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DAC Dilemma

if the choice is borderpatrol, i would suggest checking the Metrum Amethyst. Great price and even better quality. Order directly through the webshop, if you do not like it send it back, no restocking fees.
 
Interesting thread. It is noticeable that both the recommendations of the Border Patrol and Metrum Amethyst, that they are both NOS.

R.
 
nos rules imo!

the amethyst if i read correct, will also have mqa soon, in my opinion that's a great deal. there is a new review on the amethyst at the site as well
 
Pardon my ignorance but what's mqa?
The Amethyst is half the price of the Onyx; it would be good to know how they compare sonically
 
Pardon my ignorance but what's mqa?

Last year's latest and greatest digital format, pushed upon us by record companies who love the copy protection and of course by Meridian who was running out of licensing revenue.
 
Has to be a Beresford Caiman SEG delivers staggering performance for not a lot

... I have one no longer in use (purchased last Christmas for use with Chromecast Audio, which I eventually got fed up with (kept dropping signal), so now wire my iPhone 6+ directly to amp analog connections; JVC amp has built in DAC for CD player digital). I will be over from NL this Christmas, so could bring it over... (I will get around to placing it in the Classifieds section "one of these days..."). Hope not breaking forum rules by mentioning item for sale....
 
If I can go off left field as it were... the NDX has an extremely capable DAC but as a stand alone unit one hampered by an underengineered power-supply. I have only heard it with Naim's own power-supplies, but have very little doubt that a Teddy XPS (which seems an obvious choice in the context of your system) would be similarly transformative.

I would certainly ask Teddy what his thoughts are on this vs his DAC, he is a very straightforward guy.

I wouldn't consider hanging a DAC off the back of the NDX, it would be a poor use of the amount of money tied up in it; if you do go down the DAC route the digital feed from the UnitiServe. Through a properly engineered DAC it should sound identical!

I emailed Teddy
He said that he’d received several customer reports who said that the TeddyDAC sounds better than an NDX with a TeddyXPS.
Looks like the NDX is going.
 
I emailed Teddy
He said that he’d received several customer reports who said that the TeddyDAC sounds better than an NDX with a TeddyXPS.

Funny that :)

Cant help but think the listening fatigue you mentioned up thread has more to do with the voicing of and/or interaction of your speakers with your listening position rather than the DAC in the NDX.

I find that hard mid/upper bass due to aggressive speaker voicing can quickly cause listening fatigue and make high frequencies sound shrill, especially when playing load/compressed recordings. Bass peaks in the lower bass and poor phase response will also cause the type of distortion that leads to listening fatigue. A DAC wont solve this but maybe NOS DAC's might paper over some of the cracks by reducing resolution.
 
Funny that :)

Very funny, a hi-fi manufacturer suggesting to a customer that the cheaper of two options he has enquired about might be the better one... Has the world gone mad? :D

Good point about the speakers though, I don't think you ever mentioned what they were Billsie? Whereabouts are you? If you're anywhere near York and fancy a spare pair of hands to play with positioning etc, hit me up!
 
Very funny, a hi-fi manufacturer suggesting to a customer that the cheaper of two options he has enquired about might be the better one... Has the world gone mad? :D

Well, I was thinking more along the lines that he would say that wouldn't he rather than price. I'd imagine his DAC's probably do sound very similar to the NDX so maybe the OP saves some cash even after factoring in a streaming solution. I just don't think changing a DAC is the answer to listening fatigue, IMHO.
 
Hi, thanks for the further posts.
The new amps have really improved things and the sound is far more detailed, enjoyable and easy to listen to. I have changed my speakers since the OP. I did have Linn Ninkas and now have Revel F208s (I listened to quite a few pairs in the price range and the Revels to me sounded the most complete). The sound now is very enjoyable but not quite as involving as I’d like. Before I bought the NDX, I had a CDX2 and I found that more exciting and involving (I moved to a new house where there isn’t the space to practically store 100s of CDs so digital storage and a streamer seemed the best option. I didn’t ask the right questions at the time though as I really didn’t need to have bought the NDX and could have bought a standalone DAC and connected it directly to the UServe). It may be that I need to stop now rather than chasing some elusive dream but there is advice on the main Naim site about improving the sound of the NDX with a Naim DAC along with posts on the Naim forum. I then read the customer reviews on the Teddy Pardo site and it got me thinking about buying a standalone DAC. Hence my OP asking for some advice about options.
 
I heard a CDX2 against an NDX. CDX2 by a mile.
Beresford Caiman made them both sound better (or was it just the NDX as we didn't try the CDX2....)
 
Billsie
I have a similar Teddy set up to yours, I do have the Teddy Dac. My digital sources are SBT and CDX2/TXPS.
Firstly I prefer the Squeezebox touch/Teddy Dac set up over the CDX2/TXPS. The CD player doesn’t have a digital out
So I couldn’t pair CDX with the Teddy Dac. However the squeezebox Teddy Dac combination delivered a analog sound free from any digital harshness.
Secondly, if you do decide to go with the Teddy Dac The asynchronous module is well worth adding.
 
if the choice is borderpatrol, i would suggest checking the Metrum Amethyst. Great price and even better quality. Order directly through the webshop, if you do not like it send it back, no restocking fees.

Another contender is the Audial Model S.
 
Interesting thread. It is noticeable that both the recommendations of the Border Patrol and Metrum Amethyst, that they are both NOS.

R.

This is because they sound more natural, like an analogue source. Some even get close to modern digital resolution too, without sounding hard or flat, good NOS is very 3D, like a good record player. It also manages to preserve leading edges and harmonics of the music better, at the expense of varying degrees of treble rolloff depending on the implementation.
 
Separate DACs had their ascendancy at beginning of CD, when having a separate box for everything was seen as 'better'. They faded a bit until streaming/streamers etc. replaced CDRs and even vinyl for some. Suddenly a way to improve your streaming experience appeared... They are mostly just cashing in on a manufactured market. I've gone from using an original Benchmark DAC1 with a mahoosive TEAC P30 transport, back to a Rotel RCD 965 BX. Sometimes with the Benchmark. Sometimes not. I can't decide. And the DAC in my Yamaha CD-R is no slouch either..., but none beat my Orbe/Audiomods/Dynavector/EAR vinyl set up, via my LFD amp and Rogers speakers. YMMV.

D
 
I used the TeddyDAC with my Naim setup for a couple years. After a lot of back & forth thinking I took the plunge & tried the Metrum Musett (not a huge loss if it wasn't for me). To these ears a noticeable step up from the Teddy DAC (& in my location basically the same cost, actually the Musett may have been less) & the first time that I have heard a DAC make an easily noticeable difference. Liked it so much that I swapped it for the Menuet (same sound signature, just more of it all around with the biggest change probably in additional detail).
 
I wouldn't consider hanging a DAC off the back of the NDX, it would be a poor use of the amount of money tied up in it; if you do go down the DAC route the digital feed from the UnitiServe. Through a properly engineered DAC it should sound identical!
Have to disagree with this, external PSU does improve the NDX but using something like a Chord Hugo on it makes it a far more capable player. I ended up selling my PSX once i had Hugo installed.

To the OP, you need to demo as many as possible in your own system. What sounds good in one system may not in another.

Best
 


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