Nova - why no DR and will it ever be ...

The SN2 just contains a DR module for the internal pre-amp feed. Space is quite tight inside the Nova so adding DR regulation in key areas would have been difficult and outside the cost constraints for this particular product.

The 'Naim reference streamer' is the ND555, and it is packed full of DR power supplies, internal and external. The Nova, by comparison, is an all-in-one player, with all of the compromises to design and cost which that inevitably requires.

Could have swore it used to say reference on the Naim site, but double checked say Audiophile.

Surely a regulator is being used, so it is just another - in terms of real estate.

Agree it is all a compromise, but given the SN2 is allot older it was DR from the get-go

The Nova uses LM317 type regulators in various places - all that's needed here is the the 317 itself and two small surface mount caps - cheap as chips and only a small amount of board space required. The DR module needs more components so space (and cost) is more of an issue, especially if you have a number of them. 

Chris sums it up nicely above... 

It's also a question of whether the actual DR components are able to make a difference in the Nova. There are plenty of Naim Classic and XS range items that do have space for these but they are not used. 

The thing is, as you go further up in turns of hifi (anything, not just Naim), in order to reproduce music more faithfully and draw out the subtlest nuance buried in each recording, everything needs to become both sensitive to pick up the microdetails and then all the way down the chain to the speakers to not lose information that is extracted. That comes at the cost of more expensive hifi being fairly tweaky (sensitive to cables, placement, temperature, vibrations, RFI etc.). It could therefore be argued that DR components are added to units that will actually benefit from them. Thus the added but modest cost of adding DR to things that probably cannot benefit from it, is not passed on to the customer.

Of course, I should state emphatically, I have no actual idea at what level DR benefits stop being audible. For all I know, it could make a huge difference everything. But I suspect that is not the case.

When you look at the ND555 white paper, the nDac is crying out for the DR makeover. I did mention this to Steve Sells, understandably, no comment.

Is there any need for the DR tag if a product has never existed before DR was included? The Nova may not contain any but if it was stuffed with the blighters it wouldn't need the DR tag to destinguish it from a non DR version as there's only the Nova. There isn't a Statement DR either.

Gazza posted:

When you look at the ND555 white paper, the nDac is crying out for the DR makeover. I did mention this to Steve Sells, understandably, no comment.

Doesn't plugging it into a DR power supply give it such a makeover?

indeed it does  - and to my ears for the worse too.. But that is the beauty of the NDAC - you can choose whether to go DR or not by whatever external analogue section PSU you use... so I would argue its definitely not crying out for a DR makeover as it already has that as an option by user preference

Still think it will get a make over with the new circuitry layout, Naim are currently missing out to Chord on DAC sales. My dealer does not bother to stock the nDac, last sold one 2 years ago.