hdx has arrived. it's great!

due to some wlan issues not connected to the internet right now but it rips and plays and sounds fantastic.

Hi, surely the HDX is not wireless hence you wlan issues?

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Hi, surely the HDX is not wireless hence you wlan issues?

hi garyi,

wasn't able to bridge a dlink di-624+ with an airport express. getting a second airport express tomorrow. let's see.

bye,
michael

I always thought wlan was not possible (yet) with the HDX?

Regards,
Michel

Although what you want to do is possible, I think you will find it flakey.

Consider the new range of power ethernet. You plug one into the power near your router and attach it and plug one in near your HDX and plug it in. Job done.

But by far the best way is to run an ethernet cable.

Congratulations Michael!

I seem to recall you was one of the first to hear the HDX at the Munich show, am I correct?

If so, how does your production HDX compare, have Naim noticeably tweaked anything? Especially how is it shaping up to your CDX?

Please share your initial findings with us.

Regards

Allen

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Although what you want to do is possible, I think you will find it flakey.

Consider the new range of power ethernet. You plug one into the power near your router and attach it and plug one in near your HDX and plug it in. Job done.

But by far the best way is to run an ethernet cable.

All sorts of ways to make your mains dirty.

I don't know the conectivity issue, but a HDX is a joy to use and sounds just like any other Naim playback.

Finally a HD music server that sounds like Naim.

Congrats!

Excellent - looking forward to a full review

James

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:

Consider the new range of power ethernet. You plug one into the power near your router and attach it and plug one in near your HDX and plug it in. Job done.

Will these work if your router is on a ring main, and where you want to make the connection to the other device (HDX, Airport Express, whatever..) is on a separate spur ?

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:
I don't know the conectivity issue, but a HDX is a joy to use and sounds just like any other Naim playback.

Finally a HD music server that sounds like Naim.

Congrats!

Better or worse than a CDS3? Thats the bar of comparison for me based on its price.

Gregg

PS I assume you have heard a final production version

quote:

Originally posted by kuma:

Finally a HD music server that sounds like Naim.

Itunes running on my laptop sounds like Naim too !!

quote:

Originally posted by Klout10:
I always thought wlan was not possible (yet) with the HDX?

hi michel,

the hdx doesn't support wlan on its own. but you can attach it via an ethernet cable to a wlan router.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Consider the new range of power ethernet. You plug one into the power near your router and attach it and plug one in near your HDX and plug it in. Job done.

my dealer even brought power ethernet adapters when installing the hdx. but it doesn't work because of two different rooms on two different phases.

trying a second airport express today.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenB:
Congratulations Michael!

I seem to recall you was one of the first to hear the HDX at the Munich show, am I correct?

If so, how does your production HDX compare, have Naim noticeably tweaked anything? Especially how is it shaping up to your CDX?

thanks allen!

no i wasn't at the munich show. the first hdx i heard was mine. ;-)

haven't had much time yesterday but first impressions are that the hdx with xps2 sounds better than the cdx2 with xps2. btw. even with a xps2 you need a main cable.

quote:

Originally posted by User34:
Will these work if your router is on a ring main, and where you want to make the connection to the other device (HDX, Airport Express, whatever..) is on a separate spur ?

no.

I didn't think so, so to get CPL to work ahs to be on the same ring main ?

quote:

Originally posted by james n:
Excellent - looking forward to a full review

hi james,

was afraid of that. ;-)

no full but first short review:

1st: it's awesome! (-:

connected it via vga to my plasma. interface is beautyfull.

easy to use. when set to autorip you just put your disc in and it looks it up, starts ripping, and opens the tray when ready. when not connected to the internet it looks it up in a local freedb.org database. no covers though. on a vivaldi's four seasons disc it took rather long and i heard the harddisk and it found information in french. ;-)

though a 175 and dvd5 sits on top i didn't notice any fans.

the remote is great as it has buttons for genres, artists,... but it can't be used for a dvd5.

touch display is great too. large, bright, easy to use. but using the remote sitting some meters away you need a external display.

it think it doesn't rip while playing but i have to re-check.

more to come... feel free to ask if you have specific questions.

Surely the HDX needs to hit the web to get track info. If you are not carefull you will have a HDX full of unnamed tracks. Although I am not sure I am willing to bet the HDX is much like any other product that hits online databases, i.e. you need the cd in the drive at the time, it will not be able to find track info after the event.

Is it not possible for you to ethernet it to the router?

quote:

Originally posted by michael1702:

quote:

Originally posted by AllenB:
Congratulations Michael!

I seem to recall you was one of the first to hear the HDX at the Munich show, am I correct?

If so, how does your production HDX compare, have Naim noticeably tweaked anything? Especially how is it shaping up to your CDX?

thanks allen!

no i wasn't at the munich show. the first hdx i heard was mine. ;-)

haven't had much time yesterday but first impressions are that the hdx with xps2 sounds better than the cdx2 with xps2. btw. even with a xps2 you need a main cable.

OK sorry, mistaken identity, nevertheless, it would seem that Naim must have tweaked something on the production models, because the HDX was barely scraping a 'better than' CDX verdict with the early demonstration models.

However, as someone else has remarked, at the price, it really needs to be challenging the CDS3, otherwise one is paying alot of money for convenience, not sound quality.

I haven't heard the HDX, nor can I easily audition one, so admittedly I do rely on various peoples comments. Nothing yet has changed my view that I should seriously consider the HDX as a CDS3 replacement, let alone to replace a CD555.

Anyway, I sold my CDS3, expecting Naim to announce a glut of HDX varieties, which i would consider againstbuying a CD555. In the end I am going the Mac / Lavry route and Naim have lost a sale.

But good luck with your HDX, I am sure you will love it compared to the CDX2, but somehow I do not see a huge amount of HDX's being sold.

Ohh yes and the mains cables, I believe the XPS / 555PS only powers the analogue circuits, another minus point in my book if one is seeking to use Powerlines.

Regards

Allen

quote:

Originally posted by michael1702:
it think it doesn't rip while playing but i have to re-check.

well it does!

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Surely the HDX needs to hit the web to get track info. If you are not carefull you will have a HDX full of unnamed tracks. Although I am not sure I am willing to bet the HDX is much like any other product that hits online databases, i.e. you need the cd in the drive at the time, it will not be able to find track info after the event.

the hdx doesn't need to hit the web to get track info necessarily. without internet access it looks it up in it's local freedb.org database.

you lost your bet! ;-) having ripped without internet connection you can query the amg later from the client software - @naim: PLEASE PROVIDE A MAC SOFTWARE. no need to insert the disc again.

two airport express work! but forget streaming a 96/24 flac over it. )-:

quote:

Originally posted by AllenB:
However, as someone else has remarked, at the price, it really needs to be challenging the CDS3, otherwise one is paying alot of money for convenience, not sound quality.

i never heard a cds3 but i think the hdx doesn't challenge it on it's sound quality. but i think it's not possible to compare the hdx at sound quality level alone to a 'normal' cd player. you have to consider the whole package and the new technology. if it had cds3 sound quality the cds3 would be too expensive. ;-) but i'm curious how players like the hdx effect cd player prices.

bye,
michael

Michael, my dealers impression was CDX2 on CD play and better than that for ripped files. Not equal to CDS3. However, it really needs 24/96 to shine. Given that a CDX2 is >$6000, with the added features of ripping, 24/96 playback $3500 more is not cheap, but not entirely out of line since the CD play is at CDX2 at this point. I was told that Naim was re-working the HDX for playback earlier this summer and it appears they have done their job.

quote:

Originally posted by michael1702:

quote:

Originally posted by AllenB:
However, as someone else has remarked, at the price, it really needs to be challenging the CDS3, otherwise one is paying alot of money for convenience, not sound quality.

i never heard a cds3 but i think the hdx doesn't challenge it on it's sound quality. but i think it's not possible to compare the hdx at sound quality level alone to a 'normal' cd player. you have to consider the whole package and the new technology. if it had cds3 sound quality the cds3 would be too expensive. ;-) but i'm curious how players like the hdx effect cd player prices.

bye,
michael

It's obvious that Naim want to protect their flagship CDPs, the CDS3 & CD555, but the HDX is closer in price to the CDS3 than the CDX2, so it should get compared to both the 3 and the X2.

It's a fair point to say that you get added facilities with HDX over a straight-forward CDP, but then you get that from iTunes, streamers etc. Whatever the product, with Naim, it's all about sound quality, that's their 'reason for living', ultimately the quality has to stand up to comparison against similarly priced products.

I think the HDX is a great product, but I wish also that Naim would announce their intentions as to whether this type of product range will be expanded. I suspect they wont though because it could damage their CDP market.

Cutting to the chase, Michael, will you now be selling your CDX2? If not, will it's amount of usage change?

quote:

Originally posted by AllenB:
Cutting to the chase, Michael, will you now be selling your CDX2? If not, will it's amount of usage change?

i traded my cdx2 for the hdx.

After an A/B demo with the CDX 2 and HDX the clear winner to me is the HDX when using ripped CDs! Although the HDX was brand new (CDX 2 already had a couple of months)it was superior to the CDX 2 soundwise. We had both players on two identical racks and connected them with the very same interconnect to a Supernait. The HDX impresses with even better PRaT, a superior ability to show micro dynamic changes in the music, more details and a rock solid holographic soundstage. The HDX is simply more precise. I would describe the CDX 2 to be a little more charming and forgiving whereas the HDX is more analytical - using the term "analytical" in a positive way. The CDX 2 is still a great CD player - I did like my CDX 2 very much and still do, but the HDXs new technology seems to better the traditional way of CD playback besides offering much more comfort and access to high resolution downloads (24bit and up to 192 kHz sample rates). To cut a long story short: I sold my CDX 2 and replaced it with a HDX. Can not wait to listen to some high resolution music...

I don't think the "newness" of the HDX will make any difference whatsoever. It's a computer and so will boringly and without emotion keep doing the same thing day in day out with the bits that are on the hard disc.