NAD M51 DAC

[Larry]

Have any of you heard the new NAD M51 DAC ?. It should be out now or maybe first next week. I heard it friday connected to the NAD M3 amp and the Dali Mentor 2 speakers and loved what this setup brings to the table. I have just posted a first impression on my audioblog, but know I can´t link to it here. I was epecially impressed how much M51 could dig out of music in cd quality.Go check the M51 DAC out yourself, with some of your own music. You could be in for a Christmas treat

 

[Cpt.Issues]

35bit architecture? Sounds a bit odd, I thought stuff like this usually follows a binary pattern?

 

[Larry]

Well, not this time. It´s a very unusual DAC :cheer:. Max input is still 24-bit/192 kHz, but the internal sampling goes up another level and don´t as me where the binary pattern goes :bounce: .

I know it may sounds a bit over the top when you read it, but this NAD M51 DAC really got to me. Here a part of my impression from my desktop audioblog post :

"I continued trough more music in various qualities and the best of all, was yet another CD (16-bit/44 kHz) track. Morten Varano with “Dead End Street” in the Trentemoller remix (Hotel Costes Vol. 11). A lot is going on in both channels and in the soundstage. Very well produced. You float into the music and the M51 DAC presented the many layers perfectly. Bass was strong and heavy, something that the M3 amplifier loved to work with. I could turn up the volume without fatigue and the only thing I met was this big liquid wall of sound. It was really exciting to explore and become a part of the music, in a way I had never experienced before."

I´m not praising the M51 as the new Messiah, but on that specific system, acoustics of the room, this well produced track everything just clicked.