Will an XPSDR Burndy work in an NDS

Posted by: No quarter on 13 December 2018

i am thinking about trading my N272/250 DR (2016 model) for a 2016 NDS.As per the thread title,will my XPSDR,and it’s Burndy simply plug into the NDS and work?A little background...Last year I moved from a house to an apartment,so at the house I had a full home theatre in the basement,and a seperate 2 channel room upstairs with my Naim gear.Now ALL this gear is in one room,so it looks a bit like a dealer showroom.I am trying to downsize some of the gear,use the NDS as a source into my Cary Audio Preamp/amp that I had in the basement.I also use Dynaudio XD 600’s (active),that are currently fed the digital out of the 272,I am hoping that the NDS would be an upgrade over the 272 feeding the XD’s,and it would also act as the main source for the Cary/Focal Sopra 1’s.How well will the NDS work with just an XPSDR,as opposed  to a 555?The dealer that has the NDS asked me to send him the serial #’s for my gear,so I think he wants to go ahead with it,I just want to know if I need a new Burndy really.Thanks for any help with this.

Posted on: 13 December 2018 by cdboy

Yes the XPSDR burndy will work. 

From the manual "If an XP5 XS or XPS power supply is used it should be connected to NDS Power Supply Input 1. If a 555PS power supply is used it should be connected to both NDS Power Supply Inputs 1 and 2. The link plug must remain fitted to Power Supply Input 2 unless a 555PS power supply is used."

 

Posted on: 13 December 2018 by No quarter

Thank you CDBOY,that is reassuring.I will probably go ahead and do the trade,unless he asks for cash too.I can always upgrade to a 555 in the future,I just hope I can hear a difference between the NDS and 272 as a streamer.It is a four hour drive for me one way,so can not really home demo the NDS.

Posted on: 13 December 2018 by Japtimscarlet

I'm using an XPS dr with my nds and it sounds very good ...a noticeable step up from my previous 272 with xpsdr ...buy with confidence!!!

Posted on: 14 December 2018 by No quarter

I just received a call,and they are going to do a straight swap for my N272/250 DR.I will be picking up my 2016 NDS tomorrow,so pretty excited.

Posted on: 14 December 2018 by Japtimscarlet
No quarter posted:

I just received a call,and they are going to do a straight swap for my N272/250 DR.I will be picking up my 2016 NDS tomorrow,so pretty excited.

I bet they will!!

Posted on: 14 December 2018 by No quarter

I use a Core in my setup,with the N272 I had it connected with a BNC DC1 cable.As far as I know,I can do the same thing with the NDS,and use either Ethernet or BNC in.With the N272,I really did not notice much of a difference between UPNP mode,and BNC input.Is there a better/preferred way of using the NDS?I have read about all the lengths Naim have gone to for isolation on the NDS,so I guess I can just try both ways,see which I prefer,but is one route the preferred way?

Posted on: 15 December 2018 by feeling_zen

UPnP should eliminate jitter from a source since it is packet based and resends can happen if required at the network level. packets are checksummed. SPDIF on the other hand is one-way passive so you get what you get and are entirely at the mercy of the quality of the clock in the Core. 

That aside, you may prefer to have something like a Core located in another room if it uses an internal drive., which would also mean UPnP.

In reality, I expect they sound very much the same. I'd go for UPnP purely on the basis that it is simpler to control it all including the volume from the app. Using SPDIF basically demotes the streamer to a DAC. 

Posted on: 15 December 2018 by Japtimscarlet
No quarter posted:

I use a Core in my setup,with the N272 I had it connected with a BNC DC1 cable.As far as I know,I can do the same thing with the NDS,and use either Ethernet or BNC in.With the N272,I really did not notice much of a difference between UPNP mode,and BNC input.Is there a better/preferred way of using the NDS?I have read about all the lengths Naim have gone to for isolation on the NDS,so I guess I can just try both ways,see which I prefer,but is one route the preferred way?

I preferred to use my core with the BNC to 272 ( in my case using a chord cable) when I had it

Now...I still prefer the core straight into the nds ...still using the chord cable ....upnp just doesn't sound as "right" somehow

 My dealer kept telling me I'm wrong ...and need a switch (which I already had) and a better Nas (I already have a qnap) ...but then just gave up and said ...well if that's what works for you ....and it does

 

Posted on: 16 December 2018 by No quarter

Thanks for the info guys,I will try both methods,but probably will use UPNP.I got the NDS home last night,but after driving 8 hours I was too tired to attempt hooking it up.The NDS is flawless,looks brand new,not a mark on it,so real happy with that.A few questions before I attempt the hook up.I think I read that you should not flip the unit over to remove the transit screws,leave it upright,is this correct?I have a Burndy cable that came with my XPSDR,it has a smooth finish on it,but in the NDS box,there are two Burndy cables with a mesh type cover on them.Which cable should I use?I notice the ones in the NDS box have  double green band around one end,and the other one has a single red band around it.Should these bands go at the NDS end,or XPSDR....if this cable is the preferred one to use?There is also a gray DIN to DIN plug in the box,I don’t think I need this right now,but what is this cable for,a source,or to connect to a preamp?   (5-pin plugs).

Posted on: 16 December 2018 by Richard Dane

NQ, Keep the unit level and don't flip over when removing the transit bolts.  A trick is to have two of the NDS feet on the table and the other two in free space so you have one half of the unit supported by one hand while the other hand undoes the transit bolts.  Make sure that there is no rocking - the NDS uses metal feet and so getting them absolutely perfectly level with no rocking at all gives best sound. Units are levelled up at the factory before shipping, but you never know whether the first owner had to use the thin alloy shims that Naim can supply to get it perfectly level on whatever stand they were using.

Use the Burndy that comes with the XPS DR - it should say S-XPS on the collar.  The other two Burndies are for use with the 555PS.

The grey interconnect is the standard i/c from Naim for connecting a source to a pre-amp. Upgrades are the Hi-line and the Super Lumina i/cs.

Posted on: 16 December 2018 by No quarter

Thanks Richard,I am going to read the manual first,then I should get it set up later today.

Posted on: 16 December 2018 by No quarter

I got the NDS hooked up this afternoon,so far I have only used it with my Dynaudio XD 600’s.Right from the first note my jaw dropped,stunning upgrade over the N272 digital out.More to come when I install my Cary Preamp/Anthem amp/Sopra 1’s.So far though,really impressed with the sound,internet radio took a huge leap forward,which is mostly what I have played so far.I did also try the Core in UPNP...stunning,what an awesome combo,and the NDS looks brand new...for half MSRP.