Weird. I'd contact NAD or the place you bought it from - maybe there's something wrong with the USB port (the update one) on yours. Have you tried a different memory stick as well?

somnambulist said:

Weird. I'd contact NAD or the place you bought it from - maybe there's something wrong with the USB port (the update one) on yours. Have you tried a different memory stick as well?

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Haven't tried a different USB stick. Good idea. Thanks, will try that and report back.

lonely_rider said:

   
Yeah. At least NAD engineering is trying to find solution. That's good.

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Unfortunately nobody trying to find solution. I have received the fresh answer from NAD support.
 
Currently we don't officially support Linux and there is no plans to include a support version.
The M51 is a USB Audio Class 2 (UAC2) device so it should work with any OS that supports UAC2. For example with recent versions of MacOS the M51 works without having to install a driver.
Some customers have reported success with more recent versions of Linux. For example, the M51 is known to work with Ubuntu 12.04.  
 
I have been trying to test on 3.10rt kernel (TINYCORE LINUX) but getting the same error as former kernel versions. 
What the specific Ubuntu 12.04 option is turned on in kernel building that fix it to work normally?    

I've owned the NAD M51 for about 6 months and I agree that it is a very good DAC (neutral, detailed, transparent, huge soundstage) but I've found it a bit lacking when it comes to body and dynamics ; also in the bass region it could use some more power  IMO. 
 
 
 
Quote:

purk said:

  Late to the NAD M51 party.  Love the M51 DAC!!  It pairs well with my BHSE+SR009 combo.  Very nice DAC that is considerably better sounding than my W4S DAC-2.  Pretty even par with the April Music Eximus DP-1 with the DP-1 being a tad sweeter over all while the M51 is more neutral and transparent.  Love the M51's bass - very fluid with excellent low levels details.  The brush aluminum faceplate matches my silver BHSE perfectly.  Pictures soon to follow.  

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True the M51 does not play DSD, your software is doing the conversion.
 
 
Quote:

shipsupt said:

  My understanding is that the M51 does not play DSD files natively, so no, the NAD is not playing the DSD file but your software is likely doing the conversion on the fly.
 
I have a few DSD files now and I play them using Pure Music or Audirvana.

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I got the BDA-2 on loan from my sales rep to stack up against my NAD in the comfort of my home rather than in boutique. I'm anxious to compare them on my system head-to-head.
 
Physically, the NAD is a much nicer and cleaner built product, plus it has the display and remote over the Bryston. Maybe the BDA-2 can make up for it in sound? I'll let you guys know what I think if you're curious.
 
Cheers

dleblanc343 said:

I got the BDA-2 on loan from my sales rep to stack up against my NAD in the comfort of my home rather than in boutique. I'm anxious to compare them on my system head-to-head.

Physically, the NAD is a much nicer and cleaner built product, plus it has the display and remote over the Bryston. Maybe the BDA-2 can make up for it in sound? I'll let you guys know what I think if you're curious.

Cheers

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I am definitely curious! Please let us know what you think of both units!

dleblanc343 said:

  I got the BDA-2 on loan from my sales rep to stack up against my NAD in the comfort of my home rather than in boutique. I'm anxious to compare them on my system head-to-head.
 
Physically, the NAD is a much nicer and cleaner built product, plus it has the display and remote over the Bryston. Maybe the BDA-2 can make up for it in sound? I'll let you guys know what I think if you're curious.
 
Cheers

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I too would be VERY interested in your findings so pls. let us know.
 
Also to the tech experts out there... I see the M51 specs say "differential mode", I would like to know what this means in the context of a class A output. Does this mean this is a push-pull sort of configuration with dual output devices biased to class A ? I suppose from a performance perspective what class A would bring is a smoother presentation allowing more detail to pass through. Differential mode could mean better control driving speakers if M51 is connected directly to a differential power amplifier.
 
I have a general understanding but was wondering whether someone could provide a concise answer.

I posted my brief comparison between the NAD M51 and the Bryston BDA2 on the Bryston thread. Slight preference goes to the NAD in my system. Check it out here.

Hi

I am planning to purchase a new DAC which also has the option to be used as preamp - the M51 seems to be my best option sq/feature/price wise. But there are a few questions still open.

In my setup I would like to use it connected to my Mac Mini via HDMI. This seems to be the best connection in my scenario concerning cabling and usage simplicity (never forget WAF!) vs SQ. Reading literally all the posts about M51 here and over on Computeraudiophile as well as SNA, overall, SQ seems to be about equal via HDMI or USB. So not much lost there. USB would be my second preference. Now my questions, all about handling:

what happens when
- no TV/monitor is connected to the HDMI out? No handshake on the source, so no HDMI audio device on the mac?
- a connected TV/monitor is powered off/in standby? Again no handshake on the source, so no HDMI audio dvice on the mac?

I would really not like to have to power on my TV just to listen to music over the HDMI audio device...

and on USB what happens when
- the source on M51 is switched away from USB (to, say, Coax)? Audio device gets disconnected from the mac? This is what happens with my DSPeaker Anti-Mode Dual Core each time I change the source away from USB. And by doing this The used audio programs like Plex/Xbmc/iTunes etc. lose their default audio device and start playing audio through the macs builtin speaker or stop playing completely. This is quite annoying - specially concerning the WAF!

If all points decribed stand true on the M51 as well, what other possibilities are there besides using a reclocker like Hiface or OR which present themselfes as an "allways connected" usb device to the source computer?

Hope anybody can answer my questions!

I've put up my NAD M51 in MINT condition (used for less than 2 weeks) in the sales forum, in case any one of you is interested.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/685841/mint-nad-m51

Oh why? You didn't like it?

Just found out the NAD M51 price was raised by quite a bit. Sure glad I got mine when I did.

Audio Advisor and Crutchfield still have it for the regular price. It wouldn't make sense for them to raise the price now. Too much new competition especially with DSD options. I think they would be shooting themselves in the foot!

The M51 went up in price in Australia. Still cheaper than elsewhere though.