CD5 XS through ND5 XS2?

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Is there anything to be gained by running the CD as a transport using the ND5 as a dac?
I am guessing that the dac in the newer kit is better than the one in the CD5 XS, but would that provide any better sound than just streaming through the ND5 in at least CD quality or higher?

I have a good BNC cable to make the connection but not sure it makes sense.

I may just try and let my ears provide the answer but logic suggests it shouldn’t sound different.

Any thoughts?

2

Trust your ears. Listen for yourself.

You will be listening to your music on your system.. not people here.

Go for what pleases you best.

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Using a streamers DAC as part of a CD player seems a little …… err …… ??
Why not just rip the CD’s and use the streamer for what’s designed for.

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Perhaps Mark doesn’t have a NAS or a alternative storage.

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Yes, the obvious answer, but why have a CD player and then buy a streamer and not utilise it fully.
Sell the CDP and that would buy a NAS and possibly some change left over.
Then all those dusty CD’s and their storage rack(s) taking up floor and/or wall space will all be consigned to a hand bag size box.

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LOL! Idont know why but I like the physical medium. I like the act of looking through my CDs, picking one out I’ve not heard for a while and then opening the weird Nam mechanism, replacing the puck, sitting back and pressing play. I then tend to listen to the whole album.

I love the streamer, but I do find I end up following it down the rabbit hole with suggestions for similar artists and so on rather than listening to a whole album.

I have ripped my CDs onto my Mac, but don’t tend to listen that way.

I agree that there are other ways of doing it I’m probably just odd!

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Me too, and with my LPs. I am looking at a Frank Sinatra “Collected” in blue vinyl, though I do not have the money at the moment. Well, not spare cash.

Mitch in Oz.

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I enjoy using the drawer mechanism on my cd player too. If you don’t mind an extra box, try to seek a s/h ndac if you’re looking to upgrade both sources.

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If you do compare then, if you have both the CD and ND connected to the pre-amp at the same time, make sure that the streamer has the signal earth switch set to floating, as otherwise, performance is compromised for both and it will be harder to discern a difference.

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Theoretically, both being XS series, the quality difference should be minimal. However the ND5 XS2 is newer and may have advanced technologies as a DAC.

I fully understand having a CD transport or player as I have tried living without.

I use a Marantz SA12SE as transport into ND555 with 2 x 555PSDRs.

I have owned the ND5XS2 and used it as streaming transport into an NDS. It’s a good piece of kit. I used it with 52 500DR when my NDS was off for repairs and it’s pretty good.

Just to let you know you can transform your system massively by getting an Ndac and 555PS and then feed your ND5XS2 and CD5 XS into it. It will transform the two sources by breathe taking levels!

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I have owned the CD5X and traded it for a CD5XS. The two sound equally pleasing to my ears with their built in DACs. I think it sounds better analog through my UnitiQute2 than streaming lossless files from my NAS on the UQ2.

I have not felt motivated so far to squeeze more out of the CD, but expect to have more time next year to run such trials. The CD5X/XS is a hero on its own, IMHO.

Naim took pride in optimizing their on-board DACS, and the top CDS 1/2/3 and CD555 never offered digital out.

One day, probably this coming year, I plan to set up a duel in my main system: CD555 vs CD5XS > Naim DAC/555 vs CD5XS, alone (and with a FCXS. Why not?)

In the meantime I will be interested in any test findings posted here.

Nick

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So the short answer is “not for me”.

I very much like the streamer, but thought running the cd5xs through it took some of the “warmth” out of the music.
The odd thing is that listening to the same track on the streamer didn’t lack that “warmth”. I suppose it could be a cable issue but I’m not going there!

Happy with it as it is and it means fewer cables. To be fair I do now have the CD5xs attached to a flatcap xs as well so maybe it’s not a fair comparison.

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I think the gist of what Naim say about dacs is ‘It’s not which dac is in the player that matters, it’s how it’s implemented in the whole design.’ This might explain your findings. Possibly.

(Someone will soon correct me if wrong.)

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