120 vs Supernait/HDX

[PhilP]

I've yet to hear a streamer that engages me like the CD player does. Lots of detail. Lots of air but nothing genuinely engaging to the extent that I sit there; close my eyes and find myself tapping my fingers or feet.

I know exactly what you mean. However I believe with the totaldac d1 server I may have finally cracked it.

Each time I hear a Devialet with a decent CD transport it always strikes me how good it sounds. And I say this as a die-hard streaming nut who gave up on CDs in 2008. Some of the high-end CD players sound fantastic now, it pains me to say it!

Guillaume

I would also tend to agree - I certainly found rock and electronic music less engaging through the NDX than the CDX2. The sound from the NDX (even using its own DAC) is certainly more-detailed but the excitement wasn't there.

I would differentiate between using a streamer's internal DAC (if it has one) and just using it as a 'digital hub'. For some reason I think the DAC implementations in the Naim streamers are not particularly good (NDS apart) - even Naim say the sound can be improved by adding an NDAC...

However, I've recently revised my opinion of the NDX after adding a Powerline and think that using digital out (by-passing the DAC) it is a very good (albeit expensive) hub. Maybe this is where 'round earth' meets 'flat earth'? There's certainly a lot more body and less harshness in the sound than when I stream from iTunes/iMac and there are certainly plenty of tracks that make my feet tap. That said, the best digital source that I've heard is the Naim CD555 though I've only heard that in the context of a 500-series system.

It will be interesting to hear your thoughts on CDX2/120