[CJG888]

Has anyone here taken delivery of an NP5 yet? I’m very interested in hearing if it lives up to its promise...

 

[teknorob23]

Has anyone here taken delivery of an NP5 yet? I’m very interested in hearing if it lives up to its promise...

Mine arrived last week after many delays. It’s run in for about 60hrs and so far it sounds pretty good. It’s not quite up to the level of the sotm sms200 ultra neo + sps500 psu but considering it’s quarter the price I’m impressed. I’ve ordered the sbooster psu, so it will be interesting to see if it benefits from some clean power. I suspect it will but I’ll let you know

 

[AnotherAirGuitarist]

Mine arrived last week after many delays. It’s run in for about 60hrs and so far it sounds pretty good. It’s not quite up to the level of the sotm sms200 ultra neo + sps500 psu but considering it’s quarter the price I’m impressed. I’ve ordered the sbooster psu, so it will be interesting to see if it benefits from some clean power. I suspect it will but I’ll let you know

Hi! I`m also interested in this network player and can see that you`ve had yours for a while now (If you still have it of course..) How are your impressions of the NP5? Do you find it user friendly? How do you like the Prisma app?

I would hook mine up to a hifi system in the living room. I have been using a Chromecast audio connected with optical cable so far, so I am familiar with google cast. I am mainly using Tidal hifi with the CA, but I also have a Spotify sunscription. I don`t feel like Spotify audio quality is as good as I would like with the Chromecast audio, but I`ve heard that it doesn`t stream at the full 320 kbps quality when using CA, so that could be the reason... The NP5 has Spotify connect. I imagine Spotify connect will stream at the full quality and because of that will propably sound more enjoyable when listening to playlists on Spotify. Also the CA is unable to play podcasts from Spotify for some reason...

I also have an iphone and an ipad, so airplay 2 is also a very nice feature.

I`m interested to hear your (and other owners) experience with this network player.

Do you have any experience with the CA? If so, have you compared the two? Can a difference in sound quality be heard between them when both are connected digitally?

Have you tried other network players in the same price range like the Bluesound node 2i? How do they compare? Which do you find the most user friendly?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply!

 

[grey17]

Mine arrived last week after many delays. It’s run in for about 60hrs and so far it sounds pretty good. It’s not quite up to the level of the sotm sms200 ultra neo + sps500 psu but considering it’s quarter the price I’m impressed. I’ve ordered the sbooster psu, so it will be interesting to see if it benefits from some clean power. I suspect it will but I’ll let you know

Have you tried the sbooster with the NP5 yet? If so any thoughts on if it was a meaningful improvement and how? Thanks

 

[teknorob23]

Have you tried the sbooster with the NP5 yet? If so any thoughts on if it was a meaningful improvement and how? Thanks

yes I do and in my set up it’s pretty transformative and i wouldnt listen without it. It lifts the performance way beyond the value of the sbooster + ultra mk2. It darkens the noise floor which allows more detail, better separation layering and air between instruments. To lesser but still noticeable extent bass and treble extension and texturing are improved too. Essentially I can highly recommend It.

only caveats would be that the results will of course depend on how resolving your system is. The improvements are way more pronounced listeNing with chord hugo2 or Tt2 + focal stellias than when I use dt1770pros and dragonfly blue. I also use a Neotech upocc mains cable running into the sbooster which also makes a difference too.

mains tweaking is a dangerous black hole to circle!! be good to hear what you think if you go for one.

 

[grey17]

...mains tweaking is a dangerous black hole to circle!! be good to hear what you think if you go for one.

Thank you for your assessment. I am not really a headphones guy but I think your experience would still be applicable. I am using the NP5 with a Heed Abacus DAC and an Accuphase E270 integrated. I'll report back as soon as I take the plunge on the sbooster, though it may have to wait a bit due to current world events.

 

[teknorob23]

Thank you for your assessment. I am not really a headphones guy but I think your experience would still be applicable. I am using the NP5 with a Heed Abacus DAC and an Accuphase E270 integrated. I'll report back as soon as I take the plunge on the sbooster, though it may have to wait a bit due to current world events.

I've noticed too, a significant improvement via my 2 channel set up. I havent heard either your amp or DAC, but the Accuphase's reputation proceeds it, so i would have thought you'll hear improvements and i look forward to hearing your feedback if you take the plunge, when these testing times pass.

 

[ra990]

Just came across this little streamer. I'm looking for a Roon ready device with optical out to feed into my mTT2. Is there anything else comparable to this out there in this price range? I see this is currently $600 at crutchfield.

 

[teknorob23]

Just came across this little streamer. I'm looking for a Roon ready device with optical out to feed into my mTT2. Is there anything else comparable to this out there in this price range? I see this is currently $600 at crutchfield.

It’s great little streamer, and can be lifted further with an uprated psu. Even and ifi ipower has quite an impact. Is there a reason you want to output optical? You’ll get a better sq going out of the coax into the tt2.

 

[ra990]

It’s great little streamer, and can be lifted further with an uprated psu. Even and ifi ipower has quite an impact. Is there a reason you want to output optical? You’ll get a better sq going out of the coax into the tt2.

I prefer optical because it let's me keep my playback chain completely isolated from the mains. Any particular reason why coax is better on this unit? Thanks!

 

[teknorob23]

I prefer optical because it let's me keep my playback chain completely isolated from the mains. Any particular reason why coax is better on this unit? Thanks!

In my experience USB or Coax is generally performs better than optical, but obviously the implementation varies from device to device. Have you tried comparing a coax to your toslink?

 

[Sphere 57]

I prefer optical because it let's me keep my playback chain completely isolated from the mains. Any particular reason why coax is better on this unit? Thanks!

When the SPDIF signal is converted to light and back again it goes through converter chips, these can only degrade the signal, they have been proven to add jitter. But as you say, toslink isolates the DAC from electrical problems such as power supply switching noise and ground loops, so the benefit might outweigh the cost. If you use a high quality power supply (I use an Audiophonics LPSU25 with my NP5) and coax SPDIF, you may get the best performance.