Has anyone heard or tried the new Naim Dac?

Thanks for the input Sandra. I actually bought my
DeVores from a Naim dealer and they were using the
Supernait with the CDX2 cd player. I also listened
to the CDS3 cd player. This was the most musical
system I have ever heard and I have been in this
hobby for many years. It was also the most analog
sounding digital I have ever heard with amazing timbre
and truth of tone. I actually got sucked in and listened
to the system for hours with no trace of glare or digitalitis.

I did find my self wanting a little more sparkle and air on guitar strings. So, if anything these cd players are a little rolled off. So, I am disappointed to hear the DAC
is bright. I wonder if it was fully broken in or if it had
been turned off. A lot of Naim gear takes a long time to
settle in after shut off. I have also noticed that the rave
reviews all use the Naim HDX music server. It is possible that it is voiced with this player.

If you have the chance to find out the transport source
please to let us know.

Thanks.

I think naim gear is a bit of hit or miss. Some of Naim digital gear does seem to suffer from digitalitis. The Naim CD5x sounds fine but the CDX seems to suffer from digitalitis.

Scott, I will call the store tomorrow and find out what transport they were using. I have listened to Naim in the past and never heard any brightness, maybe the dac was too new or not broken in, I never really asked. Maybe the DeVore speakers were not the best choice for them, they said they were waiting for some new Naim speakers to arrive but hadn't got them in yet. If you get on the Naim-Audio forum, there is quite a bit of talk about the new dac, some of it good, some heard what I heard. And because I didn't care for it doesn't mean that somebody else might not, individual tastes vary greatly and it was just my opinion.

Hello all. Scott, when I demoed the Naim dac it was used with a Cambridge 840 cd player as the transport. I thought it was a very detailed open, airy sound, but again, was on the bright side. I listened to this combination for approx. 15-20 minutes and it was already becoming fatiguing to me. This combination would never work with my speakers as they are very revealing and crystal clear, making it too much of a good thing. Someone else might enjoy this sound though depending on the rest of your equipment. Sandra

Thanks so much for the info Sandra.

The DeVore Super 8's are one of the most musical
speakers out there, so it sounds like the Cambridge
is a bad match. Naim is funny that way. The XS
or Supernait paired with a CDX2,CDS3 or CDS2 cd
player drives the DeVores with pure organic musicality.

However, when I first bought my XS using a Bel Canto Dac
it was way too bright. I still have the Bel Canto, but
after a lot of tuning using Synergistic Research products,
a Teddycap and Naim speaker wire(a must for Naim amps) I
am now getting nice musical sound that is both fluid
and holographic. It still doesn't have that truth of
timbre that the high end Naim cd players have but it does
have a lot better sound stage, air and sparkle.

I wouldn't mind having one of their high end cd players, but
I think it is a huge waste of money to spend that kind of
coin on a cd spinner when high rez media and hard drives
are the way of the future. I also think that the current
music servers are way over priced and the technology is too
new to consider. Kind of like buying a plasma for 10k when
they first came out.

Thanks again for your input and good luck on your system.