Just be sure you won’t regret parting with the XPS DR that’s all, if you’ll want one later 
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Does anyone else think that it would be a great idea if Naim made a streaming unit that has their new digital tech in it, and no Dac, that could be used to empower Naim’s legacy gear (like my NDS, and the OPs NDX, and all the 272s out there).
A unit that’s as affordable as possible due to that lack of Dac, and even sounds better because of less electronic things going on in the same box; ie. Better isolation.
And many people would use it with their other non-Naim gear as well. It’d be a hit.
(Or, at least make one of them for me).
Now … If this is such a great idea, that Naim decides to offer me a position in their Product Development/Sales and Marketing team; I could probably be talked into accepting it.
But I won’t wait by the phone …
Dave
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I finally had the chance to compare the Allo digione signature with Shanti PSU to an ND5XS2
well I do concede that the ND5XS 2 is far more expensive, but it does sound considerably better in my Chord Dave. more musical, more coherent, better refined High’s mid range and the bass is punchier than the cheaper allo product.
I don’t understand how or why, but the Naim staff have done an fantastic job with the new streamers.
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Can you give some examples of said flac radios?
For starters, Radio Paradise have 4 channels available in FLAC.
There’s also JB Radio, but I think you’ll find that there will be more appearing soon enough.
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Thanks Analogmusic, that’s a very relevant piece of information!
An ND5XS2 would actually be only slightly more expensive that my current setup: I am powering the DigiOne Signature with a JS-2 and with an LPS-1.2. Against the DigiOne, the ND5XS2 would have the advantage of integrating support for Chromecast, Airplay and Bluetooth. The Shanti PSU should be more or less on the same level as my PSUs.
Thus, a next step for me could be to demo a ND5XS2 in parallel with the DigiOne. This looks like an interesting project and is something that I can do quite easily as I have a second DC1 BNC-BNC cable!
I’m a little confused here. Why would Naim want to complicate their own players by splitting them into two different boxes, on top of their optional PSU upgrades? Also, why would Naim want to promote their end users to use their gear with non-Naim electronics?
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It would actually be a simplification rather than a complication. The current generation of Naim streamers is, as they say, transitional. It is the last to use PCM17* chips. Naim have to readily come up with innovations unless they want to give up on sources.
For their next generation of sources, Naim have to decide whether they keep DAC and streaming board integrated in all their devices (as they were doing before introducing the nDAC about ten years ago and as they currently do with the last generation of streamers) or whether they also offer DACs with separated streaming boards as other companies, e.g. Chord, do.
Giving the possibility of buying separate DAC and streaming board would make more sense to me.
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The ironic thing here of course is that Naim discontinued their nDAC just as they launched their new generation streamers. I think from the outset Naim discovered that keeping the transport as close to the DAC as possible was one of their key decisions in bringing us that famous Naim sound signature from their source components. History and recent decisions tell me that this isn’t going to change anytime soon. Naim tend not to follow the herd. More emphasis tends to go on the PSU, unlike most other companies.
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I suspect the decision as more to do with marketing than anything.
Take my situation which is similar to @david1111 and many others. I have an NDS with a 555DR which is an exceptional source but runs the old streaming platform. It’s Naim’s second best streamer which can be maxed out with 2 555DR power supplies if you’re feeling flush.
Internally compared to the ND555 there are more similarities than differences apart from the next generation streaming board which is where the main improvements are. This part is a completely new design and all the better for it.
The price to change from NDS to ND555 is considerable, likely to be around £11k so a shoebox sized streamer priced around £2K would be very attractive to me if I could have the new platform paired with the DAC etc. of my existing NDS.
The trouble is that this would take the performance of the NDS within a whisker of the ND555 and will have saved me £9k into the bargain. In the context of my system an NDX2 would be a downgrade even paired with the 555DR but also the ND555 in itself is probably too much of a source until other improvements are made, e.g. 282 > 252 or 552. In other words sound wise the NDS is more than sufficient, it was used to showcase Statement before the ND555 was released.
So no doubt the streamer would fly off the shelves it would do so at the expense of sales of their next generation streamers.
Fortunately I have overcome the feature limitations of the old platform by ‘Roonifying’ my system with a UPNP bridge so I can move on and not worry too much. If I hadn’t taken this route I do wonder what an ND5 XS2 would sound like feeding the NDS DAC.
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It will more than “suffice” enjoy
Discontinuing the nDAC was a logical step given that they were not offering any transport and that, after about 10 years of production, the demand for the nDAC was likely to be low.
The innovative bit in the second generation streamers is the streaming platform which I understand comes from StreamUnlimited. StreamUnlimited also supplies dCS and many other manufacturers, thus I am not sure that Naim are not actually following the herd in this area.
The innovation that is due now is a new DAC architecture. This might or might not profit, in terms of sound quality, from having the DAC and the streaming boards in separate units.
From the point of view of functionality, separating streaming and DAC concerns certainly make sense, as owners of the first generation of Naim streamers have learned the hard way.
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Thanks for your thoughts here guys. @nbpf & @trickydickie. I’m probably a bit out of my depth here but it’s interesting discussing these things all the same. Everyday is a school day. 
For me personally - my biggest uplift came from adding the XPS DR to my NDX 2. Bigger than going from CD5si > ND5 XS 2 and from ND5 XS 2 > NDX 2.
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I’m running a bare NDX2, it begs the question of whether I would get a better bang for my buck spending €4500 on a DAC rather then on an XPSDR?
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Hi Hollow,
maybe you can discuss this with your dealer? Personally i wouldn’t Frankenstein your NDX 2, the DAC inside it is good enough. Maybe you can home demo a XPS DR? I think that a NDX 2 combined with the XPS DR is a formidable source component indeed, world class, way beyond our integrated SN3’s capabilities, even so it’s still sensational, even with the SN3 next in the link.
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I don’t think it’s quite that simple.
The NP800 card inside the new Naim streamers is unique to Naim, and it not the same one that DCS, Cambridge audio and Arcam are using.
As you well know, it’s also about implementing things like power supplies, and galvanic isolation…
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Boy, do I agree here. Thanks guys. This is somewhat intimidating and enlightening at the same time.
This was always my conundrum as well until very recently. After having both available for my NDX, I felt the DAC for that particular legacy streamer benefitted the streamer more than the XPS-DR.
Sure, I know that the NP800 is not an off-the-shelf product and that Naim and StreamUnlimited have been closely collaborating in designing the card.
I m also aware of the importance of PSUs, having invested in the JS-2 and in the LPS-1.2.
It’s exactly because of the fact that putting together a good Ethernet to SPDIF transport is not so easy that Naim should have offered the NP800 in a pure transport.
This would have sent a positive signal to owners of nDAC and NDS, avoided significant losses of value in the second hand market and prevented users like @trickydickie to move outside of the Naim ecosystem.
Of course nDAC and NDS owners can upgrade to new protocols and technologies by buying an ND5XS2 and many have chosen to do so.
Still, I believe that nDAC and nDS users deserve something that is better suited to their needs and that Naim have failed to deliver, in this respect.
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… “that could be used to empower Naim’s legacy gear (like my NDS, and the OPs NDX, and all the 272s out there).”
You must have read my post a little too quickly.
There’s a ton of slightly annoyed Naim customers out there whose digital products have been made obsolete. All the NDX’ers, and 272’ers could just add it to their unit. they love their 272’s.