Quoi?
Not sure anything is shifted to the right on the NDX2, the right hand side boards dimensions look the same to me when you adjust for the different picture scales.
I think you are being generous.
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The dimensions of the board are the same. Itās the same board. The placement within the chassis is shifted right on the NDX2. Look at where the boards end on the left side. Use the top of the front panel for reference. Look how much space there is on the right side on the ND5XS2. The whole power supply and digital section is shifted right on the NDX2.
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Indeed, thanks that is exactly what I saidā¦. 
but to be honest the PCB dimensions are of no interest, itās the design and circuitry, but until I find a copy of the PowerPoint between the differences between the nd5xs2 and NDX2 I canāt add much add other than speculation and subjective assessments.
Not sure that is correct.
When the NDX2 is powered from an external PSU, there is additional voltage regulation compared to ND5. (Good)
When the NDX2 is powered from the internal PSU, the power is routed through a length of cables, through a couple of contacts per cable and through more length of cable. Compared to short cables soldered directly to each PCB in the ND5. (Not so good)
I didnāt understood what means Ā« most people are a little bit on the side of general distribution Ā« .
Thatās down to being OCD, not British.
You donāt get people without OCD complaining that Logoās donāt align, just like you donāt get people without OCD complaining that they hear snap, crackle and pop on vinyl. 
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Not averageā¦. Gaussian distribution.
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Yes, Iād always just looked at internal pics and it appears thereās less space around transformer on NDX2 so therefore had assumed bigger.
Oops!
Indeed the NDX2 IEC inlet is squished further to the left (looking from rear).
Despite the 50VA vs 60VA max draw, Iād imagine with screen off during playback that thereās no disadvantage to it being there in transport mode.
Right. Thatās why I made a point of stating it as I think most overlook things like that. Who knows? The NDX2 could still have a slightly bigger transformer, but I canāt tell a difference when using both as a transport. Thatās not from a 30 minute dealer demo either. Iāve used them both pitted against each other in my home. If I needed just a streamer/transport I surely wouldnāt buy the NDX2.
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No NDX2 as transport does not make any sense. But we stilll have it 
We set out to buy the ND5XS2 having already got the nDAC.
But the remote and screen won the day.
Also we had thoughts of giving ourselves options like ditching nDAC but after extended listening comparisons (over months) preferred NDX2/nDAC/555DR to NDX2/555DR.
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What was the entire system where you could compare side by side the two streamers as transport ?
Well remember the ndx2 reconfigures itself to provide optimum digital streamer output as opposed to analogue outputā¦ in my experience thank goodness it makes perfect sense. Its not really a ātransportā ā¦ that part is the internal streaming board, its a digital streamer.
There seems to be a view by some that a digital output is less demanding than an analogue out put.
Far from it, they both are reliant on the transport module, low impedance powersupplies, highly precise clock, and the DSP to create the SPDIF signal into a precision SPDIF source.
Sure flick the setting over, and this gets disabled and the DSP switches to over sample mode and digital filter mode for the DAC chips.
So yes there is more active circuitry with analogue output, but digital output uses many of the key parts that makes Naim streamers great.
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nDAC/282/Hicap DR/250 DR
I compared nDAC/ND5XS2 vs the bare NDX2 as well. I sold the NDX2 after.
I currently have an ND5XS2 playing into a 332/250 trying to decide if Iām going to ditch the 222. Iām very familiar with both sources. I originally had an ND5XS2/SN3 and NDX2/SN3 before climbing the ladder.
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Yes, I remembered above from white paper that SPDIF output is post DSP.
And we do hear this - thereās an improvement somewhere. We far prefer our Sky Q (Toslink) into NDX2 than direct to nDAC. More detailed.
I use an NP5 into an Ndac via a Van Den Hul Optocoupler and Iām very pleased with it, but I know it can be improved with a linear power supply. I guess if I wanted to make a significant improvement, Iād need to spend 2K on a better transport.
With regards to your two options, I think they are probably on a par.
With the NDX2 you are guaranteed a certain level of performance, Naim have ensured that will happen.
With the nDac the performance could either be higher or lower than the NDX2, depending on your choice of transport, transport power supply, cable between transport and dac. Although this give the advantage of being able to tweak the sound.
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Agh yes, I think in this case the ndx2 is likely acting primarily as a precision clocked signal regeneratorā¦ the NDAC I found was fussy on clocked sources to sound its best.
Something is getting cleaned up. The sound is noticeably better in our preferred configuration.
Small details more audible, better placement within soundstage.
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Or 4.56% ā¦ I suspect give or take itās the same in France as in the UKā¦ I donāt know what percentage of the population has OCDā¦
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