If I buy a Naim Nait 5si (CAD3,250), must I really spend over CAD5,000 for an ND5 XS2 streamer?
Would a streamer at half the cost (or less) from a different brand (such as Cambridge Audio) make such a difference if the integrated amp is as good as the 5si?
I’m on a budget so spending over CAD8,000 on both integrated amp and streamer is a bit out of my range.
Don’t rush in the tech is evolving rapidly.
Wiim and Blu sound offer some competent budget streamers that have above average user interface apps they would easily get you up and running and provide a solid benchmark to demo higher end streamers against.
The Volumio Rivo Plus is getting some good reviews as well.
Look at something like the Auralic Altair on ebay ca. Also the bluesound node or wiim plus a good dac. I’m not sure what dac models are available in ca.
No. You could be very happy with a Bluesound Node Nano for a fraction of the price.
As you move up the ladder, you might want a better streamer. For now - start small, be happy.
If you can, listen to a couple different streamers at your dealer/home demo & figure if its worth it to you. Typically the DAC will have more impact on sound vs the streamer but the streamer itself does impact the sound (you can do a streamer/dac combo or two seperate units). There are lots of options out there & by no means do you need to start with the Naim streamer. I personally have never used a Naim streamer as I’ve moved up the Naim chain. I prefer my NOS R2R DAC combined with the SimAudio Mind streamer. Other brands like Eversolo, Hifi Rose, Lumin, Innuos, Aurender & Auralic are all well liked/supported in Canada.
In my experience the DAC is a critical component in a digital system, fundamental to sound quality, second only to speakers in getting the sound right for the individual. Personally I prefer a streaming source without DAC, plus separate DAC. That way you can get the DAC that sounds best to you within whatever budget limit you have, and given that if you stream online the streaming source is likely to need updating from time to time, possibly necessitating a dew device, but without needing to also unnecessarily change the DAC. Or allowing you to upgrade the DAC without unecessarily changing the streaming source..
The streaming front end generally has much less effect on sound quality, other than if the DAC is very susceptible to RF contamination of the signal. I started my streaming journey with an ND5XS, bought ex-dem, but changed to a separate streaming music store and separate better DAC, giving more natural sound and overall costing about the same as ex-dem ND5XS plus silent NAS. That then enabled me later to upgrade just the DAC, now having what to me is the perfect DAC. Depending on your budget I’d suggest trying one of the Chord range of DACs, e.g., Qutest, and spending less on the streaming front end - whilst I haven’t tried it the Wiim Ultra gets good reviews. There are of course alternatives.
True. But the he quality of equipment feeding the dac is also important.
Don’t forget a lot of chord dac owners fork out a lot of money on an MScaler, (THREE AND A HALF GRAND) which processes the digital signal before it reaches the dac.
Interestingly observations I have read from people trying the MScaler with Dave, some have reported a marked improvement while others found little or none (and anyway MScaler is an in addition to streaming source and DAC). The differences in perceived effect of MScaler on Dave may depend on the device feeding, and also may depend on the network attached, and environment, as well as people’s ears.
But my comment was based on my experience that of the digital front end components the DAC has far more influence that the other components (do people chose MScaler plus TT, or Dave without MScaler?), importantly the DAC also affecting sound character where other components when they have an effect seem to be reported more as affecting clarity etc. And whilst the choice of streaming source might affect sound quality, I believe less so than the choice of DAC.
I’m very happy with my WiiM pro plus streamer into a Supernait 3. Sounds great and was a dream to set up. Recently added a used Naim Dac which has further improved. Total cost was under £750.
WiiM ultra should be even better and has a screen
With my Nait 5i (1st gen.) i use the on this forum not many times mentioned Nuprime Omnia WR2.
It sound good in my ears, has a remote controller and for me, a big bonus, everything can be send to a BT headphone as well.
I simply don’t want to spend too much money on devices that will be outdated in no time due to technological advances.
What difference does a streamer make?
Better clarity and detail. Poor streamer = mushy, warm and a bunched up sound with reduced detail. Instruments don’t sound as real.
I once compared two different laptops going into a DAC and they sound different. If you don’t have experience with a streamer and want to do a free evaluation, you may try different laptops feeding the DAC and run the music player (Foobar, Musicbee etc.) through Asio or Wasapi.
The sanity check with streaming as I find it streaming for the last 15 years.
You can spend thousands on a streamer, it’s power supply and cables to get you to a point where it’s hard to tell the difference between streaming and playing a cd via £500 cd transport into your dac but you can and it’s pretty much universal that cd direct is still the benchmark when it comes to moving bits around.
Buy a streamer with the understanding in maybe as little as two to four years it will be worthless and software no longer updated and supported by the manufacturer who has a new model out. If ever a case of buyer beware it’s streamers.
Spend the money on the dac it makes the biggest difference even the budget streamers sound really good these days.
Streaming is as good as the source, just as cd is.
Cd players are no better than streaming players. The DAC is the significant factor in sound quality. If you have a poor network then you won’t receive a stream and there will be no sound. If you have a cd in your local player hard wired to your amplification because you don’t have a network connection, then that is the only advantage.
Seems you are unable to read as I said cd transport and never mentioned a CD player.
I also said spend the money on a dac as it makes the most difference. Is that not what you have just said in your post?
Yes, and in fact streaming, at least from one’s own music store, can be better than CD because do read errors and associated error correction, and you can buy higher resolution music. Online might be as good as from own store, or might not. But sound quality fundamentally depends on the DAC - if not as good sounding a DAC as the CD player then the music will suffer, and if a better DAC it will sound better. And of course it is eminently possible to have a single, good DAC through which is fed a streaming source (sometimes called transport) or a CD transport.
Well I can’t vouch for any of the newer non Naim streamers but can quite categorically say that a ripped CD in FLAC sounds considerably more organic, for want of a descriptor, through my NDX2 than it did with my CDS3, and I never thought I’d say that!
my totally unsupported logitech streamers still work, as does my cambridge dac. my Nalkamichi cd player stopped working, until I replaced the belts and cleaned the lens. How many early Naim cd players have stopped working?
It’s the inconsistency I am calling out.
Yawn
I’ve owned this combo for about one to two years. The 5si is a very capable amplifier, so you will definitely notice improvements in sound quality with a more advanced DAC. I’d say the difference between the Wiim, Node, CXN v2, and ND5 XS2 is quite significant, and your 5si is fully capable of revealing that difference.
Another point - these contenders won’t give you any naimish sound. So, full Naim is a recommended start.
Actually, today I’m not sure I would upgrade the 5si again.
Naim see to agree
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