Has Anyone Tried a non-Naim Streamer in to the nDAC

Posted by: HuwJ on 16 July 2011

I'm using my Macbook pro (older version that I have updated with a solid state drive and on battery) for playing Apple Lossless via iTunes. Also use Spotify Premium. It sounds pretty good but not as good as a USB stick - which is painful to navigate.

 

While I am considering an NDX I was wondering if anyone has used a non Naim streamer (Cambridge, Yamaha etc) from a Hi-Fi company costing £1k or below. I've tried the Logitech Classic already (about the same as the Macbook) and am not keen to get a Sonos.

 

Item Audio also produce dedicated streamers - how do they compare?

 

Regards,

Huw

Posted on: 19 July 2011 by Jemh

Maybe irrelevant as I don't have a nDAC (yet...) but I do have a Linn Sneaky DS, and a Logitech Squeezebox Touch.  The Linn is quite a lot better then the SB via its analogue outputs, but not ultimately very good in high end terms.  Fine for the kitchen.  Using the digital output of both, the difference is still there, though the tonality is now identical, but the Linn offers better clarity and rhythm, which is pretty illogical if you believe that bit perfect is bit perfect.  I suspect the differences may be due to interference etc, more that what comes down the wire, but no evidence to back this up.  The Linn Sneaky makes an excellent streamer, well below the cost of any Naim solution to date, and drives my kitchen system excellently.  But when Naim launch a NDX without a DAC I may well be knocking in my dealers door again.

Posted on: 19 July 2011 by Warpeon

Jemh, was wondering if you had applied soundcheck's software mods on your Squeezebox Touch?

Posted on: 20 July 2011 by Jemh

No, haven't really done much with the Touch, as it wasn't bought for use in the main system, its actually the music system for my office running straight into a set of Meridian M3 active speakers where it sounds fine.  I just tried it in the main system to see if the £200 box could beat the £1k box, but it wasn't really close enough to spend time on.  I've tried quite a lot of streaming solutions, as I've had a large FLAC library for many years, PCs, Macs, Linn and Logitech.  Although I've not actually compared them, I suspect the Touch would be better then the MiniMac - USB - SPDIF setup.  I have a suspicion that there is some radiated interference or noise issue with certain sources and this may be where Linn and Naim have got it right.  How much difference this sort of thing makes is then probably very system dependent and maybe even room, layout and household wiring dependent.  Then we have to wonder if our WiFi networks are killing our HiFi systems.  Thankfully the system at the moment is sounding better than anything I've ever used at home, so I just listen to music and not worry about it too much!

Posted on: 20 July 2011 by Warpeon

I had a brief audition on NDX last night, it sounded fabulous (probably even better than the DAC).  My question is really, did NDX sounded better than my DAC is due to my Squeezebox Touch or is it because NDX has integrated the streamer and DAC together, so there is just less jitter / noise between the data and the DAC.

 

Jemh, in your leisure, you may want to apply soundcheck's software mods to your Squeezebox. It really worked for me (it's free, takes 15 mins to install and if you don't like it, you can restore the squeezebox back to its original state).