I also tried to use Audirvana as this also supports UPnP and integrates with Qobuz, Tidal and so forth. This supports Chromecast and UPnP so you can use either and the streamer will play all resolutions of files depending on your subscription level and quality settings. I use the Qobuz desktop app for Mac for browsing and controlling. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either of them, certainly between the original ND5 and the new one the difference is quite remarkable. Visitors not familiar with the kit or in most cases in to audio beyond a DAB radio or a Sonos in the kitchen, all commented on how natural, lifelike and musical it sounded. However having lived with the ND5 XS 2 now for a couple of months I’ve found it exceeded my expectations and handles whatever is sent to it flawlessly. Honest answer here in my case, if I’d had the extra funds I’d have bought the NDX2 knowing it has extra mileage and gives an itch to scratch with a PSU upgrade. They are all at their best when fed from a low noise source with well shielded cabling, the examples I listened to included a top spec Melco, Uniti Core and regular USB drive with my own material on. I tried the ND5 XS 2 in a number of systems to see how it handled itself and across non Naim systems, XS level systems and 500 Pre/Power systems my conclusion was it was quite close to a bare NDX2 in many respects. Naturally the NDX2 is upgradable and has a more composed and spacious sound, however the digital circuit is common between all 3 products so the differences lie elsewhere in noise isolation and power separation. I tried both the ND5 XS 2 (also owned a Gen 1 previously) and the NDX2. I’d certainly experiment with the interface part as those devices aren’t usually that expensive and you may find in your system an improvement when comparing coaxial to plastic optics for example. If you want to use your Mac as a source you might want to consider a USB to Coaxial S/PDIF bridge or if your Mac supports it you could go optical S/PDIF from the 3.5mm headphone socket. I liked the NDX2 a lot and knew it would sit well in my system however in my case it was basic economic factors and a need to distribute funds beyond just a new streamer. We both agreed that the differences were apparent and noticable however the ND5 XS 2 actually didna very good and performed well even in a system well above it’s assumed ability. This was a dealer reference demo system and had been setup to drive a ND555 with 2x PS555 for a demo evening, we tried it partly put of curiosity as it wasn’t an obvious pairing and to get a measure of how the entry level streamer lined up against it’s top end brother in a system matched more closely to the ND555. I think the best listening test I had was the ND5 XS 2 sitting between a Melco source and a 500 Series Pre/Power system driving Focal Utopias. Like many others I had a decent opportunity to try all of them and in various systems. This is acting as the main source on a SN2 + HiCap DR. I’ve owned both the ND5 XS and ND5 XS 2, which latterly I’ve had a few months now. There are, naturally, products available elsewhere that do support it fully in hardware/software. We’ve reached out to both Tidal and Cambridge for an update.In line with other comments, MQA is not natively supported on any of the new Naim streamers. We’re hearing about issues with the firmware update and hi-res MQA versions of albums being downsampled to 16-bit/44kHz CD quality. We hate to burst that bubble but we’re not sure that Tidal Connect is actually working properly with MQA Masters right now and Cambridge hardware. With every new firmware update, there is always a wrinkle. The addition of TIDAL Connect creates a direct stream from the network audio player and TIDAL’s servers resulting in a better sound quality experience. Before the firmware update, consumers were forced to stream music from the Cambridge smartphone app. TIDAL Connect allows users to control music playback on their Cambridge Audio network streamers directly using the TIDAL iOS and Android app. We’re huge fans of their network streamers and it’s a very positive step that they have introduced a new firmware update that makes their streamers compatible with TIDAL Connect. One brand that has received that message loud and clear is Cambridge Audio. Some apps are still not ready for prime time and we can understand why people find the entire process a huge waste of time. You can’t tell people to download control apps for every single streaming component and music platform that they use and not expect people to get frustrated. With so many streaming apps right now, it’s easy to understand why consumers are not sure which one to use.
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