My money would be on replacing the NDX with a NDX2 and adding a PS when funds allow. A NDS will be comparable for SQ, but it is old technology that has vulnerabilities and won’t be future proofed, and you have said streaming is 80% of your listening, so you might regret investing in old technology?
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nds is around 2,7/3k second hand. xps2 second hand is 1k.
ndx2 is more than 6k , not? ( budget is 5k).
Probally depends on whether, at this level of system, the OP wants to invest in old technology.
if he streams more locally than online, nds/ xps2 will sound better vs ndx2 bare, by a big step also.
With 555dr on both ndx2 and nds, the difference will be more minimal.
Personally for me just sound quality as a priority. No Roon, tidal or qobuz.
But the OP may think different…
Yep, I canl arrange a demo at my dealer’s place and will try to listen to a NDX2 bare and with a PS. Need to check if he has an old NDS available which I am pretty sure of.
The new tech is tempting but on the other hand I use Tidal streaming only, so there is no need for other streaming services right now. I’m just wondering a bit about the NDS performance cuz before the new streamers have arrived the NDS was obviously top of the line, and now based on many comments it seems that it has more or less given way to the new ones? I guess I need to hear by myself and at least compare NDX2 vs NDS.
I could easily do the proxy workaround by using my NAS but need to see how this integrates with the naim app control….
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Having just moved from 272/250DR to NDX2/282/HCDR/250DR, and having had NDX/282/HCDR/250.2 previously, my thoughts are -
Upgrade (and it is) to NDX2 = £5k
Upgrade to SCDR = £1.5k (+ sale proceeds of NDX & 2x HCDR)
So £6.5k but in stages.
G
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this sounds like a good plan, however i will need to listen NDX2 vs NDS+PS. it may turn out that an old NDS+PS is about the same as a new NDX2.
If your main source is Tidal, I would think carefully about remaining on the old streaming platform. Yes, the NDS will appear to be a bargain now, but how comfortable are you with the need to use workaround solutions with additional third party hardware and software to keep it working reliably, and to optimise sound quality? If you’re comfortable with this idea, I would suggest that you try the workaround solutions on your NDX, either by adding BubbleUPnP server, or (with additional hardware and subscription costs) Roon. Then you can make an informed decision of which way to go.
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from some who tried, and for hifi reviews ( hificritic and hifi news), nds/ 555dr is still a bit better globally, vs ndx2/ 555dr. However the later gives a bit more details and has a better streaming platform for online streaming.
So ndx2 bare is unlikely to be better vs nds with ps.
Buying second-hand the value of any purchases doesn’t diminish much over time so if you did get a NDS/555PS s/h now you’d have what was - until recently - the top of the Naim streaming tree. If you later wish to move to the newer streaming platform you could do so easily enough - the NDS wouldn’t have depreciated by all that much and you’d have the 555PS to put with a NDX2.
Of course if you can stretch to the NDX2 now with a s/h 555PS this would be the best of both worlds. There doesn’t seem to be a ready supply of s/h NDX2 around currently though so you’re likely looking at new for this.
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The more the new streaming platform advances with new features through firmware updates (e.g. native Qobuz, MQA, etc. if/when they happen), the more the legacy platforms will diminish in value, so I disagree that buying a used legacy box now will hold that used value very well.
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It’s a fair point to be sure but the NDS will still sound just as good with local streaming and UPnP servers like Bubble will enable many of the other features.
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and more the legacy as nds will be a bargain , relative to its performance in local streaming.
I did try an NDS a few years back and, strangely, wasn’t wowed by it.
G
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strangely is a good term…
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I have the 282/250 combination, using 2 HiCaps.
I had an NDX powered by a XPS and looked at NDS vs. NDX2 powered by my existing XPS.
In my system, the NDS sounded better for local streaming against the NDX2. I will upgrade the PS to the 555 when funds allow. It makes quite the difference to the sound from what I heard.
I use Roon with the NDS for all my streaming including Tidal (using the Sonore Upnp box) with great results from my perspective.
Good luck
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i have arranged a demo for next week to listen to NDS vs NDX 2 both with powered by a XPS DR. From a trade-in perspective my dealer already offered me a s/h nds and his ex-display xps for a little more € than a new ndx2 and returning my old ndx. so my guess currently is that if nothing goes extremely wrong in terms of sound reproduction quality i’ll do the nds+xpsdr deal instead of a new ndx2. also i personally figured out that i currently don’t need the new streamers’ tech…
will report back after my demo/audition.
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so long story short I pulled the trigger on the NDS and the XPS DR and returned my good old NDX. my audition of the NDX2 + XPS DR connected to a 282/SCDR/300DR was a very fine one (reminded me a bit of NDX+nDac) however when switching over to the NDS the presentation of music grabbed me much, much more just due to the level of details and depth appearing which I was previously hardly aware of. I have never heard my favorite tracks in such an engaging and enjoyable way. so this “aha experience” helped me making up my decision rather quickly along with the positive side effect that both components were already s/h units and overall cheaper than a new NDX2 which wouldn’t have been available s/h at that time. also my mind from a psychological pov is now fully satisfied meaning not to have a redundant internal power supply hanging around in a NDX or NDX2 while being powered by an external one. but that’s just me…
so my personal conclusion says that if you are up for some still quite amazing streaming source and you don’t need the newest tech available right now, just go for a s/h or ex-display NDS while still available for super low prices. my dealer has another 3 in his storage which have been returned lately just to upgrade to an ND555. however for me roon, qobuz, mqa and what not can be added with additional non-naim components later and will probably fit very well to my NDS. I am not sure if my 282/2x HCDR/300DR is holding back my new source and would therefore need a 252/SCDR but I have yet to find that out. In any case I’m very glad making that big step forward. Thanks for all your advices, suggestions and help.
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I’m glad it’s worked out for you. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I made the same change 10 months ago and I’m still being surprised by what the NDS does. Apart from the ND555 I’ve not heard another digital source that I prefer.
If you want to go down the Tidal/Qobuz route, do look at the workarounds to using Roon. This is what I have done and it brings parity with local streaming, something that most other solutions are unlikely to do, although using BubbleUPNP comes a close second.
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