NAPSC with Headline 2

I have used the Headline with a Hicap, NAPSC and the isupply.  The NAPSC was in my mind the best match.  The Hicap was crazy good but almost too much.  The isupply was nothing special.  The napsc hit the goldilocks sweet spot for me.  If you can find a used one it represents good value.  I moved the hicap to my cd5, traded the isupply but kept the napsc along with the headline (even though I'm using a headphone dac now).

I have to agree with [@mention:1566878603936881]. The HL2 is fantastic with a HC (I myself use it with a HCDR) but it is a matter of balance the cost of the unit with the headphones and whether or not you already have such a power supply available. If not, it can be hard to justify.

With my HD600, the HL2 sounded fantastic with a NAPSC. But HD800 were able to show off a massive leap in performance for the spare HCDR I had. If I was using HD600 with that system still I would be looking to leave a NAPSC on the HL2. In your case, with HD280, I have not heard the combination but I might be extremely tempted to simply leave the iSupply in place and not go crazy.

Using HD650s, I started with a napsc and then upgraded to HC. The latter was better but more expensive - go figure!

The must be some good deals on non-DR HiCaps around these days (which in the future you could always upgrade to DR if you feel flush). That said, my OCD reminds me that the napsc is the same size box as a headline, if that's of any importance to you...

Thanks for all your answers so far. Very useful. 

However, can anyone please comment on my specific questions?

Would the FC be a definite improvement on the iSupply (in theory)?

Can I test my NAPSC on the Headline using the existing cable (ie the one from the NAPSC to the 202)?

Is the FC better than the NAPSC in the context of powering the Headline?

Thanks!

You have all three power supplies, so why not just try it?

Hungryhalibut posted:

You have all three power supplies, so why not just try it?

 

That is a very good point! Although I would have to buy a SLIC to try the FC. (Or can I borrow the cable from the NAPSC?)

However, can someone please confirm that the NAPSC can simply be unplugged from the 202 and plugged in to the HL (all once powered down, of course)?

M

Maughan67 posted:

However, can someone please confirm that the NAPSC can simply be unplugged from the 202 and plugged in to the HL (all once powered down, of course)?

M

Yes it can - you'd need to put the link plug back into the 202 and performance of the 202 will be slightly worse without the NAPSC - worth bearing in mind when comparing supplies. 

feeling_zen posted:

In your case, with HD280, I have not heard the combination but I might be extremely tempted to simply leave the iSupply in place and not go crazy.

If I do make the changes under discussion, I will also definitely replace the headphones with a much higher spec open-back pair (eg Sennheiser HD600). 

Does that change your advice/comment?

M

If it were me I'd get a Hicap DR for the 202 and use the flatcap for the CD and HL. Then get a used 200 if you still feel the need. 

Maughan67 posted:

feeling_zen posted:

In your case, with HD280, I have not heard the combination but I might be extremely tempted to simply leave the iSupply in place and not go crazy.

If I do make the changes under discussion, I will also definitely replace the headphones with a much higher spec open-back pair (eg Sennheiser HD600). 

Does that change your advice/comment?

M

I couldn't say. Testing yourself as HH says, is the only way you gan know if it worth it to you.

Also remember that how much an improvement is only one part of the equation. The other being how often you listen to headphones and how important they are in your listening habits. That should instruct your decision as much as anything else. An iSupply/HL2 is still a world class headphone amp.

I suggest testing and sharing your experience here. I'd be amazed if the FC was not the best. On the other hand, you rarely hear of people upgrading from a NAPSC to a FC. For whatever reason, the jump to HC for the HL seems more common. I suspect mainly because people end up with spare HCs and just look at their HL and think "oh what the hell, let's do it".

feeling_zen posted:

Also remember that how much an improvement is only one part of the equation. The other being how often you listen to headphones and how important they are in your listening habits. That should instruct your decision as much as anything else.

Wise words - it is precisely this which led to me selling the HL2 and using my Chord Hugo during my fairly limited headphone-listening sessions...

First HC for the 202 (then you'll get to hear what a really good pre-amp it is), keep the FC for the CD5XS and a 2nd hand NAPSC for the HL.

Good luck.

Lindsay

james n posted:

Maughan67 posted:

However, can someone please confirm that the NAPSC can simply be unplugged from the 202 and plugged in to the HL (all once powered down, of course)?

M

Yes it can - you'd need to put the link plug back into the 202 and performance of the 202 will be slightly worse without the NAPSC - worth bearing in mind when comparing supplies. 

Understood - thanks.  I will try that. 

But if I am simply testing the Headline performance with the help of the NAPSC, does the 202's temporary lack of that NAPSC have any effect?  Put another way, if the Headline is the headphones' dedicated amp, is the 202 "doing" anything to the signal that passes through it before going into (and out of) the Headline?  Or is the Headline only the headphones' "power amp", and so still reliant on the 202's pre-amp work?

It's an interesting question.  The NAC202 is an active pre-amp (as opposed to passive) so the power that feeds it is important.  However, as to just how important it is when dealing with the routing of signal from source to tape out, I couldn't say.

Maughan posted:

  Or is the Headline only the headphones' "power amp", and so still reliant on the 202's pre-amp work?

Effectively yes - the 202 is still running the signal through it's internal buffer stages (minus the volume control). The NAPSC  when used on the 202 powers the 'digital' logic control and micro controller circuitry. Without it, this digital circuitry shares one of the internal power rails within the 202 and so noise from this section can couple back into the pre-amplifier. It's not a massive difference but you can demonstrate how effective the NAPSC is on the 202 when running in your normal system configuration 

feeling_zen posted:

Maughan67 posted:

feeling_zen posted:

In your case, with HD280, I have not heard the combination but I might be extremely tempted to simply leave the iSupply in place and not go crazy.

If I do make the changes under discussion, I will also definitely replace the headphones with a much higher spec open-back pair (eg Sennheiser HD600). 

Does that change your advice/comment?

M

I couldn't say. Testing yourself as HH says, is the only way you can know if it worth it to you.

I agree that, ultimately, personal testing is the only way to obtain a definitive answer for each person's particular set-up.  However, I think most questions on this forum are asking for either a) the theoretical answer (ie a Hicap is "supposed to be" better than a NAPSC) and/or b) other users' personal experiences.  Each such answer may, in isolation, not in fact be true for another user.  But once multiple answers are received, a common thread usually emerges, and that provides a useful point of reference for what options are likely to work best.  That narrows down the choices and usually/probably/hopefully moves most people towards the best option (which you can then also audition if you wish). 

Apart from the very first time I auditioned Naim (and other similar makes) when I wanted to make the wholesale jump up to such equipment, I have never auditioned any of my subsequent upgrades - I have simply read this forum (a LOT), done a few permutations and pricing options and then gone ahead and made the purchase, in the belief that what was an improvement for most others is very likely to be an improvement for me.  (The worst that would happen is I have to re-sell something.)  And each such upgrade has worked very well every time!  No regrets (and a big thank you to this forum's users). 

There is also a cost/benefit aspect.  I could just move up to the next "level" of equipment which (based on my rule of thumb above that there is a generally-accepted scale of what is "better") would probably produce an easy and obvious improvement.  But I think part of the fun of all this is doing more subtle tweaks, trying to make suitable adjustments which take you to a noticeable improvement without just forking out £'000s for the "easy" upgrade referred to above.  So my original question in this thread was really aimed at seeing if the general view was that the FC would/could work well on the Headline if I ended up with a spare output (ie if I bought a 200DR instead of a bare 200), but that also recognised that my current headphones are not super-duper and so a little upgrade in that area would not go amiss at the same time: I was not really asking "what is the best way to maximise my Headline if I was starting from scratch" (although that is interesting also!). 

This is all perhaps a little off-topic from my own original thread (apologies!), but it may explain why I am asking these particular questions about ways in which to tweak a little bit more out of my headphone listening. 

M

I;d say it really depends on how often you use headphones. I hardly ever use them now in my new home, so got rid of everything apart from some Bluetooth stuff I also use when out and about.

However, when I used to listen over headphones for most of the time in my home office I ended up with two different top-of-the-line Grado phones with a HL and Supercap (having started with a NAPSC and then moving to a HiCap on the way). The Headline responds very well to upgrades in Power Supply and offers much improved dynamism, texture and scale with the Supercap, but whether it's worth the faff, space and money only you can tell. 

I recently went from  iSupply to NAPSC on the HL and the improvement was only modest. To be fair I only use 'phones occasionally and I have new ones - so I might not be the best judge.