I’m using the Naim ND5 XS2 together with a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC, which is able to play 24 bit 192 kHz.
The problem appeares with recordings in the 24 bit 192 kHz format. When I play them from within the Focal & Name app, by using the Qobuz integration, the DAC indicates it can’t detect a signal. The same happens with recordings in the same format from the NAS.
If I play through the Tidal or Qobuz apps, sending the sound to the streamer, it works fine though.
I started to wonder if it has to do with the output settings of the Focal & Naim, which are set to use Native mode and BNC output. But the problem remains, even if I switch to PCM mode.
Fortunately I’m able to try the same with the internal DAC of the amplifier, which works well, so I can’t figure why it fails with the external DAC (which of course is able to produce a much better sound),
Has anyone else had the same problem and been able to solve it? (Yes, I have also created a support ticket with Naim.)
I know nothing about Qobuz, but Tidal is limited to 16/44 on its own app and through the Naim app streaming to Naim hardware, until Naim update the streamer firmware.
Try mConnect. It can stream Tidal to Naim at 24/192.
Looking at a review of the Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC, it talks about the Tri-Vista 21 being able to upsample to 96 or 192. Maybe it is not capable of receiving a 96 or 192 input.
Maybe you need a streamer bridge that can downsample the 192 signal, to suit the Dac, if the Naim streamer is unable to do this.
Ah, yes, you may well be correct. I’m going from memory and this is 20 year old DAC. Really nice DAC with great output stage and well implemented power supply.
I haven;t looked it up, but high sample rates as inputs are probably not supported. It’s clearly working under some circumstances so probably some downsampling taking place somewhere in the chain.
I now use Roon exclusively; output from that can be limited to suit the DAC if necessary.
That explains some other posts I’ve seen in the forum. The interesting thing with Qobuz is that I can either stream through the Qobuz integration inside the Focal & Naim app or from Qobuz own app. It doesn’t work if I do the former, only if I do the latter, which is an argument for the DAC beeing the limitation.
Thanks for suggesting mConnect. I might try it but honestly: THe ripped CDs sound magnificent in FLAC format when the streamer outputs to the MF DAC.
When I encountered the problem my first idea was to limit the output of the streamer to 96 kHZ but I couldn’t find anything in the documentation hinting that is possible.
If the DAC is capable of upsampling to 192 kHz, that suggests it is able to handle 192 kHz internally. Why would you then want to limit the input to 96 kHZ or less? But I’ve reread the manual and also some reviews and I belive you may be right. I have ideas of how to check if also 96 kHz is a limitation but will have to wait for that until the weekend.
If I feel I need a streamer bridge to downsample, I probably better go for another network streamer than Naim’s, which I currently have on a trial. Or I can use the streamer’s DAC, which I can connect in parallell to the amplifier.
From inside the Tidal app I click on the encircled icon in the included picture. The app then displays the devices in my home network and I selet the Naim unit.
Okay, that might be Tidel connect or something like AirPlay / Chromecast.
As others already wrote - Naim does not support HiRes Tidal streams yet - so it’s unlikely you can get a HiRes stream to play via the Naim streamer.
Qobuz supports HiRes from Naim, but since there’s no “Connect” feature from the app yet. So when you play via the app, you’re likely using AirPlay/Chromecast.
At least AirPlay only supports 44kHz/16bit so far - so any HiRes you play in the app will be downsampled on the way to the streamer. (Which would explain, why it “works” this way.)
Roon is very versatile, but most servers allow you to limit the stream to a lower level, such as 24/96 or 16/44.1, if necessary. That includes most UPnP servers for local streaming, Tidal, Qobuz etc.
If you set these to 16/44.1 do the streams from Qobuz, and from whatever server you run on your NAS, then work?
I saw the figure but didn’t know how to intrprete it. Thanks for pointing that out. It ought to mean that a 96 kHz input works, which in turn explains why the swith goes between 96 and 192.
I still have the Naim unit on trial. Do you suggest I try streamers from Cambridge Audio, Auralic or some other manufacturer instead? The Naim ND5 XS2 has received excellent reviews and I’m very happy with it’s audio performance. But I don’t want to consider a number of compatibility issues.
