DAC / Streamer for Nait XS2 + Q Acoustic 3050

[Vailfox]

Hi, this is my first post here on Naim forum
Yesterday I’ve buy my first Naim unit… an used Naim Nait XS2 (70W)
I was undecided between an used Supernait 2 or a used Nait XS 2 + a DAC / Streamer (that now I’m searching for). I hope I made the right choice … at least at this moment

I’ve a Tidal HiFI account and I’m evaluating a used Bluesound Node 2 (for abount 250€)… In your opinion can I have a good Naim entry level setup with my Q Acoustic 3050 (with Nac A5 cable), Bluesound Node 2 and XS2?
Do you suggest me another DAC/Streamer for this price?

Thank you
Fabrizio

[angelodipa]

Hi Fabrizio and welcome to the Naim family

[robert_h]

Hi your idea of a bluesound node with a nait Xs is a good one and a sensible choice with your budget.

[Vailfox]

A 2nd option for me could be the DAC card “Khadas Tone Board” for my Raspberry Pi3… I’m a IT developer… so I use Linux/MacOS systems and terminals.
I like the legacy Tidal App for iOS … so I could stream audio via Airplay to the Raspberry + Khadas Tone Board -> XS2.

This is a much more “Do it yourself” solution… but “some” friends told be that Airplay stream via Wifi could worse the source quality… it’s right? I know that both Tidal stream 16/44 signals (no master tracks that can I play only within the App) and Airplay (first version) stream max at 16/44…
What do you think about??

[robert_h]

Hi I don’t have direct experience of what you are suggesting, though I do use roon plus roon bridge on a raspberry pi / hifiberry digital card -> unitiqute which gives me easy access to stream local files + tidal + qobuz. You could set up a pi with dietpi and activate shairport I think it’s called to give airplay connectivity.

[Vailfox]

Do you use the premium account of Roon right? about 120$/y right?
Only for testing purpose I’m using Moode on my Raspberry… but if exists others better system please let me know.

[robert_h]

Yes roon is a paid for service with a yearly subscription. Moode would appear to be free software and if that gives you access to your Tidal account then there would appear to be no practical reason to pay for anything else.

[Raptor]

Have a look at Volumio (i run this on my raspberry pi with a allo DigiOne transport to my dac ) works very well and FREE

[Vailfox]

Do you have Volumio premium account to (to use Tidal or Qobuz) or you only use it with AirPlay??

[Raptor]

Yes i do have a premium account to have a play with Qobuz but it’s not for me,i will stick to JB2 radio and my own files on my server.

[rainsoothe]

Hi and welcome. If you just want a quick solution and don’t mind some diy, investigate Raspberry pi+ DAC. However, source is very important, so you could try saving up for something like the Cambridge Audio CXN v2, which is much better than the Node imo, and could be a long term solution. Use with something like Chord Clearway or Atlas Element interconnect. After that, in the future, you could replace your Q Acoustics with stuff like Focal Aria 926, Spendor A2, ATC SCM 19 etc.

If budget is restricted, the Bluesound is decent I guess.