NDS tweaks

I can't say I have any tweaks, but can tell you what I do.

UnitiServe is my server, located several rooms away and connected by ethernet cable in the walls.  A short run of Audioquest Cinnamon cable from the wall outlet to the NDS.  No I did not compare the sound of cables, but this one looks nice; that's my entire value proposition for it.

uServe transcodes everything flac to wav.  We did a little a/b comparison blinded at home, and wav seemed to be preferred on some hi res files, and on many files we shrugged our shoulders and said both sound fine.  But since we did prefer wav on some, we do that.  Only lossless files unless it's something that simply is not available otherwise (for example, "bootleg" recordings of the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests; not something I'd listen to more than once anyway).

I've been using an iPhone 99% of the time to control it, but will buy a new iPad Air (5) tomorrow during the "Black Friday" sales here in the States.  Target will sell them for $479 and they send along a $100 gift card.  I cannot resist at $379 total.  The iPad user experience with nStream IS better than on the phone.

I also have a nas that could serve the music, but I use it only for backups.  Synology 212j.  Highly recommended.

Oh and the NDS is powered by a 555DR.  If you are going for the NDS, I would absolutely spend the money for the top of the line power supply.

My CD5XS has not been powered on in months and months -- that says something.

All the best,

Bart

You will be chasing wisps of possible improvement compared to what is coming out of your NDS right now. But there's no harm in polishing it up. Unfortunately, this is where the issues start because there are many opposing views and when all is said and done, only you and your ears will know what works for you in your system in your room.

Pretty much full agreement will exist on putting your NDS on the top level. It likes it up there. I think it does sound better but it’s not huge and may be undetectable.

Now for the purely personal stuff from a sample of one, which may or may not tally with your findings – if you go there:

Cat cables make a difference for me. After an extended home audition we’ve got AQ Vodka. It seems to offer the best balance between cost and value for the sonic gains. This bandwagon is being increasingly jumped on. The static and claims generated by the manufacturers will likely be drowned out by the static and counter claims made by the nay sayers. As with most things, the sensible route is to get something on loan and decide for yourself.

A WAV file, stored on NAS, served by HDX and fed to NDS sounds better than other formats at equivalent quality to me. WAV seems to have a tightness and snap which I prefer. It’s a very easy investigation to do for yourself and the result you get will be the right one.

A have not so far detected any differences in musical enjoyment or the more HiFi stuff between NAS drives, the HDDs used in them, switching arrangements or routers.

What’s the best improvement you can make for the NDS? Stick a second PS on it. No, really, it’s worth it. It’s crazy but it works. Well, you did ask!

All the best with it.

Interesting that the NDS likes to be up top. So do the preamps though...

Good points, 555PS is here as well, I have been thinking to put NDS one level below top but maybe I should just try top first. 

Wondering if I could make QNAP to convert Flac to WAV on the fly? I will test definitely Wavs as well, somebody claimed that dBpoweramp can handle Wav metadata similarly than with Flac?

Also this CAT thing is on my radar, thanks to remind about AQ Vodka, thinking if it makes any sense or does it even work to connect silent SSD NAS directly to NDS?

I don't know if you can connect them directly. If they go via a switch I haven't had any issues here.

If you are running a server on the QNAP then it should transcode on the fly AFAIK.

As for what goes best on top - try it and see which (if any) you prefer.

I had Jason from Naim in to reinstall my system earlier this year. His preference was for source top and pre next down, preferably with an empty shelf between them. In the end I've gone for a medium height riser so that the pre has space above it but not a full shelf's worth. Sounds pretty good

It does not make sense to try to connect your nas directly.  I assume that you have some sort of whole-home internet access -- broadband or dsl, etc?  If so, the nas should be connected to the home network, as should the NDS.  This is the intended setup and will allow you to get the most out of the setup.

Yes I have broadband connection/network, this direct thing was just a wild idea but I forgot nStream. Maybe it is better connect it to the lan.

I have a possibility to use an empty shelf, thanks for a tip/remind Harry.

I read a review that suggested for top sq shut off all inputs except front USB, disconnect ethernet.  The reviewer gave something  like 15% improvement vs Ethernet.

For my lowly ND5 adding StillPoints gives 150% improvement.

Also the reviewer indicated that floating ground sounded much better than chassis.

Hmm, bit vague... without saying the details of the attached Ethernet, that is, connected switch type, quality of Ethernet cable connector, and server type / TCP stack of upnp server, it's hard to be objective of how Ethernet 'sounds' as all those parameters will vary. (Just as USB will vary with different parameters).

Also floating vs chassis will depend very much on setup on which is best. In my setup chassis sounds slightly better .. bass and stereo imaging are more defined. This was with NDS and also currently NDAC.

Simon

I think the reviewers opinion is that the best sq comes from the front USB.  A link t the review was posted here a couple of weeks ago.

Kevin, thanks, I clearly missed that link... if the reviewer addresses my above points then I have no issue.

Certainly with Naim, I have found a noticeable sonic variability with Ethernet dependant on many parameters including upnp server system type. (currently for me the best sounding is Asset on the Pi, and is preferable to Asset on Win7 HP PC)

Is this the link? http://www.naimaudio.com/sites...ritic_April_2013.pdf

Chassis vs. floation is obviously floating due the reviever setup, in Simons & my case chassis is better.

Also I think it sounds a bit strange if USB is the best one & Ethernet is not the same level.

I have been thinking this ethernet cable, if I add a good switch close to NDS & NAS & connect both with good ethetnet cables - so, is the connection routed just inside switch or does it still round through to the main LAN router? Trying to figure out if a) good cable is needed to NDS only b) NDS & NAS needs both 3) good extra switch improves or not 

Qnap HS-210 silent looks cool, any comments about the Asset included or should I install e.g. MinimServer? Obviosly flac to wav on the fly could be nice to have.

http://www.qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=en&sn=822&c=351&sc=514&t=523&n=20179

Oh dear if that is the review it panders to my worst dislikes... vagaries and percentage sound differences.. Oh well I guess it must work for some.. the floating chassis bit does seem to imply the journalist was connecting to a non Naim preamp which might explain things...

But in my book, there is no substitute to auditioning... and many changes are perceived differences as opposed to absolute differences in audio quality - and therefore each to their own.

Gandalf.. A switch segment is a standalone series of circuits and therefore the connection is interrupted and reframed at the switch. There are theoretically advantages in having a longer distance Ethernet lead between the NDS/NDX etc and the switch or router.. But you are more likely in my experience to have better gains by using a quality switch with quality powersupply. I have found little netgear switches and their switch mode power supplies particularly bad and noisey.

Simon

Slightly puzzled by the reference to Asset - Asset upnp doesn't work on QNAP I don't think - though if I am wrong please let me know cos I would then be able to end my QNAP-caused dependency on twonky!

Asset  is designed to run on a little server as opposed to a consumer NAS. Asset will work fine by mounting the QNAP shares. If you really want to run Asset in your NAS, then if you determine what OS your NAS runs, you might be lucky. There are two Linux  beta's over at the dbpoweramp site (one is for the Pi)

Edit : there appears a beta version of Linux built for Debian - and it states it can run on the QNAP atom CPU, so could be worth a try.

Simon

Plugging in a USB stick is the most direct way of getting files into the streamer. The shortest path if you will. To say it's the only way of getting the highest quality might technically be true but in practical situations I doubt if it will show a significant difference. I don't hear one myself. Where I did hear what I perceived to be a positive, if slight improvement was playing files through the DAC from a stick. 

But did you shut everything else off during listening?  Search for the recent NDS review posted on this forum.  At least to that reviewer, the improvement was spectacular.

No. If it's MC's review I'm well familiar with it. Easy enough to do for one's self, but I haven't gone to those lengths. Something to do if I'm at a particularly loose end and certainly a tweak to try when auditioning one, assuming it hasn't totally convinced already.