Using an iPad or, even better, an old iPhone is a nice, and rather cheap, option. The iPhone acting as a streamer (Roon Endpoint or UPnP).
But you’ll need some kind of isolation between your DAC and the iPhone. I used an AudioPhilleo 1 SE and its PurePower which is quite more than simply an isolation device…
I had the following setup before buying the ND555 :
Quite understandable, if computers/networks and such is not your thing, then you’d rather stick to an all in one product like the ND5XS2, NDX2 or ND555.
Another option to consider would be the Chord Hugo2+2Go
If you’re going the Chord route I’d say using it with Roon is almost compulsory. I’ve done similar with my Mojo/Poly and without Roon driving it it’s a headache. I’ve not got a 2go for my Hugo2, mainly as I don’t have a need/use for it, It’s certainly a neat and compact option and the Hugo2 is a capable DAC in my experience. I use mine for headphone listening primarily.
Your CD player has a DAC inside it so you do in fact have one already, however in that instance all it can do is convert the digital audio data on a CD to an analogue output.
A standalone DAC like the Naim one discussed here has multiple digital inputs using electrical or optical S/PDIF it can switch between and convert to an analogue output, that could cover a multitude of digital sources including CD Players, TV’s, DVD/Bluray players, games consoles and so forth.
The Naim DAC was primarily intended to act as an upgrade to a Naim CD player that had a S/PDIF output and the HDX but given how ubiquitous S/PDIF is in devices it’s use is broad including the current ND range which also has a digital output to support an external DAC if desired.
Yes correct either paired with a matching DAC or some other type based on preferences or mixing and matching existing and new equipment.
Some manufacturers made a big thing about seperating the transport from the converter/clock.
Most of the mid to high end Naim CD players had both very good internal DAC’s and the option to act as a transport to an external DAC.
I ran a CD5 XS as a transport only in to an ND5 XS2 as one example. This meant I could use one DAC (the one in the ND5) for both itself and the CD player and also use a single DIN connection to the amp.
I personally lean more towards a less complex and cluttered system so whilst a Naim DAC is relatively cheap to find used and can be added to
multiple Naim sources I always felt it made more sense just replacing the source for a better one than trying to tune it with another DAC.
An exception is where you want a different characteristic from the DAC to what Naim provide and that’s where using a DAC from another vendor like Chord as one example enables you to seperate the digital transport from the DAC to provide a different result within a system. The current ND range has a very good streaming subsystem, the NP800 which is common to all 3 products in fact.
It’s certainly possible that you could find favourable results combining an ND5 XS2 and a Naim DAC but if the goal is improving performance it’s worth comparing it against at least a few other options.
My memory is fuzzy, I think I prefered the CD player using its own DAC, I had it setup like that as I had a DC-1 coax cable and only one Hi-Line DIN IC so it was more about convenience than an exercise in system refinements per say.
I didn’t have it setup like that for long ultimately, both the CD player and the ND5 XS2 now long gone.
IIRC the only Naim players that could be used as transport were the CD5XS and CDX2 and only later models of these. I think earlier models could be converted to transport only, but that was a permanent change.
As for SQ, I preferred the CD5XS/nDAC to bare CDX2. That may well reflect my tastes in music and how it’s reproduced, but I was certainly not alone. There’s a long thread on all of this in the old forum.
As for how Naim saw their DAC, I seem to recall they promoted it as a “digital hub” and that’s how it worked out for me. Prompted by a frequent poster of those days, I added the MacMini and found I slightly preferred ripped CDs from the Mac to the CD player. That led to a 272 and …
A Naim DAC is relatively cheap as an experiment, I nearly got one a few times for various systems but invariably ended up with something else.
Refering back to the OP and context of this thread I’ve also had a SN3 + ND5 XS2 (briefly also with an existing HiCap DR) and evolved that system by trading in the HiCap DR + ND5 XS2 replacing it with an NDX2.
I certainly felt that made a healthy difference and whilst a HiCap DR is a refinement as is a XPS or 555PS to the NDX2 I don’t find it lacking.
I certainly never considered permanently adding a DAC to the ND5, Naim or otherwise.
There are others that have done just that either with or without a HiCap DR and with favourable results. If the extra boxes are acceptable I imagine it’s a good balance between system refinement and cost.
