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NAC n272 and Spotify dilemma

Minio

Kind of Sort of Not really...
I currently use Naim 282 2HC 250dr Neat Momentum 3i with a Cambridge Streamagic along with a CDX2 and Pink T tt.

Unsurprisingly it is the cd and vinyl that give the top performance with the amp and speakers. Using the streamer with the onboard Spotify it sounds like the shortcomings of the 320 Kbps stream are being a bit over emphasised.

I have noticed that when I use a more budget style amp like the Yamaha, from my other system, that Spotify (and internet radio) sounds more at home.

Which brings me to my question as to whether a move from 282 to n272 might be a good direction to go?

I could trade in 282 and 2HCs and SM.

Any 272 users / opinions welcome.
 
Pretty sure you’d need at least an XPS or equivalent with the 272 if you’re to avoid a dip in quality on the CD and vinyl sides vs a 282/2HC. And I’m positive that plenty of people would say you’d still be trading down even then.

Spotify sounds decent to me on my 272, and I suppose you may even like the 272’s slightly different flavour more than the 282’s (it’s all subjective, after all). But I’d have thought finding a DAC you like to fit between the Cambridge and the 282 would probably be easier and cheaper.
 
The streamer says that the stream is 320kbps. In the app the low quality option is set to off. No other option is given.

I don't think I can squeeze any more sound quality out of the box. It does sound as good as you could expect.

I guess what I'm asking is, would I get better synergy with the Naim streamer / preamp?

Given that a 282 250 system is a bit wasted on a less than ideal source.

... just read Daves post, I have a Teddy xps for the CDX2.2 so I could switch that to the 272 if I take that road.
 
I find streaming from Spotiy is great... for discovering music. Then the fifteen or twenty albums that I’ve found that i want to listen to over and over I buy be they new or old. Its a lot cheaper than trading boxes and you’re a lot further up the ladder than me. Just my experience no critisism intended. I love swapping boxes but not to get a better fidelity out of spotify.
 
Would it still be Spotify you would be streaming? I have the 272, and a Cdx and Spotify is ok for exploring but not close to CD quality or something I’d want to listen to other than as background. I pay the extra £10 for Tidal which is very convincing, in A to B testing it doesn’t quite have the sparkle of the CD, but it is very very good.
 
I agree, why invest so much in a system if the media is MP3/lossy? Just buy 2 Sonos Play 5's (or 3's) and there sub.
 
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I understand your desire to get Spotify sounding better as I really like Spotify. My main system was not in use for over a year and i started using Spotify on Naim Muso and through my phone into a midi hifi. I think it is fantastic way to listen to music. I love the discover weekly feature and the way you can find similar artists and go down wormholes of listening to lots of music. I think it is like a cool music loving service that I want to use. I tried Qobus but its like a boring music nerd who seems to be about new audiophile type music. I tried the free Tidal trial for a month last year through the Muso and Midi system and the quality differences were small but I disliked that it seemed to just promote its hip hop artists over music discovery.
I plan to get main Hifi system working and upgraded and I have old Naim 62 with 90 power amp and a HIcap through old castle speakers and a chromecast and I can tell a difference between Qobus and Spotify. But I really enjoy using Spotify and would like to continue using it. I wonder if a different dac would help cover up its shortcomings.
I was listening to Portishead the other night comparing Qobus and Spotify through the Chromecast and liked both but other recordings the differences were greater.
I will follow this with interest.
 
The NAC-N 272 is good but not as good as a NAC 282, which means that it will reign back the performance of your other components a little. Why not invest in a better streamer or a DAC to sit between your existing streamer and NAC 282? You might also consider giving one of the lossless streaming services a try.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone.

My take on it is that the 282 with the 2 HCs is a bit over ambitious for the source when it is an SM and Spotify. I have, in effect 3 psus on the 282 which are like turbochargers on what otherwise would be a simple volume control.

Hence I find the results using the lower budget Yamaha amp a more natural partner to the Streamagic, with better synergy, resulting in more relaxed listening.

I will look into dac possibilities and Tidal or quobuz as well.
 
I would look at Tidal or Qobuz lossless streams rather than Spotify. It’s a shame, because I think Spotify is the best of the online streaming services in all respects except sound quality, but that’s the way it is.
Regarding Naim sources, I wouldn’t bother with a 272 in your system. Even with an XPS, which improves it a lot, it is behind an NDX (without external PSU) plus 282 to my ears.
 
The streamer says that the stream is 320kbps. In the app the low quality option is set to off. No other option is given.

I don't think I can squeeze any more sound quality out of the box. It does sound as good as you could expect.

I guess what I'm asking is, would I get better synergy with the Naim streamer / preamp?

Given that a 282 250 system is a bit wasted on a less than ideal source.

... just read Daves post, I have a Teddy xps for the CDX2.2 so I could switch that to the 272 if I take that road.

The Spotify app should give you the option of setting the level to very high.
Mine does through Muso.
 
No volume levelling. I do it myself with the remote. I notice how more recent and remastered tracks are twice as loud as older original versions.

Music quality is unalterable at automatic in my app. The sound quality of Spotify is not so much the issue for me. It's more a matter of preference regarding the amplifier to use.
 


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