Yes, indeed, it may well have been me 
I really like the X-Sabre Pro, it’s a great DAC.
I’ve been using the NDX2 with the X-Sabre Pro for a couple of months now, and without the 555PSDR. I much prefer the simpler setup and sound of NDX2 with Powerline into the X-Sabre.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts if you sort a demo.
Hasn’t had one from me…Doh 
Yes, I will be surprised too if Hugo 2 is not better vs the Qutest. The same dac is not all. Nds and Ndac for example share the same dac. But the implementation is not the same.
All these discussions are interesting, but a fact is: a 5,5 k streamer ( zenith with Phoenix) into 1,3 k dac is not the choice I would make personally. I would choose instead the Innuos mini into Chord TT, with a very good cable between, or Innuos Mini/ Phœnix / Chord TT.
And would try to listen also to other dacs than Chord, to have the choice.
Hi FR,
This is the setup I now have but with a bridge ‘between’ the ZenMiniIII running as a server and the TT2. I have already posted on another thread that I just changed the bridge from an AlloDigiOne Signature to a SonoreOptical Rendu (carrying over the same LPSU), and the ZenMiniIII has the Innuos LPSU and grounding via Entreq - so it’s capabilities are maxed out.
This setup is genuinely sounding very good with all three protocols I use. (The Allo, running MoOde, was very good with UpNP, a bit less with Squeezelite, and worse with roonready - and I use roon all day in multiroom, so it is important to me) .
Also the ZenMini is ‘better’ running streaming services from Qobuz and FLAC radio streams than it is with it’s own local disk storage (possibly due to it’s common power supply arrangements internally). I have heard similar from an owner of a Zenith (multiple internal power feeds) who uses an Audiophilleo USB/SPDIF.
If I were to change anything now in this setup it would be to go to a more powerful specialist server from either Antipodes, Audiostore or SonicOrbiter (i9) - these can run roon DSP, extended multirooms and HQPlayer - the Innuos architecture is a compromise between server and endpoint - and very good it is with Zen/Zenith as long as the demands on the server are limited. HQPlayer is a different architecture but much cheaper than a MScaler.
PS. Apologies to @mikehughescq for slight thread hijack, but good luck with your quest for a Qutest 
I feel you are completely in the subject of this thread.
Antipodes have a strong reputation too, maybe it will be a good idea for a future upgrade Telmi.
Have you compared Zen mini/ TT vs Zenith / Qutest?
Hi FR,
I haven’t done the direct comparison you refer to, but I heard a ZenithIII (with and without Phoenix) direct over USB into a TT2 and good headphones on the Innuous stand at Bristol this year - it was playing using roon/squeezelite mode - and it was genuinely very good, with a slight improvement via Phoenix, vs. without Phoenix [for me these various enhancement products such as Mscaler, Phoenix, Audiophilleo, Mutec etc. need a good DAC and analogue side to the system to make a difference).
I would say for pure music playback over USB into my own TT2 at home from locally stored music that the Melco N1ZH/2 (which I had myself at the time - the same model you have) was slightly better than the ZenithIII, but the Zen/Zenith has far greater flexibility as a server; in my case I have combined a Nucleus+, Mutec USB, and Melco functions into one capable box (maxed out ZM3) plus the tiny Rendu, and clawed back some money & rack space in the process. I have to say that my Melco/Nucleus dealer and Melco UK were very supportive when I had to reduce my system 9 months ago due to the Covid downturn - a tight community.
Before the TT2 I had a Hugo2, then the Hugo2 with MScaler, and that combination (in my own system) was certainly bettered by the ‘bare TT2’ in a back-2-back comparison- so I traded the H2/Mscaler combination for the TT2.
The TT2 is expensive, and has ‘redundancy’ in the headphone/pre-amp if one is not going to use that - I actually feed two analogue pre-power setups in adjoining rooms from the two pairs of analogue-outs on my TT2 - and I use it as the DAC from my TV as well as the Rendu - so apart from headphone usage I am making best use of it. The ZenMiniII is right now sending a roonready stream to the TT2, to my Atom, and to Qb2 - the house is filled with ‘Naim Radio’ today -:_
If @mikehughescq wants to continue the digital journey, i.e. a simpler system without analogue and the CD player, then a TT2 is a capable pre-amp for Naim and particularly Chord amplification - saving a lot of box-count, interconnects etc - see the running thread Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler
A further alternative to reduce boxcount, even without a separate DAC, is to go ‘fully active’ with the speakers - e.g. Buchardt A500, Kii Three, Dutch&Dutch 8c - for another thread I suspect.
Informative and detailed review. Thanks.
From what I read recently, TT has a fuller, more organic sound signature vs Hugo and Dave, which I heard in the last months.
So I would be curious one day to hear the TT/ Mscaler.
There are lots of things to read but our ears a better medium for deciding. I had both on home demo and kept the Dave others may listen/choose otherwise.
But, even if you preferred the Dave, did you found the TT more organic ?
Define what you mean by organic, do you mean less, more defined boundaries, PRaT ? To me the Dave sounded more natural, stronger in the mid range but the TT2 was excellent.
More organic as the contrary of lean. Fuller sounding.
A review and some members pointed that TT sounds fuller.
Perhaps nearer the Naim sound ? It depends full of what ? the TT compared to the Dave has less detail, so fuller doesn’t resonate, more direct, less detail makes it more immediate ? Not something I thought of too much, just preferred one over the other. It would have been nicer on my wallet if I had preferred the TT2.
Sorry Mike for thread diversion, it wisnae me .
The Nds for instance has less details vs the Dave, but sounds fuller and more organic. The Dave, for me, is more detailed and holographic , but I prefer the Naim presentation.
I know, your views are well documented.
That was the point I was making, less detail often sounds more direct, I prefer to hear the detail of the recording not shape it. Naim produce some fine streamers, Chord is a different approach and flavour. Isn’t choice a wonderful thing.
I feel some irony here. I heard the Dave with Bryston electronics and recently with Ear V12 integrated. On Sonus Faber speakers.
The other source was Aurender transport with Audiomat dac.
So yes, I can say I have a little listening experience.
The Audiomat sounded fuller vs the Dave, my impression. Other here had similar impressions and prefer Naim.
Am I saying the Dave is bad ? Not at all. Just a matter of taste.
Hey FR , How did you like the Aurender? I had one a few years ago and really liked it. I’d probably own one now if it had Wifi. But my current situation calls for Wifi and the Auralic G1 works and sounds great.
I liked it a lot. The Audiomat reference with inbuilt streamer could be my streamer.
But it’s a little company. I don’t know how well it’s supported, specially in a long time. And the look is not the best.
I heard the non reference ( 8k euros, 12 k the reference), with the entry level Aurender streamer. It was on my Nds/555dr level.
They are a small company but they’ve been around a while. Nice thing with the Aurender is you can keep all you music files on the unit and play from the Aurender… As I said I really liked mine and if it could do wifi I’d probably have another but the Auralic is certainly no slouch.
I didn’t read carefully. I was thinking on the Audiomat , not the Aurender. The reason I posted the Audiomat pic.
I have no real opinion on Aurender, heard just the transport with the Audiomat dac, and liked the sound.
@frenchrooster I prefer separate Dac and Streamer, if for no other reason than Dac’s get dated more quickly. Streamers from 5 years ago are still perfectly viable
