@TiberioMagadino. Thank you also for your kind and informative opinion.
By Naim Reference DAC I mean Naim’s large DAC, not DAC-V1; but no PSU.
Although I could accommodate both, I don’t have too much space, and aesthetically, Chord Electronics solutions seem more attractive and functional to me; and finally, from what you say and comment around, the thing seems to depend more on personal tastes.
I will mature it, because at the moment I am not in too much of a hurry as I find myself without amplification; with the SN2 returned by failure with less than a month and a half of use, and waiting for the SN3, which today told me the dealer who, for the time being, neither they have it in stock, as they are waiting for the units from Naim UK.
…you can read and gain a lot of information from the forum.
I have learned that there are a lot of discussions where I do not share in the same problems as others while having the same equipment.
I have the XPS DR > NDX 2 > SN 2 three box system and for the longest time a two box system. For all the issues reported with the ‘APP’ my NDX and now NDX 2 has been controlled via the APP on my iPad successfully using my NAS, TIDAL, and internet radio 99+% of the time.
My emphsis has been a simple solution with great sound and have found it.
Look forward to reading about your journey when your SN3 becomes available.
To take this even further, remove the amp too, and run your speakers directly of a TT2, which is what I do. Core/NDS/XPSDR/TT2 to Dynaudio excite 12’s. I get goosebumps quite often, voices and notes just float in the air as if no stereo is even in the room, just you and the artist. Not too many Chord users here seem to of tried this, so I may be a pioneer, but an extremely satisfied one. The purest playback I have ever heard, and I soon should be adding an Mscaler for even more realism/ clarity. Rob Watts, Chord DAC engineer/inventor, or whatever you want to call him runs B&W 803D3’s at home off a TT2 directly, so why not me too.
I had the full Dave/Blu2 setup with a fortune invested in Ansuz digital cables to avoid the noise from the Blu2 getting to the ground plane of the Dave. When it was all done I just didn’t get “immersed in the music” as the saying goes. I decided to go back to Naim 100%. Everything was replaced with Naim kit including power and signal cables, The Naim ND555/555PS pair now feeds a Naim SN/2/HiCap pair. A Naim SN/3 is on order to replace the SN/2.
They say you can never go home but I did.
They are as DACs go, like chalk and cheese. They use different reconstruction filter techniques and very different architectures.
Digital to Analogue conversion as a consequence of the sample theory is an inexact process… it is ultimately lossy. The design engineers focus on specific area they wish to address… this results in different performances upon critical examination … you effectively choose the method and consequently DAC that works with how your brain best listens to audio.
The NDAC and ND555 use traditional Texas Instruments ladder variant DAC chips (PCM1704K) with IIR low pass reconstruction filtering… and focus on the electronics to get the best sonic performance from those chips.
The Chord Hugo TT2 uses a proprietary Pulse Array converter, using FIR low pass reconstruction filtering and using very simple output and current to voltage electronics to reduce colouration. (But at possible cost of more device variation)
Each reconstruction filtering method has pros and cons… especially to do with processing noise and demands on power supplies, phase distortion (transient smearing) and timing resolution.
Chord focus on a bespoke FIR windowing algorithm (WTA) using an ultra low power FPGA processor whereas Naim who do things quite differently focus on implementing its recursive IIR filter in an Analog Devices DSP processor engine (SHARC)
This all results on different renderings upon critical listening, whilst with casual background listening one might notice no difference (other than possible tonal presentation which is not really related to the DAC method)
Only you can can decide which rendering method you prefer as it will almost certainly vary from person to person, as well as resolution of down stream system and speakers.
They’re different sounding sources and for me I like what Chord sources do for my music with the beautiful mid range, refined and extended highs and solid bass. Their timing is impeccable.
Others may prefer a Naim source which sound different and really are good fun to play music on
I mean they sure do sound Rhythmic with equally solid bass and good midrange.
Yes, my mood is also to solve in the simplest way, with as little stockpiling of black boxes as possible, and trying to make the most of the ones I already have.
Of course, when I finally have this system set up and experienced, I’ll upload my impressions and some pics. Although at the rate it goes, I begin to doubt that it may be before my retirement…
@NO-QUARTER Yes, I read it around. But how do you do this…? I understand that some spawn of XLR to 4mm banana plugs type is needed.
In addition, I find some glues:
It restricts to digital-only sources.
If not through Chord Tobby, the maximum 18 W RMS stenuns a little fair, and even the Tobby’s 100 W in 4 Ohms, at least for the K6 in my room dimensions.
Besides, again I’d have to get rid of an SN3 i don’t even have.
@Simon-in-Suffolk I understand they are both different conversion architectures and system and personal tastes dependent; but, unfortunately, the circumstances are not adequate to demo them, less in my system.
Well unfortunately no one else can really decide for you it’s like someone guessing what your favourite colour might be…
But perhaps a nice shade of blue and a nice shade of green could be equally pleasing… or you might find green does it for you.
So if you can’t evaluate, them I would choose on other matters such as physical appearance, flexibility, availability and price.
Hi newcomer
Yes I made up my own cables, I went out and bought a nice soldering gun, took some old speaker wire, some old XLR cables, stripped the wires back, then soldered the appropriate wires together. I covered the connections with that shrink rubber stuff you can buy. The cables are kind of ugly, but work great for now until I can buy proper ones. I only have digital sources, and live in an apartment building, so quality low volume listening is required for me. Chord (Rob Watts) is working on new digital amps for people who require more power, without losing the incredible transparency attained by running direct from one of his DAC/Preamps. I realize this is not an ideal setup for everyone, but for my current living situation, it is perfect.
I never get to demo anything so it’s Russian Roulette with me. I was going through a stage where I had more resources than brains. Going back to Naim is as comfortable as an old shoe. Same with Harbeth speakers.
As Nelson Pass once said: “Audiophiles are members of the lunatic fringe”.
The Naim DAC will play WAV files directly from a memory stick inserted into its USB socket. If using the latest firmware it will also play FLAC files directly from a memory stick.
However, most users of the Naim DAC feed a digital signal into it from a streamer or cd player. In this case the Naim DAC doesn’t care what the source file format is - it will just read the digital input stream and perform the DA conversion.
