HDX - my first listen and impressions

i wouldnt hold my breath.

It will happen, and soon.

Sources inside apple disagree with your contention. The reason is the same one they dont want Java on there -- they dont want an alternative app store being set up.

Well I don't see an app store being an issue, there is already processes in place to prevent that, apples problem was battery life. As flash runs like a POS on a mac normally no doubt it would kill an ipod in an hour.

All I know is that when I switched on our new HDX to run on repeat over the weekend for run-in on Saturday, what I heard was LOADS better than what I heard during Summer Sounds - though I was admittedly somewhat dopey on that occasion having been drugged up to the eyeballs for an operation.

js

Well spotted!

Think it might be a smart move for NAIM to investigate. I for one would not want a PC tablet or a Nokia based interface - as I'm already hopeless iPhone convert.

Is flash essential to the operation of HDX? Or is it a 'front' for the main guts?

quote:

Originally posted by paremus:
js

Well spotted!

Think it might be a smart move for NAIM to investigate. I for one would not want a PC tablet or a Nokia based interface - as I'm already hopeless iPhone convert.

Probably a DIY but I thought it interesting. There's a you tube vid that shows an IPhone running flash through this interface ap and it seems transparent but I have no idea of how well it works or ease of integration.

Doesn't the HDX sound great, just got mine, really pleased

figured out a way to switch off the display, if you use the touchscreen, then if you press the system button, then system setup button, then select front panel backlight you can choose how long it takes from selecting a track to touchscreen going black. make sure you save once you have selected it!

much better to sit and listen without bright lights!

Yeah unfortunately I kept trying to set mine from the IP UI and saving it does not change the settings on the front of the HDX. Didn't know that until wed., now I used the TS as you did and there you go. Another small bug in the software.

I have an hdx on a demo. The touchscreen is a bit slow. If you have lots of albums it will take an age to scroll through so a quick scroll wheel is an essential addition!

The most disappointing thing about it is the album database it uses, it's hopeless. I added about 10 albums and 3 of them weren't found and most of them didn't have album covers. Why isn't the gracenote database being used? That one is virtually perfect.

I also find there is no way of correcting the album names/tracks unless you hook it up to a pc which negates the point of having an hdx - you may as well use your pc and save yourself 4 grand! Having lots of 'unknown' albums would be totally infuriating and something you'd put up with on a £50 mp3 player but not a £4k music server. Yes the box is nice and black with a naim logo but I assumed the whole purpose of a hard disk player from naim was that it wasn't for people who wanted music from their pc. They wanted music with the same convenience but without the humming box and ugly casework.

I'm also curious to know what security features have been implemented to make sure it isn't remotely compromisable or the flash interface is accessible outside the local network?

Soundwise it is sounding very similar to my cd5x with flatcap. The soundstaging is narrower on the hdx so I am hoping it will improve with further time being switched on. I am not running it with the 4k power supply just as it is out of the box. Luckily I can borrow it for a week so that might just be long enough

Had a quick listen at my dealer's, all I could manage. I wouldn't say I'll be selling my CDX2 to buy one on sound quality terms. There is a difference, but I did detect a little top-end fizz to the HDX..(my ears?).

Waiting patiently for three powerlines, though!!

quote:

Originally posted by rupert bear:
I wouldn't say I'll be selling my CDX2 to buy one on sound quality terms. There is a difference, but I did detect a little top-end fizz to the HDX..(my ears?).

Everyone I demoed with seemed to concur that it was about on the CDX2 level. It did improve with a power supply - however the price also significantly improved.

Gregg

teabelly, not sure why you are having problems with look up, please email the factory and list the albums.We ripped hundreds of albums and have very few, not found, are these super rare albums?
Also your system, you would be better off looking for a cds3 or cdx2 with psu, the cd5x is the weak link in that system. Not sure on your cabling and your total system set up, maybe could do with some advice.
Desk top allows you to make all the changes you need to the data base and security, what are your worries, can you be more specific. Hope you enjoy the rest of the week and you have the hdx set up as per the manual, ground etc, who is your retailer?

quote:

Originally posted by teabelly:
I added about 10 albums and 3 of them weren't found and most of them didn't have album covers. Why isn't the gracenote database being used? That one is virtually perfect.

Although I wouldn't say it was perfect, it's a lot better than a 30% failure rate. So far I've ripped about 450 CDs with iTunes (which uses the gracenote database) and it has only failed to find the artwork for about 10 of them.

I have now added 15 CDs and 5 weren't found:

Chicane - Somersault
Faithless - Sunday 8pm
Nightwish - Once
Dead Can Dance - A Passage In Time
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent

I have added nearly 400 with itunes, 60 had artwork missing but all cds were identified correctly.

I don't have the manual as I just borrowed the unit and plugged it in with a network connection. There isn't a method of querying whether the net connection is ok which would be useful and could explain the issues if it were dropping it for some reason. Retailer is SynergyAv in Congleton. They had problems with it and had one cd did not even read at all.

Security issues are around remote access, what network shares it remembers/passwords etc and what happens with copy protected cds (like Sony used to do) with dodgy auto loading software. Assuming it gains an ip address when on a network what ports does it use and does it leave any open (Windows pnp for example is notorious for allowing back doors into lots of things).

There are also some small niggly issues such as there being no fade gap between tracks, the back button isn't always consistent and the playlist editing is very slow and clunky. Also if you select delete for a playlist it does it instantly rather than prompting which could lead to swearing for those that hit delete by mistake!

If I were making the hdx I'd probably stick a flash drive in there for the O/S and have NAS boxes for the storage so there wouldn't be capacity issues and the unit itself would run much cooler and quieter.

Teabelly, interesting comments. I agree with the added step to delete a playlist in case you make a mistake.

I added 300 Cd's and everyone was identified by either AMG or FreeDB. Zero errors over the 300 rips. The only issue I've had with Artwork is that some tracks on an album display the artwork and others do not. I suspect an internal HDX software processing/cache issue,but I'm not sure.

As far as playback is concerned, at the initial demo I attended it was pretty much equal to CDX2 on 3 days warm up and improved as PSU were added as you'd expect and along the same lines as the CDX2. It's taken about 2 weeks for the HDX to really hit its stride and I'd have to say it is really excellent. Have not had a chance for a direct comparison with CDS3, but JS has indicated that it is close. The voicing is definitely different from the CDP line-up and may account for some personal preferences, but this thing performs, no doubt about that.

When 24 bit added- HDX is really something. I've listened to some excellent Naim recordings at 16 bit and when the 24 bit were played it was really hard to go back and listen to the 16 bit recordings at first. Much more detail and presence. Kuma summed it up nicely on another post.

I do not find the noise level of the HDX an issue at all as I cannot hear it while music plays and you have to get pretty close to hear much in the way of noise. The unit definitely runs hot, and stays pretty warm even when not in use.

tea belly what is your issue with remote access?

You router is protecting you, or at least should be.

SMB shares, are just that, accessible publicly (on the LAN) so if your lan has no security thats your Bad not the HDX.

It's not really a beef. It's just whenever you add anything that is network enabled onto a lan you want to know what things it is up to. Yes the router will protect to a certain degree but I just like to know I assume the hdx copes with having a password on any smb shares?

I only mention the shares listed as they were all belonging to the shop I borrowed it from so perhaps it is something shops wish to consider when the hdx tells customers exactly what pcs are plugged into their lan and what all the smb shares are called It was still listing them even it had been plugged into another network. A 'forget network shares' function would be useful in these circumstances, particularly for demo machines as if they are lent out to quite a few people then quite a large list could be built up.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by teabelly:
I have now added 15 CDs and 5 weren't found:

Chicane - Somersault
Faithless - Sunday 8pm
Nightwish - Once
Dead Can Dance - A Passage In Time
Ozric Tentacles - Pungent Effulgent

teabelly, you may have lost your internet connection because Faithless Sunday 8pm was found by AMG when I ripped it to HDX.

It seems odd as cds either side of that one were found. It doesn't flag up that the internet connection has a problem so you can't tell and there doesn't seem to be a way of asking it to go and find titles for unknown albums after it has failed to find them originally if there was a problem with the network connection.

As far as I could tell the hdx was ok as the link light was on the router and it was flashing away like the hdx was merrily trying to find it. It is possible it is confused by different pressings of the same cd and some are found and others aren't. I don't know enough about how the unit actually works out what cd it has to hazard a guess why it wouldn't find it.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by teabelly:
and there doesn't seem to be a way of asking it to go and find titles for unknown albums after it has failed to find them originally if there was a problem with the network connection.

If you right click the albumn in DTC then click 'CD db look up' it will search for it again. Although on checking again my Sunday 8pm CD is a special edition version which it has found. Hope that helps!

Teabelly your concern is noted but not well founded. If a HDX is remembering shares then that is no more scary than say an macbook remembering a network it connected too. I would be mightly pised off if I had to enter all the info into my macbook each time I got home.

If you can see the share of someone else on the HDX say from a mac perspective: yourhomefolder/public, then so what? In order to gain access to that outside of your LAN you will need a lot of detail. If the perp is already on your LAN, then your bad for making it so easy.

My feeling is there is a whole lotta better ways to get access to your computer, and Public shares on a LAN is not one of them.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
gary,
I thought from your posts over the last month or so, You had done Demos of the HDX against all the Naim cdp's and a few dacs.
You are now saying that js says it comes close to a CDS3.
Sorry you are talking hearsay once again.
If js says its so, there for it must be.
Wrong again.
This post will never be seen by every one on here,Shame.
We all want the HDX to be the best box on the planet at the end of the day.
But like you are doing it no favours you think you are but take it from me you are not big time,And thats just on this forum.
Munch

What I actually said is that it compares to a CDX2 overall depending on your preferences but different and is better than any computer/DAC combo that I've tried(many). Still prefer a CDS3. My views are my own and no more. Judge for yourself. Hope that odd rant of yours stays. Wolf! Wolf! LOL

Gary, I'm trying to fade away and will when those threads that I'm currently involved in end, apperantly to Munch's and DHT's great relief.