@Blackbird
Just use one or the other I don’t think adapting to fit is a good idea.
Everyone I’ve told this to and tried it has preferred the RCA easily.
It’s not what is preached here but doesn’t mean you can’t try for yourself.
I spent years in the electronics industry and Din was always the least favoured connector type but some budget related multi connectivity requires a compromise.
Listen before you buy and make up your own mind.
The question was asked and I was just being honest in my own " and others " opinion before anyone might be ridiculed for asking.
I also have noticed that the din connection is noticeably louder. Technically I think is because the eart connection is handled differently on the din side.
I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed that unless a different cable affected the signal in some way or other. Measured output level should be identical on either output.
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Could be some use the level input that can be set different on inputs say on a 272 and the forget about it. Just speculation.
They are definitely not. I used the rca connection and the din and measured with my phone 3db difference. And also could hear a noticeable difference in loudness.
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Shouldn’t be. They are both fed from the same output stage.
Was one of the interconnects attenuated? Or perhaps one of the inputs on whatever pre-amp you were using was different?
What was the source and pre-amp you used?
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What’s the tolerances measuring with a phone and what type of sound did you measure?
I just played the same song over the two cables. Nothing special.
Even if the phone app were measuring perfectly, 3dB is less variation than you would get happening naturally as part of the music, even with a heavily compressed modern pop recording. A test tone would be the only way 3dB would be significant in this context.
Unless, of course, you recorded both tracks for a decent amount of the same track, synced the recordings and overlaid them against each other to show a consistent 3dB reduction.
Mark
I don’t know if this is going to help, but I made up two sets of cables using the same cable, same spec as Naim lavender, one Din to RCA and the other RCA to RCA, used between the same two pieces of kit, they both sounded identical to me.
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I’ve certainly used both types without any perceived degradation using RCA to RCA in to a Naim amplifier.
I’ve used RCA to RCA for a DAC in the past and my turntable connects to my Supernait 3 through an RCA input, I own and have used RCA to DIN cables but bought them (used) that way so made no sense having the extra cost of rewiring them.
How many sources you have connected and using which inputs could perhaps mean an RCA to DIN is preferable, although I’ve never had lots of sources connected concurrently.
Despite it being prefered or recommended by Naim and others I doubt in reality you’d notice any significant negative effects using an RCA input, I imagine lots of owners have sources using the provided RCA inputs and do so without issue.
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Thanks for your input.
I normally have four sources connected to my SN3 via rca to rca cables, so i already have multiple ground loops which naim say are detrimental to ultimate sound quality, although it all currently sounds pretty good to me, even though i know from a home demo that a better quality rca to rca cable sounds better than my current chord epic cable.
I see that a 282 and 252 only have 2 rca input channels so if you need more than 2 sources that only have rca outputs connected to those amps, which is most non naim equipment, then you have no option other than getting an rca to din cross over cable to make the connections, which is obviously by necessity rather than maybe better sound quality.
The naim hi line din cable gets very bad reports about its poor construction quality so going for a Chord cable makes more sense if going the din route, without paying mega money for a superlumina cable.
However, still not been convinced yet that going with a rca to din cross over cable is better than just using rca to rca, maybe more posts will come to help my decision making.
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The PC Boards containing the DIN connectors are mechanically decoupled on my 152XS, but not for the RCAs, which should give the DINs an advantage in mitigating the effects of microphonics over the RCAs. Not sure if it is the same for other Naim preamps or integrated amplifiers, forum members more experienced with Naim gear please clarify.
This is highly improbable. because the earth connection with the din connection is just at one pin it should be much better.
I had my dealer make up linn silvers terminated with din for my Klimax DS/552. It was well worth doing (to my ears in my A/B tests) and have asked for a second pair to be made for the LP12. Unusually, I preferred the din cable tightened rather than loose connected to the 552.
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@badger1
Glad that worked out for you.
Silvers are well underrated despite how good they are I’ve got them on my Klimax LP12 and everything in my Supernait 3 and Cd5si. 
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Yes, this has been discussed many times before on this forum.
The weak point in any interconnect are the connections. Each contact connection can provide a degree of minute signal degradation.
DIN to DIN has 6 contact connections
DIN to RCA has 7 contact connections
RCA to RCA has 8 contact connections
So you can see RCA to DIN is preferable to RCA to RCA
DIN to DIN also provides a common ground connection for both channels, which can help stereo imaging and minute detail.
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I recently replaced the RCA to RCA cable connecting my Rega Aria phono to the SN3 with the Naim RCA to DIN cable and it made a big difference even though the Naim cable was cheaper than the RCA cable it replaced. The sound has more depth and detail so yes definitely worthwhile in my opinion.
That’s an oversimplification, there are many critical points to interconnects, not just contact points, and if it comes down to contact points then the quality of those connections would be paramount, not the quantity.
Hi Simon,
Many thanks for your response.
I think it is now well established from Richard’s link to the DIN Connector FAQ and your confirmation that if you have a source with a din connection then using a din to din cable to connect to the naim amp gives the optimal sound quality connection.
With respect to your connection point advice, i see that the source din interconnect has 5 pins and assuming they are all used that gives 10 points of contact for a din to din cable and 9 for a rcs to din cable and 8 for rca to rca?
In addition, my electrical engineering background tells me that surface area of a connection is an important factor and the surface area of a rca plug is much bigger than the small pins in a din plug, which would probably have an effect, noting naim’s view that rca plugs are technically inferior to din plugs, although most manufactures dont use din and use rca or xlr.