It’s a good many years since I had my Nait XS1, but it was on a rack on the opposite side of the room and I never encountered problems adjusting the volume with the remote control.
Roger
The Naits do not have the lovely 0 to 100 volume control and you’ll find that a small movement in the volume knob can change the volume significantly.
That said, the remote has two volume modes - a quick press edges the volume up or down a tiny bit, and a long press changes it a lot more. I have changed from a 272, which has the 0 to 100 arrangement, to a Supernait 3, which has a standard control, and after a little while to get used to it, I find it very easy to use.
Many thanks. That is very useful information.
I am thinking of a Naim DAC and a NAIT XS2 at the moment. Any thoughts if this will provide a significant enough upgrade over the UQ2 justifying the additional investment?
Yes, I think you will find it quite a big step up from your Unitiqute.
Quick update: I bought a pre-loved Naim DAC from a dealer here in Germany for a reasonable price in excellent condition and the latest firmware installed. The DAC arrived yesterday and first impressions are positive but I haven‘t had an intensive listening session yet. The number of inputs and remote control functionality also make it very easy to use and integrate with the rest of the system.
One minor annoyance is that there seems to be no way to switch off the front panel button illumination like for some of the Naim amplifiers.
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If you have a black series remote then long-pressing the display button will toggle the front panel lighting.
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Yes you can dim the input lights ( not logo or sync lights) using narcom 4 put remote in pre mode and press and hold display button. May work with later remote as well.
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I’m not ready to ditch CD or vinyl replay but have been thinking about putting my 2010 Mac Mini to greater use than storing my ripped CDs & vinyl code downloads into iTunes for iPhone duties. I’m guessing It would be powerful enough to try out some of the streaming platforms and then into the system via the nDac? Just wondering what would be best way to connect the 2 devices.
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I did this years ago with a Mac mini. From memory I think the old Macs had a small mini jack which is both an analogue and optical digital connector, so I think you need an optical cable with a mini connnector on one end for the Mac, and a Toslink on the other for the ndac.
From memory I think I also experimented with connecting using USB out from the Mac, but for this a special converter of some sort was needed, but I can’t remember the name.
Good luck ,Paul
Yes, exactly this. I have one of the inputs to my nDAC connected this way.
Only issue I see is that the Mac-mini’s operating system might do some sample rate conversion depending on what software you intend to use for music playback. Audirvana, for example, will take care of this aspect and ensure everything is played back bit-perfect and apply optimisations of its own to help reduce jitter.
I installed Audirvana on the Mini a while back but didn’t really do anything with it. I think I’ll hunt around the Streaming place & ask in there instead of polluting this thread but thanks for the input so far folks.
Cheers, Rack.
After buying a UQ1 a few months back for TV and second system duties, I’ve been thinking about options to add streaming to my main system. Fairly tempting to go the DAC route, could run my CD5 through it and add something like a Bluenote Node for the streaming side. A XS was in future plans too. Be interested how you go @toscana - happy listening in the meantime 
Yes, I’ve got it and it’s superb.
I compared bare nDAC to Qutest for a couple of weeks and much prefer the sonic signature of the nDAC.
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I bought a BS Node2i and it was distinctly inferior to the 272/555DR so was returned to the shop.
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I also got a Node 2i and was initially unimpressed until connected with BJC 6a and EE8 switch into my Ndac. Then it really came alive. I have a 555dr’d power supply running my CD555 but temporally connected it to my NDac. Wow…this certainly pushes the envelop.
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*Bluesound! Ta X)
What I’ve enjoyed about streaming so far is exploring and listening to new music through a hifi (UQ1 & Neat Iotas) vs in the car, or on my phone. I’ve then been buying CDs of stuff I’ve particularly liked to play on my CD5/Nait 3. I suspect a node via DAC would sound fine in that context?
I’ve also thought about a ND5XS or early NDX. Either purchase is a while off, just mulling over options.
I think it best to completely avoid the Mac’s inbuilt audio architecture. I use a Mac Mini as my music store and renderer combined, (no network streaming of my own stored music), using Audirvana software. Set up fully optimised this gives a USB output (dedicated USB bus). You will then need to convert that to S/PDIF: I used to use a Gustard U12 isolator/converter, which has USB in several outputs: electrical S/PDIF, optical and AES/EBU. It has the added benefit of RF isolation (which was my purpose in using it, originally with Hugo DAC which was very RF sensitive) - whethervthat might be an added benefit I don’t know, but it won’t make worse, and the Gustard is pretty inexpensive (around £120 last time I looked).
I once did a brief comparison of my Mac Mini setup with a Melco N1, into Dave DAC, with no evident difference.
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