NDX vs ADS

Ok - my thoughts on both players.  My Akurate was the orginal ADS/0 version with Dynamik PSU and Davaar firmware. The NDX was run bare, RCA to DIN hi-line into my usual Nait XS / FC XS / PMC GB1i system.

I've been playing with computer audio for the last four or so years. A humble start using an Airport Express, controlling my iTunes library remotely with a bluetooth phone. Move on a couple of years and i'd gone through Squeezeboxes and ended up with a Lavry DA10 which was a real game changer for me. Driven by a Mac mini, this little box run in a full 500 system (not mine BTW!) didn't embarrass itself at all up against a full battle ready CD555 (with dual PSU's). Move on another couple of years and the Lavry had gone to a new owner and i'd gone through a Weiss DAC2 and DAC202 and various music players (Amarra, Pure Music). Whilst capable of making great music, the Mac 'n' Dac was slightly frustrating. I found software stability an issue, wanted to lose the Mini from the rack and found that every version of software sounded slightly different, even though the output was bit perfect (verified with the Weiss checking tool). It was a valuable learning curve though and gave me a good understanding of what's needed in a good computer setup (lots of RAM, SSD internal drive, memory play to minimise processes whilst playing) but i did find myself spending a lot of time playing rather than listening to music.

Enter the Akurate DS. I looked at the Naim options available at the time but the HDX didn't really do what i wanted (as much as i wanted to like it). I'd already got a library of carefully ripped (using XLD) AIFF files and as i use iTunes for music management of not only the main library but a multitude of Apple i Devices i needed a solution that could integrate in with this setup. I borrowed the Akurate DS, and was impressed,not only with the sound but at how easy it was to setup and use. With Chorus HD as a UPnP server, i had perfect integration with my iTunes library including album art. One black box replaced the Mac 'n' Dac in the rack and the Mini moved to the study with the NAS and put on UPnP server duties.

The Naim DAC arrived and i must admit to not being that interested in it enough to try it out. Whilst it's proved to be a top performer, it's aways seemed to me to be a toe in the water for Naim, with its strange mix - slimline case, upgradeable via XPS / 555, and iPod / USB interfacing. Given the novel engineering inside of this i look forward to the next revision and from a purely professional perspective, i'm very interested in the in the technical implementation.

The release of the NDX did get me wondering about a demo but it took me a year to get round to it -  the ADS was proving to be a great player and with an iPad running the Chorus HD app providing a fantastic user interface, i couldn't have been happier. Linn released 3 families of firmware (Bute, Cara and Davaar) whilst i had the player and each added more functionality and better sound quality with each release. Updating the player was easy, just run Kinsky desktop, select the file from the Linn website and it would reflash the firmware over the network, updating the player in about 5 minutes. Very neat. Linn were very good, offering beta versions of new code for testing before releasing full versions and were very responsive to feedback and bug tracking - a very transparent process with plenty of communication via the website of issues and resulting fixes.

The other thing that held me back was the user interface. Reports on the n-Stream app were not that positive and i've found the user interface to be an important part of the whole musical experience. Sitting down, frustrated because the control app is flakey, is not condusive to a relaxing evening listening to some tunes...

Anyway, my local dealer was kind enough to lend me an NDX for a couple of days. Out of the box, its reassuringly heavy. The Linn is very light in comparison, having a thinner case and a switching power supply but it's still a nicely built player. The NDX display is a bit of a dissapointment compared to, say, the HDX with its nice colour screen but it looks like my n-Vi minus the DVD draw. That'll confuse the rest of the family ! With the ADS out of the rack, the NDX is connected up and switched on. A couple of seconds to boot and it's got a network address, found the Chorus Server and i've got a track playing and can browse my iTunes library. So far so good and no need to consult the manual. I can't play the next track - Chorus is designed for the DS players and doesn't get on too well with the NDX so i leave the NDX to warm up and go and install the Playback UPnP server on the Mac and download the n-Stream app to my iPhone and iPad.

Lets get the bad bit out of the way first -  n-Stream.

Ok it's not all bad, but its green and black layout, lack of playlists and general half arsed atempt at a control app is poor and does not match the expectations set by the quality of the hardware. It's not as slick as Chorus or Kinsky. I tried PS Audio's eLyric which is said to work with Naim players but had issues (it works perfectly with the ADS). A shame as whilst this lacks the system automation of the n-Stream app, its otherwise a great user interface.

Naim - borrow a DS, try the apps and take note (or just open them up to the developer community - Chorus HD came about this way). I can now understand Allens many threads on this app - i now understand his frustration !

Now onto the important bit - Soundwise, both are superb players. The NDX just boogied where the ADS could sound a tad polite in comparison. My PMC's are fairly laid back and i felt that the NDX worked really well with these - in a full on Naim system (particularly with the older speaker range) i could quite see the ADS bringing things under control. This is a good start.

The NDX is better in the bass than the Linn, it goes deeper and plays the tune better. Whilst the level of detail from both players is similar, the ADS feels slightly opaque, almost a bit grey in comparison to the NDX. Whether this is down to the player, the interaction of the Switch mode PSU in the Linn with the rest of the equipment or what i dont know. Each player was fully unplugged when the other was playing. Thinking back i should have tried the NDX with the ADS plugged into the mains to see if there was any interaction but at the time i was more interested in playing music.

I must admit the only problem i had with the NDX (apart from that damn app !)  over the two days i had it was it wouldn't play a 24/96 downloaded album properly. Some tracks were bursts of white noise, whilst other tracks played fine. Album art of various sizes seemed no problem. I did have time for a bit of a play with the NDX and as Simon had advised, turning off unused inputs and disabling the S/PDIF output and display gave a nice little improvement in playback.

So the verdict. I could quite happily live with either player. At present the user interface on the Linn is far superior to the Naim version. Sound quality wise, the NDX pips the ADS, at least in my system in some important areas.  Putting the ADS back in the rack after the NDX had gone wasn't a big step backwards but i missed the way the NDX played music.

I can live with the n-Stream app for now (expect a lot more moaning !) and my new NDX arrives next week.

James

PS - thanks to the usual suspects who've provided valuable advice on and off line over the years