The schrill is gone, as BB King was singing 
Yeah, me too.
Made a huge difference to my 272.
And I haven’t even updated the FW.
And I’m on the old streaming platform!
1 Like
Apparently from other experiences, the sound should change after some hours run in. It will settle. So be patient.
Thanks everyone for a little re-assurance that things will get better…I’ve left the system playing very quietly and taken a break from listening for 24 hours now - see if my perception changes when I return to it. 
3 Likes
Another option is to do what in yoga is called an inversion.
Very good for the circulation.
You can then see anew that your speakers are actually pinned to the floor via ‘gravity’:
2 Likes
Mixing up upgrades of functionalities and sound quality upgrades is a bad policy, in my view.
Naim should aim at upgrades that only improve system functionalities (and let the sound quality untouched or almost untouched) and upgrades that aim at improving the sound quality alone.
This would make the purpose of upgrades a bit more accountable and give users the possibility to upgrade only a system’s functionalities without changing its sound quality.
Trying to do many things at the same time is almost never a good idea.
I have discovered this can be resolved simply by editing the list of widgets.
Furthermore, even by the end of last evening the sound was improving noticeably.
1 Like
You’re making the assumption that functions and sound quality are distinct and separate. If the recommendation to keep all inputs active because it sounds better is true, then all bets are off. That to me sounds like it was discovered to work like that, not because it was coded to work that way (Based upon opinion only, I didn’t work in r&d software). Now there is a new input “qobuz” so following the “rule” leave that input active even if you don’t subscribe.
I do belief it improved why I can understand that some people are challenged as it might show some hidden issues in their setup. I will also have a more intense listen to classical piano. But my sound change reference disc sounds better…
3 Likes
Discussion about what the firmware update brought, soundwise, continues on other threads, and raises comparisons such as before/after:
Mellow versus detailed, constrained versus open, less or more soundstage, etc.
A great part of those comparisons fall on the subjective domain and are very system dependant.
What I noticed, and that is crystal clear, I now can hear things I simply couldn’t before.
Such as :
-
Recording environment : ambience, resonances, reverberation, etc. This is so very pleasant. Actually hearing that environment is what makes the recording sound “live” or “real”, especially with chamber music. All that was present in the recording, but I couldn’t hear it…
-
Piano attacks and decays are so much more audible. Attacks, decays and harmonics is what makes your recognize an instrument…
-
We can now hear all those details which make the whole thing more realistic: breathing, the performers moving on the chairs, etc. In some recordings, I can hear the performer moving around the microphone.
In short, it seems clear to me, in the context of my system, that the ND555 is now able to retrieve more information out of the recording.
That lack of information was really a problem… 
It even raised some curiosity for CH Precision amps and DACs
4 Likes
I’ve had all inputs activated except bluetooth since speaking to Jason at a demo he was running, I couldn’t bring myself to activate bluetooth too and never fitted the aerial, nor the other two. I switched bluetooth on for a couple of days and tried with and without open pairing but I’d forgotten there was an aerial. With no aerial I have a slight preference for bluetooth off.
I also noticed I’d forgotten to switch on my NAD 4020A tuner after the last power-down, switching it back on seemed to have a negative effect on my enjoyment of the ND555. I’d already noticed an effect from the tuner on the entire system but only when plugged into the same power strip so I have it plugged into the second socket of the double outlet of my dedicated radial, now even that’s not far enough away. Maybe its time to retire the NAD 39 years after buying it.
1 Like
The question is did they improve it or just fix something they broke before in others. The fact that SQ seems to alter wildly from update to update is very frustrating and in some cases not subtle. Last one did not alter much, but previous ones, have boosted bass so its out of control for me and no positioning helps as I am limited as its living room after all. I can’t use room treatments either as the Mrs just sent me packing with some bass traps I bought to try and control it so I am looking to have to return to DSP or try out new speakers to find some that don’t aggravate my room nodes as much. Annoying as this only became so bad after updates last year.
Prior to the bass boosting some updates made it all horribly brittle which others also moaned about. This one seems to have revealed more detail that’s good and its a little, smoother in the HF and upper mids but I have more bass bloom than before. I cant say its this has changed much from this stance since when I updated it at the beginning of the week.
Reading here reminds me of all the optimisation I’ve been doing to tailor the response of my system with respect to the ND555 over recent months. All my other cable-loom is Naim Super Lumina and I’m personally happy with the direction Naim took there - but Naim do not have similar cables for the ND555 digital feels - because they ‘don’t make any difference’ - but I found they make a lot of difference.
Some cables I could not use, like the Designacable Cat5e that initially I liked but was far too bass-heavy for my system - I got large wallowing out of control Bass, but others did not and got great results. I have large speakers that render deep bass into the room so I have to not have any of this out of control.
So I chose other cables that give a much tighter bass and that works well for me here. Perhaps some experimentation with the rest of the system may help get a good result.
What I hear is that it is not so much that the bass is more with respect to frequency response, but that the LF phase response is more linear and hence previous partial cancellation that removed some low-bass is now removed in this release.
In my system it is rock-solid tight but fulsome bass - not out of control but there is more, as I think bass transients are better represented.
…the above is just my opinion and my reflection on the update - and some updates in general.
I’m wondering if I did not have an Active System with DR Amps would it perhaps be worse for me, as Active and DR do add a lot of bass control - but I don’t know that is a factor at all and most people are using excellent Passive systems and seem to be getting good results.
DB.
1 Like
Your descriptions of the changes really makes me keen to test out the new streaming platform at home.
That means either NDX2 and new preamp, or wait and see whether anything new emerges at Munich.
1 Like
Does that only apply to the ND555?
Hearing the discussions above makes me pleased that I’ve held off upgrading to v3.4 on my NDX2 and ND555 for now. Waiting to hear feedback from my dealer (he knows my listening preferences) on how his dem systems sound with the upgrades.
Not too fussed on Qobuz, and may stay at existing version if feedback poor (especially as reversion to last f/w version not possible).
Usually an early adopter, I’m a little more cautious nowadays!
George.
1 Like
Did Jason (who is Jason, sorry) say it will sound ‘better’ or ‘it doesn’t make any difference, so you might as well leave them all on’.
I dug around this question before and didn’t get a definitive answer,
G
4 Likes
I’m curious about this as well. I did try everything on last night and didn’t notice a difference. (My system, my ears etc).
1 Like
This is almost certainly Jason Gould, Brand Ambassador for Naim Audio. He presents most, if not all, the public demonstrations of Naim equipment. He is a master guru of system set up and getting the best out of the system.
1 Like
1 Like