[woodcans]

May I ask what was your vinyl / analog setup?

VPI Scout with Denon DS-L1 cartridge to Lamm LP 2 Deluxe phono preamp. At the time, used a Dodd battery preamp.

As for long term impressions, I continue to be extremely impressed with the m51. I listen to more music now than ever, and am enjoying my setup more than ever. I may sometime in the future go back to analog, but if the past few months are any indication, I doubt that will ever happen.

 

[No Disc]

The Scout is a good table, I had that before upgrading to the Scoutmaster.  I'll have to put the NAD on my list to audition. There is a dealer local to me that has one and they allow home trials. The only glitch is I don't believe they have any decent USB to S/PDIF converters to trial as well.  Will have to see.  
 
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[woodcans]

The Scout is a good table, I had that before upgrading to the Scoutmaster.  I'll have to put the NAD on my list to audition. There is a dealer local to me that has one and they allow home trials. The only glitch is I don't believe they have any decent USB to S/PDIF converters to trial as well.  Will have to see.  

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I love my Scout, and sold it to someone who really appreciates it as well. I hope you get a chance to audition the m51 w a quality usb/spdif converter. I would be really interested to hear your comparison b/n the Scoutmaster and the digital setup. I will say that the NAD is excellent on its own, but without my Empirical Audio usb/spdif converter, I probably would've kept the Scout. The combination of the Empirical and the NAD is fantastic.

 

[danik97]

I compared a NAD's USB input and SPDIF through M2Tech Hiface 2. And conclude that through Hiface sound is simplier and poorer timbre. But I used not too much good a coax cable, maybe this was a reason. Also I compared USB and optical from my iMac 21.5". And found that from optical sound is a bit brighter. But all the same sound is great.

 

[ecohifi]

Quote:

I listened to the M51 dac yesterday with some big speakers, and thought it sounded great. Words such as liquid/non grainy, high resolution, analogue came to mind. What chip does it use?

The chip is a ZXCZM800, developed by a Diodes Corporation in the UK.  It take a different approach in contrast to the typical DS chips on the market.  It converts everything to PWM.  The best thing is that its the volume control, I have eliminated the preamp totally!

 

[danik97]

Hi. What are you think about Bryston BHA-1 and SPL Phonitor amps for Senns HD800?
Source is NAD M51.

 

[nbourbaki]

There is  a nice review of the M51 over at http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/dacs/dacs-reviews/nad-m51-direct-digital-dac.html

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

 
 
That's strange.  
 
"According to Kingwa, the Sabre is most neutral and revealing while the PCM1704 is the most musical."

You obviously didn't read my post properly before posting. I never commented on Audio-gd's sabre dac ie nfb7.32 as I have never heard it. I only said I was considering it. I was comparing my ref 7.1 with a multitude of other sabre offerings, namely my Yulong D18 which again is far more musical than the 7.1.
I was also explaining the fact that a dac chip on it's own does not determine a sound signature or presentation by any means. So many other factors are involved, simply put - implementation.

 

[nigeljames]

Confusion arises when neutral and revealing IS musical

 

[RedBull]

Some say musical is detail, some say musical is speed, some say musical is bass the list goes on and on and on ...

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

Confusion arises when neutral and revealing IS musical

I hear you, it is rare but I believe you can have all 3 in reasonable amounts. When I got into audio, I stayed far away from anything "neutral' as I took that as boring, flat, bass light and definitely not musical. Turns out that true neutral isn't any of those traits imo. It's simply music portrayed as the artist intended.  I think Audio_gd does this beautifully, especially with the 7.1. The D18 however is north of neutral imo, creating a very musical, holographic presentation.

 

[vlach]

I hear you, it is rare but I believe you can have all 3 in reasonable amounts. When I got into audio, I stayed far away from anything "neutral' as I took that as boring, flat, bass light and definitely not musical. Turns out that true neutral isn't any of those traits imo. It's simply music portrayed as the artist intended.  I think Audio_gd does this beautifully, especially with the 7.1. The D18 however is north of neutral imo, creating a very musical, holographic presentation.

I think of musical in terms of audibility, i think of holographic in terms of soundstage & imaging. Two different things.

 

[customNuts]

Quote:

I think of musical in terms of audibility, i think of holographic in terms of soundstage & imaging. Two different things.

I never said they were the same thing. But they are certainly related as it all comes down to audibility. 

 

[estreeter]

Engaging, compelling, toe-tappin', liquid, lifelike - these all evoke a favorable response from me. 'Musical; is way too broad, IMO. 

 

[RedBull]

It's simply music portrayed as the artist intended.

Maybe it's only me, but I never get to understand how is it possible to understand how the artist intent their music to be heard.
They are not the one who do the mixing in the studio, first of all, and the mixing engineer is not using headphone, they use cheap xlr cables, likely not using the DAC as ours ... the list goes on. <= this is what is called 'circle of confusion'