Crunch Time

Do you already own a NAS filled with music, or a lot of lossless music files that you plan on moving to a NAS?

I did not, so opted for the uServe  1tb > nDAC route.  I can add a NAS to the system at any point.

1. NAS ==> uPnP == > NDX ==> Naim DAC 

The DAC being the important bit. 

Mac Mini ==> Naim DAC + 555PS will sound more refined and more musical  

NAS ==> uPnP == > NDX ==> Naim DAC + 555PS if you can afford it will be every bit as good and all Naim. 

IMHO, it is from the DAC onwards that the real gains are to be had. So if funds are limited then go for the best DAC, followed by best pre, followed by best power amp, followed by best speakers - once you have that then the front end options come in to play, but differences are relatively small (if any) as long as you use a low jitter/low noise feed. 

shing,

I did not hear the new macmini directly into nDAC option, which Guido is suggesting; but if he is so enthusiastic about it, I am sure it sounds pretty fantastic. However, your inquiry seems to be pointing more btw NDX vs. HDX. The choice depends, first of all, on how you want to rip and serve, and how much you are prepared to pay for the HDX' very neat ripping/server solution and its high quality dig-out. (Its internal dac is also very decent but not Naim's best.) Among all the many alternatives you mention in your post, I can confirm, imho, that HDX+nDAC(or other higher quality dac) is the best sounding choice.

I think this is because S/PIDF inputs of NDX and ND5xs are tuned differently than their UPnP inputs, not because S/PIDF is inherently worse; otherwise S/PIDF would not have been used in their "upgrade paths".

power supplies external to the unit will always beneficial .the nd5xs is better with 5x power supply but only marginal.iam using this psu with the ndac makes a big difference and the nd5 dig output the performance is excellent.   i prefer that the dac uses its internal psu as well as the 5s psu.Discnnecting the internal psu to replace it with another  seems to me a waste of cash . Cyrus do the same using the internal and adding another.....  i tried many hard drives /powered and usb powered and i think they are the same.  usb sticks to me defeat the objective on selection etc..

simon is right about the important of hard drives. have little effect... till solid state ones become the norm.... .just to add make several back up hard drives stored safely and you have a secure system,  what is evident is ,that i do not play cds much now that all are ripped.

NAS ==> uPnP == > NDX ==> Naim DAC  == > Pre Amp will be the choice then. I have a NAS filled with FLACs which I will enjoy once the “items” comes in. I am not partial to the macmini route as software like amarra, songbird etc etc does not have a remote control application for IPAD. REMOTING in via VNS is such a no-no for me – I would like a proper remote application created  for ipad.

Now, all I have to do is to figure out how playback and twonky server serves the album to the NDX, anyone has any ideas?

I know the NDX via their share drives will pick up the album art (jpeg files), which are placed is the same directory as the songs

Thanks for all your comments.

> as software like amarra, songbird etc etc does not have a remote control application for IPAD

Fair enough, you have chosen a good route that meets your personal requirements and that is what everybody should do. 

[For the record, please could I say I would never recommend  amarra, songbird etc etc - my advocacy is for iTunes (you really don't need the other stuff), which when set up correctly gives a bit perfect stream - no idea if the others do the same, but if they don't then there is something wrong with them and if they do then what's the point of them - so for best reproduction from the new Mac Mini use iTunes, by all means with the excellent Bit Perfect to optimise it]. 

However, your chosen route is different and in my humble opinion should give excellent results with the potential to sound even better when you add the 555PS at a later stage if you ever feel the need. In my office system I stream from a Vortexbox (NAS optimised for serving music) to UQ and that gives astounding results. I have no doubt the NDX + the super Naim DAC has more resolving power than my UQ, as it clear demonstrates this in my main system.

Enjoy your  NDX + Nam DAC

All the best, Guy  

thanks Guido and others who have "contributed" to my decision

Guido,

How do you handle sample rate switching with iTunes?

-p