Interconnect choice

Emre posted:

feeling_zen posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Here's another thought: sell the Qute, 202, Hicap and napsc and get a 272. That will get you a much better preamp as well as a source that doesn't frighten cats. It's a thought at least. I've never found using cables as tone controls to be in any way effective. 

"Much better preamp" eh? That's pretty subjective when talking about a nicely maxed out 202.

here we go again  

i think we should organise a jury of 5 and make blind test 202/272/282 naked and powered by reasonable matched PSs

A large and good dealer can organise this somewhere in UK, i might fly from Istanbul just to watch it, i don't consider my self a jury member status.... but i can bring Turkish delight and Raki! 

 but then what are we going to argue about here

My " not counted " vote is for 272!

If you are bringing Raki can I come and watch too please?

Rob T posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

I would suggest you actually work on your source first. As Chris wrote - you can start with a Naim DAC or even a NAIM streamer.

+1 spot on advice.

Not really. The OP's Chord DAC source component should not be strident, which points to something else amiss.

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...01#62810345080859801

Then

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...ptimisation-mac-mini

G

I would certainly try the Chord Chorus Reference.  Very musical, warm but dynamic, natural and great bass imo.  Definitely smoothed out any harshness i had.  I am using these interconnects with Chord Rumour cable.

dayjay posted:

Emre posted:

feeling_zen posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Here's another thought: sell the Qute, 202, Hicap and napsc and get a 272. That will get you a much better preamp as well as a source that doesn't frighten cats. It's a thought at least. I've never found using cables as tone controls to be in any way effective. 

"Much better preamp" eh? That's pretty subjective when talking about a nicely maxed out 202.

here we go again  

i think we should organise a jury of 5 and make blind test 202/272/282 naked and powered by reasonable matched PSs

A large and good dealer can organise this somewhere in UK, i might fly from Istanbul just to watch it, i don't consider my self a jury member status.... but i can bring Turkish delight and Raki! 

 but then what are we going to argue about here

My " not counted " vote is for 272!

If you are bringing Raki can I come and watch too please?

if naked.....  

tonym posted:

Rob T posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

I would suggest you actually work on your source first. As Chris wrote - you can start with a Naim DAC or even a NAIM streamer.

+1 spot on advice.

Not really. The OP's Chord DAC source component should not be strident, which points to something else amiss.

And if he were to conclude it is the DAC, unlikely though it may seem, and so consider changing the obvious one would be the Hugo (with isolator between Mac and DAC) given that otherwise he likes the 2Qute and given the balance of views on these forums, or even the TT.

Interesting to see others using a Chord Chorus Reference. I was surprised to find that I preferred this to the more expensive Anthem Reference, and the RCA-DIN option improves things further IME.

JamesN, I found that a Chord Chameleon Plus worked well with the 2Qute. However I did feel that it was perhaps not letting through everything that the 2Qute was capable of. I went on to the Chord Chorus Reference which did improve on things but being more revealing it allowed that slight harshness of the 2Qute through. So, like others, I tried a Hugo instead which solved the issue I was having whilst retaining the qualities of the 2Qute. If you don't want to make any major changes then it might be just be worth trialling a Hugo in place of the 2Qute and seeing how you get on.

Hi,

 Sorry for the late reply but I have been away on business. Thanks so much everybody for all of the replies. This forum never ceases to me to amaze me at just how helpful it can be at times. So there's definitely a lot to think about here.

To be honest I don't think I will be going for a Naim dac or streamer,  because as much as I'm sure they are fantastic, the Chord dac's are really superb too, and many people on here use the Hugo to bring improvements to the NDX etc. That couples with the expense of such a change at the moment is a no goer. This is the same with the Nac272 as much as I'd love one!

 Very interesting reading regarding the Chord Chorus and Tellurium Blue,  because these products sound like they do exactly what I want, which is to smooth out the higher freq's a little just to make louder volume levels more easy on the ear.

 As I said in my first post, I am for the most part really pleased with the sound, and it is far better than anything I've ever had before. I used to have a CD5X and it staggers me sometimes how this Mac/dac set up can sound so good, but I do feel just a small tweak might make all the difference, whether it may be in cabling or set up etc.

Adam Zielinski posted:

I would suggest you actually work on your source first. As Chris wrote - you can start with a Naim DAC or even a NAIM streamer.

Absolutely.  Changing cables may improve and no doubt optimise your system but you've identified the problem and it's not the cable. 

2 options:

- Stick with the laptop and try a Naim DAC preferably with a XPS. 

-  or rip your music to a NAS and try a Naim streamer. 

Good luck,

Lindsay

Looking through some of the threads on Credo ownership - trouble with treble seems to be mentioned a lot . Maybe the tweeters run its course and needs replacing, or its revealing nature is more ruthless to upstream quality than more modern ones.

Something like Audioquest's Jitterbug or Uptone Audio's USB Regen device might offer some improvements.  You could also try to use Optical connection from the MacBook to the 2Qute in preference to USB.  An alternative source for the 2Qute such as using a ARM SBC (Beaglebone Black or Cubox) or SotM's SMS200 or Sonore microRendu are other options.

If you need to add goodness knows how many funny little boxes from here today, gone tomorrow companies in order to make the mighty Hugo vaguely usable, it's not that bloody wonderful after all, is it? At least with a manky old Naim streamer you can just plug it in and it works, but of course that's too boring. 

never happy with opto cables till now, the NEW QED opto cable is stunning good even at 192k

Hungryhalibut posted:

If you need to add goodness knows how many funny little boxes from here today, gone tomorrow companies in order to make the mighty Hugo vaguely usable, it's not that bloody wonderful after all, is it? At least with a manky old Naim streamer you can just plug it in and it works, but of course that's too boring. 

I don't disagree with you HH ... but some people like such things ... at the end of the day if you don't like the sound from your MacBook Pro / 2Qute; then you have the wrong source.

But there is something wrong with what the OP is hearing and it's nothing to do with cables. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

If you need to add goodness knows how many funny little boxes from here today, gone tomorrow companies in order to make the mighty Hugo vaguely usable, it's not that bloody wonderful after all, is it? At least with a manky old Naim streamer you can just plug it in and it works, but of course that's too boring. 

Not sure what's biting you about people recommending Hugo, which I think you said you hadn't heard?

BTW the OP's issue isn't with a Hugo,. And if its box count that is the issue, Iseem to recall that the odd Naim streamer ends up with the odd separate DAC to improve it (Naim or otherwise)' and the odd power sUpply, all rather bigger boxes... :-) 

The above meant in good humour - all is fair in DAC and other hifi  wars, as everyone's ears and how they appreciate music are different, as indeed are many other factors including depths of pocket, willingness/desire or otherwise to tweak, upgrade, fiddle etc.

My guess the source and speakers are weak link here

Time wasted, trying mega expensive snob cables, there' some people in here continuing to promote their own gear telling us its much better than X or Y, someone not that blind, are more realistic telling us the shortcomings

Well I've no knowledge of Chord electronics nor the Credo speakers but the amps here are certainly worthy of quality source and good speakers. 

I was just amused by Elouise's wonderful post. If a regen or a jitterbug won't fix the problem, try a Beaglebone. As she rightly says, some people love this stuff, but would you want to meet them at a party? I'm happy to promote what I have because I know it works and sounds ok without the need to replace it with parts of a domestic pet. 

i too have a 2qute and felt the same about the high end.

i use foobar > 2qute >chord chorus> nait 5si> odyssey > pmc 21's

i used naca5 5m pair originally 

once i changed to oddy the harsh highs toned down.

the naca was too aggressive in my system

Hungryhalibut posted:

If you need to add goodness knows how many funny little boxes from here today, gone tomorrow companies in order to make the mighty Hugo vaguely usable, it's not that bloody wonderful after all, is it? At least with a manky old Naim streamer you can just plug it in and it works, but of course that's too boring. 

But you don't (need goodness knows how many boxes to make the Hugo 'vaguely usable) and it certainly is (bloody wonderful)!

Of course you could plug in a Naim streamer and it would work. But the Naim philosophy would have it that you then need a better separate power supply and possibly Naim DAC to make it sound really good. Of course, you then need the appropriate connecter types to allow these components to work optimally, and of course you need appropriate cabling (Super Lumina) to add the final touch.

I don't find that boring at all! It sounds to me like quite a journey, and a complicated one at that. 

It's quite simple really for most people. I had invested in a Naim ND5XS streamer for use in my second system. Unfortunately, I found that in comparison with the Klimax streamer in my other system the sound was just too unrefined to allow me to enjoy the system for any length of time. I added a Chord Hugo DAC  which greatly improved the sound quality. I have since replaced my ND5XS with a Sonore microRendu renderer which has further significantly enhanced  the sound quality to the extent that it now exceeds (in my opinion) that of my Klimax DS.

So, my streaming components comprise a microRendu (with power supply) into Chord Hugo. Nothing complicated about that, and the best value for money streaming source I have heard.

Maybe an NDS with top of the range power supply would sound better? I haven't heard this combination. But I do know that it would be a damn sight more expensive.  

The Chord Hugo is certainly pretty good, and many people on this forum appear to agree.     

Has anyone said that the Hugo isn't any good?

Hungryhalibut posted:

I was just amused by Elouise's wonderful post. If a regen or a jitterbug won't fix the problem, try a Beaglebone. As she rightly says, some people love this stuff, but would you want to meet them at a party? I'm happy to promote what I have because I know it works and sounds ok without the need to replace it with parts of a domestic pet. 

Unfortunately HH,

I suspect that very few party-goers would want to engage any of we hi-fi enthusiasts and extreme music devotees in a conversation about audio systems. I suspect this applies equally to Naim Audio enthusiasts as much as to the tweakers who are partial to a bit of experimentation with jitterbugs and the like.  

Unfortunately for me, I am also a motorcycle enthusiast, and normally like to build my own PCs, so I am in particular on a hiding to nothing when it comes to parties. Fewer and fewer party invitations seem to be winging their way to me these days. I don't really blame them. I probably wouldn't invite myself to a party either.     

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Has anyone said that the Hugo isn't any good?

I think so, but maybe not in this thread.

Hungryhalibut posted:

I was just amused by Elouise's wonderful post. If a regen or a jitterbug won't fix the problem, try a Beaglebone. As she rightly says, some people love this stuff, but would you want to meet them at a party? I'm happy to promote what I have because I know it works and sounds ok without the need to replace it with parts of a domestic pet. 

Adding things like a Jitterbug or a Regen are just tweaks to optimise as far as I'm aware. Surely this is only the same as adding powerlines etc to optimise a Naim set up?