Maybe you could try an Innuos Zen, the Nds connected to its port, and then you can have Innuos Sense app, with all the online streaming platforms. ?
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I think the Innuos Sense app has the option to transcode to WAV, but not sure.
Can any Innuos owners confirm?
I’m in a similar position: Mac Mini / Audirvana into my NDS works nicely. Wondering if an Innuos Pulse Mini would be a worthwhile upgrade, but unable to demo : (
I currently access Qobuz using my 2017 Melco N1A. I connect a Topping D10s to the Melco using USB this gives me a SPDIF coaxial out that is then connect to the NDX. The downside is I have to use the Linn Kazoo app to control Qobuz.
I will eventually get an NDX2.
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Yes. But also no. 
I added an EtherRegen + Uptone JS-2 PSU to my previous 272/XPSDR combo, with positive results. When I swapped the 272 for an NDS, I kept the ER in place.
But after recently acquiring a 555PS for the NDS, I felt the ER was no longer helping, seemingly adding a layer of ‘warm glaze’ to music. Reverted to 2 x PoE Ciscos and the PRaT is back, with a more natural sound.
Bit puzzled why this happened.
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Has this been answered yet? I would also be keen to know…
If so would this mean it’s just a matter of connecting the Innuos to the network via ethernet cable and the WAV files would be sent to the NDS?
And can anyone explain how this is different to using the NDS in DAC only mode i.e. what additional pre-DAC processing does the NDS do to the WAV file.
Thanks
As I understand, connecting an Innuos via ethernet in server mode (as I now do with a Mac Mini) keeps the NDS streaming board in the chain.
Connecting an Innuos in streamer mode (via SPDIF) will bypass the the NDS streaming board.
Like you, I’d prefer to use as much of my NDS as possible.
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Right now a Mac Mini looks a very good option. It’s possible to pick up a 2018-2020/8GB along with a lifetime Audirvana subscription for under £400.
Add that to the price of an NDS and you have a very capable ‘modern’ streamer for not much outlay in today’s money. Not that I’ve tested the Mac Mini itself but I don’t see why it would sound any worse than my laptop. And Audirvana is a very likeable front end as you already know!
PS thanks for the recommendation
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From the NDS Whitepaper
You can see the S/PDIF feed does feed into the ‘Digital Audio Isolation’ element alongside the output of the Buffered Streamer Module, and into the SHARC DSP element.
However, I have never found the S/PDIF input to be as good as the path from the Ethernet input for streamed content. I use the S/PDIF input for a CD transport (a legacy Meridian 200 CDT), but that’s what the S/PDIF protocol was designed for, Redbook 16/44.1 or 16/48 digital streams.
Personally, I have a Roon based frontend to my NDS and feed a UPnP stream to it on the Ethernet input, which is WAV for all PCM material or DoP for DSD material. And this works well for all streamed formats, all Internet streaming services and you get Roon management of your Music library, enhanced metadata etc.
I also use an EtherREGEN switch, now with a Farad3 PSU and a Chord Tuned Array Streaming cable from the isolated ‘B’ Port into the NDS. All other devices are on the ‘A’ ports of the EtherREGEN.
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Excellent thank you I’ve been wondering which spec to go for 
I’d guess the majority of Audirvana users run their Mac or PC as a streamer feeding a separate DAC. The software does offer all sorts of esoteric options if you want them, and some likely do require decent processing power.
But running Audirvana in UPnP mode typically consumes only ~1% CPU of my 2017 Mac Mini, so presumably the latest chipset isn’t so critical in this instance?
Considering all the above, how would a naim nd5xs2 into nDac compare to a macmini with/without mutec into nDac?
FWIW A while ago and contemplated the same thing but when I added up all the costs it was about the same price as a ND5XS2. Much happier now I have the ND5XS2 into a nDAC and my streaming is simpler and sounds better.
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What does the nDAC/ ND5XS2 sound like without the XPS?
Do you need the XPS to get the benefit from the ND5XS2?
Or, do you need the ND5XS2 to get the benefit from the XPS?
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(the white paper itself is excellent, but not I think available from the Naim website, worth a Google search for it)
nDAC/ND5xs2 without the XPS sounds fantastic. I ran like this for about 6 months before finding a pre-loved XPS-DR.
ND5XS2 can’t be upgraded to a XPS directly, you need the nDAC to get the benefits of the XPS Power supply.
The only “downside” to the nd5xs2/nDAC/XPSdr combo is box count IMHO. Yes adding a Power Supply is wonderful but it’s not needed if you don’t catch the upgrade bug which I succumbed to.
OP, Sorry for the thread drift
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It’s still available as a download from the NDX web page.
Edit……this is for NDX, not NDS. You’re right, for the NDS white paper you’ll have to do a Google search. For the purpose of this discussion the NDX and NDS diagrams are more or less identical though.
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I heard today Tidal is going to offer non MQA hi res files - this was a Reddit AMA with the CEO Jessie. Maybe the ND5 XS will be able to decode those hi res files?
I believe you are correct, Jessie stated that, “we (Tidal) will be introducing hi-res FLAC for our HiFi Plus subscribers soon. It’s lossless and an open standard. It’s a big file, but we’ll give you controls to dial this up and down based on what’s going on.”
How Naim will handle this remains to be seen. I would assume that 2nd gen users will have access to it, just like Qobuz. With a 1st gen streamer it’s likely that a 24 bit stream will be subject to dropouts. Naim would have to choose whether to limit Tidal streams to whatever they thought was going to be reliable (probably still just 16/44.1) or just leave the user to select the level that is reliable for them. I suspect the latter would cause a flood of complaints from people who wanted it to work, so I imagine they’ll limit what’s available.
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I just found a review that may be of interest, also relayed to my question comparing naim streming to streaming through macmini + mutec.