Weird stuff…
I still think it would be very helpful if Naim would share a bit more information with updates. Not only which issues are fixed or features added. There is discussion in any case so why the secrecy - if there is any, that is…
A few days on, I still hear no difference on my NDX2 btw.
Hi everyone.
Update performed out without incident.
Very appreciable SQ change: more bass and midbass, but worse definition and, above all, loss of air and of part of the previous firmware version magic. Not too happy.
The truth is it’s still a bit annoying to trust a brand for its particular sound signature and SQ and that every time the firmware is updated it is a surprise, sometimes very pleasant, like the previous version, and others, like the current one, ahem, ahem…
Luckily we can enjoy other more permissive and forgiving systems, but a pity!
You know, our system, our room, our ears…
Greetings to the forum.
I still hope that Naim releases a version with no changes just to see the same comments appear
Just updated both my ND5XS2 took about 3 min per unit.
No difference in sound which is a good thing…
I think it’s true to say that in all the many beta releases for this update, no beta tester ever commented on a sound quality change.
With the system they follow it is unlikely that they can do so: in the three years of our NDX2 I could not say how many updates they have made, but about 4 or 5 roughly, and all with appreciable SQ changes, and some nothing minor or insignificant …
On the last one I download (4.8 for my NDX I think) I remember Clare commenting that there should be an improvement in sound.
I guess if it hasn’t been mentioned by Naim then it probably isn’t expected. Although, given people have done the upgrade, they may hear a difference.
I’m sure they don’t lie and really perceive a change, I just doubt the cause. There’s always some “worse” and some “better” posts, but the vast majority of Naim owners post nothing and they don’t get noticed.
It’s the same with Roon where any differences are even more unlikely, as nothing at all changes on the streamer, and it does not matter how often the Roon people say it.
In the past year or so I must have made 20 updates or more (including betas, which are explicitly not optimized), never heard change in the way some people describe it, if at all.
Edit: It would also require that Naim staff can’t hear the supposedly large differences when they compare the previous and the new firmware during optimization at the end of development, when signing off on the new release. If this is so, all bets are off in the first place
Not suggesting lies. Just a bit of expecting to hear something.
But who can say what anyone else hears.
I just meant that I am not suggesting lies either.
Of course, if one expects a change and listens “for” it, one will often hear one, regardless of whether it exists in reality. It’s how the human mind works
About this one …
I believe you probably mean this?
If that’s what you meant, she only wrote that someone on Facebook said it sounds better, after the OP of the thread asked how it sounds. Reads like a guarded marketing statement to me. Of course, there is always someone saying that it’s better, just like there is always someone saying that it’s worse. The quote, though, is not Naim saying that there should be an improvement.
However, it does make the good point that they listen to it and wouldn’t release it if it sounded poorly. (And we do know that there is some optimization being made, it’s pretty well explained in the Beta room; just not as big as people make it out to be. As I’ve said in the past, I wish that Naim made this explanation public)
Have updated my ND555 2 days ago. Don’t perceive any real difference in SQ with my 500 level system.
Mine has gone fine and sound seems unchanged. Mind you, I added a Chord GroundArray the same day, and that’s another story not be had altogether 
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If they’ve made changes that they think will improve things it seems odd not to mention it.
I guess they would.
So, if we accept the argument that they wouldn’t release it if it sounded poorly, I think we can accept the argument that different updates can introduce changes in SQ that are collectively perceived and valued, which implies a logical contradiction with some of your previous arguments; or must we accept that only the SQ worsening due to the collateral consequences of the update programming is collectively perceived…, by the special and magically graceful ears of the Naim staff?
So, additionally, I think we should accept octopus as a companion animal, and not so contemptuously disdain those who by ears, optimization of their equipment or system-room interactions do perceive the differences that are pointed out. Another thing, different, is to try to satisfy all the systems, rooms and/or ears, more when the changes in SQ apparently are quite collateral to the update and, therefore, we could say, practically involuntary or not deliberate.
There is no doubt that Naim performs a tuning process based on the different electrical noise levels that are created by different sequences of CPU instructions, bus traffic, etc. This is confirmed by Naim as having a small effect. However, some people are acting as if they played around with an equalizer or something.
The tuning process is not performed for betas, just for releases. And yet, the difference between different betas and between beta and release version is very small, if discernible at all.
(The process is described a bit in the beta room and sadly not in the public area of the forum. I think it should be public. You can apply for being a beta tester and then you can also experience first hand the differences - or not - between different betas and from beta to tuned release)
Compared to us, Naim have the advantage of not having to rely on very unreliable audio memory. Instead they can easily compare the same models side by side with old and new firmware in the listening room. If they were unable to keep these small differences in check, we would have a bigger problem
You two need to do a blind A/B comparison of both versions using quality assured statistical analysis techniques. Report back in the morning please.
Let me order a second system quickly 
Make sure it’s burned in. And no erotic cables.