XPS - opinions please. Is it better on CDX2 or NDAC?

Well you are very much into the land of subjectivity since the CDX2 and the NDAC use the same DAC chips and similar analogue stages (indeed similar to the nD555 too). For me the beaty of the CDX2 is it’s combination of the renown Pacific Microsonics (HD)CD DSP, it’s PCM1704K implementations and it’s analogue stages... I believe that its distinctive, unique and mouth wateringly good way of rendering CDs into top end NACs is world class..  I would focus on that...

i found my  NDAC really needed a PS555 to sound clearly at its best... but even then quite  different from the CDX2

I could be wrong, but doesn’t the Ndac (and other Naims HiEND players) have a discrete output stage while the CDX2 has an OP AMP based output stage.

MIke.

I can believe you prefer the CDX2 player more than the NDAC, I and other preferred the CDS2 to the nDAC by a large margin. Having said that, I don’t think you’ve given the NdaC much of a chance with your choice of poor quality front ends. (TV, DAB and DVD player).

Fatcat, yes the CDX2 uses discrete opamps and through hole componenrety for its outsput stages whilst the NDAC uses discrete transistor stages and through hole componentry for its output stages.

thanks all for above thoughts,

I seem to have reached a point for refined decisions !!

Fatcat and Simon, you mention output stages on the CDX2 and NDac - yes there are  Analogue outs for both. The 282 has only two phono inputs for CD and aux.  I suppose that's an option and a load more questions.   Meanwhile the DAC uses 4 digital inputs (2 spdif and 2 coax) with one Superlumina to the 282 giving me simple switching between them with the remote.  And I thought digital is better.

I'm not technically minded so my question is simplistic and 'easy'  -  how much better will the CDX2 sound if I add an XPS to the DAC rather than to the CDX2  ?   Or is the gain in quality so much better by adding it to the CDX2 .     

Is there a metaphorical percentage of improvement comparing   XPS to DAC       or  XPS to CDX2  ?

Here is a thought. You have the NDX and the Dac. You are getting the XPS. Just try both and see which you prefer. Then you can tell us!

A nice simple solution.       

I'm excited by the prospect of the XPS and am curious if other people have made a similar choice to help which one I try first.

I will post when I have done my own comparisons!

Mike

From what I’ve read I’d strongly suspect that putting it on the Dac will have more of an impact, as it’s what nearly everyone seems to do, but I’ve never tried it for myself. I’d probably put it on the NDX, leave it for a week, then swap it to the Dac. Don’t chop and change or you’ll just end up in a muddle. 

Thanks - that's a definite piece of advice.

Quite some time since the last entry on this dialogue, but someone might be interested.

I bought the XPS installed to power the CDX2. Oh lordy -gorgeous in many ways as might be expected.

I have yet to try it on the NDAC.

I was advised that the CDX2 is best fed through the NDAC then to the NAC282. It is certainly magnificent. Lower-quality TV, DAB and DVD also pass through the NDAC and benefit hugely, sound great, especially since I added a 2nd hand Audioquest NRG10 power cable to the DAC to replace a Russ Andrews one.

But for pure musical listening I concentrate on CDs only .   At some point I'll try the XPS with the NDAC, power the CDX2 with the Audioquest NRG10 and report back on how that sounds.

Thanks to previous commentators.