ND555 Impressions

I'm still listening to CDs a lot. I'm just not playing them on a CDP.

MDS posted:

Darke Bear posted:

MDS posted:

cycling66 posted:

... By the way, I have never heard my CDs sound so good as they do through ND 555. Is anyone trying a CD555 with the ND 555?

There's some very interesting posts by Darke Bear earlier in this thread where he does exactly that.    

The CD555 and ND555 do compare - meaning I did not find the ND555 'blew it away', but I think it was significantly stronger in certain areas of music rendition over the CD555 - and the CD555 was in certain areas a little better than the ND555. Some people don't want to hear this as it is easier to jump fully into a new thing and rubbish the alternative, but it is not what I heard.

But overall the ND555 is better, I think, than the CD555 so I've placed my order. The ND555 handles frequency extremes differently and better, giving an more open window at the HF with a greater feeling of openness - and in the LF end it is more seamlessly smooth in extension and the note-definition, clarity of articulation and presentation of the note-harmonics on the fundamental notes is quite beautifully rendered. This gives a greater impression of dynamic freedom in the overall presentation that melds well into an Active system capabilities - I said before it seemed to fit like a glove.

The mid-band from both is just slightly different and my well run-in CD555 seems a bit more immediate and 'together' and focused. But the ND555 just handles this portrayal differently in that it was more fluid and seems to carry the same information but putting a different emphasis into the presentation - which is correct? - they both offer something musically excellent.

For example, certain vocalists like for example Susan Vega on her first two Albums uses timing of exactly when she says something or holds a note to convey captivating information that you realise when it is present - and when it is not. Both ND555 and CD555 present this sort of information but differently - with the CD555 it is as if you are drawn into the song - the ND555 puts the song into the room and around you in a fluid real way; they both achieve the right musical result for me.

But I think the ND555 does enough overlap in mid-band strengths and is better elsewhere to be well worth the outlay to make the transition - for me.

Two 555PS was essential for both CS555 and ND555 for me. In an Active system, once you are used to what it allows you to get used to hearing, it is not a small improvement. In a Passive system it may be - in a Passive Statement system (not mine) it was easy-obviously far better with two supplies. I run hybrid S1 Pre - 3x 500 Active and it really likes the two 555DR supplies.

DB.

As a new owner of a pre-loved loved CD555, your assessment is very reassuring, DB. Thank you.

Mike 

Hi I am always staggered at how much information is on red book CD. Each upgrade I have made seems to being out yet more information. The CD555 will be epic especially with dual 555 Dr power supplies.

The ND555 reviews are extremely positive....have been reading this thread with interest as an NDS owner...

thought I would check out the Naim audio website for more info as I have been otherwise distracted of late..

So looked at 'products', 500 series, read about the ND555...does look very interesting...

Had a look at the 552 info as well, (as I just got one)...clicked on 'view 500 series range' ….up came the CD555    ???????

also looked at 'suggested systems'...up came the NDS   ??????

Maybe some of us don't need to upgrade to an ND555 after all   (:-) ...phew...

Have a great evening

With regards to the side discussion on the CD555. I am happy to see that some people can pick up a pre-loved CD555, and great to see it still somehow close with the ND555 on cd quality. But I think what a lot forget in the discussion is the additional benefits of the ND555. It’s on the one side the high res stuff. And nowadays I would say that 80 to 90 percent of the new stuff is on high res (at least what I buy), and it’s quite often a significant step up from cd quality. And then think about usability. I still remember the mess with the pile of cd’s when a friend came over for listening, now everything is at my fingertips, even including music I don’t own via Tidal.

So I think more people will switch religion going forward...

It's come a long way comparatively quickly. Although one fundamental hasn't changed from my perspective. The sound quality came first and foremost. Once that milestone had been reached it didn't take long for me to become so immersed in the additional convenience features, plus the performance of some HiRes recordings, that going back was unthinkable. But it had to sound right first. It appears that at long last, we have a proper 500 level source to make migration from CD playback a reality for a new cohort of audiophiles. The next generation of converts, if you will. 

I didn't abandon CD playback for a year. Or at least, I didn't abandon the possibility. But when the CDP had gained 25% additional weight in dust I knew it needed a new home.

Hi Bert....has the ND555 bedded in any more since switch on...... my NDS improved over a three/four week period..... 

Bert Schurink posted:

With regards to the side discussion on the CD555. I am happy to see that some people can pick up a pre-loved CD555, and great to see it still somehow close with the ND555 on cd quality. But I think what a lot forget in the discussion is the additional benefits of the ND555. It’s on the one side the high res stuff. And nowadays I would say that 80 to 90 percent of the new stuff is on high res (at least what I buy), and it’s quite often a significant step up from cd quality. And then think about usability. I still remember the mess with the pile of cd’s when a friend came over for listening, now everything is at my fingertips, even including music I don’t own via Tidal.

So I think more people will switch religion going forward...

Hi Bert,

I agree with you .....but, i can fully appreciate the viewpoint of the CD555 advocates. Computer Audio is more complex and vulnerable to outside factors. The Naim route is well defined, my route is rather more Heath Robinson, and therefore prone to even more vagaries. There is a delightful attraction to a simpler system where the only factors to worry about are the moving parts, the cables and the power. All that said, I am getting the best SQ I have ever had with the bonus of being able to access a HUGE amount of readily available music, I am sticking with the future.

M

It amuses me when it is thought CD is simpler .... from a technical view point it is not. CD only has the advantage that it is all squeezed into one place....simple it is not.... I am not saying the ND555 is a panacea the digital signal is very delicate.....compared to vinyl we are very early into the technology...but I believe some significant steps have been made....

.

A CDP is very simple and convenient to operate compared to my old RP3. The ritual around handling, treating and playing LPs is not something I miss at all. Or the constant fear and avoidance of damaging the medium or the playback gubbins. Notwithstanding that CDs are anything but impossible to damage to the detriment of sound quality (quite the opposite in fact), they are easier to handle and not damage. And the ability to pause, restart, skip and play randomly was a huge step forward in convenience and enjoyment. In 1983. 

Streaming technology, which predates laser disk technology, and by the look of it will post date it significantly, moved the whole ease and convenience game on some time ago. But we each remain free to chose our media and playback methods. This is a good thing. Networks are not difficult. I'd rather restart a router than reset a VTA or come back to a missing counterweight or bent stylus after inquisitive little (and sometimes big) fingers had mucked it all up. Like TTs and CDPs, a good dealer will set a stemware up and make sure it works. And if your server stops serving, Phil can remotely log in and fix it. Try that with an Aro. Or a CDP which has gone on the fritz.

I agree that putting a disc in and hitting play has its charm .... but what is going on inside the device is just as complex..if not more . CD's are delicate but are easier than vinyl....also CD's silvering can deteriorate.... having said all that I really rate CD and fully endorse those who chose to buy a pre loved cd555 .... which has to be an audiophile bargain.

And we all know that CD delivers perfect sound forever.

At least that's what the advertising campaign said in 1983-4.

Richieroo posted:

It amuses me when it is thought CD is simpler .... from a technical view point it is not. CD only has the advantage that it is all squeezed into one place....simple it is not.... I am not saying the ND555 is a panacea the digital signal is very delicate.....compared to vinyl we are very early into the technology...but I believe some significant steps have been made....

I think this perception that digital audio technology being young and very much immature compared to vinyl is a bit of an urban legend.... PCM audio started in the 1930s... long before vinyl was even invented... 78 records at that time were made from shellac.

Perhaps what is fair to say the rate of development in digital audio replay continues to outpace the development of record groove replay technology and as such has become ubiquitous.

I remember that idiotic demonstration on TV where they put butter and marmalade onto the label side of ABACAB - and it played! 

I wonder what would have happened if they'd buttered the playing surface?

After 5 days with the ND555 I slotted the NDS back in today. This is the acid test for me, as this tends to highlight the differences to me more clearly than slotting in the “better” player. My take away is that the ND555 brings more weight, more and tighter bass extension, more realism (especially piano), more slam on that kind of music, and a more open presentation without adding any harshness. Basically better across the board.

The NDS is by no means disgraced, and so when the ND555 arrives the NDS will be retained to provide streaming alongside my trusty Olive CDX2 in the 2nd system.

Interestingly my dealer talks about the ND555 as the first naim source that gets close to the fabled CD555...

I suppose that depends on how far apart they are on the rack.

Mr Underhill posted:

. . .

There is a delightful attraction to a simpler system where the only factors to worry about are the moving parts, the cables and the power.

. . . 

Eliminating the "moving parts" made sense to me.  At first go it was down to just a spinning hdd in my server.  My latest little server box has a ssd and no fan.  I think I'm finally down to ZERO moving parts (although the nas that was my server in the past is still my backup device and it has its hdd's.)

Just remember that allot of digital material is from CD!!! The other issue with streaming is origin of source ..... allot of hi res is dodgy ..... 

Richieroo posted:

Just remember that allot of digital material is from CD!!! The other issue with streaming is origin of source ..... allot of hi res is dodgy ..... 

Hi-Res format is different from Hi-Res musical end-result. If all else were equal, then the Hi-Res formatted material (high bit-rate and sample-rate) music would be better. The problem with a lot of types of music it isn't. This is not the 'Hi-Def format' fault, but 'rubbish-in - rubbish out' even when polished is still high-def presentation of awful Re-Mastering botches for low-quality replay devices in a lot of cases.

The exception is Classical and Jazz material which I think gets totally destroyed when treated to the abuse more popular music has regularly done to it these days. I had access to a large library of hi-def music that was musically far worse by a long way, not just slightly, than the ripped-CD (early releases).

I'm still awaiting my ND555 to turn-up and busy ripping my CD collection as I write this, so not against Streaming - now - but just sounding a warning not to presume a Hi-def version will automatically be better.

Marketing people will be tearing their hair out at this concept that 'new replacement' is not better - just do it and spend the money - but there is a reason I go to efforts to obtain early releases of favorite Artist works; they are musically better and in HiFi terms also better. For Classical and Jazz it is not a problem, but I've not yet found a Hi-Def remaster, even via the ND555, sound better than the first digital release. Some were almost-ok and most a lot worse - you get to hear a mess of post-processing mush with inter-weaving a-musical cross-harmonics into a compressed mess of a sound - branded as Hi-Def - so beware!

DB.

DB I thought the signals batch would make it this week. With the stormy weather and the bridge, perhaps less likely????

robbo posted:

After 5 days with the ND555 I slotted the NDS back in today. This is the acid test for me, as this tends to highlight the differences to me more clearly than slotting in the “better” player. My take away is that the ND555 brings more weight, more and tighter bass extension, more realism (especially piano), more slam on that kind of music, and a more open presentation without adding any harshness. Basically better across the board.

The NDS is by no means disgraced, and so when the ND555 arrives the NDS will be retained to provide streaming alongside my trusty Olive CDX2 in the 2nd system.

Interestingly my dealer talks about the ND555 as the first naim source that gets close to the fabled CD555...

 

 

 

In my view, the NDS exceeded the CD555 on certain 24bit material, which of course the CD555 couldn’t play. The ND555 exceeds the CD555 on all material, in my view. And it’s not ‘fabled’ for me; I have owned all three, with 2*555ps (albeit now *DR) and I believe we are at the best Naim source, so far. A great achievement.

I can't wait to get mine .... it's due in a few weeks....

I thought I could wait.....can,t wait. Really silly I know????

Gazza posted:

I thought I could wait.....can,t wait. Really silly I know????

Having heard the ND555, it is a big improvement over the NDS, more musical more exciting to listen to, so being a a tad impatient to get yours is a totally understandable! 

As i sit here in the dark listening to “Beyond The Missouri Sky”, I scarcely want to breath so as to soak up every note. It really is that good. The music is wonderful and really breathes almost at a slower pace without losing time. Bravo ND555!

No matter what your preference, CD player, streamer or vinyl how lucky are we all that through Naim we get to really emotionally connect with the music. What a treat.

No commission was earnt by Dusty during the making of this post!!!!!!!!!

Dustysox posted:

As i sit here in the dark listening to “Beyond The Missouri Sky”, I scarcely want to breath so as to soak up every note. It really is that good. The music is wonderful and really breathes almost at a slower pace without losing time. Bravo ND555!

No matter what your preference, CD player, streamer or vinyl how lucky are we all that through Naim we get to really emotionally connect with the music. What a treat.

No commission was earnt by Dusty during the making of this post!!!!!!!!!

 

You're forgiven for the enthusiasm you show towards that album. It's totally understandable.