Just not feeling the love :: NDX
Posted by: intothevoid on 17 June 2013
So here I am, the proud new owner of an ex-dem NDX and, frankly, I'm just not getting it.
I've been using a Sonos ZP90 via a DC1 in to the SN DAC for the last couple of years and have been very happy with it, albeit with a nagging doubt that there is more to be heard.
So I took the plunge and bough an ex-dem NDX from those very nice people at Signals; a 2012 model with 24/192 capability.
The NDX is sitting on full-fat Fraim, powered via a Power-Line and connected to the SN with a Hi-Line (rest of system in my profile).
The NDX has been powered up for the last two weeks and runs quite warm to the touch. I spent the first week just playing music in the background but not really listening. This last week I have been sitting down and listening more critically…
The first thing to say is that the NDX produces more information. I'm hearing things that have never been there before. I'm also listening louder than before, I guess because of the lower noise floor - proper 'inky blackness' to the quiet bits.
These two things are good, in a hi-fi kind of way. What's not good, and what is bothering me, is that the music is flat and lifeless. It's like the musicians are playing the notes but their minds are elsewhere. Vocalists sound disinterested. There is no boogie factor.
This is not what I was expecting.
Has the law of diminishing returns set in with a vengeance? Have I inadvertently come to the end of my upgrade path? (There's no point upgrading further if the returns are so minuscule).
Played JL's 'Imagine' and SWMBO remarked that it was the best she has heard yet, so must be on the right track (forgive the pun).
Do not discount this evidence 
Sometimes we get our heads and minds around the hardware "questions" so much that it is hard to be objective about what we hear. Your wife is making more of a "blind" assessment -- she likely (maybe...hopefully?!?!?) is right.
Played JL's 'Imagine' and SWMBO remarked that it was the best she has heard yet, so must be on the right track (forgive the pun).
Do not discount this evidence Sometimes we get our heads and minds around the hardware "questions" so much that it is hard to be objective about what we hear. Your wife is making more of a "blind" assessment -- she likely (maybe...hopefully?!?!?) is right.
Bart,
you are really a guy knowing a lot of the psycological aspects of hifh end and women .........
Played JL's 'Imagine' and SWMBO remarked that it was the best she has heard yet, so must be on the right track (forgive the pun).
Do not discount this evidence Sometimes we get our heads and minds around the hardware "questions" so much that it is hard to be objective about what we hear. Your wife is making more of a "blind" assessment -- she likely (maybe...hopefully?!?!?) is right.
This is some of the best advice I've heard to date on this forum. Whether it's your SO, a good friend, or a trusted dealer, enlisting a second pair of ears to help assess the impact of changes and/or potential upgrades can be invaluable.
Yes, at the end of the day, trusting what your own ears tell you (versus the opinions of others, or even versus published reviews with objective measurements) is important. But, to use the old Reagan cold-war philosophy, it is always best to "trust, but verify".
Mrs. Hook has been my #1 blind test subject over the years. In most cases, she has verified that my sighted impressions were correct. But every once in a while, she'll hear things very differently. And almost every time that has happened, I have been guilty of over thinking and over analyzing. Funny how she, with no real knowledge of (or interest in) in the audio hardware, is able to more easily focus on musicality. Fortunately for me, she can play multiple instruments, and has always had a very good ear for pitch, rhythm and harmonies. She can usually tell pretty quickly whether my tinkering has made our setup more (or less) melodious.
ATB.
Hook