You may be right. I was not putting on front the Ndx2 vs Nd5xs2 however. Just curious, and asked a question to @nicnaim , relative to his 47 post here.
1 Like
In no way aimed at you - just a a general observation. Where music becomes a passion, it too, becomes all too easy to justify the additional spend and before long one finds oneself down the rabbit hole… you know how it goes, diminishing returns and all.
In my country, the ND5 XS2 retails for just under half the cost of the NDX2 which, in turn, retails for a third of a ND555 (albeit a demo model). Now having heard all three, I’ve come away thinking it’s different strokes for different folks, horses for courses if you will and all that that implies.
In no way, however, have I ever felt the entry level streamer to be anything other than a solid piece of kit and standalone at that. Paired with the NDAC powered by suitable PSU (in the right room, with the right system) I could live with it and be amazed daily.
4 Likes
I did. I also found the NDX2 a bit better than the ND5XS2 into the Chord TT.
That doesn’t change that the ND5XS2 is fantastic transport and one of the best values around in hifi.
My guess is it’s the better casing and bigger transformer.
Similar to why a Klimax Radikal is better than the Akurate Radikal even though it’s the same stuff in a different box.
2 Likes
Ha ha! Absolutely right @ChrisSU. I’m going to have to bite the DC1 bullet aren’t I 
I keep re-reading this sentence and its relationship to the previous para that begins ‘the second generation streamers are similarly an evolution […]’. When you say that ‘one might speculate this combination is technically superior to the ND5X2/nDAC’, which combination are you referring to? NDS with its outboard power supply? I’m probably being thick here, but I am genuinely interested in what you’re saying 
Nds/555 dr is generally rated above an Ndx2/ 555 dr. I Presume Ndx2 into NDS/555 dr is better than NDS /555 dr alone. But nobody tried.
1 Like
Some very interesting comments, so thanks all for your contributions. I have now got the ND5 XS 2 running into the digital input on my NDS, using a DC1. When I first got the NDS I was using my XPS2 DR power supply with the link plug inserted on the NDS and when I could I upgraded to a third party 555 PS and it was a huge uplift in performance.
However, my thinking and I believe this parallels the Naim design philosophy that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts so the NDS was designed to optimise the transport mechanism and the DAC aspect to take advantage of the 555 power supply.
So I plugged in the ND5 XS 2 with a bit of trepidation into the NDS and configured the digital input in the Naim app and went back to Roon. Result! My initial thought Oh Yeah - there it is! The best so far, by a reasonable margin, my wife also commented that the music was so much easier to listen to and was more engaging. Great, so I went back to my initial setup and re-attached the ND5 XS 2 to the NDac with XPS 2 DR, nice but not quite there. I have often found that when auditioning Naim upgrades, especially power supplies is that the step up might not be immediately noticeable but going back a step does emphasise the difference.
Back to the NDS, looks like the ND5 XS 2 is going to stay for a while, I really like what its doing. So this was a bit of fun and I’m getting the best of both worlds, updated transport and an excellent DAC. But not to take anything away from the NDac/XPS 2 DR combination it’s really good. I’m sure a proper Naim 555 DR PS will take it up a notch but that is way out of my league for the time being, but I’m always looking out for one “at the right price”, maybe I’ll get lucky.
Finally, the ND5 XS 2 has quite a good DAC in it, not in the NDS, NDac/XPS league but still good. So if you are like me and are on a limited budget and used NDS might be a good idea with a used XPS 2 DR, but I’m pretty convinced a Naim 555 DR PS is optimum and has a hell of a lot more synergy than the third party equivalents.
Music used for the main comparisons:
Roadhouses & Automobiles - Chris Jones, Tidal FLAC 44/16
Some Other Time - John Nazarenko Trio, Tidal FLAC 44/16
SHADO - Barry Gray, Tidal FLAC 44/16
Running On Empty - Jackson Browne, Local FLAC 192/24
Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd, Local DSF DSD64
Sings The Blues - Carmen Gomes, Local DSF DSD128
Turbulent Indigo - Joni Mitchel, Local FLAC 44/16
1812 Festival Overture (Mercury Living Presence) - Tchaikovsky, Local FLAC 44/16
Symphony No. 3 - Henryk Gorecki, Local FLAC 44/16
Plus a load of others, so many hours on the clock but a good bit of fun with a used item at £1750.
Cheers
Tim
12 Likes
Very interesting Timbo. Have you tried ND5XS2 direct into the 252 ?
Yes I have and although not as good, it is still very musical and beats all of my other non Naim streamers.
Tim
2 Likes
I think @Timbo’s report is probably worth more than any comments I can make now that he has actually listened to the combinations in question. My view was more speculative based on the tech in these various boxes, and how it has evolved over the years.
My experience of the NDAC was with a 1st gen NDX in front, and with a non-DR 555PS, which I preferred to the DR version in this setup. I’ve only listened to the NDS with a 555DR. Despite any hypothetical pros and cons, I think the NDAC has a different character to the NDS and I couldn’t honestly say that one was better than the other overall. I just thought that the newer tech in the ND5XS2 might give the NDS the edge.
Right. Gotcha. I understand now. You could well be right. Just been reading back through this thread, and I’m not surprised that my wife thinks that I’m bonkers🤪.
Thanks @ChrisSU
2 Likes
Same here … nd5xs2 - dc1 - nDAC - XPs (olive).
Love it!
3 Likes
Great combo indeed
Just to finish things off, the ND5XS 2 is now in it’s intended place in system 2. So it’s feeding a 15 year old SuperNait 1 (which has yet to be serviced and I hope it will be done soon) with a recently serviced HiCap DR into ATC SCM 19’s and ut really does sound very good. A more full bodied sound than the other streamers I was using, but of course they were less than half the price. My NDS is sounding nice and I think I just about prefer it to having the ND5 XS 2 attached to the digital in.
It got me thinking about the possible upgrade routes, I am lucky to have a NDac and XPS2 DR to be able to utilise and also the NDS. I suppose if you can pick up a used ND5 XS 2 like I did the logical upgrade route is the NDac (used) and an XPS, but then you are in NDX2 territory and then add an XPS 2 DR to it if you can. I’m certain a proper 555 DR will be way out of my budget for quite a while, but maybe as the new products filter in then perhaps a few more may become available.
Cheers
Tim
3 Likes
a nait 1 into scm19’s?? i suppose that solves any low level balance issues as gues its on pretty high!
I also agreed that paring NDS with a more recent streamer like ND5XS2 or NDX2 is a worth while investment if you are like me that the ND555 is a bit too out of reach.
I currently have the NDX2/NDS/555PSDR combo and I am very happy with the result, particularly on the TIDAL/Qobuz/Spotify streaming side. Although it still feels overkill using the NDX2 just for the tiny streaming board and disable the rest DAC part where it excel over the last version. This means pairing it with the ND5XS2 making more sense.
my initial plan was to ditch the NDS and use the NDX2/555PSDR. Although the SQ in NDX2 has improved a lot over the old NDX when I first auditioned, but still, they are just still not on the same level as the NDS despite it is an old product.
Also a fun fact to note that I compared the NDS/555PSDR with nDAC/555PSDR using a CD5XS. Although both DAC are pretty much on the same playing field to my ears, the NDS sound more Naim or musical or cohesive than nDAC. My personal assumption is the nDAC was designed to be paired with different sources in mind, including non Naim sources, so it may need to have a more neutral character, and to my ears is a little bit sterile if I have to compare it vs NDS. Bottom line is both DAC are great in SQ, they are just different with their own sound characters. If you don’t have a NDS for a critical A/B test, you will certainly enjoy nDAC if pair with a more recent source like ND5XS2/NDX2 especially mDAC is much cheaper than an NDS.
Also want to share that although I did start with using an XPS with both NDS and nDAC before, the change to 555PSDR, even though is a huge investment even on 2nd hand, it worths every single penny. I believe that is what/ how these DACs were designed and tuned to be pair with in the first place, Naim just offer other alternatives for people like me who need to “work my way up” slowly to finally afford one to see what these DAC can really do if a higher quality power supply is used.
Always happy to see someone still hanging on to their NDS , which in my opinion is a great and reasonably priced flagship streamer back in the days vs the price point of the new current flagship ND555.
9 Likes
Thanks for sharing. Makes me want to find a 555PSdr that I can’t afford! Luckily there are not too many in my neck of the woods.
3 Likes
Sorry for hijacking the show I would like to Connect my Naim CD player and Naim ND5xs2 streamer din to rca is That the way you would do it and is it better Quality sorry forgot to say to my Rega amp
It’s generally best to use the DIN output on Naim gear where possible. You will need to source a DIN to RCA cable if your amp has RCAs.
If you already have an RCA to RCA cable it will still work fine on the ND5XS2 which offers both types.
2 Likes
Thanks for the reply so there would be no difference in quality if I used din to rca so rca to rca would be the same quality thanks