I’ve heard the HDX and it’s…
Posted by: jcs_smith on 08 June 2008
Really good and definitely the way of the future, especially when you consider that there is more and more music only available via MP3 or download. But I won’t be buying one. It’s too expensive - £4500 for a totally new source that I might not get round to listening to.
However if there was a HDX5i or HDX5x I would buy one, especially if it could rip from an LP12 – I have loads of Jamaican 7” singles that are awful pressings – I would like to be able to download them to a more stable medium, and also if it could play internet radio via a wi-fi connection. Not major changes and in time I’m sure it would be relatively straightforward to include them. Maybe by then it would be possible to change the disks for solid-state memory, thereby potentially improving the sound quality.
I thought Naim had taken the wrong approach with the HDX. I thought the Linn/Squeezebox idea of using an off board disk and a wi-fi network was better. I still think it’s a better idea and an easier way to produce a cheaper machine, but I can see the advantages of Naim’s approach. And it’s produced a great machine.
By the way adding an XPS does change the sound of the HDX but I’m not convinced it’s an overall improvement – it’s just different. I would need a longer listen to be convinced there.
However if there was a HDX5i or HDX5x I would buy one, especially if it could rip from an LP12 – I have loads of Jamaican 7” singles that are awful pressings – I would like to be able to download them to a more stable medium, and also if it could play internet radio via a wi-fi connection. Not major changes and in time I’m sure it would be relatively straightforward to include them. Maybe by then it would be possible to change the disks for solid-state memory, thereby potentially improving the sound quality.
I thought Naim had taken the wrong approach with the HDX. I thought the Linn/Squeezebox idea of using an off board disk and a wi-fi network was better. I still think it’s a better idea and an easier way to produce a cheaper machine, but I can see the advantages of Naim’s approach. And it’s produced a great machine.
By the way adding an XPS does change the sound of the HDX but I’m not convinced it’s an overall improvement – it’s just different. I would need a longer listen to be convinced there.