, which Audirvana picked up and put in its library in about half an hour.

Yes perhaps a demo is always the best policy here, bit mismatched to begin with a 272/NAP100/DB1i system but I like the idea of growing the 272 up, but DAC-V1 is pretty good mind.

I did get an offer when the 272 came out to trade in the DAC-V1 for its original purchase price against a 272, think that deal may be gone now.

Dan, I went with a streamer player for my second system so that I could piggyback off of my UnitiServe.  Unless there are other reasons . . . if it were me I would have my second system on the network as well, sharing the library.  The V-1 is a nice product, but there are streamer players, be it the 272 player/preamp, or an ND-series player, that would be at least as good I'd imagine.

Thanks Bart,

Unfortunately I can't piggyback my US anymore as that 2nd system is in another place hence the idea of a 272 for the DAC-V1 and then networking, although USB works pretty well from the laptop I still like the iOS control I have when networking.

Demo time looming I think, then there is the speakers to consider.

Are you thinking of adding the 272 to the V1? That would be weird. As the 272 is a streaming preamp I don't see why you'd want it and then connect a V1. Could you not back up the US to a NAS and use the NAS in the other location with the 272? That way, nothing is wasted and you use the full functionality of the 272. I think it would be rather good with the 100 and DB1. You could then swap the 100 for a 250 and later change the speakers if you wanted to - they will really benefit from more oomph.

I assume the OP is intending to match the 272 with the NAP100 and DB1 for now, and upgrade to a better power amp in future. The V1 would be traded in. That's my inference.

In short, yes. The 272 will work perfectly well with your speakers and power amp. However, this is only a sensible option if you intend to upgrade them . . . the 272 is far too good otherwise. A 250DR is ideal, and you should look at better speakers too (eg PMC 20.23 if you like that sound). But for the short term, it'll work fine.

The 100 is a surprisingly good amp at the price. It's so good I won't be upgrading mine to a 155sx costing twice as much, but will go straight to a 200 (then having 172, 200 and ATC SCM11s).

Thanks HH and Solid Air,

Yes Solid Air that is the intention, chop the V1 in for a 272, I had an offer to exchange the V1 at close to the price I paid via a 272 early deal from the supplier who sold me the V1, so about £2000 to upgrade, which has now passed unfortunately.

The 272 appeals a lot to me for now and the idea would be to upgrade later to the 250DR and better speakers.

The NDS system stay as is this is for the 2nd system, and yes HH I am almost looking to match your set up copying all the US rips to a NAS and use that for this set up.

Looking to audition/demo the 272 very soon....

Sorry, I wasn't entirely clear what you were aiming to do. If you go with the 272/250 you will be in a great position to compare the two box approach against the NDS and Supernait. While the streamer will be worse, the amp will be better. Which overall will win? Logic suggests the NDS, but I wonder... I found that the NAS running minim was better than the UnitiServe, so that's another factor In the mix. 

Which is also very interesting. Thanks.

I can swing for a 272 with the V1 sold/exchanged and a 250DR would be a little later on, another very interesting bang for your buck scenario certainly.

Need to runthe demo, but the positive chat on this forum leads me to think it is another solid release.

I'm just thinking, from your profile it seems that the second system is in the office - is that at your house or somewhere else? If the former can you not run a long wire and use the US to supply both systems?

No it was it is now though in a different building. I had the US supply both NDS and V1 as you suggested but we now have another place (new contract and work location) and the 2nd system is in there so is being treated as a stand alone system now, hence the upgrade possibility, otherwise I would have left it as it is.

I might move on the US also and the V1 to support a 272 purchase. I haven't bought a CD I need to rip for a long while so the US, as great as it is as a server/media manager, is not of much use these days for me.

One thing that changed my mind on the US was how Audirvana recognised all my US rips along with album artwork in its UI so I began to wonder as I don't RIP cd's anymore (all mine are now done) is the US a luxury extra I don't necessarily anymore? I recall a thread on this which may have been yours HH along similar lines.

My view is that as I buy few CDs now, and when I do I can rip them on the laptop with dbpoweramp, the UnitiServe adds little value, and as the NAS sounds better I was happy to let the Serve go. My second system, in the office, is a Tangent Cinque, which cost me £200!

+1 HH.

If selling the US helps fund the 272, I'd definitely consider that. A QNAP or Syno Nas running Asset or Minim, plus DBPoweramp on a laptop, is an excellent alternative at a fraction of the price. 

Feels like a good plan, US plus V1 for a 272 plus the cash difference.

Going to test QNAP (or similar) with Minim or Asset and rip a CD through DBPoweramp make sure all works and then make the decision then.

Cheers and thanks.

Like others, HH's new system has me really intrigued, and I am now trying to scratch (or am I trying to not scratch?) that upgradeitis itch.

Not to hijack the thread, but how would a 272 work with a Vortexbox with Logitech Media Server running?  I fear the answer is it won't.  (Apologies to the OP.)

DrMark, I don't think that LMS is the right server package to run. But it does have a UPnP (DLNA) server that should work fine over the network to play to a Naim Player.

There is now a plug-in for LMS called uPnP/DNLA Bridge also known as Squeeze2UPNP that should work with a Vortex box. I've been using squeeze2UPNP with my Uniti2 from the early stages of it's development into a fully formed plug-in and can only sing it's praises. It basically converts a UpnP renderer into a squeezebox player so you control it in exactly the same way as any other squeezebox player. There are a couple of limitations and quirks in that it doesn't do synced play with other players yet and the pause/unpause and seek when using streaming Qobuz/Tidal/Deezer doesn't work (the track always restarts from the beginning), but apart from that It is extremely reliable and has been my primary server source since the back end of last year.

The thread on the squeezebox forum is here if you want to have a look:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/...NA-players-with-LMS-(squeeze2upnp)

There is a configuration setup for the Uniti2 but I see no reason why that shouldn't work with other Naim streamers.

Philippe ,the writer of the plug-in, is also very helpful in sorting out any issues.

Food for thought!!

EDIT: Just seen Bart's reply. Yes there are 2 uPnP plugins. The Andy Grundman plugin that allows LMS to be used a server. I tried this one when I first bought my Qute and found it not particularly reliable so ended up using Asset and/or Minimserver. The one I referred to in my post is new and a different ball game altogether.

a friend of mine compared the DAC V1 to a HDX and could detect very little, if any difference.

my advice is to audition carefully if you can.

Melco N1A has been mentioned/sold to me today as a media library that is taking things to the next level replacing NAS by being dedicated to audio playback only. Wonder has anyone tried this as yet appears to be a US replacement? Cost is £1600 for 4TB good reviews online.

Last question - would I be able to use the same files/file structure and run a SBT on one system and the 272 on another?  (Off the same set of FLAC files.)

No reason why not - my little Roberts radio plays everything on my NAS quite happily. 

If the media server is UPnP DLNA compliant then most UPnP clients whether they be Naim, smartphones, tablets, Sony Playstations, Web/SmartTVs, Roberts Radios etc should be able to happily stream from the same media server. Advanced media servers such as Asset allow you to profile streams for different clients .. Like provide basic navigation and transcode to MP3 for the Roberts radio, but provide full navigation and transcode to FLAC for Naim.

Simon

I've set Minim to transcode from FLAC to WAV for the Naim, and to L16 for the Roberts. The latter will play FLAC but not transcoded WAV, hence L16, which is still CD quality I believe. 

HH - I wondered about a streaming Roberts radio. Presumably via wifi? Which model do you have?

That's what I do.  I use LMS most of the time through Squeeze2uPNP for the Naim controlled by iPeng and my other Squeezeboxes around the house can use the same files/services. Asset and Miniserver are also on the server and I can use either of these with the Naim control app or Bubbleupnp to play to the Uniti2. It's just not as convenient that way!