Pulled the trigger on recapped nDAC

Hi-Fi Corner
122

Yes, it was the G1.

It killed my enjoyment of my system entirely, so I stopped using it after about a week and just listened to YouTube music videos instead.

The tunes were still playing, but it sounded bland and nothing-y to me.

It was a demo unit and as far as I could tell it had only been demoed once by another user, so it may not have been fully run.

But that’s guesswork.

And my instinct at the time was that however much it ran in it was never going to sound anywhere near as good as the ND5XS2.

1 Like
123

Do you rate the Waversa above the Sonore and Rpi/Allo based streamers? Which LPS are you using to power it? Just curious; I enjoy reading about the experiences of others using products that I’m also looking to change. Alot of praise here for the ND5XS2 and rightfully so.

1 Like
124

Before buying the Waversa, I compared it to my RPI4 with a Allo HAT and my UnitiQute2 via UPnP bridge as a Roon endpoint and preferred it out of the three. When I received the Waversa, I tested a power bank against the standard power supply but could not hear a difference.
The build quality of the WStreamer is excellent and it is heavy enough that ist does not move around like RPi.
It supports Roon, Airplay and UPnP. No Spotify or Tidal Connect.
Just saw that price increased since last year by 100 EUR and it is quite expensive for what is is but I like and it does the job without any issues.
One quirk of the Wstreamer is that the the power plug goes into one side of the box and network cable and coax/ Usb cable into the other side. Since the box hidden behind my DAC, I don‘t mind but it is not ideal if it sits more prominently on the rack.
I looked long and hard at the ND5XS2 but the fact that it cannot be controlled with a IR remote is a deal breaker for me.
Hope this helps.

2 Likes
125

Interesting device, if I don’t use Roon, could another OS be loaded onto the SD card? (apologies for the thread drift)

126

I have a Oppo 205 connected with an excellent BNC cable (DH Labs Silver Sonic 750). If that’s not good enough I probably should have bought a different transport for the Denafrips Venus I just got rid of.

127

Thank you toscana and Richard. That was just what I needed. Looks like I’m on 4.11.8 already. So no sound improvement with the update for me. I’ll pop round my local library and format a couple of USB drives in FAT32 today.

128

I saw your profile but had no idea what an Oppo was :thinking:
At least I know it’s a CD player now :wink:

129

I don‘t think that is possible.

1 Like
130

Thanks toscana for your feedback on the Waversa.

131

They make audiophile Blu-Ray players…highly recommend!

I use Toslink optical port out to nDac.

1 Like
132

Why not coax? I was under the impression that was the best input.

I did a little comparison this past weekend:
CD in the Oppo to the nDAC with good BNC cable (Best)
vs
ALAC rip of the same CD Airplayed to my Apple TV/HDMI to Oppo, BNC to nDAC (3rd Place)
vs
same ALAC rip on my iPhone plugged in the front of the nDAC (2nd Best)

5 Likes
133

Useful to know
Thanks for sharing these findings

p.s. see in your profile you’re using ES14’s too.
Nice :+1:

134

I prefer Optical into the NDac.

Sounds smoother, more analogue in my system. :heart_eyes_cat:

1 Like
135

Interesting, I may try this at some point. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
136

I’m running a 35ft optical cable through a wall from my tv and across the room, and what other medium could I do this with and have perfection?

Optical gives you the reach that other high quality cables wouldn’t dream of, and I never worry about interference from other wires that are numerous.

137

Ditto I may try this as well, but I rarely listen to my small CD Collection. My inexpensive and long coax cable works well for me.

138

Oh I have a TV and Oppo both going to my nDAC over a long distance, there was just no other way to set it up in this room.

I don’t listen to CDs, I watch Blu-Ray on an 85" TV with my Naim Credo on either side of the screen…full Naim systems with an 85" TV watching a Blu-Ray with sound quality like Blade Runner 2049, while sitting in bed with the wife eating popcorn is a wonderful thing! :slight_smile:

3 Likes
139

No optical “out” on a ND5XS. That’s the end of that! :slightly_smiling_face:

140

I’m not a big fan of TOSLINK optical so I wouldn’t fret too much. It can seem smoother but also less engaging and generally less resolving. It’s fine for lesser sources and for TV and AV use, but for serious high end audio use, you can do better. I think the problem lies with the TOSLINK connection and conversion system. The AT&T system was briefly used by a few high end manufacturers was much better, but TOSLINK won out in the end, I guess because it was a “standard” and was cheap and easy to include on even the cheapest equipment.

Coaxial via 75ohm BNCs tends to perform so much better.

6 Likes
141

Thanks Richard.

It just piqued my interest.
I already use a DC1 into my nDAC :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes