NDX or ND5 XS

If you would already have a nDAC I would go for ND5XS. I can't imagine NDX to be a lot superior as a digital streamer.  In your case I would wait and listen to both. No need to rush.

Regards

Frank

In the boring predictable way that a CDX2-2 sounds better than a CD5XS (or whatever the current variants are) I don't imagine the ND5 XS will sound as good as the NDX. (even if Naim add a bit of jitter to ensure this!)

SJB

You'll have to listen to both. In retrospect it may be easy to guess but each to their own. You won't know for sure unless.

H James -

I avoided making this recommendation because, as an NDX owner, it may have come across as a fan-boy, join-the-club, kind of post.   I will now say congratulations, and also that I think you are going to love the NDX!

In addition to sound quality, I have been so impressed by its stability and ease of use.  With an iPad 2 in hand, it is extremely easy to control music selection and volume.   There are many nights where I am just too beat to faff about with vinyl.  In the past, however, it has always bugged me that I had to give up significant sound quality to gain the convenience of listening to digital.   That is simply no longer the case!

Good luck, and let us know how the NDX sounds when you get it home!

Hook

Hi Hook - i'm looking forward to getting one - the loan unit was very impressive. My DS went off to its new home this morning so its the green light for the NDX. 

Fingers crossed for an update on the nStream app !

James

"The ND5 XS shares much of its digital and streaming board with the NDX; it makes use of the same DSP technology and has an identical digital signal path."

So in theory the ND5 XS should sound very close if not identical to the NDX if outputting to the nDAC.

If this proves to be the case then could be a useful £1000 saving over the NDX for those intending to use it with an nDAC, particularly as the NDX and ND5 XS functionality is the same.

I've got no interest in the nDac hence the interest in the NDX (or it's baby sister) as a one stop solution.

Without a side by side comparison it will be impossible to judge but in the same way that the NDX dac is "based" on the NDAC and the ND5 XS DAC is based on the NDX DAC then as a single box solution I would expect the NDX to sound better. I suspect (but cannot prove) that the streaming environment will also be better in the NDX and that it will sound better as a result.

Why would Naim shoot themselves in the foot by birnging out an identical sounding unit at a cheaper price when they have only just released the NDX?

Whether the NDX is worth the extra over the ND5 XS is a value for money judgement which we cannot make until we can hear both units side by side.

I have ordered the NDX even though I will not use its DAC section.I have paid for a feature I will not use. For me a standalone streamer without an internal DAC would have been better but as Naim don't make one yet I have bitten the bullet gone for the NDX.

My dealer has kindly offered me the chance to opt for the ND5 XS but as it will take a while to be released I am happy to stick with the NDX. I have heard the NDX and NDAC combo with various power supplies and it sounds very good.I may have made a mistake by not waiting to hear the ND5 XS but you pays your money and takes your choice -- if you have the money that is!

Allen,

Again in Naim's words: 'It incorporates exactly the same NDX digital and analogue audio hardware and signal path'

Perhaps I have shot myself in the foot by opting for the NDX!

But then we can keep waiting and hoping.

If they bring out an NDS in the spring I will have shot myself in both feet simultaneously but by then I will be sitting with both my feet up enjoying the NDX/NDAC/555ps -- hopefully!

One of the main points that I am making is that Naim could / should have announced the ND5 before or at the same time as the NDX's release, it was in the works. At least give the 'upgraders' a chance to evaluate this year's upgrade.

I agree and if only-- but then nobody would buy anything as they would be saving for the "about to be released product", only then to find out about another "about to be released product" that they might prefer to wait for ad infinitum.

I have found the overlap of products in the streaming range quite difficult to cope with.The ND5 XS adds another duplication/overlap. There's another thread on the overlap topic with a useful comparison chart that summarises the  range - now out of date, of course because of the recent ND5 XS announcement.

I'd be very surprised, if the ND5XS and NDX sounded the same through the nDAC, it just wouldn't make any sense from a commercial point of view. Naim pretty sure worked all their magic to ensure the NDX stays top, same goes for the CDX2.2 and CD5XS, the difference is clearly audible...

At least it will only be £100 to upgrade an NDX. The way I see it I will have to pay £250 to get my unitiqute working with Airplay and even more if I want to stream 24/192 files. I only bought it in May. 

I will be particularly annoyed if unitiqutes start shipping with the updated components at the same price as I payed only 4 months ago.

Allen, if this turns out to be so then you've got a case and I too would feel short changed. But we don't know that yet and until we do I feel it is only fair to give Naim the benefit of the doubt. Looking at it objectively it just wouldn't make commercial sense, even if the literature indicates otherwise.

Btw. NDX/XPS2/nDAC/555PS that's 4 boxes Allen, weren't you not gonna go there?? 

It would have been a nice move I agree. But only if both units really do sound the same via the nDAC. If not, the NDX remains what it was pitched as, i.e. Naim's premier streaming solution, no change there, it's what people wanted, isn't it...

I know but from a market positioning point of view the comparison holds, that's what I was trying to get at...

If I was buying a new unit, i.e. not pre-owned, I'd buy the CD5XS but that's always been the case for me, even with the difference being there.

I wonder what it was like when Naim first started producing CDPs, weren't they also released in stages, aren't we simply seeing history repeating itself?

The best advice I ever received from my hifi pusher was to wait.

I wanted a Naim DAC.  But they had only released the HDX.  Assuming they would never give me my standalone DAC I was about to buy a Lavry.

He told me to hold tight and wait, it would come sooner or later. 

What is the hurry???  Enjoy what you have a buy what you want when it is available.  I think I had to wait about a year then I had my perfect Naim source.

What if the NDS or HDS is still bettered by the Naim DAC?