This is a review and detailed measurements of the NAD D 3045 integrated amplifier with DAC and HDMI ARC. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $799.
As you see, the design follows the rest of the "D" series. As with them, the power button is an almost hidden touch area on top which I dislike. It is not very sensitive and requires messing to get it to activate. But then when you put your hand on top of it, it happily shuts of the unit. The volume control is rather stiff and slow to act. Same with the input selector.
What the D3045 loses on the interface, it gains back with rich set of interfaces for today's music listener (sans streaming):
Inclusion of HDMI ARC to receive digital audio from smart TV is rare and appreciated.
I was shocked to see such detailed specifications on the product page:
We have four separate subsystems so let's go through each one of the separately.
NAD D3045 DAC Measurements
Inclusion of a DAC in modern integrated amplifier tends to be more of a checklist item than a performant subsystem. Is it the case here? Let's look at our dashboard:
Wow, I was not expecting to see SINAD above 100! This nicely puts the D3045 DAC in competent category of all DACs tested:
What is more, there is plenty of headroom available on the pre-out unlike competing units which clip well below 2 volts:
I have a theory that if DAC SINAD is taken care of, the rest of the unit is likely well designed. Let's test that theory by continuing the rest of our measurements:
Not state of the art to be sure but again, competent in easily clearing the dynamic range of 16 bit content. Linearity is just as good:
IMD test shows a penalty for noise but distortion is on the money:
There are some jitter spikes over USB interface but nothing to worry about audibly:
Our DAC filter test however shows a poor choice for reconstruction filter:
This almost looks like a custom filter of sorts. Shame as it has a slow roll off causing severe issue in high frequency signal creating ultrasonic noise:
NAD D3045 Amplifier Measurements
For amps with both digital and analog inputs I test both to see if there is a difference/conversion to digital. Let's start with analog input:
Performance is slightly above average for all amplifiers tested:
Given the much higher performance of the DAC, switching to USB input improves things a bit (gain structures are different however):
Noise performance is not great at 5 watts but naturally improves at full power:
Frequency response is nice and flat in audio band and is not dependent on the load:
Multitone shows good performance:
Crosstalk is about average:
Power output matches specs:
Finally, we see nice independence from input frequency (more or less):
NAD D3045 Phono Pre-amp Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard:
About average:
There is good amount of headroom for the class:
Most importantly, RIAA equalization is implemented well:
NAD D3045 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
Company makes lofty claims of its headphone amp being as good as stand-alone amps. Again, such outputs are typically poor performing, checklist items. Not here:
Yes, noise performance is not competitive with desktop amps so don't plug in efficient IEMs into it:
Where NAD delivers is in available power which is one of the most important things in headphone amplifiers:
Conclusions
With just a minor miss of picking slow "audiophile" filters for the DAC, NAD delivers on every front for an integrated amplifier in this price range. While competing products give you the amp, usually the rest is an afterthought. Not so with D3045. It is competent in every category. It is not state of the art and can't be with this much functionality and price point. It puts a smile on my face knowing that every circuit was well engineered and closed loop tested with measurement.
I am happy to recommend the NAD D3045. Well done job NAD!
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
As you see, the design follows the rest of the "D" series. As with them, the power button is an almost hidden touch area on top which I dislike. It is not very sensitive and requires messing to get it to activate. But then when you put your hand on top of it, it happily shuts of the unit. The volume control is rather stiff and slow to act. Same with the input selector.
What the D3045 loses on the interface, it gains back with rich set of interfaces for today's music listener (sans streaming):
Inclusion of HDMI ARC to receive digital audio from smart TV is rare and appreciated.
I was shocked to see such detailed specifications on the product page:
We have four separate subsystems so let's go through each one of the separately.
NAD D3045 DAC Measurements
Inclusion of a DAC in modern integrated amplifier tends to be more of a checklist item than a performant subsystem. Is it the case here? Let's look at our dashboard:
Wow, I was not expecting to see SINAD above 100! This nicely puts the D3045 DAC in competent category of all DACs tested:
What is more, there is plenty of headroom available on the pre-out unlike competing units which clip well below 2 volts:
I have a theory that if DAC SINAD is taken care of, the rest of the unit is likely well designed. Let's test that theory by continuing the rest of our measurements:
Not state of the art to be sure but again, competent in easily clearing the dynamic range of 16 bit content. Linearity is just as good:
IMD test shows a penalty for noise but distortion is on the money:
There are some jitter spikes over USB interface but nothing to worry about audibly:
Our DAC filter test however shows a poor choice for reconstruction filter:
This almost looks like a custom filter of sorts. Shame as it has a slow roll off causing severe issue in high frequency signal creating ultrasonic noise:
NAD D3045 Amplifier Measurements
For amps with both digital and analog inputs I test both to see if there is a difference/conversion to digital. Let's start with analog input:
Performance is slightly above average for all amplifiers tested:
Given the much higher performance of the DAC, switching to USB input improves things a bit (gain structures are different however):
Noise performance is not great at 5 watts but naturally improves at full power:
Frequency response is nice and flat in audio band and is not dependent on the load:
Multitone shows good performance:
Crosstalk is about average:
Power output matches specs:
Finally, we see nice independence from input frequency (more or less):
NAD D3045 Phono Pre-amp Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard:
About average:
There is good amount of headroom for the class:
Most importantly, RIAA equalization is implemented well:
NAD D3045 Headphone Amplifier Measurements
Company makes lofty claims of its headphone amp being as good as stand-alone amps. Again, such outputs are typically poor performing, checklist items. Not here:
Yes, noise performance is not competitive with desktop amps so don't plug in efficient IEMs into it:
Where NAD delivers is in available power which is one of the most important things in headphone amplifiers:
Conclusions
With just a minor miss of picking slow "audiophile" filters for the DAC, NAD delivers on every front for an integrated amplifier in this price range. While competing products give you the amp, usually the rest is an afterthought. Not so with D3045. It is competent in every category. It is not state of the art and can't be with this much functionality and price point. It puts a smile on my face knowing that every circuit was well engineered and closed loop tested with measurement.
I am happy to recommend the NAD D3045. Well done job NAD!
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/