[applehead]

I was able to audition the D1050 at length today, and also compare it with a dacport LX (both through usb). I used PSB Imagine T2 speakers, and a NAD C356 integrated.

My impressions were that they were quite close to each other in performance in terms of detail in the mids and highs. The D1050's bass turned out to be problematic, since it was a bit overwhelming and a bit distracting on a few tracks. Compared to the dacport, the D1050 didn't seem capable of as much low level detail despite the emphasis on the lower end. However, the NAD's presentation had much more depth, and made the dacport lx seem flat in comparison. The D1050 also had more forward mids, which may have been brought about by the comparatively warmer presentation. I liked listening to the NAD more actually, since the sound was more "fun". The dacport I felt was the more neutral of the two. There was also a Schiit Gungnir and a Cambridge Azur 851C on hand, though both were in a different league compared to the former two.

 

[madbird]

question for anyone regarding these nad d amps:
 
the d 3020 is rated at 30w at 8ohms, the larger d 7050 is rated at 50w at 4ohms.  does that not mean comparatively the d 7050 is actually less powerful at (25w at 8ohms)  or am i missing something?

 

[Bloodflowerz]

I've had the Creative SB-z sound card for the past few months along with my Arcam irDac. The Creative uses a Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC which is the same DAC inside the NAD D1050. Using my T5p through the Soundcard sounds a lot nicer to my ears than the Arcam irDac! Just warmer, smoother, less fatiguing. A lot of it's down to synergy and I think for my T5p the NAD would have been the better choice. I'm still thinking about the Teac UD 501 and Rega DAC but the NAD with it's Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC and awesome circuitry is very tempting. Perhaps when I had auditioned the irDac and NAD they were not so worn in; they were very similar in performance. The problem with demo's is that you never really have enough time to make the best decision. I personally need at least a week, at home, to be certain.
 
The Cirrus Logic CS4398 sounds a like a Wolfson DAC . They have some similar characteristics, which I prefer.

 

[jonnyt]

Am looking for a DAC/ Amp to add to my PC and am thinking about getting the 1050.

I need to run both a small pair of Bose PC speakers (can't fit proper monitors in my tiny office space) but will likely in the future also need to run proper monitors, and will also run pairs of HD650 and 325i as well.

As I only usually play games I have been running off my motherboard's onboard sound but I am now listening to more music and dabbling a little in EDM production so need a step up in quality. I need an external unit as there is no room in my PC for an internal card.

The 1050 looks attractive as I can stand it up to save desk space, run the speakers from it and have easy access to the headphone port on the front.

Would you guys recommend it or are there any other obvious alternatives that I should consider?

 

[Frenchwah]

You would need the 3020 as the 1050 has no speaker out. http://nadelectronics.com/products/digital-music/D-3020-Hybrid-Digital-Amplifier
If you mainly play games you might be better off getting a nice sound card like the asus xonar card's or a creative card as the dac wont do dolby surround. http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards_and_DigitaltoAnalog_Converters/Xonar_U7#overview

 

[madbird]

you CAN run active speakers.  the bose speakers have their own power,  although they will have a little plug meant to go directly into the pc.
 
if you want something cheaper: dacs with excellent headphone amps and very small form factor check out the AUNE X1 ($200) and AUDIO ENGINE D1 ($169).  i have both and they are both excellent.
 
i also have the NAD D 3020,  while it is an excellent amp with the same form factor as the 1050, i found the headphone amp/out to be muddy and dull in the bass area (especially compared to the choices i mentioned).  this was using my headphones denon ahd 2000 and denon ahd d600 and apple lossless files and spotify premium files
 
(***the 1050 is supposed to have a better headphone amp than the 3020)

 

[Zojokkeli]

How is the 1050 with active speakers? I was thinking about getting a pair of Genelec G Threes for my TV and PS3, and I was thinking about getting NAD 1050 or CA DacMagic Plus to drive them. At some point in the distant future I might go for something beefier in the home theater system, so then it would be a plus that I can connect the NAD, DacMagic or whatever I'll end up with to my PC.

 

[dehory]

  question for anyone regarding these nad d amps:
 
the d 3020 is rated at 30w at 8ohms, the larger d 7050 is rated at 50w at 4ohms.  does that not mean comparatively the d 7050 is actually less powerful at (25w at 8ohms)  or am i missing something?

 
Yeah, NAD's marketing materials are pretty confusing in this respect. To quote a NAD dealer:
 

The D7050 uses the same Direct Digital amplification platform as its big brother, the NAD C390DD - so output wattage is unaffected by speaker load, so it 50wpc into 4 or 8 ohms and it will even drive 2 ohm speakers without a problem. The amplification on the 7050 is all done in the digital domain and amplified at the speaker outputs whereas the NAD D3020 is more traditional in that the digital signal is processed by the DAC and then sent to "traditional" class D amplifiers.

 

[madbird]

thanks for clearing that up

 

[derbigpr]

You guys can check out my thread about the D1050 tested with Beyerdynamic T1's if you're interested. I also talk about a comparison to a lot of other DAC/amps in the same category and my Musical Fidelity M1 stack.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/713161/nad-d1050-dac-and-headphone-amplifier
 
Oh and just to mention here,  D1050 definitely has a much better headphone output than D3020. D3020 has nowhere near as much power and sounds considerably worse.

 

[dizzyorange]

I have a NAD D1050 ordered and on it's way.  Will update with impressions.

 

[dizzyorange]

I've been listening to my NAD 1050 for 2 weeks now and wanted to offer a very brief impression/review.
 
In short, the NAD sounded completely the opposite of how it is commonly described, both in this thread, as well as in reviews elsewhere on the web.  To me, it did not sound warm, dark, thick, lower-mid heavy, or syrupy, as it is commonly described.  Instead, it sounded bright with upper midrange edge and a somewhat hollow lower-midrange.  The bass is emphasized—but it's somewhat of a "slow" bass.  It's certainly not the start-stop tight bass that is in fashion these days.  Slow isn't necessarily bad though, as in real life bass has decay, and the hyper fast decay of some gear sounds fake and processed to my ears.  Overall, I liked the NAD's bass quite a bit.  My problem was the midrange.  There seemed to be a hole in the middle portion of the midrange, and an emphasis on the upper midrange, giving vocals a thin and nasal quality.
 
There is definitely treble roll-off.  Generally, I prefer treble roll-off to clinical or analytical tremble.  I actually liked this aspect of the NAD.
 
To summarize, I ended returning the NAD because of the midrange.  I was pretty surprised—as nearly every impression I've read about this DAC says it has a warm, thick, juicy midrange.  Instead, I personally heard the exact opposite.  I thought the midrange was bright, edgy, shallow, and somewhat processed.

 

[Frenchwah]

It's because there is a new firmware out that ships with the new one's, I have an original model and tried the new firmware and thought it sounded exactly as you say with an emphasis in the upper mid that just didn't match well with my dt-880s. Don't know about the new one's but mine you just push the service button on the back and it reinstalls the original firmware.

 

[dizzyorange]

  It's because there is a new firmware out that ships with the new one's, I have an original model and tried the new firmware and thought it sounded exactly as you say with an emphasis in the upper mid that just didn't match well with my dt-880s. Don't know about the new one's but mine you just push the service button on the back and it reinstalls the original firmware.

That's some really useful info.  I can't find the old firmware anywhere online, but NAD's firmware updater tool has an option where you can grab the firmware from the device into a file.  Is there any chance you could do that?  

 

[Frenchwah]

Sure send me your e-mail in a pm and i'll send it to ya.