ND555 at Olive System

Yes, a later model is for sale…
If there only is some rack space left… ;o)

Skipped the cd idea… now thinking again about 2nd PS for ND555.
But on the other hand there is still no rack space left and (!) the system is sooo good and reached a sweet spot.
Tweaking source further might bring 53/135 SBL to bottleneck…

I only know when I try… :wink:

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Related to rack space. I wonder who on the forum has most naim boxes in their system? :slightly_smiling_face:

:rofl:
System or systems?
I think I am in the upper mids …
Main system = 10 naim boxes.

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I am still ripping.

Still a bit confused, that a cd ripped via melco d100 with dbpoweramp on my Mac and copied to hdx is a bit better (warmer and fuller sound) than a native hdx rip.

Is the melco d100 so good?

Read somewhere that core rips better the sound via dbpoweramp (think this was meant without melco ripping)

You can use the D100 as a cd player, connected to Nd555. I think @Darkebear had wrote about it once or two.

I think I can not! There is only usb output on d100
And how should I control him? It has no options except opening the tray

Not me! :astonished:
I have the D100 but have just used it for Ripping to Melco server.

Possibly if you use the Melco USB port to a DAC then I recall I think my Dealer said you could play CDs that way - but not when using the Ethernet port to feed ND555.

…I only purchase D100 after testing rips made on the same CD via DBPoweramp, cheap USB CD drive to Melco then finally D100 to Melco.

DBPoweramp rips sounded dull - the cheap USB drive to Melco sounded way-better and (annoyingly since I then had to purchase it) the D100 mediated rips was that bit cleaner with lower perceived noise; all listened too through the Dealer Statement Naim system.

No idea why - but the effect remained on all CDs I tried ripping later - and I had just began ripping my collection and wanted to do it once if possible!

…many animated discussions later on it being impossible but many people here have heard the same effect and agreed the Melco D100 rip was cleaner.

DB. :bear:

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I have a different setup.
I use dbpoweramp but with d100.
And I compare not played from melco - but HDX.

Melco dbpoweramp combo is a bit warmer in my system with more room. But far from dull
HDX rips are a bit more forward sounding

@Mario ?? :grinning::ok_hand:

I never tried that combo.
The Dealer just did dbpoweramp with the commercial CD drive - then we moved that same drive to Melco and ripped the same CD again and compared both rips - that was the biggest difference.

Then we ripped again via Melco but using the D100 - we did not know what to expect as the unit had just arrived still in its box while I was there picking-up my Melco server and had asked ‘does it make any difference how you rip’?

The D100 added another improvement level - for whatever reason.
The Dealer was part pleased and annoyed as although he got a sale he said he had to re-rip many demo CD tracks again as well as upsetting the understanding of what was happening.

If I rated the rips with an arbitrary SQ score then 40 to 80 to 100 is about right normalizing the best replay as the ‘100’ score.

I’ve heard Melco ‘explain’ why, but their explanation made no sense to me as all the rips IMO were bit-perfect but there was the difference in subjective replay SQ. He did mention ‘bit-packing’ briefly of the low-level format used, but he did not seem to think that would be why it was better.
In the end I do not know how only that it does work.

DB.

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I had a melco n10 in the house and too bad it was not my taste.
I remember the difference from a copied hdx rip (to melco) and the new melco rip with d100.
This was an improvement.

I was a bit suprised that dbpoweramp was rated so badly as I use it and it betters (or different in not inferior way) my hdx rip.
Hdx own cd transport is really used - has approx. 2 to 3000 ripping done. Maybe that is also a part of it. Too bad that I can not connect d100 to hdx.

With usb to Spdif cable ?
Maybe @Dunc could confirm

I have the Melco N1Zh-2 unit - quite old now.
I was not convinced by the two-box split-melco when that was the later version. Then Melco recently at a show told me that they decided to go back to all in one box again for their top server, but I’ve not heard that one properly yet.

All these items I find ‘voice’ the system presentation and there were qualities I heard done well in the HDD version Melco I had in terms of retreival of information especially into the low-bass and otherwise overall engauging presentation that I wanted. It also had some vices in a tendency to easy go over-blown in the bass if positioned non-optimal - by experiment I fixed that. Then selcting cables that worked well with it to the ND555 and also finding it liked working from the ER switch, the latter tending toward lean and fast complementing the Melco presentaion nicely.

These system optimizations I have found essential to get the whole thing to really sing - you gan’t just throw money at it or copy what works well in another system.
For example I tried the Pheonix switch many get great results from and it fell-flat in my system with an emphasis on upper-bass and recessed HF openness that even after ten days home-demo I could not improve - back to the ER switch and life returned.

In other systems other results are obtained so I advise try these sort of things in your own system and even more importantly to your own taste in what is right in terms of the presentation you can gell-with and explore the music and forget the system and upgrades. :bear:

DB.

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I wish the D100 was a pile of junk……no need to re-rip the entire collection again, which was done on the Naim Core. But, it does really add to my enjoyment……not cheap, but worth the money imo.

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@Gazza
You re-ripped the cd collection via d100 and copied it to naim core?
Same as here? Also ripping via dbpoweramp on your side or douse core allow an external cd transport?

Ok - I misunderstood… collection was on naim core and you re-ripped all d100 plus n10!

No sorry for the confusion. I ripped on a a Core i initially. Then bought a Melco and transferred those rips. Heard the D100 rips at my dealer, borrowed one and ripped many cd’s…….decided to buy one. I now use a Plixir psu when i use it to rip cd’s.

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Sorry - my fault. I know your system and could have known - classic move from core to n10 :grinning:

Now have the new Melco N1 reference server, must check my profile.

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Yeah - seen your thread. But you moved from core to n10 iirc