CD5 XS here with DC1 interconnect into Ndac and very nice it sounds too
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Maybe, I use a Mac mini with a cd drive to a NASā¦ total cost probably about the same, if not some change, but I have a usable home computer as well. Itās an interesting thought.
Panasonic UB-DP 9000 4K BluRay Player for all the Music Concert and Music Videos DVD and BluRay Discs via Coaxial cable into my Lumin P1 Streamer/DAC.
Roksan Caspian M2 in Transport Mode for CDās soon to be upgraded for a Moon 260DT Transport for better sound quality feeding via AES cable into my Lumin P1 Streamer/DAC.
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There is a lot of store put in Naim CD players having the Naim sound but I canāt ascertain whether the Core produces ripped music with the Naim sound. Or is that even a thing? Is the Core essentially a Naim CD player or just a CD ROM? My gut feel is to just rip the CDs I want to NAS and forget about the Naim CD sound or even a transport. 
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Thatās a fair point. Iāve not done a comparison with the Core although Iām told it sounds as good a streaming. And my streamer sounded good compared to my CD. Although my current Naim Cd now has no sound hence I need a solution. 
A Core ticks other boxes for me like convenience. Something I can plug in and use rather than having to set up NAS somewhere in the house.
As a first step, you could just rip to an SSD (assuming you have a mac or a pc) - plug it into your NDX2 and away you go. Itās cheap, easy and to be honest sounds great to me. Certainly a decent way to start. Sure, you donāt necessarily get all the bells and whistles, but the cost of a Core or the cost of an SSD - itās a hefty difference of some $4000 CDN so probably about Ā£2200.
I couldnāt be bothered with setting up a NAS just to run to my NDX2.
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Hi,
My understanding is the Saturn 3 will play ripped files. Do you do this, and if so how does it work out?
Is the playback viewable on an iPad?
Thanks
The Core isnāt a Cd player, itās a NAS with ripping facilities. A rip canāt have a particular sound, itās what comes after it, the dac and amplifier, that has that.
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Just looked, for the first time, at the underside of the tray on our CDX2. Never knew it looked like that! Every day is a school day.
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Iām speculating that building the logo into it makes it stiffer, therefore sounds better.
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That was my opinion too until I started looking into it more. A transport into my NDS should sound like my NDS. A ripped CD played thru my NDS should sound like my NDS. But the way people talk implies that even transports have āa soundā. Without doing the auditioning legwork itās difficult to form an opinion. If ripped CDs sound better than a CD player/transport then Iām all for a Core. But, if ripped CDs sound the same as streaming, thereās no point in ripping. I thought playing CDs would be better than streaming but Iām not so sure now. I might just forget the whole thing an enjoy what I have
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All my music is on a NAS, and I prefer the sound to listening to the same albums on Qobuz, though people tell me they sound the same. I used to have over 2,000 CDs, which took up a lot of wall space. Now we have a nice sideboard instead.
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And a lamp 
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Thatās where the bigger stereo was. We had bloominā CDs all over the house.
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Iāve got a mate who only listens to CDs. He has racks of them throughout his house. The length of his hallway is full of them. He buys them from charity shops about 50 at a time . I think Iāll rip a few choice CDs to my MacBook and do some comparisons.
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CDX with XPS at the bottom. I really like the mix of chrome bumper and olive
I really should get another shelf added to separate XPS from the 160, though the 160 is sitting on a set of Vibrapods, it helps a bit.
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For what itās worth - Iām currently ripping my CD collection to my Core - until recently Iād only ripped CDs which were unavailable on Qobuz. The core is connected to my NDX2/XPSDR. Iām enjoying the process, handling and playing CDs I havenāt played for some time.
On sound quality - I had a Cdi (which I loved) then a CD5xs/Flat Cap 2 which was better and I Loved - the Core sounds better than both.
CD rips on the core sound identical to Qobuz streams for the most part. When they donāt I assume itās down to different masters or HiRes. HiRes can sound better, can sound worse. Either way itās nice to have the option.
A final point. In the same way I think the LP12 is the most beautiful turntable to look at I think the Core is a beautiful piece of hardware. Itās small form is attractive and easy to accommodate. Iāve yet to see a current CD player/transport which looks as good (to my eyes). And of course none of those are Naim, something which matters (to me at least).
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Nigel, What did you do with your CD collection ? if you donāt mind me asking.
Gary