NAD M50.2


To anyone who has heard the NAD M50.2, how does it compare in sound to other music servers, such as those more expensive from Aurender, etc?
imgoodwithtools
With regards to sound quality, I can make the following comments:
1) I'm getting excellent frequency response ("loudness" setting is off on my processor/DAC) from the low range to the high.  Everything sounds crystal clear.
2) My wife remarked last night that when she closes her eyes, she really feels like she's sitting in the recording studio.  She's not as into the audio *equipment* as I am, but she appreciates good sound.  She likes this network device.
3) I've put about 20 CDs through this thing, and some were, to say the least, banged up.  I was embarrassed at the condition of some of the discs.  That being said, this device ripped them all cleanly (I didn't hear any weird audio pops or anything like bad data) and encoded them without difficulty.  Haven't had any software hangups with the M50.2...it just works.

For the OP, if you can demo this device, I think you want to demo it and play around with it.  Mine is not going back.
I just returned from Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver. Great experience. Unfortunately, the NAD room didn't have a 50.2 on display.

I spoke with the Aurender folks and they said they would have a new transport/memory device available within 6 months specifically for ripping CDs to an Aurender digital player. 

With this relatively new territory including MQA with streamers, etc, I think I will spin CDs for another 6 months or a year, and see what's on the market then.



Just a quick note: according to the Nov 28 Stereophile review of the Nad M50.2, DSD support will be made available before the end of the year. 

Nice!
I figures it would be easiest to just update this thread for interested readers on the M50.2. 

The 2.14.5 update added amazon music and deezer hifi to the services the M50.2 can access.  There has also been additional “metadata” support added.

Still waiting to see the DSD support and implementation. With luck, they can convert one of the USB ports to output, but we’ll see.