My initial thought, is it sounds more dynamic than Cat5 cable, but maybe a bit fatiguing. Time will tell.
My next cunning plan is to try RS-485. If I’d only known I only needed one twisted pair.
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I did suggest rolling your own Ethernet cables several years back on this forum when the debate was raging with the early boutique Ethernet cables… and you are the first I have seen doing it on here…. Bravo!
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Agree
DSD is terrible…very dull
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On NAIM DSD is not very good, depending on the DAC DSD could be amazing, on the NAIM gear is better convert it to PCM and then it gains life again.
I do not think NAIM does real DSD and it only offers compatibility on the format for comercial reasons, my other DAC’s play DSD a lot better than NAIM.
NAIM makes DSD look bad, lifeless and uninteresting. To be this bad on a specific format is better not having it. Maybe NAIM does not like DSD.
I’ve recently been carrying out some comparisons between Qobuz streams and the equivalent downloads, both as 44.1/16 and hi-res formats. Downloads are from either Qobuz or Bandcamp and played back from a Uniti Core.
There is no doubt that in my system local streaming is better. An A/B of resolution and detail is close, but the local steam is much more natural and engaging - analogue if you will. Which I can only really put down to better clocking / timing of the music files from the Core rather than from the web.
Moving forward, I’m going to cancel Tidal and buy those albums I listen to that aren’t on Qobuz as downloads. I’ll use Qobuz for on-line streaming and buy digital downloads for my favourites with good recordings, either from the bands or Bandcamp or Qobuz. The savings from Tidal will pay for my Roon subscription and I’ll think a bit more about upgrading the Qobuz to the sublime level for discounts on hi-res files.
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Mike, I always used Tidal to listen to new albums before making the decision to buy, whether physical or download. I then decided to move fully to downloads and started buying from Bandcamp, 7 Digital, HD tracks and Qobuz….I then switched to Qobuz sublime and haven’t looked back, like Tidal I use it to listen to new albums (yesterday Wet leg, Jack White & Father John) before making my Hi Res purchase decision…for me it was worth the investment.
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There is no doubt that in my system local streaming is better. An A/B of resolution and detail is close, but the local steam is much more natural and engaging - analogue if you will. Which I can only really put down to better clocking / timing of the music files from the Core rather than from the web.
I have reached the same conclusion my Core HDD drive started to make some funny noises last year so the dealer installed a Samsung SSD and copied the music back from my back up HDD.
As I never rely bothered with metadata and had dozens and dozens of ripped CDs that I never played so I decided to go through my CD collection and re rip but also discard any CDs that I never played this turned out to be nearly 250 !!.
Having struggled with downloading my dealer came out and setup my system so that I could download music straight into my Core. I’ve downloaded a few but to be quite honest find much the same results as Mike S so I have reverted back to buying CDs and ripping them.
I mainly buy secondhand CDs and listen to new music via Qobuz.
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@Mike_S have you noticed any difference between a ripped CD (playing as local files) and just playing the CD. Also between a hi res download and playing the same size file via Qobuz or Tidal.
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Currently, I’m buying the downloads as WAV files as either 44.1/16 (CD quality) or hi-res. Some bands don’t sell downloads, so I buy their CDs and rip them on my Core. Some bands only sell downloads, so no choice there.
I haven’t recently compared a ripped CD against playing the physical CD. I’d need to do this through my Bluray player, which I did a while ago and thought it was pretty close - but that was before the 252/250 set up.
I’ve found both the CD quality and hi-res downloads to be better streamed locally from the Core than the same file streamed on-line. That was the main observation I was trying to say in my earlier post - also note that I download in WAV format.
So, the combination of local streaming and using the WAV format (which on-line streaming doesn’t offer) seems to give the best streaming outcome for me, by a reasonably good margin. So, I’ll be using Qobuz for discovery and listening to music and then downloading the digital files that are favourites and better quality recordings, or buying and ripping CDs if the download versions aren’t available.
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I’ve always ripped my CDs as WAV files despite the advice from a few here that there’s no difference between them and flac files. Also I prefer to my my hi res downloads as WAV files as well.
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Going back to your question about playing the physical CD. I do play a lot of music concerts from Bluray through the NDX2 (via coaxial output) and these are always hi-res audio formats that sound superb. I actually have quite a few audio only hi-res Blurays that I bought to trial a while back - I must try some of these again through my new set up.
I preferred native WAV too. Transcoding was good but not good enough, I never understood why but the the difference wasn’t subtle and I always choose the best option for SQ. 
I only converted to FLAC when I moved to Roon - yes I did the comparison first!
Ohh, I’m on Roon and are using WAV. A rabbit hole I might steer away from……
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After deciding to keep my gear I’m now actively looking for a CD player or at least a good cd transport (plug it into the NDX2).
Also I wonder if a hi res Flac download played locally sounds better than the same file via Qobuz or Tidal.
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I think the transport is the way to go with your NDX2. I actually have an Arcam CD player sitting in drawer that has an optical output that I could use as a transport. I never set it up as it almost duplicates the Bluray, and the Core sounded better when I had the old UnitiCute2. Maybe something to revisit on a raining day, since it would be free to add it to the system.
Maybe I have said it earlier, don’t remember, I only by albums or just tracks from Bandcamp mainly, and sometimes Qobuz. Not streaming online.
I am discovering albums on Qobuz, Bandcamp, ITunes and YouTube, but listening through the IPad.
Bandcamp was and is a wonderful discovery for me. A lot of less known artists that are particularly interesting.
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I might look at a Pro-ject transport their stuff seems to get good reviews and are reasonably priced.
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I kept a low profile re this argument as there’s a few here that have rather strong opinions about the merits of Flac v WAV. I have no technical background or computer knowledge for me it’s all about what I hear as opposed to what some “report” says. 
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When I first put together my system I had a Cambridge Audio Transport into a ND5 XS > Nait XS 2> ProAc D2 speakers. I compared ripping my CD’s to a NAS and using the transport and found the NAS worked as well as the transport. I also found the NAS a preferable method to stream the music instead of physically handling each CD loading and unloading from the transport and the required space for storage. I returned the transport to th dealer.
Different experiences I’m sure for each individual. I just love driving my system via iPad/iPhone, ease of use and comfort for this 70 year old!
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Couldn’t agree more about the ease of using the phone/iPad also I’m not looking to spending a fortune on a cd drive just want it as a back up I guess.
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