ND5-XS2 as transport

Streaming Audio
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Hi everyone, I would like some advice to insert in my system (unitiserve + nDac + XPSdr) a ND5-XS2 to use as a transport for online streaming.
Do you think it is a waste of money or is the quality of the nd5xs2 spdif bnc output worth the money? (DC-1 cable of course)
Thanks for the replies

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I think the ND5XS2 makes an excellent transport for Qobuz and Tidal, as well as for local streams. (I use an NDX2 in this way, but really, I think an ND5 is all you need.)
I’ve used a DC1 for this, and it’s a good cable, although at the moment I’m happily using a £30 Mark Grant HDX1.

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Agreed that it serves as an outstanding transport. I use one with a Nordost Silver Shadow BNC-to-BNC. I have had zero desire to investigate another means of streaming. I love its performance and ease-of-use…entirely, IMO, worth the money.

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I use mine as a transport, and I couldn’t be more chuffed. Plus I can use the other bits of it if my DAC goes awol.

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I am sure that the ND5XS2 is a good transport but, if the only purpose is internet streaming, you could also connect an iOS device to the nDAC via the nDAC’s front USB port.

Don’t you alreday have any Chromecast audio or Airplay capable device connected (ideally via optical) to the nDAC? In this case, you could compare an ND5XS2 to your current setup and then decide whether it is worth the money. It is anyway a nice device!

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I’ll just echo what Nick.Lees and ChrisSU have said. It’s fantastic.

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thanks for the answers, I’ll take it home soon…

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ND5-XS2 is a great streamer with a good Dac with plenty inputs and support to so many streaming services and options. The Ndac with its PSU that you have is a perfect match that will bring it to a new level. What amp and speakers do you have? They need to carry the good analog sound all the way to your ears.

There are of course endless other options but your suggested option is a very good one.

I just audit Ndac paired to my ND5XS2 and perhaps add 555PSDR to it.

Naim app is good and easy to use and I believe will evolve further.

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If Qobuz ever becomes available in Canada, I’ll be adding an ND5 XS2 to my NDS/SN2 setup to update the streaming section of the NDS. I’ve read many good things about it.

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An ultra modified Krell hts 7.1 to improve the analog part, a thule eudio PA-350power amplifier with zero feedback and a pair of naim Ovator S-600 that I would never change…

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Hi everyone, an ND5-XS2 has been in my audio system for two weeks. I haven’t added a powerline cable yet.
I did some listening tests and I noticed that Unitiserve sounds slightly better than ND5-XS2 when reading hi-res files from nas Synology, nothing serious but this difference is perceptible.
Also I noticed that the same 16/44.1 file read by Unitiserve from the internal disk at a higher quality than the ND5-XS2 tidal online streaming … Do you think it is possible to have the same quality? Can they negatively affect network devices? (switch, router, etc.) I would exclude bandwidth problems, I have over 80 Mb / sec in download.
Thanks for the feedback

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