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NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review
- Thread starter amirm
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I've just recorded a 20s video of my unit. View it here (maybe you have to turn up the volume or listen with headphones to hear it more clearly):
This is recorderd with the iPhone mic directly above the unit. It can not be heard from the listening position, BUT if you move very closely with your ears to the speaker treble units you can hear this from the speakers, too (which is even more bothering).
HI Stefan, that is EXACTLY the sound I am getting from my unit. I could hear this in more silent scenes in music/video from the listening position, about 3 meters from the M33.
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This is what I anticipated. So I am very curious and excited about if this can be improved somehow when you get back your unit from the dealer.
That should be fixed, no excuse. The unit I had was dead silent.
pogo
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Whatever they did, now even my old DL corrections with microphone seem to sound right or more right.
Please check if you can detect any differences.
Is the distortion problem still present after the update yesterday (alleged tone control setting bug
)?
Please check if you can detect any differences.
Is the distortion problem still present after the update yesterday (alleged tone control setting bug
)?
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Yes, it is. I think they reverted back to "tone controls" "off" as standard.Is the distortion problem still present after the update yesterday (alleged tone control setting bug
I think that support for M33 will run out soon with more newer units getting to market and they are working on a successor for sure; so I think nothing is going to change anymore.
And to be honest I am quite tired of trying to spot differences update after update. I listen to the M33 for a few weeks now with DL disabled (actually listening to music and not to my stereo) and I quite like it. So everything else just seems to be "fiddling around".
My M32 also had a strange (different) noise issue from the unit and was after 3 months (yes, I was without unit for 3 months) replaced by another unit. No fix.
On some other forums it was said this M33 unit noise issue has to do with the power supply and should be a known issue for NAD. Swapping part of the power supply should be a solution. So I expect this or a new unit. I will certainly not accept the current noise. I would not accept this for any audio unit, independent of the price. It is that bad.
Indeed nothing to do with AC. I could reproduce the same noise everywhere, with no components connected. Also cranking up the volume would add another less noticeable noise on top. It was hard to locate exactly due to the air vents on the unit, not my place to open the unit. Hopefully soon I can give an update on the fix.
First post in this forum. I have an M33 at home and after reading the review on AudioXpress checked the tone controls and noticed that as the reviewer had that although they were set to off the bass was set to higher than the middle or neutral setting. I turned the bass down to the middle and even though the tone controls had always been off since I initially hooked it up I noticed a lowering of the bass(for the better) on familiar music. I sent a note to my contact at NAD and suggested they look into although they must have read the review as well and knew about the tone control issue. I read the 3.16.2 notes and sure enough a vague "update tone control" was added as part of 3.16.2. After the update I am pretty sure I noticed a slight improvement in smoothness and/or detail. Lower distortion anyway. Will have to spend more time with it, but if they eliminated tone controls altogether I wouldn't be disappointed. Sound quality is really good at this point. Although I could complain about the levels as noted elseswhere especially the phono section.
pogo
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Was DL activated in the process?
I have noticed the improvement as I've previously described after the last update on my old DL corrections.
Yes, I always have Dirac activated. Manufacturers understandably don't like to describe the details of an obvious design flaw that negatively effects the sound quality of an expensive product, but it would be nice to know the details of "update tone controls". Since there has to be some additional dsp or circuits involved when tone controls are in the loop the elimination of those circuits when tone controls are actually turned off would certainly be a sound quality enhancement.
After spending some time listening with the new update, I am convinced that is a much bigger improvement than I originally thought. Like Pogue indicates there is an improvement in how the Dirac is integrated as well as a smoother cleaner overall sound quality. It's kind of a piss off really as I have spent hours (of course I like to) fine tuning this system and all the time it was handicapped by a design error in the M33. I have a custom set of speakers with a Beryllium tweeter and I now can reallly finally hear all the advantages of it.
pogo
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On which speakers are your custom made ones based?
These appear to be transparent enough to show these improvements. The majority of users could not reproduce the first improvement. Owners of large B&W and Avantgarde Acoustic could also determine deficits with DL in the past.
These are Scan Speak drivers. Based on a German design and crossover distributed by Madisound. Called Nada. https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...1ZsxVXgui2K1HAJ1TeFhoXhx4nTfgKTxoCNdAQAvD_BwE
I also have a Scan Speak Subwoofer in a sealed cabinet. https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...pIhJXXw-hpI2U32bHdOa8b5_gJ4mnaGBoCowgQAvD_BwE
pogo
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You can't seem to go wrong with a German design
The same on my side and very similar to yours. Crossover frequencies are at 50/1600Hz. Our crossovers should not be a big bottleneck in conjunction with the very good drivers and the high damping factor of the M33 can come into its own here. Here is my crossover of the 2-way lsp during a capacitor matching (upgrade finalized with matched Audyn capacitors): Link
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