So for you @Dunc, the upgrade in SQ of the nd555 is today worth 4x (or more) the cost of a used nds?
Just read your last comment so disregard mine
The MSB, which produces one of the best dac available, very modern, is sounding dull in comparison of the Nds, at similar price level.
My dealer sells Meitner / Emm labs, also considered among the best dacs available, is also sounding boring to my ears.
So just to say that new, modern, will not forcefully sound better. Itās a matter of taste.
But if you value details, very accurate sound, I agree that Naim is not the brand for dacs to go.
If you read what i said, i said it might sound dull, compared to the cheap dac in question, if that dac is say more in your face, or more top end, etc.
As for network switches/power supplies, that just adds to the problem that Naim streamer/dacs might have, as needing one to inpove sounds only really shows up the weakness off it, to start with.
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Apart from the nice screen and better streamer, it didnāt really offer me that much more, certainly not about Ā£10000 more, but others love it and as happy to pay, thats fine
The problem with the MSB, is they want you to keep on spending on all the add ons, to make it sound like it really should from the start, clever marketing probably and most do it, including DCS, with the clock, as why not just put that clock in it to start off with.
I heard the standard MSB as i did consider it, but that last about 2 minutes, as before the first track had even been selected, i was being told that i should consider this power upgrade and this extra box in the back, etc, o thats now twice the price and it keeps going, err i am out.
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Well. As many DACS (chord, regaā¦.) have the facility to let the listener choose between different sounding outputs, this is obviously not the case.
Yes, with MSB is like with Naim, but X 10. You can finish quickly with a Lamborghini price.
As for adding switch etcā¦to Naim streamers, I agree itās essential.
You say DCS doesnāt need it but not sure about it. Perhaps less than Naim. But on the well known digital forum, if you read it, you will see a lot of DCS users with Sotm, Melco or ER switch.
I am waiting your feedback when you will receive the S100. Curious.
And if you go on the actual dCS forum you will see their engineers recommend bog standard Ethernet cables from Amazon - as long as they are certified and unshielded ie Blue jeans cable etc. In other words they are not recommending fancy Ethernet cables, switches, regenerators etc.
I tend to pay careful attention to what the product engineers and designers say. I did it when I ran my Linn KDS for 9 years and will do it now with my new Rossini. I run unshielded BlueJeans CAT6 (not a) and a reasonably priced Cisco 2960.
Best
Gregg
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I have a 3 year old NDS with power supplies on both the digital and analog sections, and thereās nothing the least bit doorstopish about it.
I sold my Linn Unidisk 1.1 which had the Dynamik PS upgrade in it (a $15k unit) a year back, for fear of it dying on me, but it made CDs sound better than Iād ever imagined.
Finally, with the NDS and CDs ripped to a NAS, the music is as good as it was thru the Linn. The orchestra is alive again, and the timbre of the violins is real again.
Possibly, what some people think sounds good, isnāt necessarily the best.
(Hmmm ā¦ does that incude me ā¦?)
In the future I may add an ND5 XS2 to my NDS to include the new digital tech, but Iām pretty sure the NDS will stay.
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Surely that outlook applies to Naim and PSUs?
But you are comparing old streaming/DAC technology with much newer. If both were brand new then it is possible that conclusion is correct. The same principle applies if you compare the latest smartphone with one from 20 years ago, if they had continued making the 20 year old one until recently with price increases every year.
Of course, it doesnāt mean the NDS sounds any worse today than it did when first made, just that other thing have possibly caught up with lower production costs. With new technology (which streamers and DACs still are), progress is inevitable.
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The dac in the Nd555 is the same as in the Nds. Do you really think that because itās new and modern , a 300 dollars dac will outperform an Nd555. Itās non sense !
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Blue Jeans will make you pretty much any cable on request, just send them an e-mail.
I wanted them to make me an RCA->DIN, but at the last minute it turned out that they couldnāt do it in white (cable less visible against white wall), so ended up getting it from Flashback instead.
You so often seem to equate price with sound quality: while within any given manufacturerās range over a relatively short timespan that would indeed be expected, it is not a certainly across different manufacturers, and timespans between development especially with newer technologies.
I do share the surprise of you and others, but I wouldnāt say impossible. I would be interested to hear for myself, and most certainly it becomes something to try if I were to seek a mobile player - in which event Iād try in my home system (though Iād only be streaming from my own store, not Tidal et al).
I accept that one day the sound quality I get from Chord Dave may be bettered or matched and at lower cost, possibly a lot lower cost. If that had happened the day after I bought Dave Iād undoubtedly be very miffed that there had been no hint of such a wonder coming, and would have cursed myself for not waiting to see what else might come along - but it would not prevent Dave sounding as good as ever. That is technological progress.
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I would sell neither and keep them for a longer time to appreciate the differnences between them.
Or you could sell the NDS/555 there are many ppl who could eagerly take it from you.
Naim kit is really very good, and maybe thereās an issue with your set up - mains, extensions, neons, speaker cable, soldering on the speaker cable.
or maybe the Cobalt is that good !
I remember a few years ago the chord Hugo easily challenged the mighty NDS so nothing new here.
Some preferred the NDAC, some the NDS, some the Hugo
you pays your money and take your chances, but the good thing about Naim (unlike some of the other overpriced kit other there which end up in the skip or a doorstop @Dunc ) is thereās always a buyer for it.
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At times thereās some pretty misleading info circulating around this forum. The Naim dealers will be wondering why thereās suddenly a rash of people trading in their ND555/555PSās for Dragonflys.
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Can I have one of those worthless ND 555/555PS units when you chuck em out please.
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Thank you for this (as I am in the States and have purchased from them before).
What kind/brand of cable did they propose using for the RCA>DIN source interconnect?
Best
Gregg
To @Petersfi who posted the comparison it presumably didnāt seem misleading - what it needs now is some other people to do honest comparisons to see if the OP has stumbled across what many would consider to be a miracle of technology, or otherwise whether possibly somehow the OPās ears or system are having an evening-out effect, or that maybe his NDS is below par.
And of course the OP did not say it was as good as the NDS, just surprsingly close, and I donāt think anyone has suggested it matches the ND555ā¦