Is there a Dac for the CDX2.2?

Naim dac?

the only naim existing dac is the naim dac.   The dac VI is the little brother.     You can use also the dac inside the streamers, like ndx, ndx2, nds.....but a bit waste of money.

The best partner for the cdx2 is a 555 dr( ps ).   For me, for some, not everybody.....some prefer cdx2 / xps2, other cdx2 / ndac/ 555 ps, other cdx2/ 555 ps.    You have a lot of threads on this subject in the search forum part.

I use ND 555 with CDX2.2, and you have streaming in addition, local and from afar. Expensive, yes, but it gives the best sound I have heard from CDX2.2.  

A CDX2.2 was over €5000 in Italy and £4300 in the UK. Using an external DAC and an external PSU makes it a £4300 drive. All the rest of the carefully built stuff inside becomes null, including the Burr Brown 1704K chipset which is the same as in the N-DAC and the CD555 and, in the opinion of the many, still one of the best sounding DACs in existence.

Is it worth it? Have you ever listened for, say, one month to a bare CDX2, without any addition? It's what I am doing, and with a certain surprise I am discovering that almost any PS addition to CD players takes away more than it adds, in my opinion. Or it is that aging I am more for musical flow than for forensic analysis. When I had my 2004 CDX2 totally rebuilt and brought to late 2017 specs, I was asked if I wanted a dig out, and I said no thanks without hesitation.

Best

Max

I guess Naim's current top DAC would be the ND555.

However, for your CDX2.2, perhaps a 555PS + Hiline or SL i/c would be the best (and more affordable) partner.

The DAC is a key factor in how a digital source sounds, and using an external DAC is a way to upgrade a CD player. As well as the obvious nDAc, a digital output allows you to consider others. Although rarely discussed in the contexr of upgrading a CD source, the same effects on sound quality would be expected as with streaming sources - and with those there has been a lot of interest in recent years in Chord’s DACs, notably Hugo and upwards, with numbers of people using those in Naim systems, either with non-Naim renderers or as upgrades to the limes of ND5XS and NDX. Much to read if you search the forum.

Thanks for the replies.

An above average player in bare form, although I prefer it with XPS.

It seems like a PS upgrade could be a better option to maximise the CDX2.2. potential. 

cheeselet posted:

Thanks for the replies.

An above average player in bare form, although I prefer it with XPS.

It seems like a PS upgrade could be a better option to maximise the CDX2.2. potential. 

Whether a DAC change or adding a PS would give a greater lift is likely to depend a lot on which DAC is considered - and as usual with these things the best way to decide is to audition and compare.

Richard Dane posted:

However, for your CDX2.2, perhaps a 555PS + Hiline or SL i/c would be the best (and more affordable) partner.

Well, last retail of a CDX2.2 was £4310, whilst a 555PS + SuperLumina IC is just £8429, close to twice the player, to render the whole internal PSU of the CDP totally useless. I suppose that from a certain point of view it can be also considered affordable. And a good use of an employee's working hours and power, too. 

Ah, but Max, it may only need to be a 555PS, which should be rather more affordable secondhand (just over £2k?)  I really enjoyed a CDX2 with a 555PS and a Hiline. 

This will probably be ignored as a silly question - why are Naim PSUs so expensive? An XPSDR is more than a Supernait 2, and the 555PS, well...

Is it just that there are fewer buyers? Can the price of the transformer account for that???

well in hi-end audio.... the PSU is the Hi-fi.

Richard Dane posted:

Ah, but Max, it may only need to be a 555PS, which should be rather more affordable secondhand (just over £2k?)  I really enjoyed a CDX2 with a 555PS and a Hiline. 

I too. And more than once, with or without HiLine...

analogmusic posted:

well in hi-end audio.... the PSU is the Hi-fi.

 

That doesn't explain why it should be so much more expensive than an integrated amplifier, does it?

I ran a four-box CD source set-up fronted by a CDX2.2 into a nDAC for several years. I'd put a nDAC on a CDX2.2 before thinking about PSUs.  I think the nDAC represents excellent VFM.   

SamClaus posted:

This will probably be ignored as a silly question - why are Naim PSUs so expensive? An XPSDR is more than a Supernait 2, and the 555PS, well...

Is it just that there are fewer buyers? Can the price of the transformer account for that???

The PSUs, at least the ones mentioned, provide several regulated voltages to whatever they feed. You can say they are multiple amps in a single chassis in this regard.

It’s a bit of a stretch to say a voltage regulator is an amplifier... yes in the limit it is.. but on this forum we use the term amplifier to generally refer to an audio amplifier as opposed to a servo amplifier or regulator.

Hi Simon,

yes, it is a bit of a stretch, but not wrong as such. I was trying to point out that the PSUs are much more than just huge transformers in a box without going into too much details.

Well, having tried several CD players / transports with several DACs, it is noticeable that the resulting music from any dac depends totally on how good the transport is to begin with.

Hence the best results I get from the two DACs I have currently to hand sound best with the CDX2.2 as the transport.

Just reinforcing my long held belief that the transport is more important than the dac. Even though both are important along with psus.

I agree, Cheeselet. When I was running a bare nDAC I was feeding it with a monster-of an Accuphase CD transport in which I had had the clock and its psu upgraded. I thought I'd never need or get a better transport. However I did want to try a XPS2 on the nDAC. My dealer brought one round and sure enough adding the PSU gave a good performance lift. However he also brought round a CDX2.2 and suggested we try that as a different transport.  So the XPS2 was removed, the Accuphase replaced by the CDX2.2 and we listened again.  Much to my astonishment, the performance improvement was even bigger than that given by putting the XPS2 on the nDAC.  

I learnt a very big lesson that day about the importance of the quality of the digital transport.        

I should have added, I later put a separate PSU, an XP5XS, on the CDX2.2 when using it as a transport. That improved things still further.  

cheeselet posted:

Just reinforcing my long held belief that the transport is more important than the dac. Even though both are important along with psus.

My experience differs - but undoubtedly it will depend on which DACs, and which players ('transports').

Power the CD2.2 from a 555ps and use its internal DAC and you won’t be far off, just put it on full fraim and dress the cables properly.

Given that some actually prefer an external DAC on a CDX2.2 has anyone compared that to feeding the DAC from a Core? My CDX2 was pre digital out so I couldn’t make this comparison.

Innocent Bystander posted:

cheeselet posted:

Just reinforcing my long held belief that the transport is more important than the dac. Even though both are important along with psus.

My experience differs - but undoubtedly it will depend on which DACs, and which players ('transports').

From personal experience I have never been able to upgrade a system with a DAC alone. Usually what I get is a change of sonic character but no night and day improvement. 

OTOH a change of the digital source in any way will. Like upgrading the bit rate of a stream, improvements in a cd transport always seem to give a more noticeable result.

So I wouldn't be that tempted to go over the top on a dac purchase when consensus of opinion seems to favour the power supply route. 

My experience was adding Hugo to ND5XS - distinct improvement (far greater than adding XP5XS). Then changing ND5XS as player  to Audirvana (fully optimised and RF isolated) on Mac Mini: an improvement, but not night and day. Then changing Hugo to Dave: a huge improvement, then comparing Melco N1A with MM/A: no discernible difference (though only a brief comparison).

Maybe CD players have greater foibles?