Hi!
I power cycled my ND5XS since I had some occasional dropouts too…
Will the fix work on my streamer too or only on the ND5XS2???
Thanks.
This fix is for the old streamers, for the dropouts that occur with them, but not with the new models. So if you had an ND5XS2, you probably wouldn’t have the problem in the first place.
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Many thanks. Will check later. 
My ND5 XS also now appears to be cured. Fingers crossed!
Mine too. Thanks!
I’ve gone a couple of days without a dropout on my Muso. It’s wonderful to listen to high SQ without waiting for a dropout.
I sent Steve Harris a couple of emails for clarification on what he was referring to on his earlier post on this forum.
Here’s his first email response:
“ There is an assumption that if a device is streaming from Tidal, that during the full length of the song it is dependent on the Tidal servers to supply the music.
This is not true on Naims newer streaming products. Primarily, these products have a 50MB input buffer and the system downloads the file to be played as fast as it can, as the track starts to play.
Hence within 10 seconds or so, the full FLAC file has downloaded from the server and the device is running completely independent to the internet or server.
So if the ethernet plug/cable that connects the Naim streamer to the customers network switch/router is unplugged, the audio will keep on playing all the way to the end of the track.
We did this change for three reasons:
-
It makes the Streamers far more robust when Streaming from the internet and over wifi.
-
Backend servers prefer to deliver a short but sharp burst of data, rather than a slow trickle that lasts for the full track.
-
It sounds better. It removes all the electrical beats involved in streaming from a network.”
I was unclear what Steve meant by ‘newer’ streamers so I sent him an email asking for clarification here’s his reply which I think will further clarify much of what is being discussed in this forum:
“The newer streamer products that have the 50MB buffer are:
- atom
- star
- nova
- nd5xs
- ndx2
- nd555
The muso and qb are based on our previous platform and have a 4MB.
In practice 4MB is still tons as that soaks up around 20-25secs of audio, where the internet / servers are supplying no data at all.
On the Tidal issue, their servers would deadlock due to a flow control bug and would never deliver any more data, so eventually the connection would drop.”
Thank you Steve Harris for bringing clarity to this very annoying problem.
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‘Old’ 272 has been streaming Tidal faultlessly here for years.
G
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I believe you mean the ND5 XS2, rather than the ND5 XS in the new streamer products.
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I agree, two and a half years of flawless streaming for me me also until this bug appeared. Back to flawless streaming again now it has been remedied.
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I am not aware of any flow control bug dead lock bug - that would affect everything. What I was seeing was an issue where acknowledgements back from the streamer were getting lost or ignored by Tidal media delivery system servers - requiring Tidal to resend - this act of resending was delayed - this duplicate flow should be ignored by the streamer - but it seemed to coincide with the Streamer causing a dropout glitch.
Now Naim seems to suggest that this bug occurs with Tidal when the media delivery is a slow gradual transfer on the new Tidal media delivery system… so rolling back to the previous version seems to resolve this.
The new generation streamers obviously transfer far more quickly and so seemingly not an issue… I have had no drop out glitch on my NDX2 using Tidal since December.
BTW the larger application buffer on the new streamers is useful at demonstrating the that the ethernet lead is actually not relevant on the new gen streamers - other than a conducted noise shaper which is nothing to do with the network… as you can play a track with the ethernet lead disconnected - and interesting to hear any change in audio…but either way any change is independent of the data network
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DanielH, I’m Just repeating what Steve Harris emailed me. You might want to confirm with him.
Turns out Tidal issue is corrected for me as well. Issue with my Qute seems to be a failing Airport Express. I have it hardwired now but need to have Ethernet run properly for permanent solution.
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I’ve not bothered updating the 272 yet but this ‘bug’ seems to have passed mine by…tempting fate here I know.
G
For those who might be wondering, the 4Mb input buffer in the Muso and Qb cannot be upgraded to the 50Mb buffer that is currently in the newer, higher-end streamers.
Here’s what Steve Harris’s email said:
“Upgrade - no. The hardware module used inside it [Muso and Qb] was a pre-defined certified unit by Apple to do Airplay and is not hardware upgradeable, nor is there a newer version of it.”
The good news is that according to him, 4Mb is plenty and (fingers crossed) my Muso hasn’t dropped a song for 3+ days.
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Thank you, Steve! The streaming problem seems to be resolved after reboot. Tidal HiFi works seamlessly now - UnitiLite, Poland.
Your support is really greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
Michał
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It works perfectly now!
i had a drop out. Impossible to register again… I had to restart my router and nds to have tidal again.
Same here
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I’ve started getting Tidal drop outs on my Nova. I’ve powered on/off a few times and rebooted the router, to no avail. Is there anything else I should try? Streaming from the Core is fine.
Working today. I pulled the ethernet plug and that seem to do it.