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The DAC is also, naturally, power-supply upgradeable. To augment the integral supply of the DAC, we took advantage of this by using the XPS that formerly powered the analogue stages of an HDX hard-disk player.
This provides a worthwhile lift to its already dramatically impressive performance, and is well worth doing if you find yourself with an otherwise redundant XPS... or you have £2,850 burning a hole in your pocket with which to buy one.
Sound quality
All of Naim's fanatical attention to detail pays dividends here: that much is obvious from the moment the DAC starts doing its job. Its performance is clearly in another league to anything we've heard before.
Music emerges with startling clarity and amazing levels of detail, while timing is absolutely on the button. In fact, you had better prepare yourself for a real surprise if you do not associate stereo niceties with Naim, because the DAC does sound-staging, timbre, spaciousness and all that high-end audiophile stuff as well.
Given suitable material and an appropriate source – in this instance an HDX hard-disk player – its performance can be breathtaking: listening to experimental-metal tracks from the System of a Down album, Mezmerize, we notice that the DAC not only renders the vocals with pristine clarity and intelligibility, but also presents Daron Malakian's guitar as producing clearly individual notes rather than the frenzied blur that other systems often deliver when he plays at full speed.
The music's timing – and the band delights in playing about with rhythm and tempo – is portrayed forcefully and precisely, but there's also a great naturalness and feeling evident that counters any notions of metronomic sterility.
Of course, this DAC would not be worthy of carrying the Naim logo if it could not connect the listener with the emotional aspects of a performance. it does not disappoint in this respect... and we suspect that much of its communicative ability comes courtesy of its extreme clarity and resolution.
We listened to AC/Dc's Rock & Roll Ain't Noise Pollution and the way that the band's timing and interplay came across was sublime. Drums and bass are clearly differentiated and provide a thrilling sense of the track's changing impetus even when listening at wholly inappropriate levels, ie far too gently.
At a more respectable volume setting, the sound of air moving when the kick drum is pedalled has timbre, definition and credulity that brought a smile to our faces. The drum is tight and crisp even though it's playing at chest-pummelling, dance-floor levels. how admirable!
Moving to the classical end of the spectrum gives the DAC a chance to demonstrate its high-end stereo capabilities. Its success here seems attributable predominantly to its dynamic control, which enables it to portray instruments with stunning fidelity.
A gently blown flute, for example, sounds simultaneously delicate, yet has sufficient substance to appear wholly believable. Vigorously beaten timpani explode from the rear of the soundstage, yet retain their subtle harmonic overtones, which reinforces the credibility of their presentation. What is more, these instruments emerge from a fastidiously sculpted, three-dimensional, richly detailed acoustic space, which, when there is no signal, can be eerily silent.
This assumes, of course, that the recording is free from noise. No matter what genre of music you play, though, you will quickly discover that the Naim DAC presents the frequency extremes quite unlike any other component you might have heard.
The bass has weight, speed and authority quite beyond comparison in our experience. Low frequencies exhibit exceptional power, extension and control, along with an analogue-like warmth and substantial feel that even vinyl cannot match.
In truth, even the finest vinyl replay would struggle to hold a candle to that of the DAC at low frequencies.
Similarly, at the top end, the DAC is vibrant and revealing, but it never sounds brittle or harsh and its midband is as open as one could wish to hear.
Put aside your feelings and preconceptions about 'the Naim sound'. Should you be looking for a versatile DAC you are doing yourself no favours if you do not, at the very least, audition this extraordinarily capable machine.
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Tags: DACs, Digital to Analogue Converters, Audiophile DACs, Naim DACs
Read more: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/hi-fi-accessories/naim-audio-dac-654031/review?artc_pg=2#ixzz15d3tLNiB
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