Is ndx2 the choice

Hi
I ve this doubt : in my temporary house the ndac is matching really well the sn3 however using the iPad as a Streamer or using a pc or a server connected to him to stream radio and files is creating a lot of box.
What is the general opinion about the ndx2 vs ndac sound quality?
I do not want compare the flexibility, bere to me ndx2 is a clear winner

The Naim DAC is a more accomplished player in terms of DAC audio presentation… but whether that means it is better is down to you and your tastes.

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Thanks Simona i m trying to have experienced opinions. What do you prefer?

I probably preferred the Naim DAC/555PS, but it was a few years ago now when I owned that. I don’t use my NDX2 analogue output currently.

The NDX2 works wonderfully well with a Supernait 3. Doubtless and NDX2, nDac and 555 power supply would be better but who wants three boxes. You can always add a power supply to the NDX2 later.

One nice thing is system automation. Link the NDX2 and SN3 with a wire and you can control the SN3 from the NDX2 remote or the Naim app. It makes everyday use a lot nicer.

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One of my favorite features!

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Couldn’t you just set SN3 volume on say 11 and adjust overall volume with NDX2 too without using automation?

Why would you though ? System automation is so cheap and easy to setup.

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Can you use volume slider and not only ± in the Naim app using automation?

No. System automation is really good, but unfortunately doesn’t work with the Roon volume controls. I use Roon and the Naim iOS widget for volume control on the NDX2. On the Nova, you can use the volume buttons and slider within the Roon app. I’m not sure why there is this distinction, but there you go.

The reason with Roon will be the same as the reason why there is no volume slider in the Naim app if you use system automation: To show a slider, the app needs to know what the current volume is (because the slider has a position). It can do that with the Nova because the volume control is digital, but with system automation the current volume is unknown to the Nova. System automation only allows the streamers to send “up” and “down” signals to the pre; the pre does not send back its current volume pot position (and that could change by remote or because someone turns the pot manually)

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Using any of the naim streamers in some way I cannot understand enhances the way music is played even if you keep the ndac in that setup. Why that is or even how to explain it is unclear to me. In the beginning of the year I tried using an nd5sx2 in my system naim ns01 server with ndac and ps555. I really wanted to find out that the streamer would do nothing to the sound but only add new streaming services and better internet radio. Unfortunately I found that streaming music from my ns01 was better than when the same music was played using spdif to the ndac.
Claus

I do.

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Do you feel that ndx2 as a transport is better than uniti core ?
Why?

The Uniticore can’t stream online. No Qobuz, no Tidal, no Radio. Only local files and rips.

You re but I missed one info, I live in al Cairo and the only streaming service is apple music which is working smoothly with Ipad so I need to play only my own files

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Ok, so the core should be fine. However I would more go for Innuos zen for that price.
Can’t say which transports, between Uniticore or Ndx2 will sound best for local files. For the difference in price, the Ndx2 should be better.
But you don’t need a dac….
See the Innuos threads, a lot of aficionados here.

I was underwhelmed by the NDX2’s streaming capabilities, to me the SQ from using Audirvana into the NDX2 over UPNP sounded much better (vastly improved soundstage and clarity) than NDX2’s native Qobuz connectivity. Who knows, maybe if I added a £7k PSU to the NDX2 oh and a Naim Fraim and some Superlumina interconnects it would have sounded great ….

In the end I decided to go with Audirvana for streaming from a £220 2011 Mac Mini, sold the NDX2 and bought a dedicated DAC and it sounds amazing. So if my experience is anything to go by, no, the NDX2 isn’t a clear winner… i would recommend a free trial of Audirvana Studio on a computer into the DAC if you haven’t tried it already…

…and the connection between the Mac and the dac is now made via usb?
My solution is really similar but I want to buy the lector usb spdif converter

Yes I’m using a Chord a signature tuned array USB. It was quite expensive, don’t know if it adds anything over any other USB…