Thanks Nigel
Ordered one factory refurbished from NewEgg in US. $75 US. Thanks for the info. I will get it in about 7 days.
Bailyhill
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I’m not sure exactly what you mean by enabling all inputs on the ND
From the Naim app? There are many of them.
Can you be more specific
Thanks
I got a refurbed one for a bit less. It emphasised some frequencies and attenuated others. I suppose you could call this an “improvement”. It just sounded like a distortion to me. The increase in detail I often heard about was, in the case of my sample, nothing more than changing the EQ to boost the treble.
For the kind of money being asked for these switches (not the $1K one!), it’s not a high risk purchase. And it can be sold on.
Hi jsaudio,
When the ND555 is delivered all inputs are enabled by default.
When I received mine I disabled those inputs that I would not be using through the Naim app (settings) as this was the suggested approach for the NDS to get the best sound quality and was what I had done with my NDS.
Doing this on the ND555 seemed to negatively impact the SQ and after conversing with my dealer it was confirmed with Naim that enabling all the inputs actually gave the best sound quality. I then re-enabled all the inputs through the Naim app and indeed the sound quality was much improved.
Hope that helps.
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Even the bluetooth? I don’t think RF (I assume Bluetooth will poll peridically if activated) being transmitted 2 Fraim levels below my 552 and directly below my superline is going to improve anything. I did re-enable the 2 unused digital inputs and it seemed to smooth the sound a bit, I’m still undecided as to whether it is an improvement as yet. I haven’t enabled blurtooth.
Ive just tried enabling all inputs and it did sound different but not better to my ears. Slightly cleaner and more airy but not quite as substantial and sounding more artificial than before. So I’ve disabled all unused inputs again and the sound was back to what I prefer.
p.s. The only inputs I use are Server, Spotify and iRadio.
Mike from Naim told me to turn off all inputs not used to ease the stress on the power rails, not sure it made a huge difference. But it does seem logical.
The Hifi critic review is now available on the Naim connection site.
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Well done James you are more pc literate than I am.
thanks a lot James!
Gazza found it so deserves the credit - I just copied the link into the post
Thanks to you both. Very interesting read.
Interesting review - I concur with the general listening test result descriptions too.
As to the view at the end of the review that it is better than the 552 performance is capable of revealing - well, whilst not able to comment on the exact truth of that, I’d certainly agree it seems to do wonders with the S1 Pre in my ‘half-Statement’ Active system. Naim now have a digital source to show-off all their range to the maximum I think.
Anyone who has the funds and wanting to invest in a digital source that will be long term in their system has got to be considering this.
DB.
very interesting review. There’s no doubt that the nd555 is better vs the nds, but perhaps more in a context of a minimum of 552 preamp.
The second aspect is , for Martin Colloms, the little bit better timing of the nds. If it’s really true…
Finally, for Everardt, some tweaking can still improve the performance of the nd555, like a high quality switch. The nd555 seems responsive still to some tweaking, like switch and certainly, but not aproved by all, by good quality lan cables.
I think this is along the same discussion as those that say that NACA5 speaker cable times better than SL speaker cable. I think in the context of their test they are reporting what they hear.
But I have found that the SL cable allows alot more information and deep-bass through that can upset anything not set-up to handle it and possibly this is also the case with the ND555.
Sometimes ‘less is more’ in the context of not wanting any muddle of low-level signal and low bass - then remove it and everything sound cleaner with better timing. The same can happen with large loudspeakers which need to have more care in installation not to sound slow and ponderous.
But if you handle all the info right with careful system installation ‘more is more’ applies and I’ve found this gives the greatest rewards - pay attention to installation and don’t expect top performance with little effort to get it properly placed on a good support with right cables and suitable system components.
The ND555 IMO probably sits between Statement and Reference levels and is marketed as Reference level, so Naim are not cheating anyone by the designated performance goal. It is expensive but you know what you are getting.
DB.
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have you try to compare « all imputs disabled » vs not disabled, for sound?
No - I took delivery of it as it was sent and boxed by Naim and decided to let it run-in before delving into this.
One thing I did try today to good effect was removing the Minim Server from the Melco as I prefer the Twonky which also runs on the same machine - and that removal has given me an easier more clear presentation so well worthwhile.
Not saying anything down about Minim as I know it is very popular, but with both Minim and Twonky to try on the Melco I preferred in terms of detail and clarity the Twonky, so the Minim has departed - for now at least.
DB.
So i imagine you will try later. ( using the app settings).
How is your cinnamon now, had it improved ? will you try other cables ?
I’m enjoying what the Cinnamon Ethernet brings - it is nice to relax and just play different stuff on a whim that moves you and see where it goes - this is how I usually finalise on an upgrade purchase.
So the Cinnamon looks like it is going to stay, even though I’ve realized I’m using it the ‘wrong way around’ so I will try that later too. This is a 1.5m length and my Dealer loaned me a 3m to also try which I’ll try to get around to later to hear what different Ethernet length does.
There are obviously more expensive ones to try - I had a poor first experience with one that may have interacted with the initial run-in brightness of the ND555 to reject it.
I like the balance the Cinnamon has in that nothing seems brought-forward or suppressed so far and everything is presented in an easy way.
A lot of this is system balance and I don’t personally believe there is a ‘best’ that will work for all systems - even from the same cable manufacturer. Always audition and prove it satisfies the test - am I listening to more music - does my usual choices sound good - am I choosing a wider range of music? All of this confirms the right choice or not IMO.
DB.