ND555 Impressions
Posted by: Bert Schurink on 26 July 2018
The Beast will arrive and will be installed tomorrow morning in my system. So I thought it was a good moment to open up a thread with the fist experiences, also giving others the possibility to share their first impressions with the beast.
I feeel a bit like a little child who has his birthday tomorrow. I assume that even while it will be nice weather during the weekend that I will be a spending a lot of hours with my system.
And as expected my car will not arrive before the ND555.
DrPo posted:Darke Bear posted:I'm very positive about the ND555-Melco combination.
Control can be solved one way or another is my thinking. It works ok-ish but could be a lot nicer user-interface experience is what I've found.
But for me I'm going from CD replay to Streaming for the first time so I'm hitting head-on what many have already solved for themselves long ago. I've been strongly recommended Roon by another Forum member I know, who has just taken the plunge from NDS to ND555 so there is another possible way ahead.
I can also initiate and control from the Twonky server interface directly and it works reasonably well and is stable. I also prefer so far the Twonky presentation over the Minim one. I listened again to Minim and Twonky does more - like being able to tell what region of UK a singer is from that is not obvious via Minim.
DB.
DB, I cannot argue about SQ between minim and twonky.
BUT: in terms of metadata robustness and flexibility there is no contest. I was always having artwork issues with twonky - none with minim.
Also minim allows to configure it so as it navigate with any kind of obscure tags -including your own tags-.
You can dynamically add “information” to what is being displayed without having this stored in the database: for example I add the “composer” I formation to each track, quite useful on albums with non unique composer.
It takes some effort to learn how to use these options but it’s an one-off investment of time (and patience).
My only complains about minim is that it doesn’t automatically rescan once new content is added (twonky does it) and it doesn’t allow to have artwork for tags like artist, genre etc (an area where Asset is great)...
I agree that Minim has all the advantages you say.
But SQ is top for me and it was (in my system) not a small difference easy overlooked. I preferred the Twonky over Minim enough that it is not possible to forgive it what it was not achieving musically that the Twonky was doing - why I've no idea and that is the honest answer.
I have my system back to 'normal' mode with the CD555 doing duties again after chilling for a few days while I had the home demo of the ND555-Melco combo. I really liked that combo, but it was not instant awful playing music from the CD555 again after its few days of rest. There was a reason I purchased the CD555 and went to some effort to install it in a way that lets it really perform musically and it still does. The trade-in for it is presently not great, so the temptation is to keep it.
The ND555 was a different musical experience and did a lot of things better than the CD555 - did it do anything worse? Well I can't really say it did, so it wins-out in terms of seamless clarity and an almost holographic presentation of the music, but with excellent timing and the deep-bass a bit better handled over what the CD555 does, but the latter is not exactly poor here either, just that the ND555 is better in a neutral way that opens-up that area a bit more.
But I still really like my CD555 music presentation and it is not exactly a feeling of missing out not having my own ND555 installed immediately.
At some point I will like to get the ND555 as I really like what it does and that may happen soon or in a few months or a year as funds allow.
But for ND555 operation you can hone the presentation to taste in ways over and above those that the CD555 required, in mys system for me, in terms of its own table support and care in cable-runs.
The Network Server hosting the music, software engine in-charge of the management of that to the ND555 and associated network switches, cables as well as other network traffic sharing the home LAN all have their small or medium and sometimes large impact on end-results.
From where I am I know what to do to get the ND555 to perform in a way in my system that musically delivers what I need without the feeling of undue compromise having to be made, so it will happen at some point for me sooner or later.
DB.
Michael,
I demoed what was delivered by my Dealer and with the features they allowed me to play with - mainly those on the Melco, which I did and found many little improvements to be had and one which was meant to sound better but actually sounded worse - the latter was turning-off the network interface - it liked being on not off. I try all things with the initial mind-set of what I expect or was told is best, then see how things varied from that in practice.
Another friend visited who runs Minim and was certainly not wanting to hear anything wrong with it said it made things sound, to him, a bit 'glassy' and less detailed - he preferred the Twonky and was last seen heading of to get one installed to play with.
The Minim and Twonky were sitting side by side on the same Melco music server and I had option to try both. Initially I had to use the Twonky as the Minim would not work right until I had an Internet connection to the outside world, which in my house a few weeks ago had failed (now fixed) and it was the Twonky that worked OK and Minim that would not see any new albums entered and at times seemed to go into a sulk-loop of not being happy. While that was happening the Twonky just worked so I used it as there was nothing else - and I found I also preferred its presentation.
Forward to my most recent demo with totally new Internet from new ISP - new Router and the Minim was happy and functioned operationally fine, as did the Twonky. I switched between the two and on everything I prefer the Twonky by a fair margin - like comparing a high-grade MM Cartridge against a mid-quality MC Cartridge is sound terms is nearest analogy. The Minim is nicer and more pleasant - but the Twonky delivers the music more honestly - even the Dealer commented that the Bass was better.
Now it may be possible that removing Twonky makes Minim happy and it then is excellent - but that was not sold to me as being really needed. On that logic the same could be said for the Twonky. If these Servers are competently designed software systems (I used to design and build servers) then they should each load their own process and work within it and will only interact if they share any IP ports once they get onto the Melco network interface. Why such systems need different Ports - always worth checking. Also you will have the inherent 'noise' that running any process generates that accesses a CPU in a machine.
All things are possible but so far I unexpectedly prefer the Twonky over everyone having a leaning, for many great reasons, the other way. The Twonky gave me the cleanest most neutral sound and was otherwise in every way better in my system. It also has a very nice built-in UI Web page it published on port 9050 that allowed me more access and control - great when the Naim App was off 'finding rooms' and otherwise unavailable, I could play music that way - and then the Naim App could wake-up and take over later.
...as it presently stands it is academic for me as I may be pushing all these things down the queue for later.
My aim is not to offend anyone by saying something they don't want to hear but just tell it as I hear it. Minim is not poor and is in its own way excellent, but I preferred the Twonky - that is it. 
It is not as if it is impossible for people to try it for themselves - not the most expensive system component.
DB.
Please realize I'm not saying Minim is poor! In the comparison or two two I preferred one over the other for my own reasons. Another may find the Twonky 'thin' and prefer the warmer presentation (in my system) of the Minim. Why they even sound different at all was something a few months ago I'd not even thought to consider, but it is present and repeatedly demonstrable and audible to different people - but personal preference may enter into it too.
I was asked what I prefer and was trying to suggest there are differences beyond just UI features and that people can perhaps investigate for themselves what they like.
The alternative view that is sure to at some point show-up is that it is all in my imagination and somehow others people's simultaneously and that careful measurement will prove I'm wrong - wrong I tell you!!! 
But it is not an expensive thing to determine and find you like what you have and that Mr DB is quite wrong and out of his mind - or whatever heals the psychic-rift.
I've never understood why people can't just listen and decide what they like and not be bothered if someone else prefers something else. A friend really likes C&W music and my overlap on that is small - one of us must be wrong? No just preference.
I'm playing music on my CD555 and found myself smiling and enjoying the music - life goes on and the ND555 will someday be there doing its amazing stuff too, but in meantime it is not as if I suddenly realized I was living a lie and only imagined I enjoyed music on anything else before .
If you are using something that makes you smile and enjoy music - for you - then it is right and it doe't matter what anyone else says or thinks.
DB.