NDS looks to be officially discontinued

It's a colour screen. The logo is traditional green though.

best

David

nigelb posted:

nigelb posted:

That makes more sense. The ND555 with the suspended sub chassis a la NDS and a posh new NDX with the new architecture and screen like the ND555 and the NDS no more.

Product line rationalisation makes a lot of sense as long as no large (performance/price point) gaps are created.

I now hear full-blown laughter emanating from Salisbury and Bristol!

I swear I had no prior knowledge, just a lucky guess on my part.

Do I get a prize?

Purchased new as a floor model from a dealer october 2017, discontinued

 February 2018 , oh well-

David Hendon posted:

It's a colour screen. The logo is traditional green though.

best

David

Yes but every colour screen can display contents in black and white, black and green or in whatever other colour scheme. It just need a software option to select a specific scheme.

What is the purpose of the screen at all? Given that it'll be controlled from an iPad or similar, why do we need any screen? I hardly ever look at the screen on my NDS when selecting albums. All the information I need is visible on the iPad. Maybe that explains the new ND5XS2.

If I had a choice I'd always opt for a screen because you never know if it might come in handy for something. But it would normally stay switched off in our house. 

How it sounds will always account for 99% or more of the desirability.

zoot posted:

Purchased new as a floor model from a dealer october 2017, discontinued

 February 2018 , oh well-

 

It does not made what you bought any different, doesn't affect how good it is, so is of no consequence other than if you fret and think you might have been able to buy something better if you'd waited   ...but it is simply a fact of progress: the same can happen if you buy a camera, TV, car, vacuum cleaner - and indeed does happen to many people.

And in many cases the new model costs more than the old.

Eloise posted:

...

Does it by the way also have a USB output or just analogue and S/PDIF outputs?

There’s no mention of USB output, however the NaimAudio web page does mention LVDS output (I assume i2s).

Interesting, perhaps we will see a new Naim DAC with i2s inputs then?

zoot posted:

nigelb posted:

nigelb posted:

That makes more sense. The ND555 with the suspended sub chassis a la NDS and a posh new NDX with the new architecture and screen like the ND555 and the NDS no more.

Product line rationalisation makes a lot of sense as long as no large (performance/price point) gaps are created.

I now hear full-blown laughter emanating from Salisbury and Bristol!

I swear I had no prior knowledge, just a lucky guess on my part.

Do I get a prize?

Purchased new as a floor model from a dealer october 2017, discontinued

 February 2018 , oh well-

 

But then you have to ask yourself why you bought the NDS in the first place - because it’s one of the best of its type out there and that’s not changed. Mine’s coming up to 2 years old and the 555PS is newer so both will be staying put for a while especially as a 552 is in the queue ahead - that’s if they don’t discontinue that. 

Its all part of lifecycle management. Just think of all the moans if Naim had kept the NDS in production for another year or two? Having said that I wouldn’t mind an option to upgrade some of the internals but I think that’s unlikely to happen. I could always cut out a picture of the new colour screen and stick it on my NDS. You never know it might even make it sound better

nbpf posted:

David Hendon posted:

It's a colour screen. The logo is traditional green though.

best

David

Yes but every colour screen can display contents in black and white, black and green or in whatever other colour scheme. It just need a software option to select a specific scheme.

Obviously.

But Naim won't do it. They didn't even respond to the many requests to reintroduce the n-stream green as an option in the Naim app, so they certainly won't put options for a monochrome green in the colour display on the new streamers.

best

David 

I don’t even use the screen on my NDS so could easily live without it. I used to find the one on the HDX a bit of a distraction too. Better with no screen in my view but perhaps it’s there to entice the newbies!

Do the streamers need a screen in the first place? If the main control point is an iPad why do we need a colour screen tacked on to the front of the streamer. How many people stare at their Naim stuff whilst listening anyway?

David Hendon posted:

nbpf posted:

David Hendon posted:

It's a colour screen. The logo is traditional green though.

best

David

Yes but every colour screen can display contents in black and white, black and green or in whatever other colour scheme. It just need a software option to select a specific scheme.

Obviously.

But Naim won't do it. They didn't even respond to the many requests to reintroduce the n-stream green as an option in the Naim app, so they certainly won't put options for a monochrome green in the colour display on the new streamers.

best

David 

That would be very disappointing, the whole point of software is flexibility and customizability! If Naim do not care to care, they will not get my money, that's as simple as that.

I certainly don't stare at the screen while listening to music, nor do I stare at the Naim app on my phone.  So by that argument neither of them are needed.  But I find both to be very useful when required.

Only rare occasions are when the kids have flattened all the phones and iPads - don’t they ever charge them? So keep an old iPod hidden for just such occasion - and then find it’s discharged through lack of use!

Eloise posted:

and whether its S/PDIF output matches the quality of modern network players.

Likely open to debate especially as modern network players vary in the quality of their SPDIF outputs... though there may not even be an SPDIF output!

Let's put it like that: considering the price difference, I would expect the S/PDIF of the new Naim NDX 2 to be significantly better than that of, say, the Allo DigiOne. It will be interesting to see whether this is the case or not.

nbpf posted:

Eloise posted:

...

Does it by the way also have a USB output or just analogue and S/PDIF outputs?

There’s no mention of USB output, however the NaimAudio web page does mention LVDS output (I assume i2s).

Interesting, perhaps we will see a new Naim DAC with i2s inputs then?

Why on earth would you do that.. i2s is designed for internal system integration, definitely not optimal for external interfacing... think of it like a computer bus. 

These days the focus is on system timing decoupling as that generally gives the best performance and is practical and more robust. 

BTW LVDS is simply a specific interface that uses balanced signalling...primarily for the TV and consumer peripheral industry. AES/EBU SPDIF is another example of balanced signalling, along with USB. LVDS has advantages as it can minimise ground plane noise and earth loop issues in connecting devices that are inherently electrically noisy but still maintain high bandwidth.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

nbpf posted:

Eloise posted:

...

Does it by the way also have a USB output or just analogue and S/PDIF outputs?

There’s no mention of USB output, however the NaimAudio web page does mention LVDS output (I assume i2s).

Interesting, perhaps we will see a new Naim DAC with i2s inputs then?

Why on earth would you do that.. i2s is designed for internal system integration, definitely not optimal for external interfacing... think of it like a computer bus. 

...

I do not know, I am just wondering whether a new output might suggest that a new DAC is in the pipeline. As far as I know, Naim usually do not provide outputs that do not match inputs of other Naim devices.   

dave marshall posted:

Ooh no! ........... mine has sounded broken for the last half hour since this news broke. 

Ooh no! .......................... it gets worse .................... I've just noticed that the HDX has been terminated too ................. so my entire front end is now obsolete ..................... can you feel my shame? 

dave marshall posted:

dave marshall posted:

Ooh no! ........... mine has sounded broken for the last half hour since this news broke. 

Ooh no! .......................... it gets worse .................... I've just noticed that the HDX has been terminated too ................. so my entire front end is now obsolete ..................... can you feel my shame? 

I run an NDX into 82 Olive Hicap 135s, feel my pain.

Eoink posted:

dave marshall posted:

dave marshall posted:

Ooh no! ........... mine has sounded broken for the last half hour since this news broke. 

Ooh no! .......................... it gets worse .................... I've just noticed that the HDX has been terminated too ................. so my entire front end is now obsolete ..................... can you feel my shame? 

I run an NDX into 82 Olive Hicap 135s, feel my pain.

I feel that we may well have to stop posting on the forum, I can already hear other members whispering behind our backs! 

Maybe there's a room in a place in Southampton Road, Salisbury, where the walls are all padded for people just like us. 

What would be super cool is an Olive streamer! Might have to use a ZX Spectrum for the internal hardware though...

fordy posted:

What would be super cool is an Olive streamer! Might have to use a ZX Spectrum for the internal hardware though...

I’d love to see the colour screen on that.

dave marshall posted:

dave marshall posted:

Ooh no! ........... mine has sounded broken for the last half hour since this news broke. 

Ooh no! .......................... it gets worse .................... I've just noticed that the HDX has been terminated too ................. so my entire front end is now obsolete ..................... can you feel my shame? 

Dave, your system is sooo yesterday. Even though we have not heard the ND555 yet, I bet your system has taken a turn for the worse, just with the ND555 being on view!

Seriously, as a discontinued NDS owner too, I am quite happy to stick. The NDS will remain the best sounding Naim streamer under the ND555 (unless they have worked absolute wonders with the NDX2) and I simply can't afford a ND555 no matter how good it is. No, I am very happy with my discontinued kit and it will continue to entertain me be long after my ears have failed me.

Thats' made me feel so much better about my setup, to learn that there are fellow misguided souls out there too.

My shame is easing somewhat.