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Naim NDAC still decent?

I think the thing with the Ndac is that while there might be DACs that are more insightful, the Naim makes me feel like i'm in the front row of the audience rather than halfway back the auditorium.
In my experience Naim amps do that. Interesting that the DAC sound that way as well.
 
In my experience Naim amps do that. Interesting that the DAC sound that way as well.

Well it's possible that's the result of the XS2. I will post some thoughts on comparisons between the XS2 and the Orton tomorrow. I have had an Orton in my system on demo a couple of years ago and recall it having all the presentation and timing of the Naim, but was weightier in the bass and generally more refined sounding
 
Probably a bit late to this discussion but I feel that if something was genuinely decent when it was new, it always will be provided it’s in good working order... now whether a product as good or better has come along since that can be had cheaper is another question altogether... but I have a much older DAC in daily use, it’s a Linn Numerik, serial number is 126, making it late 1991/early 1992 (albeit upgraded to final 1998 spec) and serviced about five years ago. It’d be worth about £350 on the secondhand market and I haven’t heard anything else yet that I like more for that money... so I say if you like how the Naim sounds, buy it, it’s not going to plummet in value and well, if it does it for you, it’s money well spent.
 
Well it's possible that's the result of the XS2. I will post some thoughts on comparisons between the XS2 and the Orton tomorrow. I have had an Orton in my system on demo a couple of years ago and recall it having all the presentation and timing of the Naim, but was weightier in the bass and generally more refined sounding
I tried the Nait XS in my system 8 years ago, and I currently have the Sonneteer Orton in my secondary system. Having compared the Orton to the larger Naim separates (202/200 and 282/250DR), I would expect the Orton to show higher refinement, detail and sophistication than the Nait XS2 if it's not too far off from the XS in sound quality. Yes, the Orton's timing is quite close to the Naim. The refinement of the Orton will show.
 
... but I have a much older DAC in daily use, it’s a Linn Numerik, serial number is 126, making it late 1991/early 1992 (albeit upgraded to final 1998 spec) and serviced about five years ago. It’d be worth about £350 on the secondhand market and I haven’t heard anything else yet that I like more for that money...

Numerik vs. nDAC-XPS......now that would be an interesting comparison. Numerik into NAC82 & Active SBLs and nDAC-XPS into Kairn & Aktiv Briks. Couple of RPi-based streamers as sources, and a case of beer. Happy daze!
 
Numerik vs. nDAC-XPS......now that would be an interesting comparison. Numerik into NAC82 & Active SBLs and nDAC-XPS into Kairn & Aktiv Briks. Couple of RPi-based streamers as sources, and a case of beer. Happy daze!
It would be Interesting. I’d expect the nDAC would be better but who knows? If I had access to active SBLs or Briks, I’d definitely be up for it.
 
It would be Interesting. I’d expect the nDAC would be better but who knows? If I had access to active SBLs or Briks, I’d definitely be up for it.

I might try it over the next few months....the nDAC will drop straight into the Briks system, but I’d need to knock up a RCA-DIN cable for the Numerik-NAC82 connection. Retirement might be fun after all :)
 
I might try it over the next few months....the nDAC will drop straight into the Briks system, but I’d need to knock up a RCA-DIN cable for the Numerik-NAC82 connection. Retirement might be fun after all :)
Please keep me posted if you do this!
 
I tried the Nait XS in my system 8 years ago, and I currently have the Sonneteer Orton in my secondary system. Having compared the Orton to the larger Naim separates (202/200 and 282/250DR), I would expect the Orton to show higher refinement, detail and sophistication than the Nait XS2 if it's not too far off from the XS in sound quality. Yes, the Orton's timing is quite close to the Naim. The refinement of the Orton will show.

This is pretty much exactly inline with my findings. Picked up the Orton yesterday and it is a lot more refined sounding than the XS2. It has much better control over the bass too, but the presentation is still quite forward and lively. The change is more significant than I expected, the D20Rs are a very good match with this amp. But I'll do a thread with a proper comparison after a bit more listening.
 
A mouse & Roon from my PC is the safe option after a beer or two, saves damaging my LP collection. I agree with Paul earlier in this thread about the Khandas Toneboard, sadly also discontinued now, although I have one ;)
Maybe I need to try a TP USB power supply? Who knows?
 
For me the performance with the nDAC changed dramatically when I took grater care of the digital source feeding it. Something I did not expect, really; it's all 1s and 0s after all, right?

I originally got an nDAC in 2016 and used a RaspberryPi with an onboard HifiberryDIGI+ board installed (giving SPDIF out) as source, and a local HDD as my music library. I moved from a CDX & XPS. It all sounded OK but rather 'generic'. These were the source components then:

[RaspberryPi + HifiberryDIGI+ & RuneAudioSoftware] >>>SPDIF>>> [nDAC + XPS]

I lived with that setup for 2 years but was never entirely happy. I did in fact try three other 'killer' DACs from different manufacturers around that time and they all disappointed.

I had heard about the importance of digital source quality with the nDAC from a local Naim dealer (sales pitch alerts rang obviously) but I did not want to splash out on some extravagant source like NDX... I also could not trust the HifiberryDIGI+ board completely, which had had some sync issues anyway - I had to go through a few boards to get one which synced with the nDAC properly.

I decided to experiment some more with the digital source. I introduced Teddy Pardo's U2S USB to S/PDIF converter to take the Raspberry's USB feed out without having to rely on any conversion boards of dubious quality. The source component chain changed to:

[RaspberryPi & RuneAudioSoftware] >>>USB>>> [Teddy Pardo's U2S] >>>SPDIF>>> [nDAC + XPS]

Feeding nDAC straight out of the USB with the U2S in the middle completely transformed the sound. I am glad I did not give up after the initial disappointment. Almost assumed, after coming from CD spinning, that it was just the nature of present-day DACs.

nDAC stayed in that setup & I stopped looking for other source alternatives. This was around 2018, have just been listening to music since.

EDIT: I completely forgot that there actually is yet another little device which was introduced later and plugged directly into TeddyPardo's U2S: Ifi Audio iPurifier 2.

It was originally included with the U2S (a 2nd hand sale). I somehow forgot I had it, though, and plugged it in one day in 2020 to make sure it worked as I wanted to sell it (I did try using it with some of DACs I tested prior and not really hearing much difference it had been abandoned in a drawer). Again, to my surprise, it had a positive effect on the sound, which probably showed: a) how noisy the the raspberry Pi's USB output actually was and b) that the nDAC was sensitive enough to pick up on fine differences in the digital feed chain.

For the sake of completeness I should also mention that raspberry Pi is powered by a dedicated PSU, which replaced a standard cheapo psu plug almost right from the start in 2016.

The source component chain is actually:

[RaspberryPi & RuneAudioSoftware, powered by Tomanek ULPS mini] >>>USB>>> [Ifi iPurifier 2 & Teddy Pardo's U2S] >>>SPDIF>>> [nDAC + XPS]


Could it be done in one box? I would like to hope so (!) but probably for much more money, especially if one was to stick to Naim streaming options. The gradual discovery process has also been an interesting and enjoyable learning experience!
 
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I have a nDAC with a Pardo TXPS. I enjoy it.

I recently compared it to a current Benchmark, Bryston, and a Denafrips Terminator. I preferred the nDAC and kept it. For me, it was just a bit more quietly authoritative and all of a piece. That said, I wouldn’t argue if someone preferred one of the others.

Still an excellent DAC.
 


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