Digital cable ND5XS to DAC

French Rooster posted:

Filipe posted:

I got hold of a demo DC1 from my dealer along with a Uniti Core to add to the UnitiServe I am also demoing. I was impressed with the DC1 on the US as it also lifted the US to the CDX2 level. I play through an nDAC + XPSDR so all cables+ sources are on level playing field once the bits reach the nDAC.

I couldn’t resist trying the DC1 on the CDX2, which hitherto has used a Chord Clearway digital, and oh wow. The gap has widened again. Bruce, on a thread about Soundstage and Imaging talked about notes blooming by which I interpreted him as meaning that after the leading edge rise the acoustics of the instrument take over to sustain the notes and allow it to decay. This should make the timbre imparted by the instrument/musician evident. This for me describes the improvement the DC1 has brought to the CDX2. An alternative description is that it is more of an analogue sound in the best possible sense. In fact I can’t hear any difference between Tanika Tikaram’s Ancient Heart album on vinyl and CD. The difference it makes to CD Piano music is to make it much warmer and dynamic with good leading edge and bloom. I need to turn the volume back an hour! The bass notes from all instruments are more pronounced again probably leading edge and bloom. Backing instruments are more forward in the soundstage and easy to listen too.

Definitely worth the extra money.

For what it’s worth the 6 year old UnitiServe SSD SQ is better than the well run in Uniti Core. The US is a no brainer at less than half price, and decent ripping of classical music. 

Phil

so you found that unitserve/ ndac/ xps is better than uniticore/ndac/ xps, with dc1 between both?    the digital out of the core is not as good as the digital out of the serve?   if i understood you well?

FR, Having given things time to settle down, I have to say that the UnitiServe SSD sounds much better than the Uniti Core with the same Ethernet cable and the same DC1 playing the same track from the NAS. It’s nearly as good as my CDX2, with the DC1. 

Could a internal hard disk make a difference?

I have discovered the Core won’t rip and won’t eject the CD so I had to resort to the paperclip. Maybe the person who borrowed it previous damaged something. 

Phil

Filipe posted:

French Rooster posted:

Filipe posted:

I got hold of a demo DC1 from my dealer along with a Uniti Core to add to the UnitiServe I am also demoing. I was impressed with the DC1 on the US as it also lifted the US to the CDX2 level. I play through an nDAC + XPSDR so all cables+ sources are on level playing field once the bits reach the nDAC.

I couldn’t resist trying the DC1 on the CDX2, which hitherto has used a Chord Clearway digital, and oh wow. The gap has widened again. Bruce, on a thread about Soundstage and Imaging talked about notes blooming by which I interpreted him as meaning that after the leading edge rise the acoustics of the instrument take over to sustain the notes and allow it to decay. This should make the timbre imparted by the instrument/musician evident. This for me describes the improvement the DC1 has brought to the CDX2. An alternative description is that it is more of an analogue sound in the best possible sense. In fact I can’t hear any difference between Tanika Tikaram’s Ancient Heart album on vinyl and CD. The difference it makes to CD Piano music is to make it much warmer and dynamic with good leading edge and bloom. I need to turn the volume back an hour! The bass notes from all instruments are more pronounced again probably leading edge and bloom. Backing instruments are more forward in the soundstage and easy to listen too.

Definitely worth the extra money.

For what it’s worth the 6 year old UnitiServe SSD SQ is better than the well run in Uniti Core. The US is a no brainer at less than half price, and decent ripping of classical music. 

Phil

so you found that unitserve/ ndac/ xps is better than uniticore/ndac/ xps, with dc1 between both?    the digital out of the core is not as good as the digital out of the serve?   if i understood you well?

FR, Having given things time to settle down, I have to say that the UnitiServe SSD sounds much better than the Uniti Core with the same Ethernet cable and the same DC1 playing the same track from the NAS. It’s nearly as good as my CDX2, with the DC1. 

Could a internal hard disk make a difference?

I have discovered the Core won’t rip and won’t eject the CD so I had to resort to the paperclip. Maybe the person who borrowed it previous damaged something. 

Phil

with the same ethernet cable, i found that the uniticore sounds a little better than the unitserve hdd i have. But with a good linear ps on the serve, i preferred my serve.

I had borrowed the uniticore from my dealer to compare.  I used my nds.  But i have not tried the dc1 or bnc connection to the core.  

For your core you should be refunded and send it back.  Or the dealer should send it to naim and it should be free of charge for you.  Good luck!

I use the DC1 and tried Chord Indigo for a while but went back to the DC1. I use the BNC variant.

I'm not a fan of chord cables but have to admit the Chord Indigo digital cable blew the DC1 into the weeds.

But this is with a Chord Dave DAC, and the DC1 was designed for a Naim NDAC. Maybe it's fine with Naim's own products.

Ravenswood10 posted:

I use the DC1 and tried Chord Indigo for a while but went back to the DC1. I use the BNC variant.

Do you prefer the spdif connection to the Ethernet one? 

Phil

If I have to be honest I prefer Ethernet. I use the DC1 with my Oppo 205 into the NDS when I want to spin DVD Audio discs.

I have another on the Core which is when I compared with Ethernet (Audioquest Cinnamon). I had my first DC1 when I connected my old HDX to the nDac,XPS DR. Worked a treat in that context but with the NDS Ethernet is best - feels more focused and less bright.

Ravenswood10 posted:

If I have to be honest I prefer Ethernet. I use the DC1 with my Oppo 205 into the NDS when I want to spin DVD Audio discs.

I have another on the Core which is when I compared with Ethernet (Audioquest Cinnamon). I had my first DC1 when I connected my old HDX to the nDac,XPS DR. Worked a treat in that context but with the NDS Ethernet is best - feels more focused and less bright.

---

 

Thanks for your reply. Interesting. I’m wondering about an ND5XS into nDAC+XPSDR rather than the Serve/Core to get TIDAL assuming they don’t fold. I have to wait till January to have the ND5XS on loan. I do like the sound of the Serve though, and this one is a good price as it’s 5-6 years old. It seems to play rips from the Core apart from the Core’s coverfront.png being useless, so I have to convert it to folder.jpg!

Phil

French Rooster posted:

Filipe posted:

French Rooster posted:

Filipe posted:

I got hold of a demo DC1 from my dealer along with a Uniti Core to add to the UnitiServe I am also demoing. I was impressed with the DC1 on the US as it also lifted the US to the CDX2 level. I play through an nDAC + XPSDR so all cables+ sources are on level playing field......For what it’s worth the 6 year old UnitiServe SSD SQ is better than the well run in Uniti Core. The US is a no brainer at less than half price, and decent ripping of classical music.

so you found that unitserve/ ndac/ xps is better than uniticore/ndac/ xps, with dc1 between both?    the digital out of the core is not as good as the digital out of the serve?   if i understood you well?

FR, Having given things time to settle down, I have to say that the UnitiServe SSD sounds much better than the Uniti Core with the same Ethernet cable and the same DC1 playing the same track from the NAS. It’s nearly as good as my CDX2, with the DC1. 

Could a internal hard disk make a difference?

I have discovered the Core won’t rip and won’t eject the CD so I had to resort to the paperclip. Maybe the person who borrowed it previous damaged something.

with the same ethernet cable, i found that the uniticore sounds a little better than the unitserve hdd i have. But with a good linear ps on the serve, i preferred my serve.

I had borrowed the uniticore from my dealer to compare.  I used my nds.  But i have not tried the dc1 or bnc connection to the core.  

For your core you should be refunded and send it back.  Or the dealer should send it to naim and it should be free of charge for you.  Good luck!

It seems that powering down the Core has solved the ripping problem. It also ripped a fairly obscure opera Michael William Balfe - The Bohemian Girl - Richard Bonynge.

So maybe the Core can rip Classical. Even got the cover.????

Phil

Filipe posted:

Ravenswood10 posted:

If I have to be honest I prefer Ethernet. I use the DC1 with my Oppo 205 into the NDS when I want to spin DVD Audio discs.

I have another on the Core which is when I compared with Ethernet (Audioquest Cinnamon). I had my first DC1 when I connected my old HDX to the nDac,XPS DR. Worked a treat in that context but with the NDS Ethernet is best - feels more focused and less bright.

---

 

Thanks for your reply. Interesting. I’m wondering about an ND5XS into nDAC+XPSDR rather than the Serve/Core to get TIDAL assuming they don’t fold. I have to wait till January to have the ND5XS on loan. I do like the sound of the Serve though, and this one is a good price as it’s 5-6 years old. It seems to play rips from the Core apart from the Core’s coverfront.png being useless, so I have to convert it to folder.jpg!

Phil

I ran my Serve with a certain U.K. made linear power supply which gave it the edge over the supplied switch mode power supply. Have fun!

[@mention:56335183628232089] and [@mention:43803620640512181] thank you for your insights.

Thoughts from anyone on these.

1. Would an iFI iPower of the appropriate voltage be better?

2. Any views on Cinnamon verses Pearl or anything else?

3. Some people use Cisco 2960 range switches. These are quite pricey. Is the point to isolate some of the noise from the hub? Would a better powersupply on the hub do as well? Would I have to put one on the NAS (Lenovo IX2 RAID 1 - 2 x 2GB).

4. Could absence of these mess up the Core whereas the UnitiServe SSD is not?

5. Is SSD better in the Core than HD?

Happy Christmas to Everyone

Phil

Have a dc iPurifier on order, not here until the new year, will report back . Intend to try across the router, switch 1 , and then switch 2 which is nearest to the hifi?

analogmusic posted:

I'm not a fan of chord cables but have to admit the Chord Indigo digital cable blew the DC1 into the weeds.

But this is with a Chord Dave DAC, and the DC1 was designed for a Naim NDAC. Maybe it's fine with Naim's own products.

Strange that - I had completly the opposite experience with Indigo - no weeds even flapped here. Strange old hobby ours isn't it? 

Filipe posted:

[@mention:56335183628232089] and [@mention:43803620640512181] thank you for your insights.

Thoughts from anyone on these.

1. Would an iFI iPower of the appropriate voltage be better?

2. Any views on Cinnamon verses Pearl or anything else?

3. Some people use Cisco 2960 range switches. These are quite pricey. Is the point to isolate some of the noise from the hub? Would a better powersupply on the hub do as well? Would I have to put one on the NAS (Lenovo IX2 RAID 1 - 2 x 2GB).

4. Could absence of these mess up the Core whereas the UnitiServe SSD is not?

5. Is SSD better in the Core than HD?

Happy Christmas to Everyone

Phil

hello Flipe,

ifi power on a switch gives better sound quality vs the smps on this switch.

For cisco 2960, it costs around 50GBP, refurbished and factory reset( used on bay site)

ssd is not better vs hdd on the core, but much more silent ( you don’t hear the noises from hdd). but sound is the same.

analogmusic posted:

I'm not a fan of chord cables but have to admit the Chord Indigo digital cable blew the DC1 into the weeds.

But this is with a Chord Dave DAC, and the DC1 was designed for a Naim NDAC. Maybe it's fine with Naim's own products.

I am not sure what "blew the DC1 into the weeds" means.  Certainly, when I compared a Chord Indigo with a much cheaper Chord cable into nDAC, I couldn't hear a difference between them (see post above.)  Perhaps with a Dave I could.  Perhaps I just have much more rubbish hearing than you.  Perhaps I'm not alone in that.

Roger

Filipe posted:

[@mention:56335183628232089] and [@mention:43803620640512181] thank you for your insights.

Thoughts from anyone on these.

1. Would an iFI iPower of the appropriate voltage be better?

2. Any views on Cinnamon verses Pearl or anything else?

3. Some people use Cisco 2960 range switches. These are quite pricey. Is the point to isolate some of the noise from the hub? Would a better powersupply on the hub do as well? Would I have to put one on the NAS (Lenovo IX2 RAID 1 - 2 x 2GB).

4. Could absence of these mess up the Core whereas the UnitiServe SSD is not?

5. Is SSD better in the Core than HD?

Happy Christmas to Everyone

Phil

I use a Draytek mains powered 12 port switch which works vey well. I got this to complement my Draytek 2860 rooter which i use in place of an iSP provided device. Also suggested by my Naim dealer as he's no fan of ISP devices. It also solved the discovery issues I was experiencing and has been rock solid since I installed it in the summer.

I also use a linear power supply on the 2860. I used Forest before Cinnamon. I know others use Vodka to good effect but Cinnamon works well for me.

I didn't compare SSD with HDD but went with the former because I wanted the Core on my rack and didn't want a day drive whirring away 24/7. One magazine I think suggested a marginal presence for HDD.

Gazza posted:

Have a dc iPurifier on order, not here until the new year, will report back . Intend to try across the router, switch 1 , and then switch 2 which is nearest to the hifi?

 

My BT Hub5 is a couple of metres from the HiFi. It’s sited to be able to reach a wireless bridge that serves an upstairs PC and the other side of the house. Since reverting to the simple network Naim recommend I have absolutely no network issues. 

Phil

Thanks for suggestions. Might look on eBay as cheaper than river. Phil