HDX - questions

Hi-Fi Corner
1

The price the HDX has come down substantially. I am very interested in getting it and send signal directly to my active Unity Audio Boulder speakers thru RCA,

Just wondering if I can get the answers to these questions from the HDX existing owners or those who owned it before. Thanks you very much.

  1. Can the new Naim app recognize the HDX ? If not, how about the older n-Serve app(IOS only ?) ?

  2. Is it possible to replace the hard disk inside (any capacity limitation?) myself without sending it back to Naim ?

  3. Does the XPX2 add noticeable difference to the HDX ?

Thanks again.

2

Do the speakers have a volume control? If not you’ll be listening at full volume as the HDX doesn’t have one. This may well make it a non starter.

To your questions: you’d need the old nServe app to control it. An XPS makes a good improvement. As to the hard drive I believe Naim need to do it. But you can store music on a separate NAS and the HDX will find it.

1 Like
3

Yes, the speakers do have volume control. Also, I might plug the RCA into an active preamp first. Hence, volume is not an issue.

is the old nServe app still available to be downloaded ?

thanks

4

Ah, that’s good then.

5

Yes it’s in the App Store. And just to confirm what HH says, if the hard disc fails, it will need to go back to Naim. There is no diy possibility to replace the hard disc any other way. Also the HDX operating system is stored on that hard disc so if the disc fails, you can’t just use a NAS to store the music instead.

6

thank you for your answer. HDX is quite an risky product, esp if it is not brand-new.

7

Indeed it is. I suspect you’d be better with an NDX and a NAS or other storage. Maybe you have other Naim streamers already. Maybe a 272 streaming preamp would fit the bill.

8

Can I use HDX with a NAS, so that I can minimize the usage duration of the harddisk / maximize its life expectancy ?

9

Yes you can. Take a look at the manual, page 19.

10

thank you very much HH.

11

I don’t want to put you off, but if it did need to go to Naim for a repair, it’s extremely expensive. The last list published that I am aware of listed £599 for a repair or a service and £999 if you needed repair and service.

Normally your dealer should call Naim and discuss what needs doing, then Naim would indicate whether it’s £599 or £999 you are talking about.

Other things to know are that the HDX is not compatible with the latest changes to BBC and some other iradio services and there was a recent change to Rovi API which is since the firmware 1.7c was released. Now hopefully Naim will issue a firmware update for the Rovi issue but they are very slow at issuing such updates even for current products. And the iradio problem isn’t fixable at all because it’s a hardware/embedded software limitation and the company that provided Naim with the relevant module went out of business some years ago.

1 Like
12

The HDX is a good choice if you are using local file storage. It’s outdated when it comes to streaming internet music sources. It’s quite reliable if you get the SSD version with music storage on a USB drive or (preferably) a NAS drive.

I owned a 2x500GB HDD version for almost 15 years and it served me well but I was concerned with the long term reliability of the HDDs (and the potential grief of getting it serviced here in the USA) so traded it in on an NDX2 earlier this year.

13

I had the SSD-version. It was a really small (but high-quality enterprise-version) SSD so you were expected to use a NAS for the music. It was a reliable box (but if you need repair it is expensive).

I used mine with a Naim DAC and XPS2 (on the DAC).

14

Yes, NAIM used an SLC SSD. These were extremely reliable but also very expensive.

15

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