HDX file size ?

hungryhalibut posted:

I wouldn’t touch the HDX with a barge pole. A nas and a streamer is so much more flexible and futureproof. 

And yet, I've heard HDXs a number of times, both as they were or in comparison to CDX2s or even a CDS3, and always found it at least as good as the CDPs it challenged and the only alternative I'd consider to my CDX2.2 – what I wouldn't touch with a barge pole are NAS's and the need for a computer – a plain, humble, unreliable DVD £30 mechanism to rip hundreds of discs – and so fort.

As for futureproof-ness, it would be wise to start ascertaining that a future will be there.

My opinion only, of course. As for my opinion on opinions – mine included – here:

M.

Hi again,

When mine went back to Salisbury, my dealer mentioned that there had been intermittent ripping issues, where some CD's just would not rip at all.

On this basis, Naim, presumably having tested the drive, went ahead and replaced it, included in the fixed price I mentioned above.

I do think you have done the right thing, as the HDX makes CD ripping straightforward and painless, and, as a server to a streamer over UPnP, performs faultlessly.

The HDX was my first venture into CD ripping, and before introducing a separate streamer later on, I was running it with a 555 PS as a ripper / player, for some time, and most capable it was too. 

Don't be put off by the fact that it is no longer in production, as, fingers crossed, you'll be receiving back from Salisbury a "new" one.

Biddler66 posted:

Thanks, I have picked up a 2013 2TB model from the usual online auction site, hopefully be with me in a few days and then off for the refurb.

Do you know that it even needs a service? You should, though, make sure the firmware is up to date. Also, (brace yourself!) get yourself a NAS, you will need one as backup. 

I dont, but I have ordered a 282/250 and that is not due to be delivered until Jan so for £395 I thought I might as well get it done as it will just sit in a box until the amp's turn up anyway. I have a Uniti at the mo and am using that.

Have you ordered a Hicap too?

I would NOT buy an HDX in 2019.  Or in the remaining days of 2018.  Those who bought them  3-5 years ago - sure don't spend money to replace until you have a good reason to replace.  But for someone starting anew with ripping cd's and playing them, there are myriad alternatives, many very price competitive, that in the long run I submit will be more satisfying.

Edit:  You'll DEFINITELY want to re-rip or re-acquire your digital music.  Files in a "lossy" format (AAC default of iTunes) just won't be satisfying on even a modestly revealing Naim system.  Eg, anything at or above UnitiQute / Atom level.

The HDX is discontinued and if it was still selling at the original price then there are better value alternatives. 

However, you can now buy a S/H HDX and get it serviced for under £1500 which imo is a bargain for 2TB storage ,ripper,streamer,cd player, iRadio and a decent app. Together with Naim sound, build quality and future servicing option.

I Love my HDX - it's a great piece of kit which I've owned for 5 years or so.
So much easier than having to use a computer to rip 100's or 1000's of CD's. I set mine up where I had my CD's - i.e. where I play my music, so didn't tie up any other space or computer resources whilst taking a few weeks to rip my entire CD collection. 
I then rigged up a remotely positioned NAS drive which I configured to act as a back-up.
I didn't have to consider how to play music from a NAS drive as the HDX does it all.
This was replacing my CDS3, which I didn't miss at all and 5 years on, I still don't miss it.

The HDX is a pc in a nice box, yes naim have fettled it but its an old mini ATX board running very old hardware and imbedded XP.

Its dated hardware, if you were buying a PC from circa 2008 then you would pay like 40 quid for it. For the money of second hand HDXs you can get some amazing modern hardware with more functionality, faster and with modern OSes.

hungryhalibut posted:

Have you ordered a Hicap too?

Yes sir.

Jonn posted:

However, you can now buy a S/H HDX and get it serviced for under £1500 which imo is a bargain for 2TB storage ,ripper,streamer,cd player, iRadio and a decent app. Together with Naim sound, build quality and future servicing option.

 

I totally agree with this.

If you're not bothered about streaming from Tidal etc and just want to have all your existing CDs and downloads available to play via a smartphone app then in my opinion there isn't another Naim option that gives the same price/performance at the current HDX selling price. I acknowledge that there are newer Naim options but none that I've heard offer the same sound quality for the price that HDXs now sell for.

To compare them with a 2nd hand £40 PC from 2008 is comparing apples with oranges in my opinion. For HDX users the underlying OS is irrelevant if it still does its job and sounds good.

The HDX is a one box solution that probably appeals to the majority of NAIM owners (although perhaps not those techies on this forum).  If you can get an older HDX serviced and upgraded to 2TB for £395, that has to be the deal of the century.  I'd say go for it and don't look back!

The HDX has been in my system for many, many years. I agree with many comments posted earlier; it's a very comfortable one-box solution for ripping, storing and playback of your music. It can't be made more easy than that.

I've had a couple of problems with my HDX; the CD tray needed a replacement at some point in time and later one of the hard drives crashed. I've used a Uniti Core for a short period of time, but it does not provide the same functionality - obviously no analogue outputs, but also no on the fly conversion of FLAC to WAV files.

I'm very much aware of the added flexibility that my NAS provides, but sometimes I'd wish I've never departed from my HDX ... 

sktn77a posted:

The HDX is a one box solution that probably appeals to the majority of NAIM owners (although perhaps not those techies on this forum).  If you can get an older HDX serviced and upgraded to 2TB for £395, that has to be the deal of the century.  I'd say go for it and don't look back!

Well, I contacted the mothership 10 days ago asking about this but haven't had a reply.    If this is for real, I'll get my 2x500gb HDX updated, but I've got a feeling that the US price is going to be prohibitive.