With the correct cables you will at least have a functioning system.
These boxes are fussy, and need to be carefully set up on a decent rack in irder to sound as they should (but you read the forum, so you know that!)
Also consider that the reason these older streamers are bargains is largely because of their limited abilities when it comes to internet streaming, not least Tidal and iRadio support.
If it was me I would keep the NDS with the two 555PS DR and buy a NAP 282 with a HiCap DR to use with your NAP 250 DR. That would support your tidal, (not TIDAL Connect which is supported with the 2nd generation streamers) and internet radio.
I would sell off the Atom, Nova and NAC 272 and NAP 250.2.
From there you could latter update the NDS to a current level streamer, upgrade the NAP 282 and HiCap DR to a higher level PreAmp & Power Supply. Then of course upgrade the NAP Power Amp.
…following the upgrade path of many before you.
Best of luck with all your decisions…
…and don’t forget you will have fun upgrading all the cables, interconnects and miscellaneous gear as well on your travels. The forum has many threads with stories of those who have traveled the upgrade path before you. The search feature can be your friend and share the stories of those who have traveled before you…
Hi cdboy. Definitely a madhouse. Sounds good on the DIN-DIN connection. I think for the 272 I will buy another 555PS perhaps not a DR one.
Yeah I will be picking up a Fraim this weekend. Yeah the old streamers are a deal but the ND 555 is quite pricey. I love the Nova and the Atom for its ease of use. It just connects and goes. I use them primarily for Tidal and Internet radio.
Hi seakayaker. TBH I don’t want more boxes. Says the guy who picked up a bunch of boxes. I was really hoping that I can just have the NDS and the 2* 555PS DR but I was told that I should get a preamp.
I am keeping the Nova for my girlfriend to have in the living room. The NDS and everything else is going inside my home office.
Tell me about it. The upgrade path is limitless with limitless money. I kind of want to stay with streamer and nice sound. I think my setup coming up will do me just fine. It’s now a matter of getting it all and setting it all up.
I did read that the 272 and NDS can be finiky with Tidal and iRadio. Crossing fingers that it is seamless.
The 272 and NDS are legacy streamers and you’ll need to implement Kurt’s cloud solution for integrated lossless iRadio streaming or run minimserver on your network to stream lossless radio stations via UPNP.
Here’s the thread for Kurt’s cloud solution.
Hi ElMarko, Thanks for the post. It seems like my wishes on decent sound got a bit more complicated. I didn’t know it would be so much of a hassle. Now I almost want to run my Atom or Nova through the NDS to make things simple.
Yeah as people have said thing can get a little messy and costly quite quickly. I could try running a minimserver on my QNAP but that will be another project to figure out.
Will let you all know.
Would you guys suggest getting the supernait 3 as the preamp?
I’ve done the separates path in the past and prefer my 3 box setup. The $$ were reasonable and the solutions for lossless streaming integration I posted above were not that hard to implement. I have a QNAP NAS on my network for my local files (Asset UPNP). And I added minimstreamer for lossless radio UPNP using a m3u file for the stations. Also added bubblesoft app to do lossless Qobuz streaming through the Linn app (Kazoo). I’m not tech savvy at all and the information posted here by inmates is pretty easy to follow. If you don’t have/want a NAS, Kurt’s solution above is easy to implement. You’re just adding your stations through vtuner with the urls he provides in the thread. Not too bad. But yeah, you’ll have to expend a little effort. I think you’re wasting your time with the NDS if you’re not going to use it as your streamer, same with the 272. Maybe try a NDX2 and SN3 to get up and running easy.
Sounds good. I will try out the NDS with the QNAP solution since I have it anyway. They say the DAC is really nice on the NDS. Again the ease of Tidal and Internet Radio is what I enjoy most and can’t wait to hear the quality out of the system. Thanks for the heads up.
Btw what exactly is your 3 box setup?
272/555PSDR/250DR. The NDS is a remarkable streamer and I wondered about a NDS/555PSDR/SN3 setup but wasn’t sure it’s possible.if you have a QNAP the apps I mentioned above aren’t too hard to do. When I have some time I can post some instructions or post a thread that outlines the steps.
Oh wow. Alright you gave me inspiration. I will for sure give it a shot.
Would you put both 555ps dr on the nds or one on the nds and one on the 272? How do control your volume? Digitally? Do you lose SQ?
[quote=“joasop, post:1, topic:22624”]
250.2 for the Atom
Hahaha … this bit is right … 
@joasop . Like @cdboy said in the 9th post, the NDS will sound great for now thru the 272, and just change it for a preamp later.
Tidal, iradio, and local streaming sound excellent thru an NDS, so you’re all set for now. If Qobuz become a must, you can always add a pre-owned ND5 XS2 to the NDS and still be great value for the SQ level.
Hi david1111. Qobuz is not available in Canada so not a must at all. Totally will try the 272 as a preamp and yeah totally understand that there is quite a bit of redundancy. Thanks!
I am also in Canada, so the NDS works great for me as well.
You’ll love it …
What @seakayaker and @Richard.Dane are saying here makes sense.
I would get a 282 and HiCap and have that with the NDS and 2 x 555PS and the 250.
A 272 is illogical as you have a preamp and streamer combined and an NDS.
Alternatively get an 82 with HiCap.
I would then sell the 272 and any other kit you have, possibly sell one of the 555PSs if funds are tight after buying the 282 and HiCap.
If you go 272, 555PS, NDS, 555PS with 250 it won’t sound nearly as good as suggested system above.
Up to you, but hope this is clear.
As others have said the 272 isn’t a good fit in the system and a dedicated pre-amp would be better.
The NDS is a formidable source, even with ‘only’ one PSU. I would suggest that you consider selling one of the 555’s along with the 272 which will fund a pre-amp. You could go 282/HiCap DR, 282/Supercap DR or even 252/Supercap DR.
I you use the Nds with 2 X 555 ps, with 272 alone, you will have a monkfish system, because the 272 without ps is quite similar to a 202 preamp.
Before having a dedicated pre, you should really listen to the advices above : Nds with 1 x 555 ps and 272 with 1 X 555 ps.
Those having an Nds with 2 555 ps are generally having a 552 /500 as electronics.
As a cost efficient alternative solution, why not trying a Townshend Allegri+ as a preamp?