Is there a big demand from existing Naim owners though ? The Headline, as good as it was, seems not to be missed that much and always seemed to be an add on to a existing system to give a headphone capability when needed rather than be the centre of a dedicated HP rig.
I’d love to see (and hear !) what Naim could come up with given a bigger budget and case size but I can’t see this happening soon.
Richard, I purchased a pair of Elear headphones from my local Naim dealer and in the instruction Manuel the recommended Headphone Amplifier at the time was a DAC V1.
As I wanted a headphone Amplifier with a remote volume control I did a deal for an ex demo DAC V1 it works well.
Yes, the DAC-V1 was a great choice if you wanted a combined DAC and headphone amp. Only problem for some was the lack of any analogue input.
All this talk off a headphone amp and then adding a 555 power supply, why?
I very much doubt a headphone amp would need all the power rails a 555 can offer, as there not much in the naim range that actually uses all the 555 can offer, and i see no reason to have an expensive power supply and then just use 2 power rails, etc from it, pointless really and extremely poor valve for money.
For me a full size one box, that has a good power supply built in, is truly balanced, powerful so it can drive any headphone.
As i don’t want multi boxes, especially since having the violectic V281, and its simple plug and play, and great sound quality, out the box.
Simplicity, neat, and great quality is what we need, not a £7000 headphone amp / power supply, unless you only want to sell a handful at best, as like i said the competition is strong, but with the right product, and price, it will sell.
I read the 555 suggestions more like tongue-in-cheek, similar to a recent suggestion in the 8Switch thread to try a 555 with the EE
Only use one 555 with suggested new Naim headphone amp?
I’d like to think they allow a buyer to add at least 2 !
Will we need a separate one to power the logo independently?
I use my Focal Utopias with a Headline 2 and a 15 year old unserviced SuperCap. I bought it 2nd hand and it cost about 1500 euro. It sounds fantastic in my system. I hope Naim will offer a Superheadline that can be powered by a SuperCap. That seems to me the natural progression of things in the world of Naim. I live in Berlin, and before Berlin I lived in Oslo. In both cities real estate is very expensive, and for me it makes sense to have a very good headphone setup. I have used it a lot more lately due to the pandemic.
Now if Naim does not offer a Superheadline I will just keep what I have and still be very happy with it. It’s a win win for me I guess!
Surprised your using a very expensive and top end headphone, with the highline, even if you are powering it from 2 rails from a supercap, you could get so much more out off them cans, but if your happy then i guess why not
I am very happy with it. I am sure things can always be bettered. I had the SuperCap in storage when I got the Utopias. I demoed the Utopias with an Ayre Codex amp/dac using my iPhone and Tidal as a source. That was great, but integrating the headphones into my existing Naim system using the Headline 2 was for me a much better solution. I also use it for vinyl with an LP12 with ARO. All Naim with me. I also really like how having all Naim boxes look in my system. Although I have many boxes, they all share the same design. I could be tempted to try out another headphone amp to compare, but since I am unlikely to buy it feels like a potential waste of my own and a dealers time.
It’s just one rail utilised for the headline unfortunately.
Even worse then, as i did think it was only 2.
To me it still sounds very good. I might have read about how the SuperCap works on the Headline but I really do not care:-) Have you guys heard the Headline 2 with a SuperCap and Focal Utopias on a 552/ND555 system (with two 555 PSs)?
No one’s saying it doesn’t sound any good. That’s a rather nice system so I’m glad you enjoy your headphone setup !
I am very pleased with it yes:-) It would be interesting if anyone had the same system with the same setup and who found a much better alternative. But for me, even more interesting if Naim would offer a Superheadline which uses all the rails on the SuperCap.
Yep- there is a lot of potential there. Who knows what 2021 may bring…
Real estate in Berlin being “very expensive” is a very Berlinian perspective 
I was just surprised that your using a headline on them headphones.
I have had a headline 1 and 2, on different occasions running from my 552, highcap and a supercap, into different headphones, from grado to hd800s.
The headline is fine up to a point, and i dont thing it is up to your headphones, and will be holding them back.
I now use a violectic V281 as it suits my hd800s very well, even running this set up through the 552 had a negative impact on sound, so i now run it directly from my dac.
But your happy, just think you might well get a wow moment, if you go demo a few other headphone amps, thats all
Thanks for the input! I did consider Violectric 3 years ago. I will see if I can do a demo at one point. There is a dealer in Berlin which might have a 552/555 system in the shop. I can then bring my own headphones. Or I might find a preloved Violectric HA, buy it, test it at home for as long as I feel like and either keep it or sell it off. But for now I am very happy with how things are. I kinda go by the if it aint broke way of doing things. Sort of…