Replace CDX2 to NDX2

You should try the NDX2 for sure. Personally, I replaced my CDX2 with an NDX2 and have never regretted it. Paired with the XPS-DR I was using with the CDX2, it sounds wonderful - and the opportunities it brings to discover new music is icing on the cake.

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Thank you AlanJ,
If the sound quality is equivalent to CDX2 ok, unfortunately I cannot try a NDX2 before buying. It would be a blind change. I read that the sound timbre is different but I can’t really believe that NDX2 does not have the typical Naim sound. Just in case I’ll use both with XPSDR not bare.

For my part I felt the NDX2 was an improvement over the CDX2 - with, in particular, a wider soundstage. As I said, I never regretted replacing the CDX2 with the NDX2. However I didnt buy it blind. I had the benefit of my dealer’s NDX2 for 10 days before deciding. I’d always be very wary of buying blind.

I like to play and collect cds although I have an nd5xs2.Cds are my preference. I play a cd over and over till I know it by heart. I fidget with streaming because the choice is huge and I never listen properly. Just me.
I had a ndx2 on loan for a while but sadly it was one beset with problems and returned.
The flat capped cd5xs is becoming long in the tooth and I felt it could be bettered.Although it’s ability to switch between speakers and headphone amplifier is much appreciated.
After chats with the dealer this turned up on the doorstep.image
Accuphase dp430 and whilst not to my design taste or really the best in the range it really does show how far CD players abilities/cost have come since Naim bowed out of the market. Sad but I shall probably be nudged toward a Hegel Mohican (nice …last of) which won’t look out of place with the Naim bits.


Give me something new and Naim of the equivalent for about £5000 and I would order it tomorrow.
N

Richard. If you feel this post is a platform for other manufacturers please wipe it. But as it a market in which Naim no longer participate
I thought it might be informative . Votre choix.

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I had a CDX2 and nDAC with XPSDR and then PS555DR. My streaming solution was to replace the CDX2 with Innuos Zenith 2 and Audiophilleo + PurePower. I still have the CDX2 so my wife doesn’t have to grapple with an App. I didn’t have to grapple with a NAS, Ripping and Minim/Asset because the Innuos does it all.

If you like Chord DAC or other USB DACs you don’t need the Audiophilleo, but you can get further SQ improvements with the Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker which cleans the signal.

Mine make beautiful music into a 552/500 which replaced a 252/300.

Phil

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It’s actually pretty straightforward for most networking needs if you don’t overthink it, and none of switches, better NAS, better cables, etc., is necessary to get good SQ from the NDX2. Very similar to all the things you could do to CDs was well, from magic potions to painting their rims, but the CDX2 makes fine music without them as well

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Not my experience.
Sure when I used to have a Naim cd player I would just place, pluck and start.

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May not have been your experience, but has been for most, and digital angst should not be a factor in deciding for or against an NDX2. In most domestic networks, hooking up and NDX2 to wifi or an ethernet cable will most likely not be an issue, and a fancy switch or cable will not transform its sound to something completely different-
And yes, you could simply plug in a CD, but you could also have listened to the people who told you to buy their magic marker to paint the CDs.
And on the NDX2 with a streaming subscription, you can simply tap something and play it.

Do you think I’m easily led?
I made the move with no regret and I know what I’m talking about , the network environment is something to be dealt with more than you would think or Naim or whatever makes you think

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I didn’t say anything like this. Funny that you would make that accusation in the same breath as talking about what “Naim or whatever makes you think”.

Whatever, I am done here. My advice to the OP is not to believe that all this spending on switches, etc., is necessary to get good music out of an NDX2.

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I have to agree with a couple of others on here. I’d keep the CDX2.2, add an Ndac and max out with switches power supplies and cables.

I get amazing results from my Node2 with the above set-up

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Naim, whoever …clearly in good faith.

For most?
Look at how many people have bought the EE8 or ER switch ? Maybe 30 or more in the forum.
Not talking about the other several owners of Cisco 2960 switches, some cascading them. And many with Blue Jeans, Catsnake, vodka…Ethernet cables.
Yes , the Ndx2 can work very well without any network tweak. But it will sound average then.

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I completely agree with Frenchrooster ,this isn’t a Naim thing as it touches any source you could think of.
A CD player performance was, is,will be way more repeatable than a streamer behavior.

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When I bought the Nds/555dr , I felt it less involving vs my past Cdx2/ XPS dr. Connected standard Ethernet cables recommended by my dealer, straight from my router.
I was a bit disappointed.
2 years after, I have now the Etheregen, Mcru ps, 3 audioquest diamond, and a Melco N1z2 server. The Cdx2 / XPS 2 is completely outclassed, in all areas, and by a very big margin.

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I didn’t say that these things cannot have a beneficial effect. What I said was that they are not necessary to get great music out of an NDX2. And therefore, I don’t think the scare stories about the spending on network improvements should be a priority in deciding about getting an NDX2 or not. (Same as magic treatments for CDs exist but should not be a priority in deciding about playing CDs)

And any such improvements are not necessary to make an NDX2 not sound “average”.

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For me at least, a bare Nds without the network tweaks was sounding very average. If I had not discovered all the network improvements shared in this forum and elsewhere, I would have strongly regretted to have sold my Cdx2.

An NDS and an NDX2 are very different things to begin with

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It’s important to keep these network tweaks in proportion. They can make changes at the margins but won’t turn average into good or good into great. To imply they are essential just puts people off. The NDX2 is a really nice player, with or without the fancy stuff.

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Come on Frenchie — that’s of course rubbish, and you know this. The NDX2 is a fine player that doesn’t require obsessing about the network, and I actually wonder whether those who do not tweak constantly are the happier people here…

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