NSC222 or not (vs Atom HE version)
I’ve been lucky and very grateful for the chance to do a home demo of the NCS222 (bare no PSU) in my home system (Atom HE - Supernait 3 - Supercap DR - Marten Oscar Duo).
The 222 has been played for a week or so not much but also not straight out of the box. I thought it looks very cool all round, no actuality make that gorgeous, somehow less solid with the plastic middle kit in daylight than the full metal jacket classic boxes but once the light goes a bit dimmer the shape and presence is absolutely fantastic. Pity the green and white lights cannot be synced either way, I know as I’ve been living with this for a while and sometimes I think it’s ok and sometimes find it annoying.
Connecting and setting it up on the app was a couple of minutes.So, setup and some very top line listening impressions:
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Into the SN3 in the same way as the Atom HE - connected simultaneously so slightly different mains and interconnects cables but allowing me to switch between the 2 instantly (222 on the CD input). Nervously, pressed he the Play on Qobuz and on the 222 went - beautiful! After about an hour of warm up, the itch to compare was just too much to bear, so I adjusted both to an equal loudness level (222 was playing a couple of dB louder may be because it was connected RCA-RCA vs RCA-DIN on the Atom). Same album on both, play and …. well, after about 10 minutes I had to admit I couldn’t hear any real difference. And this is the interesting part - in fact, if anything I was hearing a slightly more open natural sound and slightly more pronounced better bass I thought with the Atom HE, and a slightly more centered (may be) with the 222. This is where I reminded myself that the Atom was connected with a far better mains cable, better interconnects and a significantly more premium ethernet cable. From I could tell changing the ethernet cable and the interconnects on the 222 improved the soundstage, sound was more natural and I think some of the depth and lower end would have also come from the difference in mains cables (but I did not swap these to try). So the two have a similar if not identical character and presentation, which was not such a huge surprise but what was very surprising that I found them virtually indistinguishable when going to my SN3+SCDR but of course this meant 2 preamps working together and the SCDR doing its magic, so would this take over the expected 222 advantage in the preamp or internal power?
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Next I tried a direct approach and connected the 222 directly to a non Naim power amp (Nytech) but in my other system, with Spendor D1 speakers. Here I also had to listen sequentially as I did not have access to dual ethernet and interconnects link to the power amp, but on the other hand everything apart from the power cable was the same. Interestingly, there was again a couple of dB difference I had to adjust for the same level (222 being louder). In this comparison the 222 had a more mature and kind of grown up sound with again a very, very similar character between the two. Both had a similar great rhythm and pace, vibrancy and lifelike, really transparent presentation. The 222, however, had a slightly deeper richer bass and richer tones, similar for vocals and pianos as well. The upper range felt similar and I am not sure I heard more detail.
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Phono Stage - I liked the phono on the 222 in a very similar way to my SN3 - both very similar sweet, rich, engaging and detailed. Comparison here was sequential inevitably and I had to play with sound levels to make them the same (with max level on the 222 “input trim”) but my best assessment would be that they are quite similar and I liked them both very much. Not sure how much, if any, and what part of the 222 would be involved here before going to the SN3 preamp but clearly there would be a longer signal path (one extra box to go through) with the 222. So, a great 222 integrated phono stage as I do like the SN3 one after comparing it to several others up to approx. the £1k mark. I don’t know how these two phonos would compare if the 222 was connected directly to a power amp and not using the SN3 + SCDR beauty facilities but I imagine decent, and if an added NPX300 would provide support to the phono and preamp path in this respect, who knows might be again as good, or better?
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Headphones - now, I admit not my primary listening mode or experience and although I could never be exactly sure if the loudness was exactly the same at the same volume level (and it seemed to jump a couple of points plugging in and out), I thought the 222 had a bit more energy and colour? But it was a really small difference to my ears and I am not sure I would have been confident in a blind test with some little volume adjustment?
Reading feedback from others, the NPX300 should make things significantly more convincing. However, based on what I heard with the 222 as a streamer DAC without the added external PSU, it does not appear to be a SQ upgrade in my case with my SN3+SCDR setup.
Overall, personally, I wouldn’t change the Atom HE for the 222 unless I would be prepared to go for the 222+NPX300 … which I am not. That said, with the NPX300 the 222 should be able to help move one’s system up a level, it has a great integrated phono stage and headphone amp, and it seems like a brilliant component that allows you to grow your system further.
There you go, hope of help with those big questions, with some real life experience in a home setting.