Is your 555 ps serviced in the last years?
Yes, everything serviced and dr(d) before purchase
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I believe your hearing even if I canāt believe that an IPhone/ cobalt can match an Nds/555ps. A mystery for me.
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I have used both Flashback Cables and Designacable in the past and, both make good cables.
I had another session trying to work this out.
First took the cobalt and jitterbug out of the chain, using only the 3.5 pin. Compared with uPnp, the result (with Tidal) as FR would expect, a very flat presentation. Adding back the AQ parts, significant improvement, not quite nds level, but very good.
If I was to quantify, the nds a 10, direct from iphone a 5, and the AQ setup an 8.5, perhaps 9. i.e. Much closer to nds than just plain cable.
I believe my earlier questions remain valid.
Cheers,
Peter
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Hi Gregg ā I didnāt compare the Qutest to the 1Z directly. The Qutest was an idea for going down a different route with my main system as it matched well with the Naim kit and was pretty flexible with inputs.
If you donāt want to tether your phone, youāve got a few options for Roon endpoints. The Project Streambox Ultra S2 makes a good source for USB equipped DACs (including the 1Z). Iāve recently moved to a Sonore UltraRendu with the Uptone LPS1.2 PS for my Brooklyn DAC+. A bit of an eye opener to be honest.
Fiddling around with various USB sources of late, Iāve found my preferences are as follows which may be of interest (best first and all with Roon)
1Z :
Streambox / UltraRendu
Nucleus
Macbook Pro (2013)
Brooklyn DAC+ :
UltraRendu
Streambox
Nucleus
Macbook Pro (2013)
The Streambox is now on my study desk Rooning my 1Z again. Itās very nice for when Iām working and want to use āphones and leave Roon radio to choose the music.
Not really a mystery.
They are playing the same file
A Dac isnāt about how well it plays a song. Itās about how many mistakes it makes and how to minimise the losses.
Maybe the cobalt isnāt making many mistakes that the OP can differentiate any more between NDS and the Cobalt.
Itās all down to being able to hear and pick the details that naim have engineered in the NDS.
As naim explained to me a 552 is better than a 282 not because it improves the signal (it cannot do that)
The 552 is better because it does less harm to the signal than a 282
Despite all this some still think the Nait 2 is the best amp naim made !
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If a 300 dollars dac can play on same level that an Nds/555dr ( 19k euros when new), then the Nds is really a crap for the money.
Hmmm you do remember some did prefer chord Hugo which was a 1400 gbp Dac to NDS/555
But doesnāt mean anything as its all down to individual perceptions
Value for money is the perspective Iām evaluating this. An economist would suggest the marginal utility from spending 10x more in streamer technology is not the best allocation of funds. For high end audio enthusiasts, there may be no other areas of interest for disposable income, and so are willing to pay big for negligible improvements in sq. Also, unlike Naim etc., Audioquest does not have a product line of increasingly expensive legacy products to protect.(streamers i.e.) Accordingly, AQ can price aggressively and offer a product with greater value for money.
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I would say that the NDS is showing its age, its streamer side is old, and this lets its down more than anything, its dac, still good, but it has a more relaxed, analogue sound to it, which can come over as a bit dull and boring, especially if you are comparing it against one that it more in your face, like i guess this is.
But better? Different, yes. But digital has moved on, massively since the NDS was designed and these days its easy and cheap to get a decent digital replay, and manufacturers are getting better all the time and this filters down, thats why i think its massively important if you are going to invest a large amount off money in to this, to have a device that can be and will be supported with updates going forward, as if not you will be left with an expensive door stop.
The NDS and all the older Naim streamers are probably nearing their end, as even a few years back when i tried a bare NDX2 against a NDS/555 the difference was very slight, and now even the latest range is showing its age, and i guess it wonāt be long till they bring out a better model to keep up, as for sure they will have been working hard on one, and probably already have working models
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I got inspired and Iām listening to iPhone X with jitterbug x dragonfly black into my nait xs3. It shows mqa decoding in tidal and currently Iām rather impressed with the sound! The Andrzej Trzaskowski Quintet is spacious and nicely detailed. Very good Eastern European jazz record from 1965 if anyone is interested.
Unfortunately I donāt have my nd5xs2 to compare cause itās being serviced.
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Nds 2?
Value for money is a subject that has been discussed ad nauseam 
When it comes down to high end audio, jewellery, top of the line swiss watches, etc. Value for money is very relative, and thatās an understatement.
Thatās a brilliant way to sum it up.
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High end jewelry and watches increase in value over time. Electronics depreciate. Iām uncomfortable with the notion of using my nds as a door stop, but it should perform as designed for some time to come and letās face it, the SQ is superb.
Some tried Ndx2 / 555dr vs Nds/555dr. A majority of those preferred the Nds. Same for reviewers of the Ndx2.
The Nd555 has the same dac inside, a late 90ās dac. But this dac sounds still wonderful. The most important is the implementation.
As you said, some dacs are more in your face, itās exactly the reason I didnāt enjoyed the Rossini.
Nds / 555 dr sounding dull? With the ER / linear ps/ Audioquest diamond, itās the Cdx2 /Xps dr on steroids.
The cdx2 was one of the more exciting and involving CD player I could listen to in my life.
Apparently we have different earsā¦
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Door stop might have been a bit strong, but you know what i mean, as i bet most off us have old gear in the loft, or spare bedroom that we donāt use anymore.
It will always sound good, but wether thats good enough going forward, well thats a much tougher ask, and one i found to be lacking already, sorry to say NDS owners.
But this doesnāt mean its no longer any good, its just that things have moved on quite a bit.
I use my WiFi to my MacBook Pro via a Cyrus soundkey DAC (Ā£59) into my xs2. Quobuz streaming service. The sound is surprisingly good- in A/B comparison with my LP12- the DAC sounds āthinnerā and less spacious. Imaging is less precise.The bass is light- but controlled enough.
Given the price differential itās pretty incredible- I find it a perfect way to listen to new music- often recommended on this forum- which I then buy on vinyl if I like it enough. I am not wanting to invest in a high end streamer/dac at present - tho this may change of course!
We all like different things for different reasons, as you say you didnāt like the rossini, fine, i didnt like the ND555, as for me it wasnāt much better than the NDS, i guess really its just a NDS with different filters and a modern streamer.
I hope that its replacement is a big improvement, i hope it keeps it prat, adds detail and dynamics, along with a platform that has the ability to be upgraded in both dac and software, so its not out dated in a few years.
If so then it should be fantastic and might temp some guys like myself back, as my fraim would look more balanced with all the same green logos on it, its a shame i felt i had to move away, like others have also done, as the ND555, should have been my natural progression .
NAIM, PLEASE BUILD IT