The benefits of being a dinosaur

Great News Mike, Pleased you are getting more after of your system and how nice to get one of the top 5 Compact Disc players in the world when it was in production. Also a seemless change over having the 555 DR power supply already on the N DAC.

Like you I am not interested in Streaming as have to many records and Compact Discs on the shelves and do enjoy the ritual of playing them and the comfort of looking at a wall of music and the memories of say pulling out a record and remembering the decade where I brought the album what I was doing then etc.... sometimes I think I have never got past 1990 as still using Cassette's. And haven't even embraced a separate DAC on my Nagra compact disc player as the synergy to my ears with my Nagra preamplifier just ticks all the boxes.

Looking forward to reading how it improves and beds in.In your system 

Enjoy the going threw your collection again

Wishing you a good Sunday Cheers Ian.   

Yep - I’ve heard a CD555 on quite a few occasions, a glorious sound!

Happy Listener posted:

Another dinosaur here albeit with thoughts on evolving to the dark side but I'm held back by the thinking that 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' and my CD555 certainly isn't 'broken' (in the way the word is often used around these parts), plus the cost to move to an equivalent/better-quality replay system (not an NDS IMV) is not insignificant when all the sundries are added in e.g. I don't have a 'pad' (or anything made by Apple) and hard-wiring in my house is tricky for various reasons.

One of the advantages of the new Naim "streamers" is that they can also act as servers. This means that you do not need a separated UPnP server (typically running on a NAS or on a dedicated music server) and wired connections between the streamer and your router. Just connect a SSD drive to the back of ND555, NDX 2, etc. and you are done.

I have a more modest system based on a Naim DAC fed by an Allo DigiOne. The system effectively works as an hard disk player and does not require any wired connection to the router. Control point is BubbleUPnP. It is an extremely capable application that runs on Android devices.

All in all, I think that the major motivations for being a dinosaur are not of technical nature. The technique is meanwhile available, it is affordable and works fine.

But organising and tagging a music collection in a way that makes it as enjoyable as a physical collection of CDs or vinyl is still a big challenge. This is particularly true for classical music collections: here the metadata generated by current ripping systems are typically miserable and manual intervention is mandatory. With the exception of small labels like Hyperion, the metadata of classical music downloads also tend to be very poor or, in the best case, inconsistent.

It is a pattern which is observed very often: the technique and the hardware are miles ahead of the software. Every time a software upgrade comes, one is to be happy if the software has not gotten worse! In such times, being a dinosaur is probably a very good survival strategy!  

As a recently convert to streaming I do feel obliged to provide an alternative picture of what its like. 

Firstly the gear.....this can be as simple as a pair of active speakers with built-in DAC, a server and an ethernet cable. Done....with SQ right up there with the absolute best analog or digital.

Convenience? This is where streaming really wins.  Day before yesterday somebody posted a list of their favourite music which looked interesting. While having breakfast I switched on my iPad, clicked Qobuz, typed in the album names, clicked ‘add to favorites’. Done  That same evening I had dozens of new albums to listen to and all the album notes to read...that simple.  £20 per month buys me all the music I can ever want to listen to...all in uncompressed red book standard.  And for a few more £s I can have a lot of that music in hi-res format. 

In streaming and ‘computer audio’, like other ‘branches’ of hi-if there’s a group of enthusiasts who purchase myriad boxes to fine tune sound quality but these approaches are totally unnecessary. These days there is plenty of very simple to buy, connect and use hardware that delivers utterly sublime sound quality....with all the qualities desired and adored by audiophiles

With a 40+ history in audio,  including some top analog, active and vacuum tube installations I now have the simplest, least complicated installation producing by far the best SQ i have ever achieved and an almost infinite supply of music without having to store anything. 

The only real downside to streaming is that you are dependent on your ISP for a good quality, high speed data stream.  But even if you can’t guarantee a good connection, a modern server still has the potential to outperform even the best CDPs based simply on the fact that servers no longer require electrically noisy motors and their associated control electronics and power supplies to play an album. 

Thing is though, one these days can achieve stupendous sound quality from a top notch CD player for very little money thanks to the streaming takeover. It can get to a stage where it can turn full circle. The second hand CD market has never been cheaper or so obtainable for those who want to significantly climb the ladder that otherwise could not of done if not for the massive reductions in such hardware. Even mint second hand CDs can be had for as little as a pound each, which can still be ripped for future migration. Everyone is a winner it seems!

Enjoy that CD555 for many years to come!!

I have yet to try any streaming service other than Primephonic but the sound quality from that at 24 bit FLAC isn’t up there with ripped CDs, not by the time Airplay has transfered it to the 555 anyway. Tidal can go via chromcast or native, qobuz only via chromcast so Tidal will be next to try. A CD player has simplicity on its side compared to all this and you don’t have to enter the title and track list manually on the ipad for that CD you bought at a gig last night that discogs has never heard of.

It seems that the CD v LP wars are over and now it's CD v Streaming.

For some of us it is still the LP that rules.

But, a top notch CD player, and the 555 is one of those, is still more than pleasant. My local dealer has had a couple of pre-loved CD555s pass through his hands.

I already thought a couple of people would benefit from others stepping away from there CD555, congratulations - it seems to be fun to be a dinosaur.

TK421 posted:

You mean you listen to albums from start to finish with not a single track skipped.

I'm impressed. Although I don't believe it.

That's the downside of streaming - far too easy to change tracks/albums though in general I like to listen to whole albums unless there are tracks that really grate.

Alley Cat posted:

TK421 posted:

You mean you listen to albums from start to finish with not a single track skipped.

I'm impressed. Although I don't believe it.

That's the downside of streaming - far too easy to change tracks/albums though in general I like to listen to whole albums unless there are tracks that really grate.

It really gets me wound up to not listen to albums as a whole & I have never skipped a track, not even those that 'grate'.   I even have issues with compilation albums & my own playlists where a track is not followed with the 'expected' next track on the album.     As for playing albums in Jukebox (random)     .......  a sad life,  yeah I know.    

I must confess that I do have a very modest vinyl set up with approx 100 LP's.

Now when playing these I always listen to the whole album from start to finish.

When streaming I find my moods (if this is the right word) can change very quickly and as a result I do find that I am not just track skipping but artist/album switching. Although, this doesn't happen when I am driving and I am more than happy to listen to a whole album sometimes over and over.

We are all different individuals and come with our own quirks but it's the music that 'floats our boats' and it doesn't matter how we choose to listen.

Also, I'm NOT on the forum to start telling others that vinyl is the best and streaming isn't etc, it is all great and for us with Naim equipment it is a real joy that we shouldn't ever forget.

I would love to hear the CD555 in full flow and would promise to listen to the whole CD.

Mike

Mike-B posted:

Alley Cat posted:

TK421 posted:

You mean you listen to albums from start to finish with not a single track skipped.

I'm impressed. Although I don't believe it.

That's the downside of streaming - far too easy to change tracks/albums though in general I like to listen to whole albums unless there are tracks that really grate.

It really gets me wound up to not listen to albums as a whole & I have never skipped a track, not even those that 'grate'.   I even have issues with compilation albums & my own playlists where a track is not followed with the 'expected' next track on the album.     As for playing albums in Jukebox (random)     .......  a sad life,  yeah I know.    

For most of my life I’ve been an “albums” person. I suppose that stems from buying LPs rather than singles. That carried over into CDs and even using iTunes - I always hated (with a passion) Apple’s “song” based ecosystem.

However since moving more and more towards streaming, the idea of playlists (or at least ability to select individual tracks from the NAS) has grown on me.

SWMBO, however, remains very much “album centric” with clusters of “her” CDs stacked around the house.

And I do prefer my CDX-XPS over the RPi/MF V-Link2 streamer. Maybe I need a new DAC.....now if somebody had, for example, an N-DAC, that they no longer needed.............

PS @MDS.....cracking win for your lot yesterday. With that and a CD555 you’ll be a happy bunny

Suzy Wong posted:

  

 

PS @MDS.....cracking win for your lot yesterday. With that and a CD555 you’ll be a happy bunny

Yep, Suzy Wong, both unexpected really i.e. the CD555 for a bargain price and a win away at league leaders Posh.  Worth a double smiley, I think 

MDS posted:

Suzy Wong posted:

  

 

PS @MDS.....cracking win for your lot yesterday. With that and a CD555 you’ll be a happy bunny

Yep, Suzy Wong, both unexpected really i.e. the CD555 for a bargain price and a win away at league leaders Posh.  Worth a double smiley, I think 

Life don't get much better than that, Mike!

Tabby cat posted:

Great News Mike, Pleased you are getting more after of your system and how nice to get one of the top 5 Compact Disc players in the world when it was in production. Also a seemless change over having the 555 DR power supply already on the N DAC.

Like you I am not interested in Streaming as have to many records and Compact Discs on the shelves and do enjoy the ritual of playing them and the comfort of looking at a wall of music and the memories of say pulling out a record and remembering the decade where I brought the album what I was doing then etc.... sometimes I think I have never got past 1990 as still using Cassette's. And haven't even embraced a separate DAC on my Nagra compact disc player as the synergy to my ears with my Nagra preamplifier just ticks all the boxes.

Looking forward to reading how it improves and beds in.In your system 

Enjoy the going threw your collection again

Wishing you a good Sunday Cheers Ian.   

Thanks, Ian.

Your point about the 'ritual' was something I was discussing with my dealer yesterday.  The most elaborate is, of course, vinyl.  There is something very pleasing and intimate about the whole thing, from selecting the LP and sliding it out of its cover and inner sleeve, and culminating in that exquisite feeling of accurately cuing the arm onto the LP and the soft sound of the stylus finding the groove.  Lovely.

CD doesn't get even close to vinyl in that respect but there's still the selection of the CD, extracting it from its case and the pleasure of opening the CD draw applying CD and puck, closing the door and hearing the CD spin-up after one presses play.  The CD555's enormous lid, which moves silently up and down at a graceful pace, prompted by the wave of a hand or pressing buttons has certainly enhanced that 'ritual' benefit for me.  

Mike

Mike, congrats on your CD555 arrival.

I'm a dinosaur too, and i believe it will be a very long time before the doom meteor hits the disc spinning world we live on

Hope you have many millenniums of musical enjoyment.

TBH i feel slightly envious  

Here's some happy dino music for your new boogie machine ; )

Personally, I don't think that a four-box CD set up can ever qualify anyone to be a dinosaur. Anyway, thoroughbred dinosaurs never upgrade..  Enjoy the new machine.

naim_nymph posted:

Mike, congrats on your CD555 arrival.

I'm a dinosaur too, and i believe it will be a very long time before the doom meteor hits the disc spinning world we live on

Hope you have many millenniums of musical enjoyment.

TBH i feel slightly envious  

Here's some happy dino music for your new boogie machine ; )

Thanks. Would you believe it, while being a dinosaur I have no T Rex CDs! I could get drummed out of the club.   

Haim Ronen posted:

Personally, I don't think that a four-box CD set up can ever qualify anyone to be a dinosaur. Anyway, thoroughbred dinosaurs never upgrade..  Enjoy the new machine.

Thanks, Haim.  You've prompted me to realise that I could have asserted that this change was all about reducing my box-count i.e. from a four box CD player to only two! Definitely an example of 'less is more'.

Mike

 We are very happy with our CD555.   The only pressure we feel to adopt streaming comes from our Naim dealer circle.   Everybody else loves our CD's.

It does seem like an awful lot of effort to get a decent streaming front end going and it certainly wouldn't be my first choice but I can see the attraction as always though SQ would come first.

Hi Mike,

Exciting times, from Dark Bear's cogitations you will be in the same ballpark as the ND555 with a simpler setup, and your already excellent system must be on fire.

Congrats,

M

Skip posted:

 We are very happy with our CD555.   The only pressure we feel to adopt streaming comes from our Naim dealer circle.   Everybody else loves our CD's.

The CD555 is a very special player.... and after all I heard one of the aims of the ND555 was to match it (and if possible exceed it) performance wise for 44.1/16/2... aftereall many similarities in the DAC and analogue i2v and filtering stages.

Yet another dinosaur here. I worked my way though most of the CD players Naim built... some much better than others, but then I managed to buy a CD555 second hand from Billy Vee's for £8000, and I absolutely loved it from the first moment I played it. What a machine! The LP12 rarely gets a look-in these days. I run it actively into two 500s and SL2s, fed by Super Lumina, and with the luxury of retirement I listen to it virtually every evening. Every kind of music is a joy... incredible definition, orchestras spread out in front of you, always so easy to follow what instruments are doing, and virtually nothing it doesn't play well.

Haven't had the slightest problem with it... but of course there is always the nagging worry that at some point the mech may fail. I know Naim keep spares, but how long before pressure  from Focal makes them stop storing the parts? Although, if that happened, I'd just buy another second hand one. There are remarkable bargains to be picked up.

MDS posted:

I’ve yet to be persuaded to switch my primary listening from CD to streaming. The prospect of all that ripping and the ethernet cables, switches, routers, software and apps stuff. Well, never say, never, but for the time being for my primary source I’m sticking with the simplicity and reliability of what I know: CD.  I admit it. I’m a dinosaur.  

I’ve been enjoying for some years a great performance from my four-box CD set up: CDX2.2/XP5XS/nDac/555PSDR. I even tried a Uniti/NDS/555PSDR against my set-up in the dealer’s one day and still preferred my CD set-up so I haven’t felt I’ve been slumming it. Nonetheless, I’ve been following the ND555 discussions with interest and watched as quite a few members have taken the plunge. Trade-ins to be had, mostly NDSs, it seems. And then recently while chatting to my dealer he mentioned that a pre-loved CD555 head unit was due to be traded-in.  Did I want to try it at home in my system? Well, I had never even seen a CD555 let alone heard one so on curiosity grounds alone I jumped at the chance. 

The CD555 head unit was installed earlier this week. I think it took me about 36 hours to decide it was staying.  Now I’m sure that the merits and sonic characteristics of the CD555 have been done to death on here so I’m not going to try to describe all that but if members who are all-too-familiar with the CD555 would indulge me I’d like to give a few impressions.

First were about the machine itself. This is not another familiar ‘black box’. What an impressive beast! Weightier and bigger than I had expected. And the engineering - wow!  The silence and grace as the lid rises and closes: just beautiful.  Even without listening to it, it was obvious that this is a top-end piece of kit. You can see and feel why the thing cost so much. I think I was half-sold before it was even powered up.

When switched on, right from cold the extra detail from the CD555 was immediately obvious. But it’s there is a more subtle way than I was expecting, not pushed at you, so perhaps a little more laid back than my current set-up.  Once it was properly warmed-up and I had gotten used to it I confirmed in my mind a characteristic that I hadn’t expected. All of my CD set-ups since the mid-eighties have had that digital ‘signature’, especially at the top end. The CD555 is the first I’ve heard where the top-end signature doesn’t feel so obviously ‘digital’. Coupled to this, the music seems to have a pleasing ‘bounce’ that I normally associate with top-flight vinyl (I’m familiar with what a top-flight LP12 can do). In other words I suppose I’m saying that I think the CD555 has something analogue about its nature. A surprise to my ears.

Anyway, here I am having secured a very nice up-lift in my system’s performance, a wonderful piece of engineering, and all for a very nice price. So this particular dinosaur currently has a big smile on his face. 

Very well done , congratulations for your purchase. As you quoted the  555mech in from another league for build quality and level of engineering from classic series. For the sheer pleasure of using it alone, it' like moving from a humble sports car to super car level and after all for a main system i prefer too the simplicity of inserting a silver disc, without the hassle additional boxes, servers, ethernet cables and so on.

Regards

Roberto