[Paul Meakin]

Quote:

I'm tempted.  BTW I often read reference to the Naim sound, but I'm not clear as to what it is - can anyone describe the Naim house sound?

http://www.naimaudio.com/naim-sound does a pretty good job.

 

[ardilla]

Naim is fast and punchy, yet warmish. The Naim house sound used to be more distinct in the earlier days - "harder" sounding. But not all Naim gear sound the same- I find the Naim Headline to be somewhat atypical (not as fast and punchy)
Quote:

I'm tempted.  BTW I often read reference to the Naim sound, but I'm not clear as to what it is - can anyone describe the Naim house sound?

 

[Julian H]

Quote:

Naim is fast and punchy, yet warmish. The Naim house sound used to be more distinct in the earlier days - "harder" sounding. But not all Naim gear sound the same- I find the Naim Headline to be somewhat atypical (not as fast and punchy)

You can make the Headline sound fast and punchy if you like. It depends what power supply you pair it with, try a Hicap. IME, paying for the Hicap over, say a Flatcap2x or even the humble NAPSC is not necessarily preferable though. The Supercap is errm, super though. Hoping to try the new DR Hicap soon too. I'd say, getting the right synergy of headphone and powersupply for HL is part of the equation too.

 

[Julian H]

Quote:

I'm tempted.  BTW I often read reference to the Naim sound, but I'm not clear as to what it is - can anyone describe the Naim house sound?

 
I like this from their website. Sums it up quite succinctly for me.
 
 

Listening to a Naim system for instance is not about “bass” or “treble” or “stereo image”, but about forgetting the illusion of reproduction and connecting with the music.

 

[p a t r i c k]

Quote:

The DIN is Naims preferred connector. It is an alternative to RCA or XLR. 
 
In pre-historic times DIN was the industry standard. There are several types of DIN connectors, and Naim uses it to connect audio signals, ground and even power between their components. 
 
Naim claims DIN is better due to its flexibility and the fact that it has a strand for common ground bla bla. 
 

 
I wish we'd stayed with DIN personally. To me it is a much neater system. I always found DIN plug very easy to solder.
 
I remember well when the whole Hi Fi would have been connected up with DIN plugs. There was a standard DIN plug for the speakers which was more sensible than today's banana plugs, not least in that there was very much decreased risk of accidentally shorting out the amp output as you can do with a pair of speaker cables with bare wire or banana plugs.
 
Naim always preferred the five pin DIN for their connections because it means that there was just one earth connection in the cable. Naim have always taken great care about the earthing of every aspect of their equipment.

 

[Julian H]

Quote:

Naim have always taken great care about the earthing of every aspect of their equipment.

 
Spot on Patrick, correct earthing really makes a difference. Also, I use a Grahams Hydra which optimises it still further than Naim can manage with individual power leads. Very beneficial IME.
 
Cheers, Julian
 
ps - if you wanted to hear a Headline you would be welcome, bring your cans I am only 20 mins from Brighton.

 

[bedlam inside]

Hi,
 
Looks interesting. I have a Naim CDS in my big system. Will this be as good for Computer based audio?

 

[Julian H]

Hi Bedlam
 
Excellent for compter based audio, absolutely. Better or as good as your CDS, probably not!
 
Go give it a try when it comes out. See what you think!
 
Cheers, Julian

 

[LFC_SL]

Some are all about separate headphone amps on here but am scouting for a one box dac + headphone amp solution myself. Want the desk space back! Am thinking of getting a dragonfly as a budget make-weight and save up for a long-term solution. Will add this to the watch-list if only because money will be staying within the British economy but it is such a crowded market, was drooling over the Antelope Zodiac the other day
 
*Disclaimer* have had a home demo of the M-Dac and Invicta*

 

[p a t r i c k]

Quote:

 
ps - if you wanted to hear a Headline you would be welcome, bring your cans I am only 20 mins from Brighton.

 
Thank you for the kind offer Julian. If I feel a desire to have a listen I will let you know
 

 

[tim3320070]

$2000 is rediculous

 

[runswithaliens]

Quote:

Some are all about separate headphone amps on here but am scouting for a one box dac + headphone amp solution myself. Want the desk space back! Am thinking of getting a dragonfly as a budget make-weight and save up for a long-term solution. Will add this to the watch-list if only because money will be staying within the British economy but it is such a crowded market, was drooling over the Antelope Zodiac the other day
 
*Disclaimer* have had a home demo of the M-Dac and Invicta*

 
What was your impressions of the M-Dac?

 

[LFC_SL]

Just had a skim through head-fi posting guidelines and cannot see any reason why this link cannot be posted: http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi-systems-separates/1607263-review-resonessence-labs-invicta-dac.html
 
For £600 the M-Dac does very well to stand up for itself but the Invicta has ruined it for me in that I *know* what lies beyond the M-Dac. Regrettable really I do not own better than HD600, need to fix that post-pay rise / satisfy IEM fix. Definitely though avoid blind-buying a Dac

 

[Patu]

I've been pretty much all-Naim since I first auditioned SuperNait integrated amplifier few years ago. It really opened my eyes to what a good amplifier should sound like. It completely destroyed my Audio GD - Bel Canto combination when it comes to PRaT and pure enjoyability of music. I've never before enjoyed music like I have with Naim gear. Along the way that I've added HiCap2 and Naim DAC to my setup, and Stello U3 is transporting the USB signal to my DAC. 
 
Anyways to the point, these two little boxes are a very interesting release from Naim. I'm seriously considering to audition these and to see if they have any chance against my current setup. Maybe downshift to these if they're any good. I hope the integrated headphone amp is better than the one in SuperNait. 

 

[twizzleraddict]

Subscribed.
 
Haven't had a Naim since an older Nait 5i/CD5 hooked up to some tiny Royd speakers with Linn Tukan stands. The kit was pretty hard core back then and one of my favorites, but definitely had nothing below 120Hz... 

 Audio nervosa made me switch everything out but I do remember the Naim house sound and there is a LOT there that is good about it. Hope the DAC-V1 brings that all back as I'm all cans now. 
 
Does anyone know when it will be released?