Naim Previews Three New Network Players Including The ND 555: The First 500 Series Product In 12 Years.
Why a new 500 Series product now?
The answer is quite simple; until now Naim hasn’t considered the performance of its Network Players to reach that of the CD555 CD Player. The ND 555 is Naim’s finest sounding source component yet.
To quote the accompanying technical white paper: The ND 555 is a typical piece of holistic evolutionary Naim engineering: it builds on past developments, it pays much attention to mechanical design as electrical design and it takes trouble over important minutiae that others routinely ignore.
The heart of Naim’s new network players is their ‘new platform’ board and software that started development over four years ago. New Platform, as it is known internally, was first evidenced in Naim’s Uniti products launched last year. The success of these products together with a worldwide shortage of some key parts has delayed the launch of these new Network Players until now. Naim expects to ship the ND 555, NDX 2 and ND XS 2 in Summer 2018.
Key Performance Enablers
I2S over LVDS
Digital connectivity from the NP800 Streaming board to the DAC board is I2S over LVDS. I2S has the benefit of a separate clock signal, in contrast to S/PDIF which doesn’t. This results in significantly lower jitter. Low Voltage Differential Signalling allows digital communications with high accuracy but with a very low radiated field. Given the mixed analogue/digital nature of network players, keeping radiated fields as low as possible is an essential.
High Frequency Efficient Faraday Cage
The NDS Network Player had a Faraday cage to help eliminate noise leakage from one part of the player to another but the ND 555 takes this to another level completely. The new Faraday cage system is now physically isolated from its environs and it is radio opaque to a much higher frequency, thus considerably reducing any possible noise.
Naim ClockMaster system
Naim’s new exclusive NP800 streaming board is unique. When used in UPnP or streaming mode the streaming clock is totally under the control of the ClockMaster situated near the PCM1704K DACS. ThisClockMaster system when streaming is unique to Naim network players.
ND 555 showing Faraday Cage and SpringBoard isolated Audio and DAC PCBs
DSP & DAC
ND 555 features an incredibly powerful new 4th Generation 40-bit SHARC DSP processor, the ADSP 21489 capable of 2700 MFLOPS running at 450Mhz. The SHARC processor implements Naim’s RAM buffer (first used in the DAC and NDS and called zero S/PDIF). This reclocking RAM buffer is utilised to completely remove S/PDIF jitter on connected digital inputs.
Oversampling and Digital Filtering
The SHARC processor also performs 16 times oversampling and digital filtering. The oversampling and digital filtering software in the DSP is Naim written. This allows the digital filter section in the Burr Brown DACS to be bypassed delivering significant sound quality improvements.
DAC
ND 555 uses two carefully selected PCM1704U-K DACs in their own Faraday Cages. The DACs are the finest sounding DACs Naim has found. They are Resistor Ladder DACS, sometimes just known as Ladder DACS. Far more difficult to manufacture than modern DACS, they require precision laser trimming.
Naim SpringBoard Isolation System
Naim’s 500 Series of products are known for their floating PCB isolation system. The ND 555’s SpringBoard system uses a system of circuit boards hard mounted to massive floating brass plates mounted on springs which decouple the boards from all vibration above 10Hz.
SpringBoard suspension with DR Power Supplies and Audio PCBs mounted
DR Voltage regulators
The ND 555 includes 13 Naim DR voltage regulators delivering noiseless clean DC volts to exactly the part of the circuit that needs it. The DACs, the clocks and the output stages all have their own individual DR voltage regulators.
User Features
Chromecast Built-in (up to 24Bit 192kHz)
Play music directly from a mobile or laptop, from enabled apps.
TIDAL
The lossless streaming service is integrated into the system for a high-quality sound experience.
Spotify Connect
Native support for Spotify to stream millions of songs from a portable device or laptop.
AirPlay
Stream music from iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch or from iTunes.
UPnPTM (Universal Plug ‘n’ Play)
Stream stored music from a PC, Mac or network attached storage in high-resolution up to 32bit 384kHz or DSD128.
Bluetooth
Pair with a Bluetooth device to instantly play music. Also compatible with aptX HD.
Internet Radio
Access to thousands of global internet radio stations and save to favourite presets for easy access.
USB
Play music from a hard drive or USB stick.
Digital Input (TOSlink and Coax)
Play audio from external digital sources. TOSlink is ideal for connection to devices with noisy power supplies.
Multiroom
While the ND 555 is totally focussed on high performance audio nothing says a good party cannot improve the soul. Multiroom mode gives the option of playback of sources, in multiple rooms (up to five rooms) in sync (Party Mode) or of having differing music in different rooms.
Roon compatibility
Roon ready
Control and Ease of Use
RF Remote Control
All aspects of design were considered, including the design of a new bi-directional remote control. Very early on R&D realised that IR remote technology was not going to deliver the targeted ease of use. So, a ground up solution, both from a technological and a user point of view was sought and found with the ZigbeeÒ bi-directional remote control. All three network players feature a 3.5mm jack socket to enable system automation with Naim integrated amplifiers and pre-amplifiers.
Control App
ND 555 can be controlled via the supplied remote control, or via the Naim Control app for iPad, iPhone, iPod and Android. The Control app puts a world of music at the user’s fingertips. Owners with other Naim streaming products on the same network, can select rooms and enable party mode directly from the app.
State of the Art Wi-Fi
Naim’s new Network Players have significantly superior Wi-Fi capability (802.11b/g/n/ac) compared to their predecessors; it is five times faster and much more stable. The Wi-Fi processor supports 2.4 and 5 GHz speeds. Alongside this, all have a much larger internal buffer and memory – they will buffer around one track’s data, which helps to isolate them from the vagaries of internet traffic variability.
Wireless over-the-air updates
The new range improves dramatically over the original range concerning updates. The new players feature wireless updates that are controlled via the Naim app. The app will notify the user when an update is available, the user can accept, at which point the update will commence seamlessly
Full Colour Display
Naim wanted to deliver total connection to the user’s music collection. A very high grade full colour display provides rich images of album artwork and content. Note also the selection of front panel convenience buttons, including Favourites, Stop and Play.
With ND XS 2 the decision was taken to prioritise performance over including a display. At its more competitive price the equation of performance versus display is far more significant than higher up the range.
Pricing, images, availability and manufacturing
The new Network Players will be available for purchase from Naim specialist retailers beginning in the Summer of 2018. The components are priced as follows:
ND5 XS 2 £1,999 (inc. VAT)
NDX 2 £4,999 (inc. VAT)
ND 555 £12,999 (inc. VAT)
Naim has invested massively in new production and manufacturing processes which are required to achieve their extremely high-quality standards with increasing demand. Using the very latest state of the art CAD software and touch screen display technology, each individual manufacturing unit is equipped to ensure that every vital detail of the product is built with extreme accuracy and repeatability. Each cell will see the product enter as a series of components and leave as a fully closed and tested product ready for shipping.
Historical Background
It’s arguable of course, as is everything in audio, but most would agree that the original NaimUniti and the Naim UnitiServe were the key drivers in the growth of networked audio products. There had been niche networked products that had been successful before this, like the Naim HDX music server, but Uniti delivered performance with the sales volume to gain the critical mass that changed the shape of the market.
NDX, Naim’s first Network Player followed which of course was also very significant for Naim bringing high-end networked audio / UPnP to a far wider circle of music enthusiasts
NDX 2 Network Player
NDX 2 and ND5 XS 2 Features and improvements
· Naim exclusive streaming board
· UPnPTM up to 32bit 384kHz and DSD128
· ADSP21849 DSP
· Online software updates
· Streaming services: TIDAL, Spotify Connect, Chromecast built-in, AirPlay
· iRadio powered by vTuner
· Bluetooth aptX HD
· Wired IR output for control of current amplifiers (system automation) via the app
· S/PDIF in via BNC, RCA and optical
· Multi-room functionality
· Decoupled PCB boards
· 2.4 & 5 GHz high-speed Wi-Fi
· Roon Ready
· Stand-by mode
NDX 2
· 5in TFT colour display with proximity sensor
· Upgraded PCM192A DAC with discrete 12V converter
· Upgradable with XPS PSU or PS555
· RF Zigbee® remote
· Switchable DIN/RCA analogue outputs
· LVDS digital signals for lower noise
· Discrete filter circuits (used op-amps previously)
· More efficient DSP
· New 3rd generation clock
ND5 XS 2
· Controlled via the app
· PCM 1791A DAC
· Front panel status LED
· Switchable DIN analogue output
· LVDS digital signals for lower noise.
· IR/RF remote control – via Zigbee.
· New 3rd generation clock
· Separate PSU PCB
Naim ND5 XS 2 Network Player
https://www.naimaudio.com/