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From Naim CDS2 to what? Streaming and CD transport??

Ewen1970

Ewen1970

The Ocean Doesn't Want Me
Ok so my beloved CDS2 could be on its last legs and I am pondering alternatives.

Just got a nice Naim streamer which of course has a built in DAC I could use and I assume retains a bit of a Naim sound.

Thoughts on a suitable CD transport that will help me get close to the CDS2 rich organic sound I like??

Have loads of CDs so the thought of trying to rip them etc gives me a headache.

All pointers welcome
 
My experience for what it"s worth. (About 22 linear metres of shelves filled with CDs at the time decisions were made, I'd done the ripping before I acquired a file-player)

Once I had fully moved from the (really rather good) Moon Mind app to Roon I no longer wanted to use the CD transport...

I'm really glad that I didn't spend a fortune on a mega CDT and that the one I did have generated a decent trade in price.

I now have a very good streamer/DAC and a 1st generation Cambridge CXU bluray/SACD etc player used essentially for making DSD files. Since Christmas I've played only 2 actual CDs and that was just to check the CXU was still working.

Ripping CDs with dbpoweramp is not that painful and doesn't have to be done in one single day/weekend/wekk/month... Ripping other silver discs is another kettle of fish.
 
uncl_nigel said:
I now have a very good streamer/DAC and a 1st generation Cambridge CXU bluray/SACD etc player used essentially for making DSD files. Since Christmas I've played only 2 actual CDs and
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So when you say good streamer and DAC, what we talking about here and will it get me a similar analogue sound to a CDS2?

thx in advance!
 
Woodface said:
Why not look at something like an Innuos Zen? Kills two birds etc, XPS can either sold or used to power another naim device?
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looks like a good bit of kit, but seems to double on some of the things this little Naim nDX5 does
 
A couple of options that are occurring to me:

Rega Apollo - nice one for sale In Classifieds and Rega can service/fix

Naim server - looks like they do them/did them
 
You could purchsse or borrow something like an Innous Zen Mini (or Bluesound Vault) which will rip all your CD's for you, and add the relevant album art and meta data. It would rip them to the internal drive, then you'd have them all stored and can either use the Zen or Vault as a media server, or put the the saved files on a Nas drive, that the Naim ND5XS2 will pick up.

Western Digital cloud drives are very basic and easy to use NAS units and fairly cheap.

You could also transfer all the rips to an external hardrive , i cant remember exactly but I think the Naim has a USB input for such purpose.

or if you go Roon , they have a Roon Nucleus server.
 
The only difference any particular transport can make is the error rate and jitter level. You won't get differences in tonality but possibly will perceive differences in clarity and timing.

If you're going to use the naim steamer's onboard dac then probably the best way to run it is by streaming.

A PC/MAC source will give a 100% accurate data stream assuming the original rip of the CD was accurate. The residual jitter is down to the design of the DAC itself and how the data is supplied to it.

Most CDs rip in just a few minutes so it isn't a huge hardship to rip them as you want to play them, particularly if you can line a few up.

In which case a suitably networked laptop with DVDRW drive becomes your transport.

A conventional transport which can do as good a job as a PC will cost you a fair amount of money. Tag Mclaren originally developed a system which read the CD in real time but the same way as a PC does, buffered and reclocked the data and sent it on to the DAC (the DVD32R and FLR not their stand alone CD transport). Similar technology is used I believe in in Audio lab CDP's, the Linn Majik CDP and the Meridian G08.

I certainly don't recommend buying anything Tag Mclaren or Audiolab make or made since I had nothing but bad experience with DVD32R reliability.
 
I’ve been using a Naim Atom for a few weeks and I’m really enjoying streaming from Tidal.

I wanted to rip my CDs so I bought an Innuos Zen Mini mk3. I’m in the process of ripping and it’s working like a charm, no probs. at all. I’m ripping about 30 CDs a day, it’s not as much faff as I thought. Mind, my collection is small at c. 400 discs. But I can highly rec. the Innuos.
 
colasblue said:
The only difference any particular transport can make is the error rate and jitter level. You won't get differences in tonality but possibly will perceive differences in clarity and timing.

If you're going to use the naim steamer's onboard dac then probably the best way to run it is by streaming.

A PC source will give a 100% accurate data stream assuming the original rip of the CD was accurate. The residual jitter is down to the design of the DAC itself and how the data is supplied to it.
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This is inaccurate. I have four transports here and they all sound different , from £500 Nodes to £4k Aries G2. All way above using a PC or Mac as a transport. I have those here too.
 
flutteringwow said:
This is inaccurate. I have four transports here and they all sound different , from £500 Nodes to £4k Aries G2.
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I didn't say all transports sound the same, you're merely observing different types and levels of imperfection in the data between them though. There's a reason I shelled out £4K on the DVD32R back in the day, which is that it was the best at minimising them. Add £2k for the original Chord DAC64 and my CDS2 retired from service.

What annoyed me is how little time that setup remained state of the art. The dac64 broke down, was fixed and moved on in favour of the original Benchmark Dac which sounded identical, cost less and was still in service 10 years later. The DVD32R was replaced by a Mediacentre PC which cost a fifth of the price and did as good a job on Audio and video plus a whole lot more (ie blu ray). Th BM was also a lot more indifferent to the choice of transport.

If your PC/Mac is connected to the Dac by any means other than a properly implemented USB2 asynchronous link then the quality of it's SP/diff/firewire or whatever interface is important as is the design of same in the receiving DAC.

Benchmark got SP/diff right in the Mk1 which meant you could get away with a great deal at the other end, but even so I found some merit in using a pro audio card in the PC (RME HDSP9632). They didn't get the USB interface completely right until the DAC3.
 
I can empathize with not wanting to rip thousands of CDs!

For CD, something like a Audiolab 6000 into a Naim nDAC with an external PS would be my suggestion. You could use the XPS from the CDS2 for the nDAC.

I've had four different transports through my house: a Cambridge CXC, the Audiolab 6000, a Meridian 500 Mk2, and an Exposure 3010S2 CD used as a tranport. I'm not yet sure if the Meridian or the Exposure is best overall - got distracted from listening to digital with the arrival of an LP12. They're pretty close, and both are noticeably better than the Cambridge and the Audiolab. The CXC and the Audiolab are both very good IMO; I'd give the edge sonically/musically to the Audiolab - it's that little bit more coherent and integrated. I also don't want to exaggerate the differences - you can hear the differences amongst the four, and you hear the different level of performance with the Meridian and the Exposure, but it's not as big a difference as going from, say, a CDX to a CDS2.

With DACs, if you want to retain some of the CDS2 sound I think you'd be wise to stay with a Naim DAC, whether the nDAC or something like a used NDS (just make sure the NDS has been, or can be, serviced - I understand the displays are prone to failure). The nDAC and NDS are broadly comparable; I prefer either of them to an NDX or NDX2 with power supply. Note I use a Pardo T-XPS with the nDAC, not a Naim XPS.

And perhaps obviously, I'd check with Naim and see if your CDS2 can be serviced one last time - it's a remarkable player.
 
Ewen1970 said:
So when you say good streamer and DAC, what we talking about here and will it get me a similar analogue sound to a CDS2?

thx in advance!
Click to expand...
I had a dCS Bartok for about 11 months and now have a dCS Rossini and clock.
The Bartok is a great one box DAC and streamer the Rossini is even greater.
When I bought the Bartok I hesitated between it and a Chord DAVE - the integrated streamer did it for me (and a better dealer coverage in SE France).
 
I replaced my cds2 with first ndx2/xpsdr
Pretty close sound wise but the ability to stream all different types of music with streaming made me forget the cds2 very quickly.
I use Qobuz which is great. Also Naim radio gives u hundreds of different stations, some in very hi res.
When I replaced the xpsdr with 555dr ps, then the winner sound wise was the streamer
No regrets.
David
 
Ewen1970 said:
Thanks guys. What about the Naim Unitiserve? Any good?..
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Yes it is, but now discontinued. They seem easy to find on popular auction sites. The UnitiCore is its successor and had some improvements (eg you specify the HD it uses).

The downside to owning one of these is that the Naim app for them, while pretty good on Apple devices, is nothing like as good on Android ones.

That aside, speaking as an ex-Naim Cd player devotee, pairing something like that with a good DAC (a Chord Qutest in my case) doesn't make me miss my CD2/CDS2/CDS3 much if at all.

The CD ripping thing (I have about the same number as you) wasn't all that painful tbh.
 
Ok so Infidelity in Kingston have a Unitiserve form£695. Good price?

am an Apple user so the app seems to be pretty straightforward
 
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