Naim dac new worth or not!?

Richard Dane posted:

The Naim DAC is definitely more than good enough to show up transport differences.  I posted comparisons of various CD players as transports some years back. The differences were quite remarkable really.

Richard did you find the CD5XS was good enough as a transport for the Dac ?

They may be using the same DAC of old but it’s about the implementation in the circuit board and associated power supply. It’s a black art I would imagine to write the software that pulls it all together is difficult for people to appreciate.

I find the Uniti Nova sounds great, even if it maybe old technology, but a new implementation.

Nina posted:

Richard Dane posted:

The Naim DAC is definitely more than good enough to show up transport differences.  I posted comparisons of various CD players as transports some years back. The differences were quite remarkable really.

Richard did you find the CD5XS was good enough as a transport for the Dac ?

Nina, I didn't try the CD5xs.  I was trying a whole load of old CD players that I had on hand - Rotel, Marantz, Sony ES, Arcam, Meridian etc.. The Naim I did try as a transport was the DVD5. 

My posting in this thread was asking about the impact on sound (nDAC) a streamer such as an NDX would have over my Unitiserve SSD whereas most comments relate to CD players.  Has anyone experience of the NDX/nDAC combo?

Yes - see my reply on page 1 of this thread.

redalphabet posted:

its gives a unfocused sound, that sort of bounces around the room - but for background music it might be all you need if you want a light hearted, jolly, sort of Naim sound.

 

I've only Just read this and I don't understand the observation to be honest

I don't find that the sound "bounces around the room" I find the sound is 'rock solid' and certainly does not "bounce around" my room

"Jolly, sort of Naim sound" well I wouldn't describe it that way but the Dac definitely does sound like a Naim item and for the better I think, it is VERY musical indeed

I am loving what the Dac sounds like and I won't part with it anytime soon and for what I paid for it I consider it a complete bargain 

Adam Zielinski posted:

Yes - see my reply on page 1 of this thread.

And mine.

Yes, thanks Adam.  I guess I just don’t understand what is making the difference between those two front end products.  One a stand alone streamer, the other said to be the front end of an HDX.  No moving parts so where’s the difference in componentry. 

Harry posted:

And mine.

Harry I think your comment about the Dac "hasn't been replaced because Naim can't build anything better. Yet" is probably spot on

I care not if the Dac is not considered "up-to-date" technology wise when it sounds as good as it does

Nina posted:

Richard Dane posted:

The Naim DAC is definitely more than good enough to show up transport differences.  I posted comparisons of various CD players as transports some years back. The differences were quite remarkable really.

Richard did you find the CD5XS was good enough as a transport for the Dac ?

Hi Nina

You could do worse than look at the thread entitled "Naim DAC - a dealers initial perspective".  (The search facility should find it.) This gives a careful comparison of using CD5XS and CDX2 as transport, both with and without various power supplies.  Although it is a few years old now, the dealer in question was very well regarded so you can take his views seriously.  Hope you find it interesting.

Roger

Peakman posted:

Hi Nina

You could do worse than look at the thread entitled "Naim DAC - a dealers initial perspective".  (The search facility should find it.) This gives a careful comparison of using CD5XS and CDX2 as transport, both with and without various power supplies.  Although it is a few years old now, the dealer in question was very well regarded so you can take his views seriously.  Hope you find it interesting.

Roger

Thanks for the info Peakman.. I've just read that and found it very interesting and I am happy that Norman was reasonably happy with the CD5XS/Dac combo that I am currently using

Sure the CDX2 might sound slightly better with the Dac but I am more than happy with my outlay vs sound quality at the moment

AndyF posted:

Yes, thanks Adam.  I guess I just don’t understand what is making the difference between those two front end products.  One a stand alone streamer, the other said to be the front end of an HDX.  No moving parts so where’s the difference in componentry. 

In a simplest way: quality of the components and their implementation.

Nina posted:

Harry posted:

And mine.

Harry I think your comment about the Dac "hasn't been replaced because Naim can't build anything better. Yet" is probably spot on

I care not if the Dac is not considered "up-to-date" technology wise when it sounds as good as it does

Having had 3 naim Dacs in the past with HDX/NDX and either an SXPS or 555PS I can reflect now and honestly say I prefer the 272 musically.

G

It also forms the basis of the DAC used in the NDS. Which is not by any stretch, right up there on the bleeding edge. Nevertheless, it remains one of the best streamers you can buy for any money.

GraemeH posted:

Having had 3 naim Dacs in the past with HDX/NDX and either an SXPS or 555PS I can reflect now and honestly say I prefer the 272 musically.

G

Hi GraemeH

Unfortunately I know nothing about the 272 but am assuming it's classed as a pre-amp with 'extras'

I originally started with just one Naim box (integrated) but it has very quickly grown to three Naim boxes..... they breed you know.. 

Nina posted:

GraemeH posted:

Having had 3 naim Dacs in the past with HDX/NDX and either an SXPS or 555PS I can reflect now and honestly say I prefer the 272 musically.

G

Hi GraemeH

Unfortunately I know nothing about the 272 but am assuming it's classed as a pre-amp with 'extras'

I originally started with just one Naim box (integrated) but it has very quickly grown to three Naim boxes..... they breed you know.. 

I got to 8 once 

G

GraemeH posted:

I got to 8 once 

G

Boy that's a lot of boxes G  I am stopping at 3 boxes for sometime  

Seriously - I’m enjoying the 272/250DR Proac Tablette 10 so much that I can’t see what another box (XPSDR) could improve. It just sounds so ‘right’ as is.

I’ll do a home dem but I’ll need to be really wowed to justify the expense.

G

I'm using a Stereovox XV2 with my nDac and sounds lovely but thinking about buying a DC1. Based on your experience is the nDac sensitive to cabling or will all digital cables perform about the same at 75 ohm? Always wondered if switching to a DC1 would offer an improvement.

Aznblue I've just received my Black Cat Silverstar 75 BNC to BNC digital cable today and will place it between the CD5XS and Dac tonight and will report back once I've taken a listen

Thanks Nina. The Black Cat and Stereovox were both designed by Chris Sommovigo, Chris makes great cables. 

Nina posted:

Aznblue I've just received my Black Cat Silverstar 75 BNC to BNC digital cable today and will place it between the CD5XS and Dac tonight and will report back once I've taken a listen

It should sound great Nina. I’ve just caught up on last few posts and saw your query about CD5XS as transport for nDac. This is what I use, currently with XPSDR on nDac. This is an excellent combination, but even without the XPS the combination is more than good enough. I actually prefer spinning CD’s this way over same CD’s ripped and played via 272/555DR. I think it is more a presentation thing, rather than than one better than the other. Currently I use a Chord signature bnc-bnc cable.

aznblue posted:

Thanks Nina. The Black Cat and Stereovox were both designed by Chris Sommovigo, Chris makes great cables. 

Well Aznblue I am loving the new cable and yes I think Chris does indeed make a lovely cable

I have 2 other digital cables that are now redundant on the strength of the Black Cat cable  

Good to hear Nina, what are the two cables it beat out? I would suspect the XV2 and Silverstar to sound similar.

aznblue posted:

Good to hear Nina, what are the two cables it beat out? I would suspect the XV2 and Silverstar to sound similar.

Aznblue the other cables were a Canare BNC -BNC 75 ohm cable and a Mark Grant HDX1 BNC - RCA cable

For the money the best was the Mark Grant cable but the Black Cat cable is something else entirely, but I guess at the price it should be really

However I still consider the Black Cat Silverstar 75 cable good value as it is sounding very good indeed

I believe the XV2 came before the Silverstar 75 cable

I cannot imagine the DC1 sounding any better than the Silverstar cable and it's about £85 more than I paid for the Silverstar cable