Glad to hear. Have an ND5 on home loan. I heard the NDX2 and the ND5 at length in a decent demo room. Preffered the ND5. NDX2 was meatier and more analog sounding for sure. I Preffered what I perceived to be more detail from the ND52XS and they were both through Kudos Titans standmounts, so decent speakers and Rega Aethos amp. Yep deffo preferred the smaller bro…
‘Trust your ears’ might be a bit of a cliche here, but…
When the Hugo first appeared, people started selling their £10k NDAC/555s and buying this thing that cost only a tenth of the price, and sounded better. Just to see what the fuss was all about, I bought a second hand Hugo for £500. It did sound a bit better than the DAC in my NDX, so I kept it, but to my ears it wasn’t a game changer.
There has been some speculation here as to why people’s opinions vary so much, including the possibility that some Hugos (and other Chord DACs) sound better than others. Either way, perhaps you should count yourself lucky, to have saved yourself the expense of another HiFi box.
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I auditioned the NDX2 vs ND5 XS2. I thought the difference in SQ more than justified the price difference. However the addition of an XPS DR made such a huge difference in SQ that I happily increased the expenditure to far in excess of what I originally intended.
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indeed I did trust my own ears, I too was wondering what the Hugo hype was all about.
Until I heard it (I bought it without audition)
instantly within a few seconds I heard what all the fuss was all about, compared the Naim DAC V1 that I previously owned.
I proceeded to sell my DAC V1, and bought 2 more Chord Dacs (Mojo and Dave) and never looked back.
After audition of several hi-end sources from the big 3 companies (Naim, Linn and DCS), my preference and money is still with Chord. The other 3 are still very good, no doubt.
The Chord Mojo makes my dream of listening to hi-end audio in my car a reality, without having the means of buying a Bentley with Naim hi-fi.
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No. I also did the exact same thing and couldn’t tell any difference either. Played with the qutest filters and there were some ever so minor differences… but nothing better, or worse.
Was an easy decision for me to send back the qutest. However, I will caveat that I was doing this thorough an SN2. And now I have a 282, so maybe a better pre amp could make for a different result for me. But tbh, I’m so happy about the increase in SQ with the 282 that I have no interest in repeating the exercise.
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A week in and I am loving my NDX 2! It seems to have opened up a bit more. It is sounding amazing. The sound has more heft while being smoother than the ND5 XS2. It feels like the NDX 2 has more horsepower.
I can’t wait to see how it will sound in the coming weeks.
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Both devices sound better into their second month of ownership. Whether it is just your ears getting used to a new sound or some genuine burning in of components, who knows. And this will continue for a few more months too.
I have left my ND5XS2 driving qutest since both were bought. They are pairing nicely. But, also show up some recordings that previously I thought were ok.
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Agreed. It took my former ND5 XS 2 nearly 3 months to fully open up.
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I have mine coming tomorrow so am looking forward to what you have described above over the ND5 XS 2. 
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Hi DanielH,
Just a quick question(s) if i may:
Did you have an existing native Tidal account? and was it easy to just naturally carry it on via your NDX 2? I have deleted the Naim app but i will reinstall it again when i register my NDX 2.
Same here
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Yes, it was very easy. I did not delete the Naim app. The app found my NDX 2, and I didn’t even have to log into Tidal again. It just worked!
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I’m not sure why you would want to delete the Naim app. It will delete any associated data including your Tidal login details, so you will need to log back into Tidal when you get the NDX2. Remember that the Naim app can control multiple streamers, so even if you still have the ND5 running, it won’t stop you setting up the NDX2.
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Oh ok, i’ll just download it again. Thanks.
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Ok no problem, thanks Chris.
It’s out for delivery as i type. Hopefully this morning as i’m starting to get all goose bumpily thinking about it. I keep curtain twitching. Not a healthy thing to do i know but… 
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I expect lots of expression for tapping sounds of delight by the time the sun has set - enjoy!
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Thank you Mike_S.
I’m sure i will let you’ll know my impressions once i’m up and running! I’ve been nearly four days with no music! 
I found switching ‘Auto Standby Time’ in the app to ‘never’ has the NDX2 sounding at its best. All unused inputs/outputs disabled.
Enjoy.
G
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