UnitiServe Vs Memory-stick into nDac

Posted by: MartinCA on 05 August 2011

Mostly I listen to music streamed to my nDac using iTunes via an airport express. SQ is good - in the sense that it is several orders of magnitude better then using the airports on-board DAC and streaming straight into the pre-amp.  But it falls well short of the SQ when I play a WAV file off a memory stick into the DAC.

 

So I have been watching the various streaming options develop with the hope that (a cost-effective) one will come along which gives the sort of SQ possible with the memory stick.  The NDX looks good - except that its DAC component, which must account for half the price, is completely redundant for me.

 

Anyway, today I dropped into my local dealer to listen to a Unitiserve into an nDac.  I took along a couple of CDs and a good quality memory stick with the same CDs ripped into WAV using EAC.  I had seen comments on here that the SPDIF interface from the UnitiServe was 'not audiofile quality', so I was hoping that this was relative to 555 kit only, and that the Unitiserve would be close to the memory stick in SQ.

 

In theory there ought to be little difference - the same CD ripped to the same format as close to bit perfect as dammit, with just the SPDIF connection to contend with.   But in fact I thought the unitiserve sounded noticeably better - more bass, and a fuller less bright sound.  The person with me thought there was more detail in the unitiserve, but I didn't really hear that.

 

I was wondering whether anyone out there with a Unitserve can comment on whether their experience is similar?

 

Also, as an aside - with the forthcoming introduction of internet radio on the UServe and HDX - does anyone know whether that can be retrospectively enabled on this kit bought before it was made available?

Posted on: 11 August 2011 by MartinCA
Originally Posted by Jan-Erik Nordoen:

Well, after repeated A/B, B/A, B/B and A/A comparisons, I can confidently state that... they can be very tough to sort out. I much prefer living with a change and letting an opinion form over time. Much more reliable IMO.

 

Jan

Thanks for this and the rest of your post, and the UQute post - really helpful and food for thought.

 

I will probably get the Userve- it sounded to me and to you that it is an improvement over USB (which I thought was pretty good anyway).  But I also add my vote for a stream only product - something that is to the NDX what the Userve is to the HDX.

 

Martin

 

 

Posted on: 12 August 2011 by aysil
Originally Posted by Jan-Erik Nordoen:

All roads seem to point to the NDX then....

 ....

Jan

I am not sure...

Firstly, I want to correct my above post a little bit - upon further listening. I had praised the dac section of NDX very much on that post, and whatever the attraction of NDX is, the nDAC still does some aspects clearly better, however you tune your system. So, it shall not be understood as a general call to trade in your nDAC's for NDX. You may probably prefer to keep in anyway; everybody should audition/decide him/herself.

Secondly, I am still getting the best results with HDX into nDAC(+555PS). If you want to upgrade your UServe, and you want to keep a Naim ripper/database solution, it may be worthwhile to consider replacing your UServe with HDX instead of adding a NDX to your UServe. Financially, it would come to a similar outcome; possibly with better results... especially because you already have the nDAC and HDX will soon have internet radio, too.

 

It is interesting how the Naim range offers multitude of upgrade options. Martin wants to upgrade from USP stick to UServe, and you are on the way to upgrade from UServe, and you meet on this same thread. Maybe you should really meet.

 

Posted on: 13 August 2011 by Stoik

I'm also mixed into the recommendation of a NDX if you already have a UnitiServe and nDAC (and more over, if you're using an upgrade power supply with it). IMO, it makes more sense to go for a HDX instead.

 

The HDX have also a dedicated power supply and an electrically quiet environment to generate its SPDIF output. It's done on one of the two boards located at the upper left of the HDX, where you have the analog output board too. 

 

And more importantly, you don't loose any processing power in the deal by going to HDX. So your FLAC and other compressed medias that requires a fair deal of processing power to be decoded will probably sound better on the HDX.

 

However, by conception, the NDX will probably have an advantage on non-compressed medias over the HDX. So if the Hires portion of your musical collection is mainly composed of high resolution WAV, the NDX is for you.

 

Bye.

Posted on: 13 August 2011 by aysil
Originally Posted by Stoik:

I'm also mixed into the recommendation of a NDX if you already have a UnitiServe and nDAC (and more over, if you're using an upgrade power supply with it). IMO, it makes more sense to go for a HDX instead.

...

...

However, by conception, the NDX will probably have an advantage on non-compressed medias over the HDX. So if the Hires portion of your musical collection is mainly composed of high resolution WAV, the NDX is for you.

 

Bye.

Interestingly, I got the better results with HDX especially with hi-res material. May its processing power may be working to an advantage here, ... or the fact that NDX was optimised for 16/44 material...?

Posted on: 13 August 2011 by aysil

...or that "NDX is fussy to RF", as Simon found out, and I have not provided the ideal conditions...

Posted on: 13 August 2011 by Simon-in-Suffolk

Aysil - indeed the NDX needs a little care to manage RF, but though I hate to say it, the NDX is better in this regard than the HDX based on my expieriences. I think the optimized prcessing power and optimised microcontroller design in the NDX is a major advantage to the noisier HDX.