Dac V1..............is there

from all reviews/opinions i got impression it is a DAC first and foremost. What is still unclear for me is its performance level compared to other naim gear in their "bare" forms (nDAC, NDX, ND5XS or SN dac)...

Dear Andrius,

I never had the two side by side, but I have had quite few chances to listen via the nDAC tethered to the CDS 2 as transport, and driving ESL 2508s with a 155 or 200. These speakers were [till last year, when updated]  the modern equivalent of my ESL 57s.

My ESLs are driven with the DAC V1 and NAP 100 - source being MAC Mini late [2012 version with iTunes]. I liked very much the nDAC 2508 arrangement, and adore what I have even though it's considerably more modest in cost terms.

This does not make the DAC V1 an inherently finer machine than the nDAC, but it does show how system matching can produce results that exceed higher costing systems in certain circumstances. Perhaps the ESL 57s really are that much better than ESL 2508s for example?

In any case it does show that the differences between the V1 and and nDAC are fairly incremental. After all - all other criticisms aside - ESLs of whatever generation are immensely revealing of the music, and also what feeds them. It strikes me - at this level - that the quality differences between recordings are so much more obvious than the differences between the actual replay combinations of the very high quality variety.

I'd say the V1 is is a tad weightier, a tad sweeter, and waits longer to become fierce, though on the right musical performance is quite capable of revealing what is raw and rough in performance! In any case that observation would be not only dependant on the system synergy, but also the room set-up ...

I hope that hint of the differences I have heard helps.

ATB from George

The DAC-V1 can be a great compact system, I use it with a pair of Dynaudio active speakers. I run JRiver on my laptop and control using Gizmo remote on my Nexus 7.

I have recently moved to this from my analogue only system and loving the simplicity of it.

When the family want to watch TV, I just carry on listening via headphones. For me the V1 gives exactly what's required!

This is my first time with active speakers and they are amazing!

As a prospective DAC V1 owner, and having heard it with the NAP100 at George's, I can only heartily second everything George has said. My experience of the combination is obviously very limited but certainly far more helpful and telling than what might be experienced at a show or at a dealer's dem.

The DAC V1/NAP100 combo strikes me as a 42.5/110 (or 32/110, 72/140 etc.) for the modern world of digital audio. They are supremely well-judged and executed products and to me the most exciting thing to come from Naim for years. Not that Naim have not produced many exciting new products recently, it's just that none have really fitted what I was looking for until now. Not for a long time have I felt that I wanted something so badly!

The Swami

What speakers are you using?

Dynaudio MC15, small actives.

I am using a Unitiserve with a low cost Arcom DAC into my 552 as an alternative source for non critical listening. For the real thing I use my 555. But the Unitiserve is a brilliant addition. I can give family/visitors etc. access to my entire collection without fiddling with it, knowing where the CDs actually are, etc. I use it for instant access to a wide range of music and to create random plays for background during meals, etc. 

I will replace the Arcom DAC with a DAC-V1 to improve this source further, and I bet that in that context, it will be a value for money upgrade. I think that I will also be able to improve the sound of Spotify, which is streaming at 320kb from an iPod via a PURE dock, by routing it to the 552 via the DAC-V1........exciting!!!!!

BTW...Firmware V1.6 for Dac-V1 is released.

Paul,

This sounds interesting. I'm away until the weekend but will look at giving this a go on my return.

Interesting. JRivers own recommendation is to use ASIO if your DAC has a native ASIO driver, but that there's no good reason to use ASIO + ASIO4ALL.

Here is the relevant quote from the "Audio Output Modes" bit of ther wiki:

"ASIO is a sound card communication system created by Steinberg. If your soundcard has a native ASIO driver, this is the most direct (and normally best) way to communicate with it. Please note that ASIO4All is basically Kernel Streaming with an ASIO wrapper. There's no good reason to use ASIO + ASIO4All vs just using Kernel Streaming directly in Media Center."

I'm only using ASIO4All as the soundcard (i.e. the DAC-V1) does not have a native ASIO driver.

In that case it might be a good idea to try Kernel streaming as JRiver suggest in their wiki. What was the problem with WASAPI  - isn't this what naim recommend?

WASAPI doesn't sound great on quite a few recordings, as I mentioned above it can sound quite thin and harsh, and therefore not pleasant to listen to.

Paul,

This is all new to me, just left vinyl to go the V1 route! Is Jriver set up as per Naims instructions, but you choose ASIO rather than WASAPI? Are all the other settings the same? Last question for now, are you set at 24 bit - 44?

Thanks for any advice you can offer regarding set up.

Bill

This is all new to me, just left vinyl to go the V1 route! Is Jriver set up as per Naims instructions, but you choose ASIO rather than WASAPI? Yes, but you'll need ASIO4All to get the ASIO option

Are all the other settings the same? Yes

Last question for now, are you set at 24 bit - 44? Yes

Thanks for any advice you can offer regarding set up.

NB, Fidelizer in Extremist mode with WASAPI sounds great if you want to avoid fiddling with ASIO. The least aggressive mode is Professional, and that is still worthwhile.

Thanks for your comments Paul!

Will give this a go over the weekend.

Cheers,

Bill

Appart from the case that you need MAYBE an additional PC aren't these things not enough arguments for streamer instead of DAC's?

Come on.... ASIO vs WASAPI vs KERNAL sound meaningfully different to anyone??? 

Paul,

I'm trying Fidelizer, the extremist mode doesn't allow Gizmo to work and stops my Naim remote allowing skip track, so not ideal for me. Currently using Audiophile mode, which does allow these functions.

Do I need to run Fidelizer every time I turn my laptop on or can I set up to be running in the background all the time?

Cheers,

Bill

If you made the laptop hibernate, then Fidelizer should still be running. If you restart Windows then you have to start Fidelizer again.

It's not the most convenient tweak, as you say it does stop the remote from being able to skip tracks, but I felt that the sonic improvement was worth the inconvenience. 

So far I've only tried the least intrusive (Professional) and most intrusive (Extremist) settings, so I'll be interested to see what you think of the various options.