Used Naim DAC

Best of luck. You can ask @anon77199223 what he thinks of the nd5xs2>nDac combo and a few others I’m sure. Again nothing wrong at all with the nd5xs2 I lived with it alone for months until I stumbled upon a SH nDAC. I’m just a little surprised that you didn’t notice an improvement adding a nDAC.

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Maybe the Ndac needs some service? Some have reported recently that some Ndac can sound great and others average. One member returned something like 3 Ndac and kept the fourth.

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Good call frenchrooster! Maybe the firmware as well. Mine has the latest firmware.

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Maybe that too , yes. :+1:

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My Ndac is 11 years old. Logo gone dim. I dont think its a piece of kit you need servicing.
Wonder in bnc bnc was used from the ND5 into the Dac

Analogmusic

@NeilS

What parts of the NDAC get replaced during a service?

NeilSNaim Staff

Analogmusic

Jul '20

Hi, it would be all the reservoir capacitors in the power supply stage.

Regards
Neil.

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As long as one Naim source is grounded the others should be set to float.

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I wasn’t aware of any regular servicing requirements on a Naim DAC otherwise I’d have asked Darran to do it.

Mine’s powered by an XPS (Olive) - would there be any benefit to having the DAC serviced?

+1. One grounded, everything else float. I made this mistake at the outset.

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I didn’t go the Power Supply route with my Ndac. Rather tricking it up with fancy Nordost cables.
I would guess to be the same £££ outlay.
Would be very interesting to compare +PS and stock cables vs my version. :wink:

I would say not, because you use an external ps. But would ask Naim however.
Maybe @NeilS .

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Flash and dash cables do not make a fundamental difference to how the DAC operates. An external PSU essentially changes how the internal operate.

Big wheels and go faster stripes won’t make any difference to how much power a car has.
:yum:

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It does sound good without the PS IMHO. I’m trying to keep AAS ( Audio Acquisition Syndrome) or Upgradeitus at bay.

My reasoning is that it’s another box that needs special attention to do what it’s meant to do.
Fine if you have the space and pockets in baggy trousers.

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Yup, I was actually really surprised at just how good it sounds as a stand-alone DAC.

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I’m slightly turning my attention away from a PS to a TT. Rega 8 is just so tempting…

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If you get a nice TT like the P8 I doubt you’ll be listening much to the DAC anyway…

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This Ndac was stored in the dealer’s warehouse for long time. Given to me with original firmware, Front panel faded. Perhaps I should find another one. But sq is good.

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Firmware update is pretty easy to do.

This is what I’m afraid of! Nice problem to have I suppose…

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