Naim NAC 92 and NAP 90 basic questions

A headphone amp uses one of the Tape in/outs - these are on 180 DIN5 so you need an appropriate tape lead (Din5-4 x RCA phono). The 240 Din5 with the link plug is an upgrade socket to allow use of a dedicated power supply such as a flatcap for the nac92 preamp. 

Could you please explain to me how tape in/outs work? Also, how does a 4 cable rca/phono cable work (compared to a standard white + red one)?

The lead connecting the 92 to the 90 has two functions. In addition to taking the audio signal from pre to power amp, it takes a power supply from the power amp to the pre (which therefore needs no mains lead.) That's why disconnecting it powers off the preamp.

Regarding outputs, as there is no built-in headphone output, you would need to but a dedicated headphone amp and connect it to the tape in/out, as Richard says. As you are using a computer, you could consider a USB DAC/headphone amp such as an Audioquest Dragonfly instead.

Finally, don't forget that Naim amps of that age are very likely to need a service to sound at their best.

Good luck.

AndyDandy posted:

Could you please explain to me how tape in/outs work? Also, how does a 4 cable rca/phono cable work (compared to a standard white + red one)?

A pre-amp usually has a number of source inputs.  In the case of Naim, these are invariably on 180 degree 5 pin DIN sockets where three of the pins are used - signal in left, signal in right, and ground.  However, Tape inputs are also usually paired with outputs as well to enable recording of other sources.  In the case of Naim the input and output are available through the same DIN5, where all five pins are used, signal in left, signal right, signal out left, signal out right, and ground.

To use a headphone amp you take signal from the Tape OUT on a preamp - this allows you to route a signal from any connected sources to the headphone amp at line level (i.e. bypassing the pre-amp gain and volume control stages) so control of the signal then is taken over by the headphone amp.  The DIN5-4x RCA Phono "tape" interconnect allows you to connect a Naim pre-amp to a non-NAIM headphone amp which will invariably use RCA phonos instead of a DIN connector.

Thank you so much for explaining all this to me! Much appreciated!

Hey once again thanks for the answers to my questions, however I'm currently experiencing an issue with my NAC92 preamp.

  For some reason I need to have the volume on my laptop set to 1 bar, because the more volume I add on to the laptop the more distorted the music sounds on my speakers (coming from the preamp).

Let's say for instance I play a track with a slightly louder drum beat and set the laptop volume to 30%, the speakers coming from the NAC92 preamp will horrendously distort the drum to the point where I'm scared I'm damaging the speakers.

Is there a reason for this? Is there any solution? Will adding a usb DAC before the preamp fix the issue? Or maybe do I just need to send the NAC92 to a HiFi repair shop...?

You are probably overloading the input. Do you have another audio source to try?

I wouldn't use the pc volume, you should only control the volume using the pre amp. A proper Dac will probably be better, but very little volume knob movement is needed on this era of naim amps when using a line level inputs.

You should connect the computer to a DAC, and plug the DAC into the 92. 

An external DAC is going to improve the sound a lot, but you need to resolve your current issue. Which input are you using on the 92? Hopefully not the phono input: it it has phono boards fitted for use with a turntable you can't use that for a digital source. You need to use one of the DIN socket inputs. 

Hey guys, so now I've bought the DAC, headphone amp (both as separate modules) and the 4xphono din5 tape cable.

The trouble is that my headphone amp only has red and white inputs, whilst the cable has red, white, yellow and black.

This may sound super obvious to all of you, but do the "tape" and "tuner" buttons act as a tape out(s)? Also I don't understand what the "mon" button on the far left does apart from mute the music coming from the speakers.

You've explained me the concept of "tape" outs, do you mind telling me how to connect the headphone amp to the Naim NAC 92 with the 4x phono tape cable?

Once again I would post pictures but I don't know how to on this forum.

Thanks in advance

You only need to connect one of the two pairs of RCA phono connectors - colour coding will depend on the cable maker but connect the ones that are output rather than input (cable makers like Chord put arrows showing signal direction on the black tails to the plugs).

Hi, when I connect with only two of the 4 connectors (I've alternated all combinations) and plug in my amp, I only hear music from the right ear cup of my headphones. I can fix this by turning off the "mon" button and raising the volume on the NAC 92, but that also increases the volume of the speakers which is not what I want. I'd just like to switch between speakers and headphones (with headphone amp).

EDIT: Managed to solve the problem (plugged the din in the wrong input before). Thank you so much for all the help anyway! :-)