NAD M51 Direct Digital DAC Impressions

[Somnambulist]

Me too! Well, I will once the price of the WD Red's drops a little more and I can populate my NAS fully...

 

[estreeter]

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You could do both cheaper really, I can't really see the attraction of £££ network players - on the Naim forums for example, many people prefer Windows/Mac based solutions (e.g. a headless SFF device using a USB to S/PDIF converter with isolated power) to Naim's own network devices. Sound wise they don't seem to find much in it, but more importantly it's the software - both in terms of user-friendliness and future-proofing that swing it for them.

 
The obvious answer, for me anyway, is that I plan to audition the M51 with the M50 - if the combination doesnt blow me away, or the user interface for the M50 doesnt meet my needs, no harm done. Either way, I cant leave it to reviews or forum scuttlebutt - I have to hear that combination for myself. I have more than enough testimonials in this thread to know that the M51 is going to sound good with other sources - its this particular source which currently has my attention.

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

 
The obvious answer, for me anyway, is that I plan to audition the M51 with the M50 - if the combination doesnt blow me away, or the user interface for the M50 doesnt meet my needs, no harm done. Either way, I cant leave it to reviews or forum scuttlebutt - I have to hear that combination for myself. I have more than enough testimonials in this thread to know that the M51 is going to sound good with other sources - its this particular source which currently has my attention.

please do share when you audition it. I would love to know whether you have beem smitten by this combo. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

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Re M50/M52
 
Man, that is a hefty price tag! 3.5 K USD?!

I wonder how it stocks up against a Mac with Amarra. I was doing some research on taking my rig in the analogue direction -- i.e. vinyl -- but seeing this actually made me rethink my plan for few seconds. I would love to hook up the M50/52 combo to my m51 but I really doubt it improves on quality so much that the 100%+ price difference over Mac/Amarra set up is worth it (I dont know unlimited funds, unfortunately). Vinyl probably would eventually amount to similar price since I would have to buy records and components, but that I could build incrementally and still enjoy it as I am building. I don't know..... Still, if anyone has heard this set up and can comment, I would love to hear what you have to say. I am willing to change my mind. 

Ever tried a product of blue circle audio in canada? They have the most analog sounding components around i understand.

 

[Somnambulist]

The 2011/2012 Mac Minis (not sure about other models) have optical outputs with jitter in the 10-20ps range - i.e. super low) and obviously optical is galvanically isolated, so none of the noise from the PSU is going to carry through. Nice glass cable and you're probably set to be honest. I'm going to get a refurb 2011 MM, up the RAM to 8GB, wack in an SSD and that'll be that I think. My SBT is going to end up in another room with my DIY speakers and the MM will look good with the M51 as they're both clean lines/metal.
 
The thing with the M50 is I'm not convinced audio companies are great at making computers - a lot of these high end network streamers are just unremarkable mITX/mATX builds running XP and not particularly clean power-wise, and you can't play with different software (e.g. Amarra vs Audivana+ vs JR for Mac), with a 4 figure price tag wacked on. I felt like the M51 could justify it's expense (it was expensive for me, anyway!) but not the computer stuff in the Masters series.
 
Quote:

Re M50/M52
 
Man, that is a hefty price tag! 3.5 K USD?!

I wonder how it stocks up against a Mac with Amarra. I was doing some research on taking my rig in the analogue direction -- i.e. vinyl -- but seeing this actually made me rethink my plan for few seconds. I would love to hook up the M50/52 combo to my m51 but I really doubt it improves on quality so much that the 100%+ price difference over Mac/Amarra set up is worth it (I dont know unlimited funds, unfortunately). Vinyl probably would eventually amount to similar price since I would have to buy records and components, but that I could build incrementally and still enjoy it as I am building. I don't know..... Still, if anyone has heard this set up and can comment, I would love to hear what you have to say. I am willing to change my mind. 

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

The 2011/2012 Mac Minis (not sure about other models) have optical outputs with jitter in the 10-20ps range - i.e. super low) and obviously optical is galvanically isolated, so none of the noise from the PSU is going to carry through. Nice glass cable and you're probably set to be honest. I'm going to get a refurb 2011 MM, up the RAM to 8GB, wack in an SSD and that'll be that I think. My SBT is going to end up in another room with my DIY speakers and the MM will look good with the M51 as they're both clean lines/metal.
 
The thing with the M50 is I'm not convinced audio companies are great at making computers - a lot of these high end network streamers are just unremarkable mITX/mATX builds running XP and not particularly clean power-wise, and you can't play with different software (e.g. Amarra vs Audivana+ vs JR for Mac), with a 4 figure price tag wacked on. I felt like the M51 could justify it's expense (it was expensive for me, anyway!) but not the computer stuff in the Masters series.
 

totally good call on mac mini. I have that one (in fact I think mine is 2011). It was has HDMI which I use to run to my receiver when I have people over and wonna listen on speakers or if I wanna watch HBOgo or anything else online on my big screan TV. If you do not have a receiver you can totally set up 2 channel system and pass HDMI from NAD to our TV. And if you do that I wold recommend Amarra if you are using iTunes as your player. I can hear the difference even though my speaker system which is only mid-fi

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

Ever tried a product of blue circle audio in canada? They have the most analog sounding components around i understand.

i have never heard of it. Their site gives an impression a small company. 

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

The 2011/2012 Mac Minis (not sure about other models) have optical outputs with jitter in the 10-20ps range - i.e. super low) and obviously optical is galvanically isolated, so none of the noise from the PSU is going to carry through. Nice glass cable and you're probably set to be honest. I'm going to get a refurb 2011 MM, up the RAM to 8GB, wack in an SSD and that'll be that I think. My SBT is going to end up in another room with my DIY speakers and the MM will look good with the M51 as they're both clean lines/metal.
 
The thing with the M50 is I'm not convinced audio companies are great at making computers - a lot of these high end network streamers are just unremarkable mITX/mATX builds running XP and not particularly clean power-wise, and you can't play with different software (e.g. Amarra vs Audivana+ vs JR for Mac), with a 4 figure price tag wacked on. I felt like the M51 could justify it's expense (it was expensive for me, anyway!) but not the computer stuff in the Masters series.
 

Does the mini has coax out/spdif out? Or only toslink out?

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

i have never heard of it. Their site gives an impression a small company. 

I didnt hear of it either before..but the ones who know this company is a gem...just like toxic cables..the owners love what they do and do their work excellent with products who sound very good at reseonable prices..just check google for reviews for the blue audio bc509/507 dac or their other products..
 
so a small company does not to be bad ( see hifiman, they were small not so long ago) sometimes its even better as they can make WHAT U WANT...

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

i have never heard of it. Their site gives an impression a small company. 

 
Most boutique audio IS a 'small company' (often one person), and even the larger ones often have crap websites. Annoys me too, but I dont sweat things I cant fix. 
 
Blue Circle doesnt need to advertise in the magazines - they have a loyal following that swear by their products - but Google will soon tell you that. Another 'small company' you might like to check out is AVA.
 
http://www.avahifi.com/
 
Like BC, AVA dont release a new product every 3-6 months, and they dont make anything for the 'iGeneration' : they just concentrate on what they do best and leave novelty products to the likes of Bose. Long after those Bose SoundShockers are gracing landfill sites, BC and AVA amps will still be doing their job, day in and day out - these guys didn't just pull up in a white van outside Bob's Big Boy. 
 
I had never heard of Decware until I joined Head-Fi, and I still don't know much about ARC or Plinius. I guess we are all on a journey, but it beats the hell out of whatever's on TV right now

 

[hifimanrookie]

Quote:

 
Most boutique audio IS a 'small company' (often one person), and even the larger ones often have crap websites. Annoys me too, but I dont sweat things I cant fix. 
 
Blue Circle doesnt need to advertise in the magazines - they have a loyal following that swear by their products - but Google will soon tell you that. Another 'small company' you might like to check out is AVA.
 
http://www.avahifi.com/
 
Like BC, AVA dont release a new product every 3-6 months, and they dont make anything for the 'iGeneration' : they just concentrate on what they do best and leave novelty products to the likes of Bose. Long after those Bose SoundShockers are gracing landfill sites, BC and AVA amps will still be doing their job, day in and day out - these guys didn't just pull up in a white van outside Bob's Big Boy. 
 
I had never heard of Decware until I joined Head-Fi, and I still don't know much about ARC or Plinius. I guess we are all on a journey, but it beats the hell out of whatever's on TV right now

Well said!! What u say is so true...and i already checked google..thats how i found them..and after some mails i get more interested after every mail.
 
.i also never ever hear of darkvoice before i by accident stubled upon a review for a he500 on which the reviewer said the 337 was one of the best pairs with the he500..so i had to try one at a friend..and u can see on sig what has happened 

almost no one knows darkvoice...and ur right..it has a very loyal followers...as their products sound far above their price as they are made with love..not by robots..
 
so i think i am going to jump on the BC train..to upgrade from my excellent 337..

ps..i will be checking audio by van alstine (AVA) also..just out of curiosity.

 

[Argo Duck]

+1. And concerning Plinius, yep it's a great company. I have the extraordinary (and huge)  SA-250 in my speaker rig. I had the opportunity to talk to Plinius' designer Garry Morrison years ago. Much as I've heard about Steve Deckert of Decware, you could not hope to meet anyone more approachable.
Quote:

 
Most boutique audio IS a 'small company' (often one person), and even the larger ones often have crap websites. Annoys me too, but I dont sweat things I cant fix. 
 
Blue Circle doesnt need to advertise in the magazines - they have a loyal following that swear by their products - but Google will soon tell you that. Another 'small company' you might like to check out is AVA.
 
http://www.avahifi.com/
 
Like BC, AVA dont release a new product every 3-6 months, and they dont make anything for the 'iGeneration' : they just concentrate on what they do best and leave novelty products to the likes of Bose. Long after those Bose SoundShockers are gracing landfill sites, BC and AVA amps will still be doing their job, day in and day out - these guys didn't just pull up in a white van outside Bob's Big Boy. 
 
I had never heard of Decware until I joined Head-Fi, and I still don't know much about ARC or Plinius. I guess we are all on a journey, but it beats the hell out of whatever's on TV right now

 

[Cante Ista]

just to make myself clear, I was criticizing the fact that they are a small company. my amps are from first watt, DNA, and I have a headamp coming in soon -- all small companies. I guess I was (very ineffectively) trying to elicit more info on them. Thank you for providing that.

 

[Somnambulist]

The 3mm mini jack (headphone output) doubles as a toslink output. The other options for audio output are USB and HDMI (if you're not using an HDMI monitor or the HDMI to DVI adapter cable for an older monitor) - with USB I'd be tempted to throw in a USB to S/PDIF converter, but then you're adding a lot of extra expense for cleaning up electrical noise and stuff like that. There seem to be people who find HDMI a great connection for audio and others who think it's pants - I haven't tried myself.
Quote:

Does the mini has coax out/spdif out? Or only toslink out?

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

just to make myself clear, I was NOT criticizing the fact that they are a small company. my amps are from first watt, DNA, and I have a headamp coming in soon -- all small companies. I guess I was (very ineffectively) trying to elicit more info on them. Thank you for providing that.

 
I believe I've inserted the 'not' you intended to use in that sentence.