Media Server Reviews

Naim ND5 XS 2 media player Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Garrard 301, Thorens TD 124 turntables; Audio-Creative GrooveMaster II, EMT 997, Sorane ZA-12 tonearms; EMT TSD 15, Ortofon SPU Century & SPU Wood A, Shindo Laboratory SPU pickup heads.
Digital Source: Hegel Music Systems Mohican CD player.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2 step-up transformers, Shindo Laboratory Monbrison (2017) preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion.
Loudspeakers: Altec Flamenco, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93.
Cables: Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Luna Red, Shindo Laboratory. Speaker: Auditorium 23, Luna Red. AC: manufacturers' stock.
Accessories: Box Furniture Company D3S rack (source & amplification components), Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl Cleaner Pro.—Art Dudley

COMPANY INFO
Naim Audio, Ltd.
US distributor: Audio Plus Services
156 Lawrence Paquette Drive
Champlain, NY 12919-4861
(800) 663-9352
www.naimaudio.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on March 19, 2019 - 12:10pm

PITA? ..... Pita bread? :-) .........

Charles E Flynn's picture
Submitted by Charles E Flynn on March 20, 2019 - 2:18pm

Go to this page:

https://www.naimaudio.com/product/nd5-xs-2

Scroll down to the section "Technology & Craft".

Try to place your mouse pointer at the left end of the photo of the rear panel, halfway up. You see the image become magnified (very nicely done). Move the mouse pointer to your right, until you come to Digital Inputs. The RCA input with the orange ring has a small 3 under it. It could be argued that the text "Digital Inputs" is above the inputs so the text cannot be obscured by a protruding RCA jack. If there were a bit more room, the numerals identifying the individual inputs could also be above them.

Below the serial number barcode there appears:

PLEASE READ THE MANUAL BEFORE USE

Stephen Scharf's picture
Submitted by Stephen Scharf on March 20, 2019 - 12:09am

I too am always intrigued by what NAIM is up to, but man, I gotta say...the prices for this gear is getting way outta control. $3500? For a delta-sigma DAC? And to top it off, to use the ND5 XS 2, its owner *must* have a smartphone or tablet computer. C'mon. I know you guys hear this all the time, but still...this stuff is way overpriced. Hey, we want you to drop 3 1/2 large on this streamer with a $6 D/S DAC chip in it, and oh BTW, you can't control it unless you have dropped another $300-$1000 on a phone or tablet. Seriously?

I'm starting to be fully in the camp of Schiit Audio...there needs to be more great gear that is priced at 3 figures, not 4 or 5. Seriously, what does a machined-from-billet front panel contribute to functionality? All it does is drive the cost of scrap up, and thereby, the cost is passed on to the customer.

I know NAIM makes really great gear, I've heard it first-hand on some first-class systems, including Dynaudio and Magico.

But, I'm gonna wait for what Schiit Audio does for a Pi-based streamer given they can now do their own genuine in-house USB implementation. It will likely sound as good as this NAIM and sell for ~$500 or less.

doug beechwood's picture
Submitted by doug beechwood on March 20, 2019 - 7:14am

The piece is Imported, and thusly goes through a Distributor. The Distributor just had a name change to Focal Naim America. Their website roster lists 32 warm bodies (not including the warehouse staff) occupying a zooty office.

That number of people will generate a healthy monthly nut just in payroll. And we know where that cash flow will come from; retail margins.

https://www.audioplusservices.com/our-team

Eclipse's picture
Submitted by Eclipse on March 20, 2019 - 8:59am

FYI - Begs the question is a term that is used to mean that someone has made a conclusion based on a premise that lacks support.

dc_bruce's picture
Submitted by dc_bruce on March 20, 2019 - 2:32pm

And, frankly, the reproduction of sine and square waves looks like what you commonly see in JA's reviews of digital stuff from 10 years ago. I know, I know, measurements and such don't matter, etc., etc., but Art kinda damned this one with faint praise.

To be specific, the comparison should be with the Simaudio Moon 280D DAC with the MiNd unit (streamer) installed. I was at a dealer about a year ago, who offered his demo ND5 XS at the same price as the Simaudio unit ($2700). That was a discount for the Naim unit, but was list price for Simaudio. I personally preferred the sound of the Simaudio, which also had the virtue of handling DSD, which version 1 of the Naim did not IIRC. Moreover, if you buy the Simaudio, you get their MiNd app, which is a pretty fair substitute for Roon, for those who don't want to pay another $500 or so for that software.

Finally, FWIW, Michael Lavorgna, late of Audiostream, was pretty fond of the Simaudio unit, although I don't believe he ever reviewed the ND5 XS.

Solarophile's picture
Submitted by Solarophile on March 20, 2019 - 2:49pm

This device performs like machines a decade ago. The most likely reason is that it is based on a rather old TI PCM1791A DAC which itself was released more than a decade back. No matter how great the analog circuitry around it, the resolution cannot go beyond the limits of that chip.

The only features that looks 2010's is the Roon/Chromecast/Spotify/Tidal endpoint ability and the upper limits of samplerate (384kHz PCM and DSD128).

filmfresser's picture
Submitted by filmfresser on March 22, 2019 - 12:17pm

The Naim streamer might sound great but how is it a great value when you can purchase something like the Sonore ultraRendu, Allo DigiOne Signature, or the entry-level streamers from Auralic that offer so much more for the money. I've owned Naim digital gear in the past and while it sounded fine, it wasn't very competitive to other CD players that were cheaper. Having had the chance to listen to the new Naim, it's not as plug-n-play as it should be, and I heard very little to make one want to upgrade from the Sonore or even the Innuos ZenMini MK III that is cheaper and a Roon-Core device as well.

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