ND555 Impressions

Chris, out of interest, as you may know the media bursts across the cable at the start of the track with the ND555 (and the other new streamers, unlike the legacy streamers) and then plays from the ND555 memory and nothing in terms of audio then passes across the cable… so when a track is playing on the ND555 and you disconnect the cable (or have someone disconnect the cable) do you hear a sonic shift from the music playing, or does it sound even better when the Ethernet cable is disconnected? Just curious…
I don’t, but I hear no difference with cables with the new streamers when connected to a low noise network device.

Hi Simon… I’ll have to try that.

I have a friend with a nearly identical system… he uses the Chord Music BNC from his UnitiCore. This direct connection sounds a bit more precise, sorted out. The Ethernet has a more relaxed, easy sound.

i am surprised to read that uniticore bnc to nd555 sounds more precise vs the ethernet way. In the bnc connection, the streamer / player is the uniticore. The nd555 is used only as a dac.
So the streaming performance of the uniticore can easily compete with the nd555 streaming side?

On the two PS front, I’d agree with what Jason said, but add that there is a big difference in timbral detail, clarity and especially microdynamics, which in my option definitively lifts the ND555 above the CD555 in absolutely every respect.

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Then there’s the cost
The naim with 2 owner supplied is 27000 gbp

The chord Dave is 8500 gbp and the blu2 upscaler is 8000 gbp which is 16500 gbp

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Analog
I don’t think the Mscaler is anywhere near the price of the Dave?

The Hugo mscaler is 3500 gbp
I suppose one needs to add the cost of a streamer too but lots of choice here.

But at these elevated price levels it’s more about taste…

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I think I would also go for DR on the 500 before adding a second 555. However, since I added the second 555 in CD555 days (pre DR), I cannot now begin to be objective about this, but I’m pretty sure that the ultimate 500 DR, and 2*555DR has been worth it in sound quality terms every step of the way. In Bob Dylan speak ‘It’s all good’. Whether it’s value for money is another matter. I have been fortunate enough to be able to conclude that it is. A Statement is out of reach, alas…

Hey DB. I hope you enjoy your system and that it is fully run in. After 7 months it should be, not?
I have a question because my next upgrade will be very probably the nd555.
However, the upgrade could be also something like a melco n1z2 and upgrade of cables, for the same amount of money.
Have you tried to compare the sound of your nd555 streaming from your melco vs nd555 streaming from a common nas.
I know the first is better, but how much better? like from nds to nd555 or cd555 to nd555? or the difference is even bigger?

The ND555 and associated cables have indeed run-in very well now - a silky-smooth presentation with raw dynamics when there in the music.

I have in addition to the Melco N1ZH/2 a WD NAS Drive sitting on my house LAN that contains a copy of my ripped-music on the Melco, so I can stream from either.

Wen playing exactly the same rip from the WD NAS compared to Melco it is a warmer, fuller and duller version with less detail and life to it. The ND555 plays it fine and it is enjoyable but not the best it can be.

I also recently compared my Melco version against the new two-box one and even though I heard it was cleaner and had more openness it also lost-out in bass textures and general bottom-end underpinning of the sound, so happy with my version for now.

I auditioned all these items together as a system as they do interact and I’m sensitive to the overall presentation being balanced. I like the Melco presentation with the Twonky Server option running on it - I found the Minim a bit grainy and blunt in my system - but in another it may be different.

I’ve also heard people I respect absolutely hate the Melco and Twonky for all sorts of sonic crimes - but we seem to listen to different things perhaps, or our systems have different balances. In an Active system you don’t want anything sounding held-back as it can sound very bland; conversely somthing that is richly-textured in presentation can really shine whereas the same item in a passive system may sound over-full or heavy.

…I’m saying you can’t always generalise and what I say is in context of my preferences and system.
I like my music to be capable of unrestrained ‘force of nature’ visceral connection - whilst not shouting at you and that can be hard to get done right - but it can be done.

My advice is probably the ND555 first and HiFi server box later, as there may be more development to come in the latter and probably none for a long while in the former - so get it and run it in.

DB.

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thanks DB, your response makes sense.

Recently i connected my Hard Disk directly to the ND555 using the server (not usb) which in my point sounds better than the connection previously to a Raspberrypi 3 including cisco switch and 3 c-chords ethernet cables, that already sound better than a regular pc I think its great that Naim did it as an option, maybe its a kind or even an accurate solution for those not using unity core as a server,I recommend you to try.

Greetings to all from the NDS retirement home! All is well here except my NDS display has faded to almost black (and despite having always been set for a 30 second auto shut off). As the display is rarely used, I am in no rush to replace it.

But this has jogged my memory about the ND555 display. Is there now a similar way to auto shut off after 30 seconds? If not, does anyone know if Naim plans to deliver?

I listen in the dark and sit pretty close to my rack, so I would find an always on display very annoying. Thanks!

You can have on permanent display off with the nd555. You just get 5 seconds or so of the album cover and track…then nothing.

Good stuff. Thanks Gazza!

Ah, but the home screen stays on for ages once an album has stopped playing. This can be cleared if the unit is put into the standby mode. I have started doing this recently and, interestingly, I have t had a screen image freeze since. I don’t know if this is just coincidence, but it might explain why some users have not experienced the problem (previously I had always left the unit fully powered up and experienced screen freeze about once per fortnight).

My NDS display died… shortly after the warranty expired. It was not a terribly expensive repair.

Hi Chris -

Seems to be a pretty common occurrence! Unfortunate that Naim did not source a display that could last longer.

Am more concerned about inconvenience than cost, and so hoping to delay repair until I decide what to do next. My NDS is also out of warranty, so no financial advantage to rushing to repair. I don’t want to have to do this twice, but I do want my NDS to be 100% fit when it is time for either trade-in or sale.

At this point, not sure if I’ll stay with the NDS long-term, move up to the ND555, or switch to some 3rd-party solution. Other than the display fading, my NDS has been 100% reliable and still sounds really good to these aging ears. So the procrastination (i.e., life in the “retirement home”) continues.

Hope all is well with you!

Hook

Anybody any idea what problem I might have. I have with certain high res albums issues with playing, with short stops and then continuation. Can it be that I have capacity issues on my Melco - over 93% and perhaps no capacity in the processing or is my ND555 having a failure now. Just after the pause I see a star on the left below screen coming up, see attached picture… would appreciate some tips to not be off in a complete wrong direction…

Another album same issue