I’ve been doing a lot of research and it looks like it could be time to retire the NDS. I’d love a solution that allows me to use Roon natively rather than having to use bridges etc. I’m also hoping that advances in technology will give my system a new lease of life. Have huge strides been made since the NDS came out ?
Any advise would be gratefully received.
The problem is only money. To have a streamer with similar or better sound than Nds and with Roon integration, you will have to spend at minimum 10k.
The new Naim streamers are a step ahead of the old models in sound quality, as well as giving you access to more higher quality digital material such as lossless iRadio and 24 bit Qobuz.
To improve on your NDS means getting an ND555. Another possible approach would be to get a cheaper Naim streamer such as an ND5XS2, which gives you all of the new functionality of the ND555, and use it as a transport into a separate DAC.
I dont mind at all using the little Sonore upnp bridge with my Qute2. I use it with Roon and it’s great. I dont use any online streaming services at the moment. Unless you’re really itching to spend $$, it would be well worth trying it as it’s quite inexpensive comparatively!
+1 for the ND5XS2 running in transport mode to breathe new life into your NDS.
I’m using a pi4 running rooUpNp which works well but I like simplicity - less to go wrong.
I had planned to upgrade to an ND555 after lockdown but there is no local support so that’s not really an option any more.
Has anyone compared any of the new high-end dacs to the ND555 (Denefrips Terminator, Halo May, DSC Bartok, Chord Dave with MScaler etc) ? The Halo May is getting rave reviews at the moment.
I’m happy to spend the equivalent of the ND555, the problem is I’ve been inside the Naim ecosystem for so long I don’t know where to start.
Not sure it will be better sounding, at least for local files.
The Nd5xs2 is the new streaming platform, but the Nds was however the top streamer at Naim 3 years ago.
Should be interesting to compare Nds vs Nd5xs2 into Nds used as a Dac. For now no one made that comparing.
There’s the new streaming platform and there are 2 products which are absolutely not in the same league.
A majority find that the Nds is still the second streamer after the Nd555. So better vs the Ndx2.
In the Nds, both the streamer and dac share a top level construction, decoupled on brass platform, specially isolated from noise……The streamer is not a crap, even if old platform.
I feel a lot are just repeating what one member says about the subject.
But who really compared Nds alone vs Nd5xs2 into Nds dac? Nobody.
I’ve been looking at similar questions and if you have the NDS, to improve within Naim only I believe you may need the ND555 if you can justify the cost of retiring the NDS in this way. Given the costs of updating to ND555 though, with just adding a good transport my bet is you might get 99% (well thereabouts…). Naim does not offer a streamer only but any decent similar level other will do as long as the functionality is there, and you have more flexibility in the future as well?
Isn’t it NDS+transport (ok nd5XS2) vs ND555?
It can be. But the first step would be to know if Nd5xs2 into Nds dac sounds better or not vs Nds alone.
I’m also surprised no one has mentioned doing this. My thought would be better(more stable/reliable) connections on the digital side which should translate to a better SQ than the NDS alone. Just my opinion.
The difference in stability is towards specially the online streaming sites, like Tidal and Qobuz.
Honestly I can’t say which would be better, but absolutely not sure it would be the pairing combo.
Should be interesting to know.
Mr. frenchrooster, you my friend should try it for the good of the community! lol
You are so close since you have a NDS/555DR
Allez les Blues!
Perhaps your dealer has a second hand Nds and you could try too ?
That’s exactly what I intended to do but we no longer have a local dealer so I’m exploring other options.
I could be wrong but I have a feeling @Bluesfan may have compared the ND555 with other DAC’s and streaming solutions a while back. He maybe able to provide some input that may help you.
Hi @anon23154165 ,
Here’s a link to my journey from CDS3/555PSDR to an ND555 or equivalent streaming set up:
A journey from CDS3 to high end streaming
Best regards, BF
I use RPi4 + SMSL Su9 for streaming + DAC.
Tried the ND555 at my dealer a number of times, I actually don’t think it’s any better than my humble £500 setup.
Whouah, the Nd555 must be a piece of s…then 