Relative quality of streaming 'transport' - isn't digital just digital?

[HariV]

@Simon-in-Suffolk

Ahh… it betrays what I do for a living…
Yes it was a cracking day… I really enjoyed it, especially meeting some of the characters on these web pages and at Naim.

I think I have worked it out. Unless I have got it completely wrong.

In all seriousness, and fully appreciating that I am new here so you get to know who is who in time, it would be useful to know if members currently work for, or have previously worked for, Naim. For obvious reasons.

[Simon-in-Suffolk]

Hi @HariV just in case I have misled you I have never worked for Naim… I am an engineering solution design architect currently focussing on customers within certain parts of the public sector… PowerPoint is a medium we often work in

[nbpf]

@HariV

@nbpf

This is a legitimate strategy but, given that the internal dac technology of ND5XS2, NDX2 and ND555 is more or less the same than that of ND5XS, NDX and NDS, one that borders rip-off.

@Gromit1

Since the streaming platform itself is common to all three streamers, I felt that I wasn’t giving up much if anything in that regard.

So if I have understood this correctly, and if it is true, all three streamers have the same DACs as their previous models; but each streamer has an updated but identical streaming platform.
…

That’s not what I wrote. The streaming platform is indeed the same for ND5XS2, NDX2 and ND555. The DAC chips ND5XS and ND5XS2, NDX and NDX2, nDAC/NDS and ND555 are similar but not necessarily the same and there have been improvements in the dac implementations, isolation, power supply and distribution between the first and the second generation, see also Simon-in-Suffolk’s clarifications. For the second generation top streamer, the ND555, you can also find interesting insights and details at
https://www.naimaudio.com/sites/default/files/products/downloads/files/ND%20555%20White%20Paper%20Final_0.pdf.

As I wrote, I believe that the new streamers are excellent and reasonably priced devices but, if I was an owner of a first generation streamer or DAC, I would feel annoyed by the fact that Naim has not offered their new np800 streaming platform as a stand alone upgrade option for their legacy devices.

[HariV]

@Simon-in-Suffolk

Hi @HariV just in case I have misled you I have never worked for Naim… I am an engineering solution design architect currently focussing on customers within certain parts of the public sector… PowerPoint is a medium we often work in

Ah ok - I thought I’d found on you in the t’internet!

[Simon-in-Suffolk]

@nbpf

As I wrote, I believe that the new streamers are excellent and reasonably priced devices but, if I was an owner of a first generation streamer or DAC, I would feel annoyed by the fact that Naim has not offered their new np800 streaming platform as a stand alone upgrade option for their legacy devices.

Well is that realistic, the architectures are quite different. The digital boards between the two are quite different… there is far more to it than just the NP.800

ND555 architecture

[nbpf]

@Simon-in-Suffolk

@nbpf

As I wrote, I believe that the new streamers are excellent and reasonably priced devices but, if I was an owner of a first generation streamer or DAC, I would feel annoyed by the fact that Naim has not offered their new np800 streaming platform as a stand alone upgrade option for their legacy devices.

Well is that realistic, the architectures are quite different. The digital boards between the two are quite different… there is far more to it than just the NP.800

ND555 architecture

I very much hope that the architecture are quite different! Because of these differences, a stand alone box with the new digital board would have allowed owners of NDS, nDAC, 272, etc. to front-end their legacy devices with the new streaming platform via a simple DC1 connector.

Perhaps not as convenient as a single box solution but still a clean and effective way to enjoy Roon, Airplay, Chromecast, Qobuz, etc. in an all-Naim system and without having to throw their devices at the second hand market.