ND5XS2

Has anybody else been able to demo and compare this streamer to others in store or in home?

I went for a demo of the ND5 XS 2 on Friday…

A little about my system for context. I’ve been going to the same shop (Sound Cinergy) for many, many years (20+ years?) and know Clive the proprietor very well.

My first ‘proper’ Hi-Fi was all NAD then moved on to an all LINN system. I upgrade the system over time, always sticking with LINN. I also bought a LP12 along the way which I upgraded it to SE level.

I’d become dissatisfied and disillusion with the LP12 and LINN TBH. I decided to sell the LP12 and look for something else.

I went for a demo of the Well Tempered Versalex and was sold instantly. The dealer just so happened to be using the Naim Nova for amplifier duties, which I was extremely impressed with. I loved the sound and the looks of the Nova. Up until this point I hadn’t even contemplated going the streaming route, let alone the dreaded one-box ‘lifestyle’ route. This was back in March. Since then I’ve been looking at different options and weighing up the pros and cons of going the streaming route. Which brings us up to date.

My current system:

Well Tempered Versalex (Ortofon Black Cadenza)

Trilogy 906 Phono Stage

Akurate CD player

Exoitik Pre Amp

2200 Power Amp

Roksan TR-5

I asked Clive to set up a few options as I only listened to the Nova very brief so I have next to no experience of listening to any streamers. My following thoughts aren’t going to very detailed or scientific.  The gear is completely different to mine and it’s not a home demo. I just want to have a listen to a few options.

I listened to a selection of tracks from Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool and Grizzly Bear’s Painted Ruins. The albums were picked just because it’s what I’ve been playing  of late.  All the gear had been left on for over 24 hours BTW.

 Started with the ND5 XS 2, Nait 5si with Rega RX1’s. Interconnects were standard Naim and speaker cable was Chord Shawline:

 I was impressed and pleasantly surprised. I found the overall presentation and level of performance similar to my system but I found there was a lot more detail from the Naim set up. I didn’t find it lacking in any area. I really liked the look of the ND5 too but more about that later.

 Next up was the Atom. I would have liked to compared The Star to the above system but my dealer hadn’t got one in stock. I know the price difference is quite large but wanted a listen to Atom anyway.

 First off I think the Uniti range look class. Naim have really nailed the design. It’s like something from the film Fahrenheit 451. Sadly once the Atom is switched on I found the display off putting. I’m sure it can be switched off but what’s the point of having one?

Onto how it sounds. I was initially surprised as I preferred the presentation of the Atom. There seemed a bit more room for instruments to breath. Once the novelty had worn off (pretty quickly I might add) I found the Atom to be….well artificial. It’s always difficult to describe Hi-Fi but put in simple terms it did take me long to ask for it to be swapped to the next streamer.

Last to be tested was the Linn Majik DSM. The case work hasn’t been updated for a long time so it wasn’t off to the best of starts. Things didn’t improve once I started listening to it. I found the instruments had a tad more realism compared to the ND5 but that was the only positive I could hear. I found it left me cold and there wasn’t any ‘get-up-and-go’. It just sounded flat to me.

 I’ll be going back to my dealers in a couple of weeks to try the Nait XS 2 with the ND5 XS 2. Watch this space….

Cheers

Rob

Looking forward to hearing your impressions of the Nait XS-2 with the ND5 XS2

BLACKMASS posted:

 

Sadly once the Atom is switched on I found the display off putting. I’m sure it can be switched off but what’s the point of having one?

 

Even more sadly, you can't switch off the display on the new Uniti range. 

Greetings fellow Members, just resurrecting this thread now I've had demo's of both the ND5SX2 and NDX2.

The NDX2 demo was at one dealer who had a similar set-up to mine at home, 200/282 combo though going into a pair of floor-standing Kudos speakers instead of my standmounted Dynaudios. NAS was a QNap. 

Sounded utterly awesome, better than my CDX2 in every way to my ears which is what I am considering replacing.

Demo'd the ND5SX2 this morning which was hooked up to a Supernait 2 and Hi-Cap (I think) feeding a pair of PMC Twenty5.21's which I thought were quite close in sound to my Dyns. NAS duties were care of an Innuous Zen and a Uniti Core.

Firstly, I found 3 identical tracks on the Core and the Zen which had been ripped from CD's and flipped between them to see if there was any difference. None that I could identify at all. So I'd probably take the Zen and save a lot of money in the process.

Secondly, on the performance which to my ears was not that great. It was good with less complicated pieces but once I asked it to tackle busier stuff it began to sound messy and harsh. Even on the uncomplicated stuff it lacked warmth and spacial awareness. In short it couldn't hold a candle to the CDX2.

So, when I go down the streaming route it will definitely be the NDX2 which to these ears was awesome, that is unless I am tempted to try Chord first...

Perhaps to anyone thinking about NDX2 - the screen cannot be switched off, which to me (and presumably others) ends consideration of it (sadly!)

perhaps the dealer managed to make the nd5xs2 sound bad, in order to sell the ndx2.  

Of course i can’t be sure and believe what you heard.   But normally the differences should be more on details, spaciousness, dynamics than warm and harsch.

Curious?       Or the ndxs2 was not burned in....

al9315 posted:

Perhaps to anyone thinking about NDX2 - the screen cannot be switched off, which to me (and presumably others) ends consideration of it (sadly!)

Would you consider applying a strip of gaffa tape or using a felt-tip pen? Either could be removed at resell time and could solve the problem cheaply. It's a shame because the NDX2 sounds pretty darn good IMHO.

French Rooster posted:

perhaps the dealer managed to make the nd5xs2 sound bad, in order to sell the ndx2.  

Of course i can’t be sure and believe what you heard.   But normally the differences should be more on details, spaciousness, dynamics than warm and harsch.

Curious?       Or the ndxs2 was not burned in....

I don't think so French Rooster, he didn't have an NDX2 and knew I demo'd that at a different dealer. 

He got the ND5 in last week and has been demoing it solidly ever since so I think it's safe to assume it's had the minimum burn-in time. I couldn't really get beyond the harshness and confusion but soundstage and dynamics were there, certainly more apparent on the less complicated tracks I listened to. It was less easy to pick out the separation between instruments. 

I don't know, you can only speak as you find and my reference was 2 pretty impressive products - the NDX2 and the CDX2 so it probably wasn't a totally fair trial in that respect. If I didn't own one and hadn't heard the other I'd most likely paint a more positive picture. According to the dealer he can't get enough of them so it's obviously a very popular choice at that price point.

Jonners posted:

al9315 posted:

Perhaps to anyone thinking about NDX2 - the screen cannot be switched off, which to me (and presumably others) ends consideration of it (sadly!)

Would you consider applying a strip of gaffa tape or using a felt-tip pen? Either could be removed at resell time and could solve the problem cheaply. It's a shame because the NDX2 sounds pretty darn good IMHO.

In a word "no" 

It just seems to me it is a major error ? - Do not require screen blazing away all the time, also - something else to go wrong - perhaps reduces SQ?

P.S. Not easy to find gaffa tape with same quality of finish as the casework ?!

The Naim support page for NDX2 says it can be turned off, the same way as the ND555. Use the remote to navigate on the screen to settings, select display, select display off. It will momentarily come on to show album/ track and then turn off.

Gazza posted:

The Naim support page for NDX2 says it can be turned off, the same way as the ND555. Use the remote to navigate on the screen to settings, select display, select display off. It will momentarily come on to show album/ track and then turn off.

I asked Naim specifically about this point, and was informed that "the screen cannot be turned off"

Interestingly, despite Naim’s best efforts at isolation, they also say, “.....switch off the front panel display for optimum sound quality during playback.”

al9315 posted:

Gazza posted:

The Naim support page for NDX2 says it can be turned off, the same way as the ND555. Use the remote to navigate on the screen to settings, select display, select display off. It will momentarily come on to show album/ track and then turn off.

I asked Naim specifically about this point, and was informed that "the screen cannot be turned off"

We need an NDX2 owner to confirm or try, the Uniti range currently cannot turn off. But even that is in the pipeline for a future firmware update.

The NDX 2 screen can be turned off but as the tracks change it will briefly show the album cover, the buttons can also be turned off.

Thanks John sorted.

Johnrtaylor posted:

The NDX 2 screen can be turned off but as the tracks change it will briefly show the album cover, the buttons can also be turned off.

Yes, not 100% perfect but it does this when configured using the remote to do so.  Have tested on a demo NDX 2 machine.

I heard a ND5 XS 2 today and I was very impressed with what I heard. To me it sounded crisp and coherent and easily worth it's price tag. I very nearly paid for one on the spot but have decided to leave it until after Christmas now as the silly season for me will get in the way. I heard the ND5 XS 2 playing FLAC files from Tidal as well as locally ripped and stored, all was very good and enjoyable with a very low noise floor, more so than what CD is capable of, I thought.

In the flesh I thought it looked very smart indeed, clean, and understated. 

Bravo Naim!

Stephen Tate posted:

I heard a ND5 XS 2 today and I was very impressed with what I heard. To me it sounded crisp and coherent and easily worth it's price tag. I very nearly paid for one on the spot but have decided to leave it until after Christmas now as the silly season for me will get in the way. I heard the ND5 XS 2 playing FLAC files from Tidal as well as locally ripped and stored, all was very good and enjoyable with a very low noise floor, more so than what CD is capable of I thought.

In the flesh I thought it looked very smart indeed, clean, smart and understated. 

Bravo Naim!

Yes, it's a fine machine on its own without an external PSU.  I've been very tempted as it's in a different league to my Nova, though I'm actually playing lots more vinyl recently and considering optimising standalone pre-amp/power for my vinyl first.

Alley Cat posted:

Stephen Tate posted:

I heard a ND5 XS 2 today and I was very impressed with what I heard. To me it sounded crisp and coherent and easily worth it's price tag. I very nearly paid for one on the spot but have decided to leave it until after Christmas now as the silly season for me will get in the way. I heard the ND5 XS 2 playing FLAC files from Tidal as well as locally ripped and stored, all was very good and enjoyable with a very low noise floor, more so than what CD is capable of I thought.

In the flesh I thought it looked very smart indeed, clean, smart and understated. 

Bravo Naim!

Yes, it's a fine machine on its own without an external PSU.  I've been very tempted as it's in a different league to my Nova, though I'm actually playing lots more vinyl recently and considering optimising standalone pre-amp/power for my vinyl first.

What are you running the NDS XS2 with to say it’s a different league to the Nova? With a NAIT XS2, it’s the same price, so that’s would be an interesting price for price comparison.

Have anyone made comparison with ndx1.  For the price of new nd5xs2, we could get a used ndx 1. Would the superior made ndx 1 outbeat the new nd5xs2?

French Rooster posted:

perhaps the dealer managed to make the nd5xs2 sound bad, in order to sell the ndx2.  

Of course i can’t be sure and believe what you heard.   But normally the differences should be more on details, spaciousness, dynamics than warm and harsch.

Curious?       Or the ndxs2 was not burned in....

I tend to agree, something doesn’t sound right with the demo. The ND5XS2 is all about optimised SQ at the possible expense of convenience  and ease of use... Naim are very impressed with its SQ for its design envelope... one of the best they have been able to achieve at that budget apparently.. I can’t believe they would release a product that sounded harsh... harsh usually relates to poor electronics, interference such as RFI  and/or poor setup.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

French Rooster posted:

perhaps the dealer managed to make the nd5xs2 sound bad, in order to sell the ndx2.  

Of course i can’t be sure and believe what you heard.   But normally the differences should be more on details, spaciousness, dynamics than warm and harsch.

Curious?       Or the ndxs2 was not burned in....

I tend to agree, something doesn’t sound right with the demo. The ND5XS2 is all about optimised SQ at the possible expense of convenience  and ease of use... Naim are very impressed with its SQ for its design envelope... one of the best they have been able to achieve at that budget apparently.. I can’t believe they would release a product that sounded harsh... harsh usually relates to poor electronics, interference such as RFI  and/or poor setup.

If we’re talking about the same demo here, that was one almighty mullet of a system, using a £2k streamer/DAC into a £19k amp and £10k speakers (252/300/SCM50), which despite the earlier protestations of some others, I still maintain is not the way to show off the talents of an XS level source. I have a suspicion that it will sound just fine in a proper, balanced system. 

ChrisSU posted:

If we’re talking about the same demo here, that was one almighty mullet of a system, using a £2k streamer/DAC into a £19k amp and £10k speakers (252/300/SCM50), which despite the earlier protestations of some others, I still maintain is not the way to show off the talents of an XS level source. I have a suspicion that it will sound just fine in a proper, balanced system. 

Hi Chris,

I completely agree with your logic here too. Although I must say (still unbalanced but not ridiculously so) I did hear the ND5 XS 2 - NAC272-XPS-250DR into Dynaudio Emit 20 speakers yesterday and it sounded mighty fine to these ears, very hard to fault, so nice and arguably this can still be in the context of a mullet system. I shall be buying one with confidence, no worries as far as i'm concerned. Even my dealer was wowed and they have had the ND555 & NDX2 in their store for quite some time now..

I could of done a comparison side by side with a NDX but to me the ND5 XS 2 sounded so good that i'm not really that bothered now, whether the NDX at nearly the same price is better on not, after reflecting on things it's now become irrelevant in the context of my own system.

ChrisSU posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

French Rooster posted:

perhaps the dealer managed to make the nd5xs2 sound bad, in order to sell the ndx2.  

Of course i can’t be sure and believe what you heard.   But normally the differences should be more on details, spaciousness, dynamics than warm and harsch.

Curious?       Or the ndxs2 was not burned in....

I tend to agree, something doesn’t sound right with the demo. The ND5XS2 is all about optimised SQ at the possible expense of convenience  and ease of use... Naim are very impressed with its SQ for its design envelope... one of the best they have been able to achieve at that budget apparently.. I can’t believe they would release a product that sounded harsh... harsh usually relates to poor electronics, interference such as RFI  and/or poor setup.

If we’re talking about the same demo here, that was one almighty mullet of a system, using a £2k streamer/DAC into a £19k amp and £10k speakers (252/300/SCM50), which despite the earlier protestations of some others, I still maintain is not the way to show off the talents of an XS level source. I have a suspicion that it will sound just fine in a proper, balanced system. 

On the other hand, good speakers driven by good amplification should be capable of revealing exactly what a source is like, and enabling a true comparison of different sources. Maybe there was some issue with the room, or something not working right.