ND555 Impressions

Bart posted:

hungryhalibut posted:

That makes sense: I just don’t like having CDs all over the place. I’ve got the 24 bit and it does sound excellent. 

Having cd's AND ripping them, to me, would be the worst of both worlds almost.  Reason no. 1 why I went to in-home streaming 7 years ago was to avoid cd clutter; I do not want them in racks in my room, or lying about after or while being played.

Majority of my CDs are stored in boxes upstairs in the utility room after I ripped them.  I keep some of the deluxe box sets downstairs if I want to look at them , read about them , show them etc.  The packaging of the deluxe version of The Beatles White Album is quite outstanding and I have enjoyed reading it and showing to a few close friends . I owned a lot of CDs before I got a Naim streamer (I owned several Naim CD players before)  so it makes sense to rip them. 

Clive B posted:

jsaudio posted:

Well after following this thread on the forum since inception,I just installed a 552 and ND555 in place of my 272/555PS. While the increase in overall SQ is significant,I imagine that it will gradually increase over time. Very happy so far although I must say that the law of diminishing returns is fully in play here when you consider the cost. The fully run in 272/555PS was really quite good. No regrets though. I do have some questions if I may,since Bert,Mango and Richieroo have a similar set-up and box counts and I believe rack set ups.

I have 2 Fraim stacks with 3 levels per side for now.

Left side.          Right side

552.                   552PS

ND555.            555PS

NAP 300          300PS

First, are these the optimal placements.

I am using Superlumina DIN/XLR mono pair and one of them while it reaches, is slightly pulled to one side. I think they are 1 meter which was the only offering here in the states at the time. Do you think this is a problem?

The NAP 300 Burndies are on the carpeted floor as you might imagine given that the 300 and 300PS are the lowest level.

Overall, cable dressing seems difficult. Not sure I know what I'm doing.

Lastly, the equipment racks are between and behind the Sopra 3s. Would be tough aesthetically to move to one side of the room. How important is this? Sopras are about 3.5 feet from front wall and about 4-5 feet from sides of rectangular room. 14 X 28 feet.

Sorry for all the questions and I hope this hasn't diverged too much from topic but this is a large investment in SQ and want to make sure its all optimized. The level of knowledge and experience with the participants in this thread is impressive.

thanks

 

In order to get the Burndies off the floor with no further investment in shelves, why not put the power supply for the top brains unit (currently the NAC552) on the bottom shelf and the power supply for the bottom brains unit (currently NAP300) on the top shelf? Assuming you haven't swapped the NAC552 and ND555 over yet, this would result in this set up:

Left side.          Right side

552.                   300PS

ND555.            555PS

NAP 300          552PS

OK, you would have crossing Burndies, but nothing on the floor. It's easy to try and won't cost a penny.

I sort of do that but the 552 had to be higher than the power amp ps or the system lost its mojo and sounded better with a 250 in place of the 500 head unit in the clean stack, something I discovered when the 500 went for DRing. You’d need an extra shelf on the left but the Burndys will mostly cross without touching as they don’t all stick out the same amount.

Richieroo posted:

What amazes me is that the ND555 is still managing to eek out more information from red book std data. I have not heard a 24bit version that has really blown me away..are there any suggestions....

That’s what I have experienced, the newer high res music sounds great, if they were recorded for that format. The red book majority of my collection, still sounds amazing. And as Richie has noted it eeks out the information, that was always eluding us.

Day 4: The ND555 is superb; better than the CDS-2 and, in some areas, better than the LP12.
It's quite amazing how you can listen to digital music without any listening fatigue and really enjoy.
I have never heard any digital source that comes even close to the ND555.
The ND555 also hints about some of the S1 pre characteristics - the silence and serenity that prevails. The atmosphere in the room that is very special.
The amount of details combined with the luxurious sound and the softness of the remarkable DAC is an amazing experience too. Bravo.

BP.

Hi all ND owners,put it on standby last night ,forgot to turn the volume down and got a loud crack,has anyone had the Sam?.bit worried!.

Bob, I never turn the volume down when putting into standby, never noticed any loud crack. If it’s still working, keep an eye or ear on it?

Hi Gazza,do you do it manually or by the remote?.

Hi Bob, I just press the button on the ND555 as I leave the room, I have to walk past it.....call me old fashioned.

Bob, not sure if it makes a difference but I am using the automation link between ND555 and 252 preamp?

Do you need the exercise Gazza?.

Gazza ,explain please!.

Bob, instead of picking up a separate remote for your preamp, with an automation link between ND555 and preamp.....you can control the volume from the ND555 app or its remote. A cheap jack plug cable from IR out on the ND555 to RC5 in, on the 252, does the trick. Allegedly it can affect SQ, but it’s jolly convenient.

I’ve got that Gazza,who told you about the SQ,my dealer didn’t.

Gazza posted:

Bob, instead of picking up a separate remote for your preamp, with an automation link between ND555 and preamp.....you can control the volume from the ND555 app or its remote. A cheap jack plug cable from IR out on the ND555 to RC5 in, on the 252, does the trick. Allegedly it can affect SQ, but it’s jolly convenient.

Surely Naim offer a SL version?!!

Nice one Timmo!.

Back in the days when Naim produced proper manuals, they pruduced this:

https://www.naimaudio.com/site...ystem_automation.pdf

Which explains how system automation works. The settings on the new streamers  may be a bit different, but you’ll get the idea. 

My dealer mentioned SQ, but I have never bothered to listen to the difference. Yes nice one Timmo, Naim are missing a trick.

I never liked useing the volume from the iPad Gazza,are you going to bother to see if there is a difference in SQ?, or aren’t you that bothered.

Not bothered, had it for a couple of months, sounds wonderful. Perhaps it’s my ears but I cannot really hear a difference with screen on or off? Talking with Mike from Naim at Audio show east....we should only enable those input/ outputs we really use as they will then be powered and reduce sound quality. Well that may be the case to Naim ears....but I cannot really swear that I can. However, I follow the logic, and only have the bare minimum that I need enabled in settings on my ND555. It also applies to the new Uniti range.

Gazza posted:

Not bothered, had it for a couple of months, sounds wonderful. Perhaps it’s my ears but I cannot really hear a difference with screen on or off? Talking with Mike from Naim at Audio show east....we should only enable those input/ outputs we really use as they will then be powered and reduce sound quality. Well that may be the case to Naim ears....but I cannot really swear that I can. However, I follow the logic, and only have the bare minimum that I need enabled in settings on my ND555. It also applies to the new Uniti range.

A renowned dealer once told me that the SQ was impaired by having more inputs plugged into the preamp. I can't convince myself that I hear that either. 

Bob green posted:

Hi all ND owners,put it on standby last night ,forgot to turn the volume down and got a loud crack,has anyone had the Sam?.bit worried!.

No, but then I very rarely bother to put it into standby. All I usually do is select pause and mute from the ND555 remote. Like Gazza I have system automation selected, which requires a cheap interconnect as he says.

BPhotographer posted:

Day 4: The ND555 is superb; better than the CDS-2 and, in some areas, better than the LP12.
It's quite amazing how you can listen to digital music without any listening fatigue and really enjoy.
I have never heard any digital source that comes even close to the ND555.
The ND555 also hints about some of the S1 pre characteristics - the silence and serenity that prevails. The atmosphere in the room that is very special.
The amount of details combined with the luxurious sound and the softness of the remarkable DAC is an amazing experience too. Bravo.

BP.

Looking forward to hear it

I have noted a background hiss during quiet time in the music especially older recordings, with the ND555/552 as compared to my previous 272/555PS. Is this due to better resolution overall?Or is there something I'm overlooking regarding settings etc.

Thanks

jsaudio posted:

I have noted a background hiss during quiet time in the music especially older recordings, with the ND555/552 as compared to my previous 272/555PS. Is this due to better resolution overall?Or is there something I'm overlooking regarding settings etc.

Thanks

Extracting more details.

BP.

The system automation link is not good for SQ - introduces dullness to timing and resolution to my ears and there is no way I'd use it just to allow me not to lift the other remote for the Pre volume. I need a little exercise now I'm not getting-up to load CDs in. 

DB.