Headphone connection solutions please

Bruce, I would look for a dedicated headphone amp to connect to your Naim preamp. Plenty out there that sound good for not too much money; Creek, Rega etc.. you’ll need a tape interconnect - Naim or Chord would be my recommendation. 

Rega Ear added to your 52 would be an obvious option.  Mojo or Hugo inserted between NDS and 52 would also be an option, if you don’t have any analog sources you want to listen to.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to bypass the DAC in the NDS, but it is simple to do with the right cables.  I’d get the Ear.

I use a Headline with a FC2X.

Nick

NickSeattle posted:

Rega Ear added to your 52 would be an obvious option.  Mojo or Hugo inserted between NDS and 52 would also be an option, if you don’t have any analog sources you want to listen to.

Nick

I had a Rega Ear for years and despite it's modest price is one of the best analogue only headphone amps I've used short of going for the HeadLine.

I could have easily lived with it even now. Can't remember why I gave it way to be honest.

The mojo will work from the digital out of the NDS,there are cables available.The thing is,are you already using the digital out for something else?...it becomes a pain swapping cables around.The mojo sounds fantastic by the way.

i have creek and gustard10 headphone amps connected by rca interconnects from 272 and i also connected my mojo to 272 with bnc/coax cable... so you can do both...second hand creek/rega/arcam headphone amps can be find, they are very good amps but not sure about synergy with Grado, i dont like grados at all, i had the same cans and sold them after a week, way too forward for my taste...

i have a SP100 AK player which connect far better than Naim 272 to my server and also to Tidal so i am surprised to hear about AK70

Thanks folks. Slight snag is that I'm not sure I have any power sockets left (which was why Mojo and other similar devices tempted) but I will look into the birds nest at the back of my system and think again. I'm not sure I have any space in the rack either-I will look at the dimensions of the EAR etc.

Bruce

Connecting the MoJo to the NDS via the S/Pdif BNC will work fine.

Thanks Huw

Finding a lead to do this appears to be a challenge though.

Can you use a soldering iron?

Or do you know someone who can?

Finally there are companies who will make up custom cables for relatively little cost (you would need to tell them it's 75Ω digital).

North Yorks is a bit too far out of my way (I was born a northerner, but defected to the soft south for employment reasons!).

My soldering skills are rudimentary. I'm more of a duck tape/superglue kinda guy,

Bruce

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

Thanks Huw

Finding a lead to do this appears to be a challenge though.

Chord can sort you out a cable for this application Bruce. You could either use a BNC to RCA adapter or get Chord to replace the RCA plug with a BNC plug. 

I seem to recall that you are / were a medic...

You can do something as phenomenally hard and complex as fixing people, but not mange something as simple as fixing a little bit of wire to a connector! 

Huw

I rarely get the option of using a soldering iron on patients. Actually, never thinking about it!

Bruce

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

I rarely get the option of using a soldering iron on patients. Actually, never thinking about it!

Is it that much different from using a cauteriser?   :-)

I highly recommend the Graham Slee Ultra Linear Diamond Edition ......... this is a stunning amp ... works brilliantly with NDS/552 and HD800S.

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

Huw

I rarely get the option of using a soldering iron on patients. Actually, never thinking about it!

Bruce

Practice makes perfect (even in practice *)...

NOOOOO 

(Actually Bruce, it's not Huw - last year I realised I had to change my name - but no problem you couldn't have known that.  )

*  OK, far too many puns available from the ambiguity there!

Eloise posted:

Bruce Woodhouse posted:

I rarely get the option of using a soldering iron on patients. Actually, never thinking about it!

Is it that much different from using a cauteriser?   :-)

The good thing about soldering is that if it doesn’t work out first time, you can usually have a second or third attempt...........whereas with a patient............ !

They become impatient?

Grado makes or made a battery-operated headphone amp, for not a lot of money.  Might suit your Grado headphones.

Nick

I use the below solution and the mojo sounds great, yes it’s a faff with the cable, but with limited headphone use I can live with it. 

Shame Naim never developed a high end headphone amp......

Gary

+1 for Mojo connected to NDS digital out with the Chord interconnect.  Agree that the Headline plus PSU adds too many extra boxes (and cost) for a solution used occasionally only.

Sounds awesome with my Sennheiser HD800S ‘phones though.

ATB.  G.

fathings cat posted:

...Shame Naim never developed a high end headphone amp......

Gary

Gary, is the Headline 2 (with Hicap or better yet, Supercap) not "high end" enough for you??  Match it with the right 'phones and it's rather awesome, and very "naim"...

p.s. With an NDS in there, there's no point in adding an extra DAC such as in the Mojo.  Even my Hugo isn't as engaging as using a Headline from the pre-amp. Just go for a the best straight headphone amp you can afford.

 If you want a Naim sound try a Schiit mjolnir 2 on the tape loop they sound stunning and you can tube roll to perfect the sound to your own pref, balance and SE

Richard Dane posted:

fathings cat posted:

...Shame Naim never developed a high end headphone amp......

Gary

Gary, is the Headline 2 (with Hicap or better yet, Supercap) not "high end" enough for you??  Match it with the right 'phones and it's rather awesome, and very "naim"...

Indeed. A HiCapped HeadLine is something to behold. There are those that whine about the HeadLine. I'd would counter that there is no such thing as a Naim headphone amp called a Headline. There are HeadLine/NAPSC, Headline/FCXS, Headline/HCdr, and Headline/SCdr. Which are all different headphone amps.

The RegaEar can drive harder cans easier than a Headline/NAPSC albiet with less fidelity, but the bump in current from the other power supplies changes the performance and drive capability entirely.