Onkyo ND-S1 iPod transport.

[chebby]

Seriously considering the Onkyo ND-S1 transport + iPod Classic as a source instead of CD.

One UK hifi magazine review tested the Onkyo transport through the DAC of a Cambridge Audio 840c CDP and compared the output with CDs - played on the same machine - and concluded....

"Flicking between the CD in the transport of the 840C and the digital input, where the ND-S1 was plugged in, revealed no real difference in presentation between the two, while listening to the excellent, self-titled One eskimO album.

The ND-S1 reproduced the album with the same gorgeous sense of space and realism as the CD had and there was no sense of a softening of the bass, or lack of detail that can occur with analogue output docks even replaying AAC lossless."

The WHF review of the Onkyo ND-S1 concluded (with regards to comparison with CD) that....

"So, is it time to bin the CD player? Well, not quite; even a budget disc-spinner of decent quality can beat this for overall musicality..."

Now, I know nothing about the CA 840C except that it is well regarded by WHF (4 stars) - and others - and is not exactly a.. 'budget disc-spinner" at £750.

The point might be moot in my case as the magazine reviews used lossless to compare to CD (and I intend to use 256kbps or 320kbps AAC mostly) but is interesting to me that one review considers the ND-S1 no match for a good budget CD player (DAC used in test not specified) and another review considers it at least a match for CD replay on the CA 840C (using the 'level playing field' of the 840C's own internal DAC to compare).

I know 'Messiah' uses an Onkyo ND-S1. Are there also any others out there who can comment?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I have recently purchased one of these, along with a DACmagic, and am very impressed. Can't really compare it to any other proper HI-fi equipment, as this is my first venture really other than a denon DM37 and an Onkyo CS515. It all boils down to the DAC you use to get the digital signal back to analogue. I found that the music seems more airy, if thats the right word with the NDS1 via DACmagic, compared to played via a Denon ADS1 dock. Certainly more dynamics there.

So you really need to compare the DAC you intend to use to the CDP's DAC, as opposed to the dock itself, as the dock just gets the signal clean through the ipod.

Be careful with compression aswell, I'm using apple lossless due to having a 160GB Classic Ipod, but would probably step down to 320kbps AAC if needed when space is an issue.

Other than that, the shuffle, playlists and Album Art are all a big plus for the Ipod. Negatives are having to go right up to the Ipod to see whats playing, and also the remote for the NDS1 aint the greatest by a long stretch. Quite poor really for the money. Playlists can be skipped, but as of yet I can't get Albums to skip with my classic. Shuffle doesn't work properly either from the remote. Quite basic really.

If you haven't got an Ipod already, look at the Upcoming Squeezebox Touch - you can use flash media or a standalone USB hard drive for this, no need for a cert in networking to get the thing working. Then the options are greater. But you still may need a better DAC.

Cheers

 

[Messiah]

Chebby,

I liked the Onkyo DS-A2X analogue dock and iPod enough to get rid of my Cyrus CD6s CD player!

As far as the ND-S1 is concerned I cannot differentiate between this and my other digital sources going into the ADMs so I guess it is doing its job correctly. I only see the quality of the DAC being the limiting factor.

I agree with Biff with regards to the remote. It is pants and does not do enough.

You also have the option to sync the iPod whilst it is docked too.