IIRC, the NS01's analogue output is not of the same quality as that of the HDX. The latter has e.g. a separate power supply for the analogue circuits and the possibility of a power supply upgrade such as an XPS. Functionally, apart from the display (of lack of it) there is not much difference between these units.

I do not know if Naim still produces the NS01, but if you look at the age of the HDX - introduced in 2008 - and the new streaming platform, I can imagine that the HDX will not be with us for a very long period of time ...

It's quite an old device now, and has recently been discontinued. That's why it no longer has a web page, but I'm sure Naim can still provide info and support.

Hi I have a NS01, In my opinion it's great, I'm not sure what Dac is used and have not had the HDX, I'm also not sure if Naim are going to continue updating the NS01 software/firmware so this might be a contributing factor regarding a yes or no to buy one...but I will keep mine until it's no longer fixable...

on a plus side the NS01 can be used as a CD Player and has both coaxial and optical outputs, it also has internet-radio 

ChrisSU posted:

It's quite an old device now, and has recently been discontinued. That's why it no longer has a web page, but I'm sure Naim can still provide info and support.

Hi Chris,

I know that is been discontinued, as many other naim equipments, but if you go to Product History you will find all of them, but not the NS01, or any other...or manuals, or whatever....

steven2907 posted:

Hi I have a NS01, In my opinion it's great, I'm not sure what Dac is used and have not had the HDX, I'm also not sure if Naim are going to continue updating the NS01 software/firmware so this might be a contributing factor regarding a yes or no to buy one...but I will keep mine until it's no longer fixable...

 

on a plus side the NS01 can be used as a CD Player and has both coaxial and optical outputs 

 

Hi Steven,

Do you use it to a DAC, directly to your pre or just as a "simple" server?

Did you compared with others?

Manuals and info can be found on the internet 

https://www.google.co.uk/searc...gb&client=safari

https://www.manualslib.com/man...02663/Naim-Ns01.html

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...ly=18461704847548642

 One last thing..you can connect a monitor to the NS01 so you get a very nice control screen and when in sleep a nice Naim cd as a screen saver bouncing around 

Klout10 posted:

IIRC, the NS01's analogue output is not of the same quality as that of the HDX. The latter has e.g. a separate power supply for the analogue circuits and the possibility of a power supply upgrade such as an XPS. Functionally, apart from the display (of lack of it) there is not much difference between these units.

I do not know if Naim still produces the NS01, but if you look at the age of the HDX - introduced in 2008 - and the new streaming platform, I can imagine that the HDX will not be with us for a very long period of time ...

Hi Klout10,

So, if I uset it together with a DAC, besides the functionally, I´ll have almost the same quality compared to HDX, or there´s still some diference?

Barratana posted:

I intend to buy one of this NS01 to be used as server, burt there´s not a lot information regarding this equippment, in fact not even in Naim homepage the info regarding this equipment exist! 

As I recall the NS01 was never listed on the main Naim website.  It was part of the NaimNet range which was intended for the installation market and as such has a separate marketing channel separate from the consumer range.  However being based on the same underlying software / computing hardware as the HDX (and UnitiServe) it was often bought as an alternative to the HDX for UPnP server capability.

I doubt there will be any future upgrades, not that that matters as it does what it does, but don’t have any information on the DAC.

Hi BARRATANA.

I use it connected to my N272... the ease of use and convenience is a plus and now as I type I'm listening to Peter Gabriel played on cd via the NS01 ( 1st time Ive tried it as a CD player ) and it really is IMO very good...

If you can audition one I would do so 

Eloise has it correct - the NS01 was a Naimnet product so featured in the Naimnet range on the old Naimnet site. It was primarily a server for use over a network.  As such, local playback was seen as very much secondary and so the DAC, s/pdif output, and analogue output stages were not particularly optimised beyond a basic Naim level.

The HDX used the NS01 as its basis - adding a screen and lots of internal improvements aimed at optimising local playback audio quality.  As a stand-alone player the HDX is considerably more capable in audio performance.  It could also be taken further with a dedicated XPS2 or 555PS power supply for the DAC and analogue stages.

Hi Eloise and Richard,

Thanks for this information, now it makes some sense not to having the NS01on producy history, not that I agree on, after all is an Naim product and shoud be there, but Is a logical explanation.

Richard, from your post, basiclly add an DAC to an NS01 is a "must" if we want some quality on audio play back, I can use both HDX or NS01 directly, but HDX is beter.

Adding a DAC will minimise the diference between HDX and NS01, correct? 

BR

RM

When I bought my ns01, I went for the ns01 and Ndac, that was used with my spx later on upgraded to 555. I  hav not compared any of these setups to a hdx.

One nice thing with the current ns01 is that you get 2 2 tb disks inside unlike the hdx, so you have a local backup of all your music. The question is if the ns01 is worth the price, with Naim discontinuing the old range and using all resources on the old and current streamer models. There are alternatives out there, I would consider if I were to buy a server today. It is however funny to look at some of the complaints both with the old streamers and the new platform,just to find out that this works fine on the old servers.

Claus   

Barratana posted:

 

Adding a DAC will minimise the diference between HDX and NS01, correct? 

 

In a logical way, the differnece would be minor but I have to admit that I haven't made the side-by-side comparison ... one thing to take into consideration however is the lifetime of the harddrives ... 

I have an NS01 which I use as a UPnP source for my NDS. I was given it as a replacement instead of a UnitiServe which, for various reasons, I just didn't get on with (I'd tried three of them). I have never used it as a CD player. It is very easy to use (big plus IMHO), and as Claus says above, it has two 2TB drives, with the second being a backup for the main drive. I also like the tray loading.

Barratana posted:

Richard, from your post, basiclly add an DAC to an NS01 is a "must" if we want some quality on audio play back, I can use both HDX or NS01 directly, but HDX is beter.

Adding a DAC will minimise the diference between HDX and NS01, correct?  

RM, 

Not a must - the NS01 is at its best as a server on a network, so the DAC is best when it's part of your network streamers - for best quality go straight to an NDS.

However, if you don't wish to use it that way, and would rather use it as a local player then yes, outputting via s/pdif into a high quality DAC such as the Naim DAC would be a step up over the internal DAC and analogue stage.  It may be that the HDX s/pdif is superior to that in the NS01, but best check with Naim on that, as I'm not 100% sure here.

There are other differences though - the HDX has its own touchscreen control and that's something you can't get with an NS01 unless you add a separate dedicated one, and then you need to watch out for poor cheap screen PSUs impairing system performance.

I am using the NS01 together with a N272, and I guess the DAC chip in N272 (with XPS and 300) is doing the work. How can I improve this set up? - with a HDX? 

I look at the NS01 not having a screen as being a bonus, less to go wrong. ( I bet there's not a lot of owners who use the screen anyway ) I did look at the HDX but after googling I read that there have been problems, I am not aware how widespread these problems have been, so I'd do your research 1st, my NS01 was updated at Naim with a different souncard? This maybe a upgrade that's still available, plus hard drives are upgradable via Naim 

Snubbing posted:

I am using the NS01 together with a N272, and I guess the DAC chip in N272 (with XPS and 300) is doing the work. How can I improve this set up? - with a HDX? 

Via Network or S/PDIF ? If network then no gain changing to an HDX. If via S/PDIF then perhaps the new Core might be more appropriate.

Compared to the core, the core does not have internet radio, but of course most likely the streamer has. But for a few of us the posibility to use the Desktop Client to control playback from a Windows computer is a huge advantage you can only get if you use the old servers, and only if you use local playback, and you can use as many clients connected at the same time, unlike with what is now known as the legacy streamers. This is the case at least with the Desktop client, I have never tried to connect more than one iDevice to control my ns01.

Claus

Snubbing posted:

I am using the NS01 together with a N272, and I guess the DAC chip in N272 (with XPS and 300) is doing the work. How can I improve this set up? - with a HDX? 

I'm not convinced that upgrading your NS01, as a UPnP server, would be cost effective. Better to spend the money on a streamer/preamp upgrade, maybe to NDX/282 or above.

Agreed Chrissu but I'd think most of the NS01s available will be USED and well below a grand so I think a real bargain for what it does.  And does well

I use S/PDIF connection directly to N272

I'd be inclined to keep the 01 and use the money for an XPSDR. I suspect that the 01 might sound better via upnp: it's worth trying at least. 

steven2907 posted:

Agreed Chrissu but I'd think most of the NS01s available will be USED and well below a grand so I think a real bargain for what it does.  And does well

That´s the idea!

You can get this equipment below a grand, and if it can be used insted, let´s say a Melco or whatever, it can be a bargain, remember that they cost over 3000K.... And they still weren´t really outperform as a ripper or storage equipment.

Besides, if in the end you intend to add and DAC ( as I see everyone doing on the HDX to improve SQ, adding naim or hugo ) to feed your pre, then it still makes a lot of sense to give second live to this NS01 equipment, it was not made intentionally for this, but at the prices that you can buy them it makes perfect sense, rip and storage with backup 2+2 Tb, looks a good idea to me.

From you feedback the D/A converter is not as good as HDX, but if using external DAC will minimise the diference, then it´s time to check it out.

BR

RM

Barratana posted:

steven2907 posted:

Agreed Chrissu but I'd think most of the NS01s available will be USED and well below a grand so I think a real bargain for what it does.  And does well

That´s the idea!

You can get this equipment below a grand, and if it can be used insted, let´s say a Melco or whatever, it can be a bargain, remember that they cost over 3000K.... And they still weren´t really outperform as a ripper or storage equipment.

Besides, if in the end you intend to add and DAC ( as I see everyone doing on the HDX to improve SQ, adding naim or hugo ) to feed your pre, then it still makes a lot of sense to give second live to this NS01 equipment, it was not made intentionally for this, but at the prices that you can buy them it makes perfect sense, rip and storage with backup 2+2 Tb, looks a good idea to me.

From you feedback the D/A converter is not as good as HDX, but if using external DAC will minimise the diference, then it´s time to check it out.

 

BR

RM

 

Correction, I meant 3K