Nail on the head, dac chip, old. Its limited to what it can do and these days its old tec, naim was a bit lazy really as i guess it was easy and cheap to just give the nds a look over and call it a 500 series than redesign from the ground up, like whats got to happen now i guess, but then so it should. Having different maps, different filters and upsampling that the dac can do is great and offers different sounds for different music etc, its such a great tool to have on digital.
I first heard the nd555 against the nds, both streaming tidal and thought is that it.
Investing Ā£25k in a nd555 these days in my eyes is silly and can only go one way, in a great big smacking loss in your pocket.
I wanted and got a better product in every way for not much more money, plus since getting it, it has had many free updates to both its software and dac, resulting in better sound quality and the ability to run new streaming products.
Plus its just releast a new version and instead of dropping the old out going model like naim does, it offers the upgrade to the older model to bring it up to the new model, so costing much less to the owner, i call that looking after its customers
You certainly know more about DACs design than I doā¦ especially the analogue partā¦
When I read and compared the white pages of respectively the NDS and the ND555, I noticed significant differences which seem to me to be more than a simple refresh.
Apart from the DAC chip and the DSP, the digital part also appears to be more than a simple refresh.
Well, I sent a message to TotalDac to confirm the D1 Direct would be compatible with the 552, due to its low output voltage. I suspected there wouldnāt be a problem with gain, given where the volume pot sits in its range. I had a reply in less than 1 hour, confirming that to be the case.
Given I already purchased an Innuos Statement, I am seriously considering this DAC and cancelling the ND555.
But the ND555, especially with 2x555PS, wouldnāt have been bad either.
As you already have a server/streamer you have the choice of the DAC, which is nice.
Chord Dave with the Upscaler would also have been an interesting option.
The only criticism I would have for the ND555 is the streamer part. The fact that it is very integrated with the rest.
I wonder to what extent it is possible to make it evolve. Like adding online services, or something like a Roon EndPoint clone (I can imagine Audirvana evolving its architect to something with its own communication protocol).
But I think this kind of information is only known to Naim.
For sure but I didnāt order the second PS and I think is now way over priced for the 500 series finish. I would want it but wouldnāt want to buy it if that makes sense.
My plan was to use the Innuos to rip, store and serve and the ND as DAC and streamer. Probably not well optimised, both components being partially redundant.
Without having heard it, what puts me off is that it is also a pre amp and headphone amp. I think if Im going to separate the DAC, I would like all of the investment to go into exactly that.
The price of the ND is good since I ordered pre-price rise and with a discount. I know it sounds great but given this is a departure from CD and into the āmodern worldā, I want to look as far into the future as possible.
Obviously things changed and inpovements made as if not it would still be a NDS, what i was trying to say was its more like say a NDS mk2 than it was a new design from the ground up.
Thats why i said i take it the next one to come out from naim will be very different
Nobody buys an ND555 because it has AirPlay and Chromecast. They are low quality mass market features that are convenient for when your mate comes round and wants to play something from his phone.
There are changes in terms of refinements and noise decouplingā¦ however the core digital conversion stages (inc SHARC over sampler and low pass filter design - so called DSP, as Naim disable the DSP in the PCM1704K ) is based on the architecture that was developed for the Naim DAC many years ago. (If you compare white papers you see significant similarities)
The control and TCP/IP streaming stage however were significantly modified between the NDS and the ND555
The refinements are involved in placesā¦ but it is essentially the same architecture in the digital reconstruction change. Naim used to have a really good PowerPoint presentation of the optimisations and changes between the ND555 and NDSā¦ alas I donāt have a copy with me
This is a real shame. Although I have sold my ND555 it is something I would have been interested in.
I tried to get to understand Soulutionās architecture. But honestly I donāt understand much about it. Itās the exact opposite of Naim: a more complex topology and many more components.
Actually the analogue Butterworth multiple pole low pass filter in a Sallen and Key configuration is the same design that Naim originally developed for the CD555ā¦ with some optimisations such as transistor coupling and impedance matching.(if my memory serves me correctly)
It is these little details that add upto the quality and performance of the whole.
Again my knowledge is close none, but I wouldnāt call it details, as I understand it impedance matching has its importance, especially in such delicate part of the DAC.
Anyway, Iāve moved on. Iām not unhappy with what I have now.
Soulution is doing some very interesting things and their approach is very different from what is being done.
Chord also has a very innovative approach with their FPGA.
Sometimes I imagine a DAC like the ones from Solution, but with a core architecture based on a FPGA.
