Nd5xs

Having figured that streaming is a medium I would be happy to progress with I’m looking at the ND5XS. I note that some are shown as non bluetooth models. What is the downside? It looks like earlier items are non bluetooth. Is thre a date beyond which I should be looking.

I have an Olive XPS which is a later version and research suggests it’s well within the serial numbers to be used with the streamer.

Your help is appreciated.

When I had one Bluetooth was useful for BBC catch-up via their iPlayer (now Sounds) and for pod casts, from the phone or iPad. Sound quality was pretty good. Other than that I can’t recall any other uses for it.

Don’t think you can use a olive PS, I had a ND5XS and thought it was a great bit of kit. It lacks the current gen streaming board and won’t have access to some services.

Although it is perhaps worth pointing out that I have a pre-Bluetooth NDX bought super cheap 9 months ago and am using the mconnect app to run Qobuz through it - so I expect it would be possible to do the same on an nd5xs

@DenisO: The ND5XS and the ND5XS2 are based on substantially different streaming platforms.

The ND5XS2 relies on the NP800 platform (from Unlimited Streaming, if I am not mistaken) which is also used in the NDX2 and in the ND555. These devices are often referred to as “second generation” Naim streamers.

The NP800 is based on a 1 Ghz ARM Cortex A8 prozessor, has 512 MB RAM and a 50 MB audio buffer. It supports, among others, Chromecast, AirPlay, Bluetooth (AptX HD) and Roon.

By contrast, the streaming board of the ND5XS does not support any of these protocols, to the best of my knowledge. ND5XS, NDX and NDS are often referred to as “first generation” Naim streamers.

If you can read German, you can find an in-depth review of the ND5XS2 at https://www.lowbeats.de/test-netzwerkplayer-naim-audio-nd5-xs-2/.

The bottom line is that if you intend to use any of Chromecast, Airplay, Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, Bluetooth, etc. you should go for a ND5XS2.

The ND5XS is a good basic streamer, with a sound quality broadly commensurate with its cost, though I found it could be significantly improved adding a Chord Hugo external DAC, costing less than the Naim suggested XP5XS power supply (and much more significant improvement). By basic I mean for streaming of one’s own stored files - I have no idea how well it might do with online streaming as I never tried. After relegating it to rendering duties it wasn’t long before I found a cheaper better alternative, though a bit more fiddly: the ND5XS I found very easy to set up and yse.

I had an ND5XS and it sounded very good. It had the bluetooth and DAB module. Added an external DAC and it sounded even better. A good streamer and I got a good price when I sold it. Since moved on to NDS and 555PS.

Thanks to all for responding. As with most things streaming, answers tend to create more questions.

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