when i bought my nds i already had a none dr 555, a 555dr came up at a good price so i bought it. iv not tried them on their own though.
I think it depends on prices but id be tempted to go dr if your using one
consider NDS was developed without DR power supply, its original soul is pure 555 PS
I believe it’s the opposite. It was developed with DR. I could be wrong though.
As far as I know both DR and NDS were introduced into the market in 2012, NDS is Feb and DR in MAy, so NDS was conceived without DR power supply. Some still prefer NDS with 555 without DR
https://www.naimaudio.com/news/17046/introducing-nds-network-player
I was told so by a Naim old technician during a recent presentation of new range and it is confirmed by dates
If a Naim rep told you so it’s obviously the case. However the release dates tell me they might as well have been developed together not the opposite.
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then I give floor to the sound experience of course, but it is just to say that some prefer NDS withour DR PS
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I’ll be able to provide some feedback here in a week or two. I have a non DR 555 at home and just waiting for the NDS to arrive. I’ll be able to do a side by side comparison as I have a DR 555 PS on my ND555 that I can try. I’m excited to put this in my second system. I’m also leaning towards a ND5XS2 as a streaming source to go with it. @Dan_M had a good thread on it and he seems to get along with that combo quite well.
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I found the 555dr was better than non dr555 on my NDS.
Gary
NDS is a magical box. I always yearned for better amps, better speakers.
I’ve always struggled to find that itch where the NDS is concerned.
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NDS is indeed magic and with the Lindemann Bridge II + Sbooster I decided to not make any further changes there and consider it a great DAC onwards. I clearly remember when I switched from NDX2 + 555PSDR to NDS + 555PSDR. The NDS to my ears sound much more real and emotional. The low end is so beautiful and the decay and air around instruments paint such big pictures. It’s a bit like looking at a real painting (NDS) vs a 4k picture on a screen (NDX2). I just instantly connected with NDS and in a very different way.
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Yeah I feel that connection. I’ve never struggled to part with a box before cos I knew what was coming was going to be even better. But there’s something special inside that NDS box. Like you say, an emotional connection. It’s the voice of my system, and I love it.
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Yes, the NDS it’s very smooth and musical. Definitely a special piece of kit.
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NDS arrived today. Connected but haven’t listened yet. Kids and myself are home with the flu so no good moments. @Dan_M I’m going to probably buy the ND5 XS2 once I know the NDS is working well. I think you have a coax running form your ND5XS2 to your NDS. Are you just running the ethernet cable into the ND5XS2 then and not one as well to the NDS?
Thanks!
Only in the nd5xs2, in that case.
Congrats on getting your NDS, less so on getting the flu
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Thank you, that is what I thought.
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Can’t wait to hear how it sounds.
Also have flu 
I would suggest ethernet to both, if you want to use the Naim app with them both.
I.E. if you also intend listening to local streaming or internet radio the NDS will (should) be better at that than the ND5XS2.
Then ethernet on ND5XS2 for online streaming (Qobuz, Tidal, etc) with coax (DC1) cable to pipe it into the NDS dac section.
If a second Ethernet cable is not convenient for the NDS, WiFi should be adequate for the Naim app just for input selection etc.
I would be tempted to try using the ND5XS2 for all sources. There are HiDef radio stations available to the 2nd gen streamers that are not natively supported by the NDS, so possibly some SQ gains there.
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I am about to try an ND5XS-2 as a qobuz transport, into my NDS.
I hadn’t yet discovered that it offered higher res iRadio stations than the NDS.
That’s something I hadn’t even considered.
Thanks for pointing that out!
Now I’m looking forwards to (hopefully) a performance boost for RP Mellow Mix, too!
It’ll make for an interesting comparison…
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