[mariowar]

I'm thinking in stepping up from my Panasonic portable cd player.....
I own an Emmeline Xp7 and Sennheiser cans, and planning to get the beyers Dt880.
I've been reading a lot about this 2 players and even tough the Azur has a lot of positive reviews, I think that if I like punchy players with good bass and excellent highs, I would better go for the NAD.

What do you think?

Is it true that cd transport on the NAD is not good and even a cd with a minor scratch would render unplayable?

Thanks

 

[elnero]

I haven't heard the NAD but isn't it supposed to be a bit on the darker warmer side? I personally thought the Azur 640C had a nice tight, punchy bass and highs were quite good & detailed but maybe just a tad forward for my overall tastes.

 

[mariowar]

elnero, really? I thought it was the opposite...... Well, I guess I'll have to try to test both units........

 

[dj_mocok]

Where did you hear that from ? CDs with minor scratch will play just perfectly with the NAD.

Never tried the NAD with badly scratched CDs... Most of my CDs are in good conditions. I don't have the heart to feed such dirty CDs into my CDP.
As Elnero said, the NAD is a bit warmer, but don't think of Sennheiser type of warm. I think you can call them just not bright/fatiguing. And with heaps detailed bass punch (not bloated).

 

[mysticaldodo]

I just bought the 640 C yesterday. Quite bright, but I'm burning in 3 of my components at the same time so the impression doesn't count but just saying what I hear at first. According to most reviewers, the sound will smoothn after a week or two so we'll see

The build quality is nice!

I haven't got the chance to test the NAD. Do tell us about your impressions

 

[rcgrant]

If I'm correct in my understanding that the 640C is similar to my CD-25, I'd go with the NAD. Either of the players you mentioned would be a great choice in the price range, but the NAD will help round out the sound of the DT880 more.

 

[mysticaldodo]

Ok, reporting major changes. The sound went from bright to relatively smooth. I'm into 17 hours of burning in from the required 36 hours (according to Cambridge). However I'm losing bass

I'm also burning in my amp newly installed caps, tubes and interconnects so that could be the cause too.

ps. The NAD 542 has HDCD don't they? If you got alot of HDCD cds, that would be quite a good buy.

 

[dj_mocok]

NAD has HDCD, but don't think you can find many HDCDs around. It's pretty much a dying format... (which is very unfortunate)

 

[mariowar]

Thanks for the input.

By the way, I just tried my new Denon dvd player DVD 1910, and the difference is AMAZING, compared to the Panasonic discman, here are the specs, are these decent?

Burr-Brown PCM-1756, 24 bit, 192 kHz Audio DACs , signal to noise ratio 115db, dynamic range 100db ,THD 0.004

Do you think it would be an improvement over this if I get the NAD?

 

[dj_mocok]

Don't know. I never tried your DVD player...

But you have to remember, sometimes the upgrade in source can be easier to recognize if you have the rest of the system to back it up. (no major bottleneck)

 

[mysticaldodo]

Curiously, Windows Media Player recognises HDCD. Does it actually decode it? I can't tell the difference.

The bass came back, nicely balanced. It sounds nice now

 

[mariowar]

I just got the NAD C542( $400, good deal, isn't it?), I tried in the store and I was blown!!!!, it is a noticeable improvement over my Denon dvd player DVD1910 !!!.
I tried several cds with complex passages were the dvd player failed an sounded muddy in the highs.......and the NAD suceeded decoding it. The bass was punchier and tighter than the dvd player.

 

[dj_mocok]

Mario:

So my description of NAD was pretty much accurate then ?
Or did I understate the fact and made it not as good as it is in real life ?

 

[mariowar]

dj, you were absolutely right, it is an awesome player and there is a sinergy between this one and my Emmeline Xp7 plus the sennheisers HD590. I can't wait to get the Beyers DT880!!!

 

[dj_mocok]

Make sure you let us know how your new Nad sounds like with the DT880 when you already got them.

I was thinking about going for DT880 last time, but I decided to go with MS2.
I think I prefer a "livelier" cans...