The NDX2 was auditioned with the XPS2 I use on the CDS3, but to my old ears was nowhere near as easy to listen to. I also found the XPS DR changed the sound of my CDS3 in a way I didn’t like. For that reason I didn’t audition the 555PS
Fully agree on that one.
Doubt we will see Naim going back into that niche.
A pity really, as those CDi, CDS etc were so cool.
This leave us to alternative makers.
When I faced Naim doorstop scenario I went to Rega - had been there before with their first CD player and later with first edition Saturn.
I’ve had Isis and now a Saturn3 which is really good.
Not much more than a CD5i but entirely different class.
I’m expecting many other exiting CD machines once the resurgence step up.
CD resurgence is here already, sounds like just not in the UK.
I’m not familiar if there’s a current CD resurgence going on in UK or elsewhere.
In my neighborhood (Scandinavian) I believe streaming and vinyl is somehow the leading sources, maybe there’s statistic on such things ?
At least statistics concerning Sweden does not show any big market share for CD sales (revenue). Hard to say however if this will be changing over time.
I’m very much in the sorry to see the demise of the CD camp BUT important to remember that unlike vinyl where you have to have a TT to play a record there are a variety of ways to hear a CD. To this end as much as I really love my CDS3 I have taken advantage of the Naim trade in scheme and with the support of the excellent Phil @Cymbiosis (a multitude of other Naim dealers are available) I will be ripping all my CDs to NAS with a NDX2, and am already quite excited about the thought of those late night sessions to be able to play While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the Lark Ascending and Equinox without having to switch CDs. In fact I’m beginning to wonder if it might even curtail my lifelong love of vinyl 
And before the comments rain down, yes a damascene moment!
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As sated before I’m in Japan atm
Where CD/DVD has never stopped
.
I firmly believe people eventually will be fed up with streaming services and the never ending cost that just disappears into the ether. A hard copy on your shelf can’t be replaced imo. I find it hard to believe how lazy people have become.
I very much wish Naim would subscribe that CD is not dead as many other hifi company’s do.
Naim make CD players so very very well why stop something you’re great at?
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It won’t sound like your cds3. Something about Naim CD players and it’s not hifi. Cds3 is a very nice place to be. Cd555 maybe a little guilty of pulling things to pieces a little too much, cds3 just right prat etc
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Just remember, as long as they have a Core or any CD ripper and server, Naim can still commit to CD without the player.
CD served from NAS has been my primary media source for the past decade. So while my main source component is an NDX, I don’t pay for any services. It’s just a window into my CD collection.
The Core is really about your CD collection, as are other ripping servers on the market. All the other stuff Core does, a Naim stteamer can do without it. It’s just a different way of playing CDs.
Full disclosure. I don’t use a Core.
Yes I’m aware of that. I personally feel playing from a cd directly sounds better, obviously my opinion.
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That’s valid. But probably less to do with a laser mech getting more information off a disc or generating less noise on the analogue stages than it is that CD players you’ve heard just haven’t had the same DSP, conversion, or analogue output or noise profile as the streamers you’ve heard. I mean, nothing sounds exactly like a Naim CD player. But then the streamers are not merely the same but with a mech swapped out for a streaming board. Nearly everything is different.
In my office system, I’ve a Luxman CD player. And Japanese CD players these days are meant to double as DACs, so rather than digital out, it has digital in. I use it 90% as a DAC fed by a streaming transport. So I can feed it a disc, or I can feed it a rip of the same disc. Without a doubt, the sonic signature is absolutely identical. In terms of absolute clarity, that probably is a tough call. Streaming has the slightest edge
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I believe its not a business niche they intend to expand in.
The current CD5Si is developed from entry level CD5i range and I guess still “entrylevel” at mid-level RRP.
I notice Chinese made players are recently introduced, Hegel, Audiolab, Exposure (UK?)
Ref Streaming
To be honest, I gave up on streaming with the NDS 555dr
My buddy had it along with a cd555 none dr with very nice very expensive everything else involved. The nds sounded great hifi, detailed, soundstage etc but it lacked in the fun department, just sounded like all the other hifi, where the cd555 none dr sounded fun, fast interesting and made me want to listen more. I gave up on Naims new generation of gear at that time. While I’m sure the newer gear is better Hifi is it better Naim?
I’ll be the first to admit head stuck in the mud I’m afraid. I know I don’t need to be told but it’s what it is.
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One issue is that Naim have built a lot of their expertise in extracting the best performance from the Philips mechs, in particular gradually refining and paring back the accompanying software code to a bare minimum in order to maximise performance. With Philips out of the game, it’s a case of starting all over again. Not impossible but a huge R&D ask for how much benefit, when Naim already feel they can exceed CD performance with their equivalent streamers. I do know that Naim looked at many mechs during my time at the factory, and found them wanting. Some of the ones considered “best” were found to perform worst by Naim and none eclipsed what could be achieved by the existing Philips-based CD player “engine” that Naim had developed over many years.
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I do wonder how similar the Stream Unlimited Optical Systems mech is to the Phillips mechanisms, given the information on their website regarding where at least some of their employees used to work (Phillips). Given Naim have an existing relationship with the other Stream Unlimited company, I hold out slim, but not zero, hopes of a new CD player. I’m very realistic, but then no-one saw the Solstice coming 
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Absolutely……Naim can do this if they want to?
That was the work of Clearaudio.
Naim did their iconic CD players in house.
I will eat my hat if Naim comes up with new CD players, this year.
Maybe a 100 range made at Muso premises.
For clarification here, it’s worth repeating yet again for you and some others that the Solstice was designed by Naim’s Roy George who worked in collaboration with the engineers at Clearaudio to bring it to fruition. Being set up to build turntables, Clearaudio built the deck and arm for Naim, while Naim built the electronics.
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Hegel are designed and manufactured in Norway.
I have no doubt they use plenty of parts manufactured in China though. One thing i am fairly shure about is that the transport for the Viking is not made in China, it’s a high speed transport normally found in the auto industry (both my dealer and the designer of the Viking have confirmed this). I suspect that the transport is manufactured in eastern Europe.
I was confident I preferred CDS2 ‘live’ to a rip on a Core played back via NDX2/XPSDR. We tested this, and it turned out I could hear a difference with my eyes but not with my ears.
Mind you, I am a poor tester and not just because of having old ears. You may not have that disadvantage.