ND555 Impressions

ULRIKL - Very nice setup, love the digital and analogue straddling the Statement.

Very neat and tidy and elegant, as opposed to endless boxes.

Interesting you rate a better streaming cable, just goes to show at all levels cables and tweaks are worth while.

So which do you prefer, NDS555 or LP12?

ULRIKL posted:

Enjoy the music!!

 

what a fantastic system!! and neat setup...

enjoy/ken

@DB Thanks for your input to the forums. You are my favorite poster. Have implemented some of you're recommendations .

Received my ND 555 some weeks ago.  As most is saying its a stunning streamer. Voices are amazing. Haven't had that much problem with run in.

The only downside so far is that the app is lagging (Apple). So it's several seconds behind. That never happened with the NDS. Hopefully this will be improved in future upgrades.

@ULRIKL lovely system. 

very nice... now where does one buy an N-sub nowadays????? I really want one.

Also impressed with the projector.... I just got myself an OLED 55 inch, but somehow for 1080P movies I found the picture quality not as I expected, it doesn't really out and out beat my Panasonic Plasma TV.

for the price of a 65 inch one can buy a top spec projector and enjoy a bigger picture....

And of course there is the Naim Statement,  .. It looks absolutely fantastic and I'm sure it sounds sublime. 

I think Chord are trying to get into the game with their statement competitor with their Ultima 90 K Pre/power monoblocs (30K GBP preamp, 30K for each mono bloc)....... but a Naim is a Naim, and a Chord amp, well, is a Chord amp. One would need to google the picture of their amp first before even having an audition to see if they could live with the unique looks.

it's very nice to see a statement in a domestic setting.... 

I'm off to buy myself a lottery ticket now (obviously, for the Statement).

Fabulous system!!!!! ..... what speakers are you driving??

As it says in the profile, Ovator 800.

hungryhalibut posted:

As it says in the profile, Ovator 800.

you read too quickly. The speakers are Magico M6 with Magico sub.  The room is probably 10m2????

About running in, I thought I was more or less at the end. However this evening at once I have much more low end body almost too much, not meaning that my bass was not there, but it’s very notaceable. Just played Santana’s first, in high res, wow 1st song. Also in Pink Floyd’s Meddle I have the feeling I have a step more....

Bert Schurink posted:

About running in, I thought I was more or less at the end. However this evening at once I have much more low end body almost too much, not meaning that my bass was not there, but it’s very notaceable. Just played Santana’s first, in high res, wow 1st song. Also in Pink Floyd’s Meddle I have the feeling I have a step more....

 

 

How many playing hours would you guess you have on your ND555 streamer, Bert ? 

musicfan51 posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

About running in, I thought I was more or less at the end. However this evening at once I have much more low end body almost too much, not meaning that my bass was not there, but it’s very notaceable. Just played Santana’s first, in high res, wow 1st song. Also in Pink Floyd’s Meddle I have the feeling I have a step more....

 

 

How many playing hours would you guess you have on your ND555 streamer, Bert ? 

Just had to seriously think about that question. I got back to the start of this post and saw that I got the beast on the 27th of July. That means that I am now in business for I belief 15 weeks. If I assume I play music for anywhere between 12/15 hours a week, perhaps sometimes 20 I should be close to or 160/200 hours or perhaps a bit over.... I haven’t done anything special like keep the music running for 24 hours like I did with my Walkman to get it ready. As very often 200 hours is indicated as a good run in number that might be the reason. I am currently listening to e.s.t. Live in London, it also is sounding magical...

Bert Schurink posted:

musicfan51 posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

About running in, I thought I was more or less at the end. However this evening at once I have much more low end body almost too much, not meaning that my bass was not there, but it’s very notaceable. Just played Santana’s first, in high res, wow 1st song. Also in Pink Floyd’s Meddle I have the feeling I have a step more....

 

 

How many playing hours would you guess you have on your ND555 streamer, Bert ? 

Just had to seriously think about that question. I got back to the start of this post and saw that I got the beast on the 27th of July. That means that I am now in business for I belief 15 weeks. If I assume I play music for anywhere between 12/15 hours a week, perhaps sometimes 20 I should be close to or 160/200 hours or perhaps a bit over.... I haven’t done anything special like keep the music running for 24 hours like I did with my Walkman to get it ready. As very often 200 hours is indicated as a good run in number that might be the reason. I am currently listening to e.s.t. Live in London, it also is sounding magical...

Yeah 200 hours it is still breaking in . 

Bert Schurink posted:

About running in, I thought I was more or less at the end. However this evening at once I have much more low end body almost too much, not meaning that my bass was not there, but it’s very noticeable. Just played Santana’s first, in high res, wow 1st song. Also in Pink Floyd’s Meddle I have the feeling I have a step more....

Increase of bass quality is one aspect of run-in on everything - equipment, speakers and cables I've noticed. Usually the top-end becomes more integrated and seamless with the mid-range and the bass becomes more weighty and better-defined as to the shape and textures in it.

Mine is still running-in but more now in week 6 it is enjoyable mostly with the occasional off-blip. Piano notes are especially well-rendered. I never expected this to be the defining instrument for me of the ND555 replay but it seems the combination of very linear-phase into the deep-bass, extended top-end and very low distortion allows this instrument to be there in the room in all its fullness. Almost like before it was folded-in on itself top and bottom-end, but now it is there.

Everything is better as has been said and I'm enjoying everything so much more. Bowed notes from Viola and Cello are full of texture and have an immediate rasp to the note-edge that is much more communicative.

Essentially the ND555 has opened a wider range of music to me that I can now better appreciate that before was masked and hidden and did not get past a masking-layer that is now removed.

All my usual music is also much better too, but it is these now previously not as well accessed by me areas of music that I find I'm playing more - because they now 'work' for me.

DB.

Hi everyone,Henry from Tom Tom audio has just installed mine,spent over five hours stripping down and cleaning,reinstalling all box’s,made sure everything working ok,wonderfull service,now just ticking over,keep you posted!.

Enjoy ????????????

analogmusic posted:

Also impressed with the projector.... I just got myself an OLED 55 inch, but somehow for 1080P movies I found the picture quality not as I expected, it doesn't really out and out beat my Panasonic Plasma TV.

for the price of a 65 inch one can buy a top spec projector and enjoy a bigger picture....

And of course there is the Naim Statement,  .. It looks absolutely fantastic and I'm sure it sounds sublime. 

I think Chord are trying to get into the game with their statement competitor with their Ultima 90 K Pre/power monoblocs (30K GBP preamp, 30K for each mono bloc)....... but a Naim is a Naim, and a Chord amp, well, is a Chord amp. One would need to google the picture of their amp first before even having an audition to see if they could live with the unique looks.

it's very nice to see a statement in a domestic setting.... 

I'm off to buy myself a lottery ticket now (obviously, for the Statement).

 

Not to digress...but have you turned off the 'fast frame rate' (HFR) feature? I have an LG OLED 55 and it's fantastic, but HFR has to be turned off otherwise it looks crazy artificial. It replaced a Samsung plasma and I still own a 65" Panasonic plasma as my 'other' TV which is fantastic too, but the OLED should not be disappointing.

Got the six CD set of The Beatles White Album today . Sound quality is very excellent on this newly remastered set. One issue has cropped on ripping the 6 CD set . Disc 4 through 6 ripped to UnitiCore all look the same . I went back and edited the metadata to distinguish them. But the last one ripped is the only one recognized .  Crazy . I ripped again and edited again . Same issue. The first three discs no issues . Esher demos are excellent by the way . But the discs labeled “sessions” can not be distinguished. Even when editing them. It just rips over the last one apparently. And only shows one disc. Anyway the sound quality of these discs sound incredible on the ND555.  If you are a Beatles fan it is a must have .   

Darke Bear posted:

A neat set-up - compared to mine!

Active with S1 Pre-NAP500 vs Full Statement Passive may steer toward a different preference in the 1 vs 2 supplies on ND555 perhaps, but it also comes down to personal preference and what you are used to, as when my Dealer first demoed the ND555 to me it was on the full Statement system and I still really preferred two supplies. As the ND555 runs-in it is a lot easier with one supply as two does clarify the frequency extremes which are not too nice at times while running-in.

As to the in-plugging stuff not being used while playing music - I'd be surprised if you did not hear that with this system. Some things are worse that others and no easy way to know other than un-plug each an listen. If you have not also tried it - turn-off any smart-TV on the same network as ND555 and to a lesser extent if you have a Sky STB - while listening to music. I think the smart TV keeps pinging everything network accessible to it to be its friend, but whatever is happening it all sound better when it is off. Some stuff, like my Computer being on, seems to make no real difference, but other network media players seem to.

Great pictures with no dust.

DB.

Very Neat...thank you, pretty similar to your system.

I will try 2 555PS again later on.

I used 2 on my NDS and preffered it. I also preffered it on my CD555....

I will also unplug the smart TV in the room next door and see what it does. Thank you for the tip!

I have a lot of LED lamps and they also affect the sound to the worse, but when itś dark, sometimes you have to make some sacrifises

No flash=no dust!! (and of course some cleaning when the ND555 came in)

Obsydian posted:

ULRIKL - Very nice setup, love the digital and analogue straddling the Statement.

Very neat and tidy and elegant, as opposed to endless boxes.

Interesting you rate a better streaming cable, just goes to show at all levels cables and tweaks are worth while.

So which do you prefer, NDS555 or LP12?

Thank you!

I tried different streaming cables in my own setup, not on shows, just to clarify.

I try not to compare LP vs digital so much, but I can say that some music I only play at the LP-12...But both have their advantages. 

I feared I would somewhere read the confirmation of what I already feared......, so I guess I will also need to put it on my list of things to buy.

Some have been said about streaming cables, that the ND 555 is not as sensitive for the quality of streaming cables as for example the NDS. I tested some different, from a cheap standard computer cable up to Chord Music and I found the Chord Music to be absolutely stunning in my setup. More separation between the musicians, easier to follow different instruments, more fun! Conclusion: In my system, for me, the streaming cable make a big difference.

Just hope I can get some kind of good deal for it..., after of course exploring it in my own setup.....

Bert Schurink posted:

I feared I would somewhere read the confirmation of what I already feared......, so I guess I will also need to put it on my list of things to buy.

Some have been said about streaming cables, that the ND 555 is not as sensitive for the quality of streaming cables as for example the NDS. I tested some different, from a cheap standard computer cable up to Chord Music and I found the Chord Music to be absolutely stunning in my setup. More separation between the musicians, easier to follow different instruments, more fun! Conclusion: In my system, for me, the streaming cable make a big difference.

 

Just hope I can get some kind of good deal for it..., after of course exploring it in my own setup.....

Hi Bert,

Have you tried WiFi versus cable connection?

I wonder if a good, well configured, WiFi access point wouldn't give even better results.

Worth a try I guess.

TomSer posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

I feared I would somewhere read the confirmation of what I already feared......, so I guess I will also need to put it on my list of things to buy.

Some have been said about streaming cables, that the ND 555 is not as sensitive for the quality of streaming cables as for example the NDS. I tested some different, from a cheap standard computer cable up to Chord Music and I found the Chord Music to be absolutely stunning in my setup. More separation between the musicians, easier to follow different instruments, more fun! Conclusion: In my system, for me, the streaming cable make a big difference.

 

Just hope I can get some kind of good deal for it..., after of course exploring it in my own setup.....

Hi Bert,

Have you tried WiFi versus cable connection?

I wonder if a good, well configured, WiFi access point wouldn't give even better results.

Worth a try I guess.

The WiFi is in a way shielded from my setup through the Melco. So I am talking about the Melco to ND555 connect. In my original setup when I moved up from good standard cable to Audioquest Vodka I also heard a great I,provement. In an earlier test I heard the difference with a Chord Music and was blown away by the difference. And I have by the way as well a separated music network, so I think also that should bring me closer to ideal conditions .

musicfan51 posted:

Got the six CD set of The Beatles White Album today . Sound quality is very excellent on this newly remastered set. One issue has cropped on ripping the 6 CD set . Disc 4 through 6 ripped to UnitiCore all look the same . I went back and edited the metadata to distinguish them. But the last one ripped is the only one recognized .  Crazy . I ripped again and edited again . Same issue. The first three discs no issues . Esher demos are excellent by the way . But the discs labeled “sessions” can not be distinguished. Even when editing them. It just rips over the last one apparently. And only shows one disc. Anyway the sound quality of these discs sound incredible on the ND555.  If you are a Beatles fan it is a must have .   

I thought this Core is due was being or had been dealt with. Perhaps if you repost on the Core threads David Hendon can advise.

Chaps,

i reported in another thread a couple of weeks ago as to how impressed I was with FM on the HK system in my new car. 

I went out today put R3 on and it sounded awful - harsh and unforgiving. I had to turn it off.    Reasons?  I sense my mindset was different today and I was hearing things differently.  

Again I’m not saying burn in doesn’t happen, it does, but don’t underestimate how your own responses impact. 

Regards,

Lindsay

Gazza posted:

musicfan51 posted:

Got the six CD set of The Beatles White Album today . Sound quality is very excellent on this newly remastered set. One issue has cropped on ripping the 6 CD set . Disc 4 through 6 ripped to UnitiCore all look the same . I went back and edited the metadata to distinguish them. But the last one ripped is the only one recognized .  Crazy . I ripped again and edited again . Same issue. The first three discs no issues . Esher demos are excellent by the way . But the discs labeled “sessions” can not be distinguished. Even when editing them. It just rips over the last one apparently. And only shows one disc. Anyway the sound quality of these discs sound incredible on the ND555.  If you are a Beatles fan it is a must have .   

I thought this Core is due was being or had been dealt with. Perhaps if you repost on the Core threads David Hendon can advise.

Love to know why the UnitiCore is doing that . Guess I need to repost this like you suggest , on the Core threads . It has been a fun afternoon listening to the remastered White Album . The Esher demos are fascinating. Too bad those extra sessions can not be distinguished!