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Naim NDS vs ND555

S

sunbeamgls

pfm Member
Had the pleasure of the comparison of NDS vs ND555 at Acoustica last night.

System was Core / NAC552 / 300DR into B&W 803D3 with SuperLumina throughout. NDS / 555DR vs ND555 / 555DR swapping the interconnect between the sources (hence keeping the same input on the pre). All electronics on Fraim. Chord C-Stream for ethernet. Nice to see the continuation of the green logo. For me, pleased that they weren't using end of the upper range of Focal speakers.

Notes here: https://audiophilemusings.blogspot.com/2018/06/naim-nd555-new-top-of-range-streamer.html
 
I heard the same comparison at Signals the other evening. The difference between the NDS and ND555 was quite marked, a nicer, more relaxed and natural sound from the latter. Unfortunately, being charitable, the speakers, big Focal ECO somethings, £45K a pair, were not to my taste. I've never been a fan of Naim digital streamer kit, so the only meaningful comparison for me would be ND vs. my Chord DAVE/Melco combination, with the addition of the Chord Blu2 upscaler - a much cheaper option.
 
Tony, the Chord Dave/Melco & Chord Blu2 is about the same price as the Naim ND555/555PS so not much in it.

How did the ND555 compare with your Chord Dave?
 
Jonn said:
Tony, the Chord Dave/Melco & Chord Blu2 is about the same price as the Naim ND555/555PS so not much in it.

How did the ND555 compare with your Chord Dave?
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Not if you add in a Melco as the source of the music files John. The ND was using the Naim Core as their source. It's impossible to tell how the ND compares with Dave from that demo. I'd need to trial the two side by side in my own system to deduce that.

Worth mentioning that chord are going to produce the Blu2 less the CD- playing gubbins, at lesser cost.
 
The Signals demo, for me, reinforced the convention that home demos are important. I'd love to try the ND555 in my lowly system, but they'd have to take two digits off the price for me right now.

Why were there such pregnant pauses between tracks? Is that normal?
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Good question. I really don't know, but it disrupted the flow of things, didn't it?
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Were the pregnant pauses amongst the expectant listeners, or is it that the new streamers can have issues supporting gapless playback in some cases. This is a known issue with some of Naim's other new streamers, which they are currently seeking to resolve.
 
Whatsisnaim said:
Were the pregnant pauses amongst the expectant listeners, or is it that the new streamers can have issues supporting gapless playback in some cases. This is a known issue with some of Naim's other new streamers, which they are currently seeking to resolve.
Click to expand...
What's that got to do with it?
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Not if you add in a Melco as the source of the music files John. The ND was using the Naim Core as their source. It's impossible to tell how the ND compares with Dave from that demo. I'd need to trial the two side by side in my own system to deduce that.

Worth mentioning that chord are going to produce the Blu2 less the CD- playing gubbins, at lesser cost.
Click to expand...

Melco; Some time ago I heard the beneficial sonic effects of inserting a Melco into an NDS system, using a UServe source. The use of a Melco in the NDS based system would have been, for me, a no-brainer. I wonder whether ND555 will be improved the same way.

Upscaler; Having heard the benefits of, and improvements wrought by, the upscaler (in a Melco/Dave system), but as part of a CD transport I wondered the same. Good to hear that the upscaler will be produced as a separate box, but one wonders why it would not be part of the input on a Dave, or other Chord DAC?

Melco + upscaler + suitable DAC looks like it could be a real threat to ND555 and a possible replacement should our CD player ever die.
 
najb said:
Good to hear that the upscaler will be produced as a separate box, but one wonders why it would not be part of the input on a Dave, or other Chord DAC?
.
Click to expand...
Indeed! I'd be most surprised if Chord didn't at some stage incorporate said upscaler into a Dave-type DAC (a David, perhaps?) at greater cost no doubt.
 
sunbeamgls said:
Had the pleasure of the comparison of NDS vs ND555 at Acoustica last night.

System was Core / NAC552 / 300DR into B&W 803D3 with SuperLumina throughout. NDS / 555DR vs ND555 / 555DR swapping the interconnect between the sources (hence keeping the same input on the pre). All electronics on Fraim. Chord C-Stream for ethernet. Nice to see the continuation of the green logo. For me, pleased that they weren't using end of the upper range of Focal speakers.

Notes here: https://audiophilemusings.blogspot.com/2018/06/naim-nd555-new-top-of-range-streamer.html
Click to expand...


I confess I've little interest in Naim equipment as such. But in more general terms, I'd be more curious about how the ND555 compares with their top-end CD transport?
 
The question of NDS v ND555 v CD555 was discussed. Company line was that ND555 is the superior source, with the CD555 being in contention with a perfectly concentric, correct thickness and c.63 mins (maybe 67, didn’t write the figure down - related to avoiding compression in any case) CD - and obviously then limited to Redbook resolution.
 
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