the new streaming board, and regulators should make the ND555 a different proposition musically and sonically to the NDS?
It is night and day. It is a complete game changer. If that’s not coming across in a particular system, there’s something wrong.
i see you have the lp12/ ekos/ lyra still as second source. How can you compare both?
Thanks for reminding me! Haven’t been tempted to play vinyl for years. I’m pretty sure that ND555 is better, but life’s too short to go there. Maybe after my upcoming holiday I’ll ‘dust off’ a bit of vinyl, but between turntable servicing, setup etc, plus the cost of styli, not to mention the inconvenience compared to Roon and the cost and availability of source material,I think the game has definitely moved on!
i am wondering on my next upgrade: nd555 or vertere mg1 turntable. My rega rp8/ lyra delos/ ear 912 phono is a bit better sounding overall vs my nds/ 555dr/ unitserve/ linear ps/ cisco/ audioquest diamond ethernet. So i imagine that a vertere rig will sound probably better than the nd555.
The unique problem is the availability of the lps. Most modern music is not produced on vinyl format.
But for serious listening, i feel that i would prefer a turntable. I am not decided yet.
Nd555/ 2 555dr/ melco n10 should compete vs a 15 k vinyl rig. But it’s not on my budget.
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i am wondering on my next upgrade: nd555 or vertere mg1 turntable
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I have recently bought an ND555 (single 555PSDR). My turntable is a Roksan TMS1/Artemiz/Shiraz/Artaxerxes, rebuilt by Touraj 10 years ago to close to Mark 3 spec. For my taste in musical presentation, The 555 is a more musical source than my much loved TMS, which no other digital source has ever been for me. I’m taking the TMS down to Touraj in a few weeks to have the SG1 motor controller added, to give me 2 similar sources. I suppose what I’m saying is that having one of Touraj’s top decks of the previous generation, I was amazed how good the ND555 is, I’d not be sure that the MG1 would out-perform it, but if you can’t compare them in your system it’s a hard call.
Just to be sure I make sense, I’m sure you already know, but in case, Touraj is the founder and CEO of Vertere, before that he founded Roksan, where his top deck was the TMS (Touraj Moghaddem Signature) I mention above.
what is your phono? it may change the game.
My vinyl setup is a very little bit better than the nds, on modern lps too. The vertere mg1 must be normally much better vs the rp8. I know that the nd555 is better than nds, but i doubt it will close the gap between the nds and vertere ( with my phono pre and lyra cart).
I am curious to know what will be your finding with your sg1 motor.
I want to add that better for me is not necessary more dynamic or with better bass…The nds is a bit more dynamic and with heavier bass. The rp8 sounds just a bit more real to my ears, unforced and natural.
The phono is the original Mk 1 Roksan Artaxerxes, now built into the back of the TMS (originally into my early Xerxes). Touraj didn’t suggest a replacement by the Vertere phono amp.
What the ND555 does is just get me even more drawn into the music, I think when trying to explain is that it makes everything more real, every instrument and voice is better shown, the TMS has been paired with a Micromega Trio CD, HDX, NDX (and later with 555PSDR), and been much more natural than all (for me). I’m amazed by how much more detail and “reality” the ND555 gives me. It’ll be a month or so before I get time todrop the TMS down to Vertere and get it back, I’ll tell you when I have it back.
I would say that for “serious listening” - despite not being quite sure how to define it - the ND555/555DR is ahead of my RP8/Apheta2/Aria. More apples vs. oranges than one being “better” than the other, but the ND555 is “amazing.”
We really enjoy the RP8. Wonderful music from it. There are no words to “hedge” my enjoyment of the ND555.
Stefan, very pleased to hear you are getting to the bottom of this, as it must have been very frustrating for you.
As GavinB suggested, it would be great if your dealer and distributor might investigate if there is anything obviously wrong with your original ND555, as this could serve as a learning point, should others have similar issues.
i understand your point of view Bart. However the aria is an entry level phono. It must be taken into consideration.
the antaxeres costed new around 500 GBP in 2008, from what i found. It’s also an entry level phono.
The phono stage / cart combo is like a dac . The streamer the transport, the turntable/ arm the transport.
Some here reported that the top lp12 with superline/ supercap is still ahead over the nd555.
Anyway i have no definitive thoughts on what is really better. Just in my case, with a 4k phono , 1k cart and 2k turntable, i have a little more real sound than my nds/ 555dr. Not night and day.
FWIW, I quite liked the NDS but felt it came nowhere near my CD55, even with nicely mastered hi-res files although some were much closer - superior in some respects, inferior in others. The ND555 is in another league, especially with two PS. Getting rid of CD jewel cases etc. is the icing on the cake. Messing around with switches and even more cables is the only downside, especially since many dealers are still making their way through this and cannot demo or advise on all the alternatives.
I have Superline/Supercap phono fed from an Artemis SA-1 TT with Schroeder Reference arm and a Transfiguration Proteus. I got tempted by the deck while I was waiting for the NDS replacement, which turned out to be the ND555. The front ends cost about the same as I don’t have a second ps and didn’t like what I heard at a Naim run demo when one was introduced. Once I’d learnt a bit about setting up the arm, which took a while as the tension on just about every screw on it has an audible effect, on top of the the magnet gap and the usual tone arm adjustments, the TT walks all over the ND, I recently compared the singlepoint miked Berlin Philharmonic’s Beethoven on vinyl vs the hi res download of the same recording. Take away a recent memory of the vinyl however and the ND555 still satisfies, something the NDS failed to do. I have a simple Cisco 110 switch by the way.
i tend to feel like you. Perhaps with two 555dr and top melco or innuos, a turntable like yourself would be matched or surpassed. However the digital quatuor costs around 40k, vs something like 15 k for a turntable/ arm/ cart/ phono.
The other aspect: with a turntable, i put an lp and enjoy and relax. With a streamer i tend to zap between tracks.
If I ever get digital sounding better than vinyl I upgrade the vinyl in response. I bought a superline and an Aro when a CD5x made my Elite rock/Rb300/DV17D2 into Michell Iso sound dull, this was the start of a lot of expense.
Stonking pre-amp and phono stage. I know someone who swapped his 552 for one, but he does use 509 power amps.
absolutely Mr Underhill. This preamp is perhaps better suited for lps, because of its wonderful phono.
I must choose between vertere sg1 and nd555. i would say 60 % for the vertere.
Where is your horse Mr gentleman?
I went back to my earlier avatar as I couldn’t readily find the edited photo from Kyrgyzstan; enjoyable holiday but avoid the national drink, fermented mare’s milk, a thimble full is a lifetime’s supply!
I have decided to persuade myself that the 868 is sufficient to my needs, but that 912 does keep speaking to me …I must resist.
do you have an idea of the number of years needed to servicing. I run it since 9 years, around 2 hours per day. my tubes were recently changed. ? i don’t observe problems with the sound, as decreased dynamics.