Nac 272-n

Hi there… I have a couple of Naim systems, the older and cheaper of the two is a 2003 112/150, which I am using as my travel system as I work as a sort of digital nomad. It hasnt been refurbed since new. Running a set of old Mission 780 speakers with monacor drivers in them (these are surprisingly decent, btw).

Anyway… the 112 has started to do the thing that it is famous for - randomly ramping the volume up 30%.

So I’m looking for something to replace it… And also, because I play a lot of stuff from my mini-PC that I travel with, a decent DAC in the system wouldnt go a miss!

I see a few NAC 272-Ns for sale on eBay, ranging (weidly) from 850 to 2700…

Questions:

  1. Do these have problems?
  2. Is it basically a full-fat 272 in there?
  3. Do they sound decent?
  4. Does anyone have an opinion on where the 272-N would be a decent partner for the 150 in my system (im going to get Darren in Sheffield to recap it)

Many thanks for any info!

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Hi CC

Never had an issue with my 272 mechanically. There’s the odd app issue with Tidal, but apart from that very stable.

Wouls go well with your 150 as it doesn’t need a power supply. WiFi and Bluetooth will probably be handy to you on the road :grimacing:

They sound excellent. Very capable.

J

A 272 would be fine with your 150 as long as you are aware of its limitations as a digital source. Unlike the more recent Naim streamers it doesn’t always work reliably over WiFi, and doesn’t support Airplay, Chromecast, Roon or Qobuz. So think carefully about whether it will suit your needs.

Thanks for that! I use Tidal on my other system with an NDS - love it. But actually I was thinking to do USD-optical digital from my mini-PC into the optical input on the 272. I mostly play stuff on my PC. Whats the issue with running Tidal natively on the 272?

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Have you looked into servicing costs?

Keeping your 112 (or another analogue preamp) and getting a separate DAC would be another option. The Naim V1 was designed specifically for use with a PC and includes a preamp, or there’s the NDAC or lots of Non-Naim alternatives.

Naim will continue to support the 272 and other 1st gen streamers as long as they can, but there’s no guarantee they will be able to continue this indefinitely.

It won’t do Tidal HiRes and in common with all the green screen Unitis and streamers, Naim have confirmed that they can’t modify it to play Tidal HiRes natively because of hardware limitations.

The 112 has developed the characteristic “random volume increase” problem, albeit infrequently… so it is probably toast - not worth fixing.

yes… and conclusion was probably not worth fixing…

Thanks! The DAC V-1…never heard of it before - thats a good shout! Will look into that… Small as well - good for travel. Surprised you dare suggest non-Naim in here… risking a tactical nuke i would imagine

The NAC-N272 is a surprisingly good preamp in it’s own right (with a superb volume control!), and also really quite a decent DAC. It has an internal power supply so will work very well with a 150.
It directly supports a number of streaming services such as Spotify premium, Quobuz and Tidal standard (although only standard res Tidal not high res), but the DAC supports High Res including 24bit 192kHz. It also supports Bluetooth as a receiver, but bear in mind the audio quality compromises inherent in BT.

There is no such thing as a 272-N, it’s a NAC-N272.
We have used one for many years without any problems. We use ours with wired Ethernet; however, for WiFi, it REALLY DOES need a good WiFi signal (but it’s still rock solid with wired or a really good WiFi signal).

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Thank Xanthe - all useful! I quite like the look of it… but the DAC V1 also looks to suit my purposes, as it will mainly be playing stuff from the PC. Not sure how the DACV1 compares to the NAC-N272, but suspect the latter has a much better preamp

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Yes the preamp and DAC of the 272 both outperform the DAC-V1.

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I have a 272/150. Works really well. The odd Tidal drop off, but fairly rare. As others have commented, no more upgrades but i also run a innous zen and rega p6 through it and all sounds excellent to my ears. That said, i will be moving this on and going back to stand alone amplification and source system soon.

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Other folks have pointed out the HD issue (or non issue if you use Mconnect) but every now and then the 272 will freeze usually with operating Tidal. I find it comes back without a reset if I switch to iradio and wait. Not a big issue. Just a minor annoyance!

272 was very highly rated and if you can accept the minor limitations of today vs the very latest it still sounds great.

Like your NDS.

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I’m now using 272´s dac plus PS with nd5 xs2 after having tried Ndac with nd5 xs2, for me, Ndac with PS gave boomy bass and less details.
The 272 kept natural/realistic sound and PRaT, very happy to using it as preamp and headphone amp.