Would the Naim Dac be a step up from the Dac V1?
Without hesitation, yes.
Yes in terms of sound quality, but it doesnāt have the USB input of the V1 so you will need an SPDIF source.
Does the Naim Dac use/require a Supercap power supply?
The nDAC can run āstand aloneā or with an XP5XS, XPS or 555PS. Obviously, the received wisdom is that the SQ is vastly improved as you go up the more expensive PSU route.
FWIW, I run mine with an olive XPS.
So I could go Server>USB>Word Clock>AES/Spdif>N Dac ???
I have an Allo āSignatureā streamer (USBSig/Digi1Sig/Shanti/Moode Audio software - around Ā£700) running SPDIF via a Naim DC-1 cable.
Does the N Dac use software/firmware like the Dac V1? I know the N Dac is fairly old, is the longevity of this item still working pretty good future proof wise?
I donāt know the DAC-V1, but I think it probably has more functionality (and hence different/more sophisticated firmware) than the nDAC, which after all āis only a D2A converterāā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦but by G** itās a good one!
Does the Naim Dac work with just the plain XPS or can it also work with the XPS DR?
XPS, XPS2 or XPS DR
In fact, Iām on the lookout for an XPS2 for mine as my CDX is āpining for its XPS ( or possibly for the fjords?)ā
Thereās always something to buy in this game
The NDAC is still a good performer without a PSU upgrade. How much more you want to spend on it might depend on the system you you want to use it in.
A USB to SPDIF converter would work fine if you only have a USB output available.
Quite so. āJust one more power supply, dearā¦ā
BTW, if you do decide to go down this route, then the most recent firmware for the nDAC is version 4.11.8. You can find out what version is in āyoursā by a magical sequence of button presses and then counting flashing LEDs, but by far the easiest way is to power it up, and then plug an iThing (Pod, Pad or Phone) into the front panel āUSBā port - you have to make sure that the iThing is ādockedā (press the dock button if it isnāt). Then you can scroll through the iThingās Settings/General/About menu tree.
If you havenāt already got one (Mutec MC3+ USB) DDC Master Clock for your Dac you want to try/demo one of these.
Makes a big differenceā¦
AES connection is supposed to be best but spdif/RCA sounds good on mine.
Lots of pretty lightsā¦
You might consider your source as well. I am not saying that it has to be expensive but perhaps something dedicated to the task rather than a server, which really should only be that and if its fulls of rust spinners in a room far far away.
You can turn all of them off but one, thankfullyā¦
I notice that allo do the Kali I2S Reclocker, not sure if itās the same thing or similar thing but maybe worth investigating.
The Dac V1 already has a Master clock in it but also putting one after my server and just before my Dac has transformed my system.
Was that info for me or suzywong?