Thanks Simon for the clarification, I have then the follwoing doubt, as I am thinking to replace my lavender 4-5 DIN with WH Morgana one, but I was thinking to get RCA to DIN5 option, as it gives me the freedom to connect a non-Naim Dac in a certain future in case I decide to move from my current DAC-V1. So, in this context, is RCA-DIN inferior to DIN-DIN and what is the difference with regards to the physical connections you have mentioned compared to RCA-RCA?
Stereo
Phono to phono 8 connections
Phono to DIN. 7 connections
DIN to DIN. 6 connections
In another words pure mathematics would be the main reason for DIN connection superiority. HiFi science I guess
Not just mathematics. A single earth too.
I think this is exactly what I experience in my system comparing Naim Hiline DIN and Chord Signature Tuned Aray RCA. The Hiline is very compact and darker sounding and this character is kept even when you increase the volume. The vocals are very focused and smaller in size than with the RCA. The RCA gives more open and bright sound especially on lower levels, however the sound feels more hollow with it and something missing in the bass/midbass frequencies. Iām still very confused with these differences and am not sure which interconnect to keep. Iām wondering whether a Chord DIN interconnect would bring more brightness and openness compared to a Hiline.
I can see from your profile that every cable in your system is Chord one. Assuming you still have the āfreeā cables that came with the Naim kit why not do a reset and see how it sounds.
You can always replace one cable at a time and listen from a musical perspective rather than midbass frequencies, open and bright etc. Have you ever been to a live music gig and said āWow! The mid band frequencies are really goodā ?
You have a point. I think some hi-fi gear is designed so that initially it excites the listener with overemphasis on some frequencies and it is often the case that this is not the most realistic sound. Yes, I use mainly Chord cables and I have been impressed by the open vocals they produce but I often missed a solid foundation and realistic bass. On live music performances I often find the opposite - not so emphasized midrange but solid and good bass which I missed at home. Now with the Hiline I get more of this live performance feel - more focused midrange, better instruments organization and great bass. Probably I should get used to this kind of music representation.
Yeah, sometimes being initially impressive is not the most enjoyable sound.
If you are not a woman then get one to help you assess your system, women have much better hearing than men
Yay! i had the call from my dealer today to say my Hi-Line is now ready for collection. I shall pick it up tomorrow. Thanks Naim for repairing it for me. I have really missed it. It all happened just as i installed my new XPS DR, so iāve been slumming it with the stock lavvy ever since!
Today i feel really great!
The single earth is the key here. Most manufacturers have there phono sockets connected to the case of the equipment. Naim is very careful about it grounding, using āstar groundingā is their more expensive gear.
I doubt Linn will adopt din, but they use XLR for a clean ground, Naim also use XLR in there more expensive gear.
When RCA to Din is better than RCA to RCA, Din to Din must be better. RCA to Din via Flashback was a great leap. Was using Bluenode2i.
As good as the grey/lavender interconnect cable isā¦itās no match for the HiLine. Iāve been a whole month away from this beauty, now doing what it does best, and that is to let me play music in such an enthralling way! It was sorely missed but now gladly welcomed back again. Ladies & gentleman, letās give a big round of applause for the HiLine! Itās simply fantastic!
Iāve got the DIN from my nDAC going to my '52 and the RCAās to a headphone amp. Only one of the two is active at a time driven by the little switch on the nDAC.
Is this likely to compromise performance and should I disconnect the one Iām not using?
(Iām cautious about doing this since the DIN is a HiLine and I think itās pretty much best to avoid handling these more than neededā¦)
Edit: I see youāve already answered this further up the thread. Hmm. I really donāt like handling the HiLine!
I heard back from Naim on whether itās ok on the ND555 to have both RCA and din cables connected at the same time but having only 1 ( either RCA or Din ) activated.
Reply from Naim below:
As long as you are only activating one output at a time, having just the cables connected will not affect the audio quality. Of course if you were to have them both connected and both outputs activated, this would then have a bad affect on the overall output. It creates a noisy output which in turn will reduce the overall clarity going onto your pre-amp/amplification stage.
Kind regards
Flynn Charter
On a fundamental level, I still cannot see why Naim continue to use DIN connectors. And yes I understand that they are technically better than RCA connectors because they enable separation between the neutral and the shield. I find it odd that Naim still choose to run them single ended, at least in my NAP 300 DR.
Why to use XLR connectors since they are much more readily available, and why not use them balanced?
Please understand that I am not an electrical engineer.
Peter Maguire
Because neither the preamp or source is balanced with Naim.
I am quite sure to not give you wrong explanation. But not 100% sureā¦
To make balanced worthwhile you really have to design everything in the electronics to be balanced throughout, otherwise you add extra circuitry and cost for no benefit; even then, the main advantage is really only seen when you use long interconnects - this why many Stateside amps are balanced, as their philosophy is long i/cs and short speaker cables. Naim is the opposite, preferring to keep i/cs short and speaker cables long (indeed they need to be long). Neither is absolutely right or wrong, just two different ways to arrive at (hopefully) the same goal. Naim is particularly hot on the system earth to keep noise at a minimum, and this is one of the reasons why they favour DIN over RCA phono as it makes this far more achievable.
Of course, Naim are no strangers to balanced design either - witness the Statementā¦
Thank you for your response. My main gripe is, however, the use of DIN plugs, and you do not address this point. To me, They are as outmoded as phono plugs. I believe that Naim could achieve the aims that you mention with XLR connectors, as I believe they do with their NAP 500 amp.
Peter
Well, there are good reasons why Naim use (and have used) DINs. You can read a bit about why, here;
As for XLRs, Naimās view was that āThe XLR connector, at its best is only as good as an average DIN plug; the best DIN plug has absolutely no peerā. Naim supposedly only used XLRs on the NAP250 because of the expectation in some quarters at the time that a āprofessionalā amp had to use them. They continued with them as they were useful to differentiate between the regulated power amps with no in-built pre-amp supply to those unregulated with an in-built pre-amp supply. It helped that Naim had designed a special low mass XLR plug to optimise performance.
Of course, move to a balanced system and the use of XLRs is pretty much obligatoryā¦
What is it about XLRs that you believe is better than DIN? I donāt understand what you mean by outmoded, XLRs have been around longer than DIN.