I haven’t compared the two streamers side by side, but having owned an NDX, and listened to an ND5XS2 quite a few times, I think you’ll find the NDX is generally better. However, you need to balance that against the improved connectivity of the newer ND5XS2 and the sound quality benefits that can bring. As an iRadio user you might appreciate the lossless FLAC stations it supports: to me this is a real game changer that makes iRadio worthwhile.
For me Spotify doesn’t sound like a proper HiFi source, although that may change with a lossless service. Qobuz is still the gold standard in my books if you have a current gen. Naim streamer.
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i got a blue sound Node (2i) and am just shopping around for a DAC - though the DAC in it is perfectly serviceable. Roon, Full Connectivity, cheap, sound good, its a pretty compelling package. Streamers are still the least mature element in the chain so if there is any kind of breakthrough tech that comes out (for example an Apple version of ‘connect’ to replace airplay) its likely to be there so you don’t have a big sunk cost in a one box digital front end. Digital boxes (or boxes with digital elements can depreciate precipitously compared to all analogue equivalents if they have redundant or obsolete elements even if they still sound great…
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In that case I’ll keep an eye out for a used XPS at around £1k-£1.5k. Then I can DR it and that’ll do the job.
As long as I can listen to Spotify and Radio Paradise I am quite happy. Oh, and connect a hard drive to it where I have ripped all my CDs into Flac.
Plus at £850 for the NDX (which was serviced with a new screen this year) I can’t complain really.
That’s a good price.
I’ve not tried Spotify. Tidal seems pretty good. Comparable to my CDS2 but not as good
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That’s a great price for the NDX!
And if you haven’t seen it, here’s a nice workaround to run Radio Paradise FLAC on our first gen Naim streamers: Native FLAC via iRadio?
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Oh thank you very much. That is very useful. 
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You can’t connect a hard drive to the USB port on an NDX. It will just about cope with a few tracks on a USB stick. The current streamers do a much beter job here, but you are going to need to run a UPnP server on your network to do the job properly.
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Ah, that’s a shame. NDX might end up back on ebay then and I’ll go back to drawing board.
Noooo! All our hard work here would be wasted…
For about the price of a USB stick you can install Asset UPnP on a computer and run it from the Naim app… Easy to use; no extra NAS required.
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I still believe that your best route would be a used ND5XS2. It’s Naim’s latest djgital tech.
Best of luck with whatever you end up with.
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Somehow the used market for a nd5xs2 is always quite small. You might think that many trade it in for a ndx2 but somehow they don‘t appear on the used market very often…
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I’m sorry to hear that and not just for the OP. I was planning on picking up a used one at some point to update the streaming Tech on my NDS which I love the sound of.
So thanks, when I get to that point I’ll be a bit more aggressive when purchasing.
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Well, maybe it should be! Purchase of a ND5 XS2 for my Naim (inc. 282/HicapDR/Spendor, etc system has given the best tonality and detail in classical music that I’ve ever had. It is versatile (inc. Netflix). Think of as a streamer and a DAC thoroughbred for CD.
Hope of help to you.
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Not often mentioned in this forum is the “no frills but no extra hardware” solution of checking to see if your existing router has a built-in UPnP/DLNA media server… many do (Asus, Netgear, Linksys… plus at least some of the HomeHub devices supplied by ISPs - I’m not in UK so don’t know about BT or Virgin or whomever).
Adding a USB stick or external drive to the always-on box you already have can be a painless way to take a step towards home streaming. You will learn how to use it, figure out all the tricks of the ripping trade, and have free local streaming up and running a few minutes after you log into your router to see if it’s available and then enabling the service. If the functionality or metadata presentation is not to your liking, you can always learn about other options, such as using your existing home computer or getting a NAS (which is great to have as a system backup and file server anyway).
You just got a cool thing… take a moment to see if you have a trivial solution to serving your CD rips close to hand before you decide to put it on eBay…
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Tbh, I felt the same but what you’re suggesting sounds like a good and easy option. So I’ll explore that a bit further before I surrender. I suppose the NDX will serve well until I (hopefully) get my hands on a used NDX2.
If you already have a computer on your home network you can run a UPnP server on it, and Asset is a good choice. Arguably better to run it on a NAS if you’re prepared to set one up. A decent QBAP or Synology would cost you about £300.
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Perhaps it doesn’t sell as well as the others? Or people who buy it are quite happy with the sound quality that they don’t feel the need to replace them. Or they upgrade the external DACs instead?
If you want something that gives far better SQ than the NDX or the bare ND5XS2, but is not far more costly, it’s ND5XS2 digital out via DC1 into Naim DAC.
I use it with Qobuz.
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Yes, good idea.
The ND5XS2 analog out does sound very good to me.
But the ND5XS2 obviously gives even better results when used to feed Naim DAC/555DR - but then that’s a more expensive solution and in my case the result is exactly as one would expect.
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