Other than for any electronic product, it’s components will start to potentially drift outside tolerance, after an extended period, probably more 15 to 20 years… which means servicing might be required to restore original performance. We often mention capacitors, but resistors also age. Specifically with DACs crystal oscillators will drift over an extended period… perhaps relevantly after 20 years or so, especially if over that period the quiescent temperature has been high.
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Now that’s interesting. Very helpful for me, personally.
Servicing a 15 to 20 year old Dac is pointless. Might as well keep using your old PC with a Pentium 3 processor… 
Tell that to the CD555 users!
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Not at all if it maintains the performance. I do have a Pentium 3 PC that also works fine for my needs.
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I run a nDAC via DC1 BNC in a 500 level system. It’s “dark, bassy and a bit closed-in character” matched less well with HiLine in my experience. Lavender better. I finally matched it with Vertere which is more transparent and less bassy vs HiLine. Selecting cables are like adding the final spice and a matter of taste.
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Meanwhile I tried playing songs from a USB stick and also moved the nDAC on top of my NDX which I know is not the best idea, however this seemed to provide more open sound and more tamed bass on the nDAC. Still, in both cases I don’t feel this sparkle and details in the high frequencies which the bare NDX provide. As you said nDAC brings more analogue and bassy sound similar to my old Rega DAC-R. It seems this analogue feeling comes too much for my system. Currently I don’t feel so emotionally connected to music when using the nDAC. What I also find is that in my case the nDAC sort of slows down the sound and it loses tempo, while the NDX is more dynamic, responsive and more fun.
As far as I understood from @Simon-in-Suffolk response, even when adding 555PS the nDAC sound signature remains more analogue with no hyper detail, so it seems even with external PS it might not work for me.
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Me too.
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That might be true if a dac used an old dac chip that had been superseded by something that sounded much better. In this case the nDAC uses the same PCM1704 chip that is used in the current Naim flagship ND555 streamer.
I’ve twice compared the NDX2 from the current streamer range and both times, to my ears, I preferred the nDAC so to me it makes perfect sense to service an older dac that still sounds great.
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Mirrors my findings too. I’ve tried the Hiline several times against the Lavender and just find the Hiline on my Ndac too much. Far better with the leaner, faster but courser Lavender.
I can relate. I used to use the DAC from my Rega Saturn-R into the ND5 XS2, so know exactly what you’re describing here. While it was somewhat more euphoric and ‘analog’ sounding, it just wasn’t as detailed and energetic from the upper-mids and treble frequencies; very different in presentation from the NDX/XPS-DR I had.
Now that I own the Chord Qutest and outboard LPS, it is drastically preferable to me over the other two setups in my room. It offers, to me, exactly what you seem to be looking for.
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As very often, there are two schools. One prefers an organic , articulated and textured sound, as with Naim, other prefer something more airy and detailed, like Chord.
However sometimes I wonder if those later should not consider other electronics than Naim, which are not the most accurate, detailed and soundstage organised vs some competition.
I choose personally Naim for its infectious drive , grip, and organic sound. Not for the last world in details or soundstaging. Ear Yoshino goes in the Naim direction too, adding also something else.
For a more detailed and well organised in the space sound, I would go for Esoteric or Vitus.
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Yes Chord DACs excel in their textured presentation and analogue feel, ie you can listen into, where as on the whole Naim DACs tend to be more euphoric are more suited to you listening as a whole to give an overall impression. I know these are generalisations rather than absolutes, but it aligns with my experiences.
In my system I have both Naim and Chord DACs available…
What I would say neither Chord DACs nor Naim DACs are airy… they both focus more on the vibe, emotion, and rhythmic drive, particularly the Dave from Chord. The emotional intensity from Dave with high end planar headphones is very powerful on appropriate recordings, and is the combo that has most moved me to tears, made me laugh or paused my breath. I would say on the whole the upper mid presentation between Chord and Naim tends to be different, and I suspect this adds to what some perceive as the respective house sounds.
What I have learned is DAC amp synergy is so important, especially in the higher end… and other than the Hugo mk1, all the subsequent Chord DACs I have used seem to sound best to my ears with Chord amps, which have their own distinctive fast type performance, where as to my ears the top end Chord DACs seem to not fully gel with higher end Naim amps such as the 552…
The Hugo mk1 absolutely is wonderful with the 252 and 552 in my opinion however, it is a smoother, more rounded presentation, and is possibly one of the more euphoric sounding Chord designs, albeit gives a good impression of the Mandelbrot layering effect. The Hugo mk1 is also quite a warm presentation in the mids. To me the Hugo mk1 and the ND555 presentation have quite a lot in common.
Back to the NDAC, in comparison, it has strong rhythmic drive when carried in the bass notes… can be engaging on certain voices, but is a definitely present the whole rather than listen into presentation. It does not particularly exhibit the Mandelbrot layering effect I was referring to earlier… but is very enjoyable. I’d say more for the rock and EDM lover rather a classical or jazz (other than big band) lover.
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When the Ndac was first released, amongst the many reviews of it was a comment I read that for someone who has a primarily valve based system - a Naim cd/network player might not be the first choice. Whereas the Ndac could be universal enough to appeal.
This could correlate to others observation to it having a more organic and euphonic presentation.
Although in my system used along with Nordost cables they are tempering its earthiness of the whole with some nice inner textural insight that’s shined a light on.
And I stil feel they were completely right.
Even to me it’s the least sounding Naim equipment ,to me successfully combines the good things of both worlds , rather than maximizing Naim traits.
I have seen several references to a “euphoric” presentation. Could someone expand a little on that please, I’m not sure what is meant by that.
Euphonic. I guess it’s something that sounds musical, sweet. Perhaps not so much a warts and all dissection of what gauge of strings are used on a Gibson firebird. More a glossy soft focus close up shot to glamorise.
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What is better than listening to the actual instrument named after it?
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I had the nDAC, bare and later with a 555PS-DR.
The nDAC is dynamic with a bottom up presentation.
Adding a 555PS-DR brought a cleaner and more detailed sound.
The ND555 is rather different. While it remains very dynamic, its presentation is more on the analytical side comparing to the nDAC (you get a LOT more details!).
Comparing to the ND555 the nDAC presentation is also more compact, the ND555 being more layered with a more precise stereo image.
Hope it helps.
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@Thomas Thank you for sharing your experience! So you felt an uplift in midrange and highs adding the 555PS? What happens with the bass representation? Does it get more clear and controlled?