ND555 Impressions

I think that was the essence of the presentation in your eloquent technical way Simon. As for the staying quiet I think to be fair to Naim the launch ends when the ND5XS2 is public. Some of this technology in terms of buffering is already in the new Uniti range, but taken further.

My wife is very close to saying yes on purchase of Naim ND555. She just wants to be reassured we can sell the NDS for a decent price and that ND555 is a noticeably better sounding .  

I think the latter is almost a given, the former is the difficult one. I guess it’s the package you can negotiate, best of luck. I dropped in to my dealer last week on our way for a short break and without asking we listened to the ND555, to our musical tastes. My wife and myself chatted over the break and decided that depending on how the NDX2 compares, we will go ahead with a ND555, and I also need a preamp 252/supercap.

musicfan51 posted:

My wife is very close to saying yes on purchase of Naim ND555. She just wants to be reassured we can sell the NDS for a decent price and that ND555 is a noticeably better sounding .  

Seems very reasonable to me and, to tell you the truth, I would not have any hurry in replacing an NDS with a ND555. Just my two cents, of course!

Darke Bear posted:

musicfan51 posted:

Darke Bear posted:

Yes - it has to or it won't work!

Naim could have you buy them separately. Just making sure there are no hidden costs !  

If I decide to trade-in my CD555 (still a decision ahead) then I'll probably retain the old burned-in leads as I'm using these now and they sound great and donate the new ND555 ones onward with the CD555. Unless of course I try them and they are better!

Yes you get all needed leads to make the ND555 or CD555 work.

DB.

I retained my old leads not just because they were burned-in, but also because they would be much easier to connect, being already bent to the correct attitude. Didn’t have to watch Dealer sweating to make them fit!

Gazza posted:

I think the latter is almost a given, the former is the difficult one. I guess it’s the package you can negotiate, best of luck. I dropped in to my dealer last week on our way for a short break and without asking we listened to the ND555, to our musical tastes. My wife and myself chatted over the break and decided that depending on how the NDX2 compares, we will go ahead with a ND555, and I also need a preamp 252/supercap.

It seems to be common wisdom that the new ND555 compares very favourably to the NDS and that the NDS roughly compares to tha Naim DAC. I am actually quite happy with a Naim DAC and I am not very obsessed with sound quality. Thus, to me, the interesting question is how the NDX2 will compare to the Naim DAC. The NDX2 has of course ethernet inputs. The old nDAC has plenty of S/PDIF inputs but no usable USB inputs and no ethernet inputs. We will see ...   

Dave J posted:

Darke Bear posted:

I'm here - just been demoing the top Melco (SSD) vs the next one down (Normal Drives).

Got Minim Server going and did Twonky vs Minim too.

In short - differences and preferences rather than the 'all better or worse' that many may want as definitive answers. This is all personal subjective anyway.

In my system it is going down to what dives the most open dynamic rendering with best bass quality - that appears to be middle Melco and Twonky Server for me.

The SSD Melso does do some things a lot better and if I get it to equal the next one down in Bass quality then I'd like a lot of what it does - more refined in HF and aspects of mid-band. But for raw unrestrained energy and bass resolution I'm presently preferring the middle Melco model - and since it is a lot less expensive that also helps, as I want the top one to do all the middle one does and then add its extra qualities. To be fair in many systems you may not really hear it the same.

Same with the Minim Server - I like how it handles mid-band but it sounds a bit flat compared to Twonky and the latter has obviously better deep bass that is hard to give-up.

So I'm continuing along my path and slowing getting to a focus that works for me - I think.

The Melco solution does work very well - once you use a rubbish cheap Ethernet with it!

DB.

 

 

I'm still using one of the earlier Melco NA1's and have found that it benefits enormously from an improved mains lead (in my case I've settled on a Sarum T, which, had I not tried it, would have appeared overkill) and replacing the Fraim glass beneath it with a Sonority shelf. This retains and enhances the energy and bass quality you refer to, but also adds expression and delicacy. Definitely worth experimenting.

Same here, Sarum PL is a worthwhile investment, Sonority shelve also. Wouldn’t use Melco at all with the pl that it comes with. 

//Jonas

David O'Higgins posted:

Darke Bear posted:

musicfan51 posted:

Darke Bear posted:

Yes - it has to or it won't work!

Naim could have you buy them separately. Just making sure there are no hidden costs !  

If I decide to trade-in my CD555 (still a decision ahead) then I'll probably retain the old burned-in leads as I'm using these now and they sound great and donate the new ND555 ones onward with the CD555. Unless of course I try them and they are better!

Yes you get all needed leads to make the ND555 or CD555 work.

DB.

I retained my old leads not just because they were burned-in, but also because they would be much easier to connect, being already bent to the correct attitude. Didn’t have to watch Dealer sweating to make them fit!

Makes a lot of sense to me! 

Gazza posted:

I think the latter is almost a given, the former is the difficult one. I guess it’s the package you can negotiate, best of luck. I dropped in to my dealer last week on our way for a short break and without asking we listened to the ND555, to our musical tastes. My wife and myself chatted over the break and decided that depending on how the NDX2 compares, we will go ahead with a ND555, and I also need a preamp 252/supercap.

Re-sale price is a not really set yet ! If I buy the ND555 , I plan to price it at $6500 USA dollars? Half price of retail when I bought it. Bought it early 2015. Seems a fair price and it a $1000 under a New NDX2.  Review that I saw the ,reviewer liked NDS a bit more than NDX2 saying it had a bigger boogie sound to it . Anyway I will have to reassure her that there is a market out there for it. It is a great streamer.

Do you think burn in for the ND555 to when it sounds its very best , is about a full month?

Now, back to listening etc. I’ve noticed that Roon is much more stable than it was using NDS and squeezebox emulation (or whatever it was) and I’m right now listening to Elton John Honky Chateau which is from my first year in university, in 1972. This version is in DSD64 and it is simply superb.

The ND555 awakens a crazy desire to listen to the whole of your music collection again in the shortest possible time. As this, of course, is impossible with about 2500 albums, it is ultimately going to teach me to be patient, which in itself is worth the price. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters up next, very appropriately........

musicfan51 posted:

My wife is very close to saying yes on purchase of Naim ND555. She just wants to be reassured we can sell the NDS for a decent price and that ND555 is a noticeably better sounding .  

You could always take the wife to Vegas. Get her one of those nice 10k electronic face rejuvenating masks and another 10k on face creams.

But she would still sound the same????

I am fine with the way she looks. And she is one smart lady . She just was not expecting a $20K stereo purchase in 2018.  It is not a modest purchase !

As much as this purchase is in the UK it is much more here . 

I know it’s a real ask.....I lived in the states many moons ago. My neighbour was blown away by my Naim CDS/282/Hucsp, active NAP250 into SBL,s, until he heard the cost. He preferred his parcel of land up northern Michigan, snowmobiles, boat, jet ski etc etc. Different land with perhaps more options on how to spend the hard earned cash than we have in the U.K.

It is a large purchase . I can take that money and trade in my wives car and get a very nice $35,000-$40,000 automobile.  So yeah getting has to be measured. But I enjoy music quite a bit and she knows that . It is my main hobby . 

Gazza posted:

I know it’s a real ask.....I lived in the states many moons ago. My neighbour was blown away by my Naim CDS/282/Hucsp, active NAP250 into SBL,s, until he heard the cost. He preferred his parcel of land up northern Michigan, snowmobiles, boat, jet ski etc etc. Different land with perhaps more options on how to spend the hard earned cash than we have in the U.K.

You have a nice system Gazza ! 

musicfan51 posted:

As much as this purchase is in the UK it is much more here . 

12,999 Pound sterling equals

16,506.66 United States Dollar

Aug 15, 10:02

 

We pay $20,000 here . So you get a much better price in UK. 

That’s no reason to deprive yourself! Life is short, and the only question is whether you can afford it, taking all your obligations (as you may see them), into account.

David O'Higgins posted:

musicfan51 posted:

As much as this purchase is in the UK it is much more here . 

12,999 Pound sterling equals

16,506.66 United States Dollar

Aug 15, 10:02

 

We pay $20,000 here . So you get a much better price in UK. 

That’s no reason to deprive yourself! Life is short, and the only question is whether you can afford it, taking all your obligations (as you may see them), into account.

Completely agree. And that is why I want to get one and I my argument for getting one to my wife ! But a major purchase like that has to be discussed .  Like what repairs on house or other expenses coming up ! 

David O'Higgins - do you hear and difference in playback between Roon and "native" playback with the Naim app ?

I am very keen to find out if Roon playback via ND555 is as good as std streaming......this is one big issue I have with NDS.

Anyone tried the ND555 trough a Nait 2 already? Not trying to be funny here, just curious how the ND555 sounds in a 'lesser' system.

About the same as an LP12 through Nait 2

musicfan51 posted:

Gazza posted:

I know it’s a real ask.....I lived in the states many moons ago. My neighbour was blown away by my Naim CDS/282/Hucsp, active NAP250 into SBL,s, until he heard the cost. He preferred his parcel of land up northern Michigan, snowmobiles, boat, jet ski etc etc. Different land with perhaps more options on how to spend the hard earned cash than we have in the U.K.

You have a nice system Gazza ! 

That was my old system......now on Nova, nap 300, PMC 25.26.....thinking of moving to nd555 and 252.