watchnerd
Grand Contributor
So they have matured marketing-wise.
Bruno needs to work on his webinar pitches, though.
40 min of white paper talk on the NAD webinar broadcast through Stereophile was pretty snoozy.
So they have matured marketing-wise.
Purifi company in Denmark is going with big deficit, and there are few persons employed.
How do you know about their big deficit?
This is an innocent question as a follow-up to the above. I realize that @Amir responds above that there was no reason to expect better SINAD for the analogue input if one used a higher sample rate. Is there anything more to be said about this? Why might one expect otherwise? Moreover, are there any similar questions regarding use of a digital input, which is presumably what most users of the M33 would employ as most sources nowadays are digital, and using an external DAC would defeat the purpose of using the M33 as an all-in-one solution (one that clearly has a good DAC anyway)?I looked at the measurement curves again and came to the conclusion that the measurements involving the analog input section were carried out with the lowest quality level possible at the NAD M33 (ADC sample rate 48kHz). For that they seem to be good to very good.
There are no measurement data of the full potential of the NAD M33, if the analog input stage is used at 192kHz ADC sample rate. Please measure again, if possible!
To make matters worse, the sample rate settings only work correctly since the following FW-version and have previously reset themselves to the default value of 48kHz:
BluOS 3.12.9. Released November 4, 2020:
- Update for inputs and settings on NAD M33. This release applies to the NAD M33 only.
This is an innocent question as a follow-up to the above. I realize that @Amir responds above that there was no reason to expect better SINAD for the analogue input if one used a higher sample rate. Is there anything more to be said about this? Why might one expect otherwise?
I'm not saying that. I thought that @pogo was saying that in the earlier post. Perhaps I misunderstood.Are you saying you think an ADC should have better SINAD at higher sample rates?
By their annual report, which is official in Denmark.
But not a high-growth, venture investable company like Dirac. Hard to do that in hardware.
Re: Alexanderc's comment, if his wife can't hear the difference from the kitchen, I bet Sam Telig's wife Marina (?) could. He claimed she was Russian, didn't he? Oh, I got tired of his narrative line like I got tired of Garrison Keillor who stayed around way, way too long.It seems like there are a few of us in that boat, but it’s not hard to imagine someone feeling that $5k is steep if they don’t need all the functionality.
In my case, I wouldn’t use HDMI, and I already have a phono preamp (although I would be happy to have fewer boxes and cables). I’m in the market for everything else this does though.
In another thread someone informally mentioned that getting a 20% discount might be possible. If that’s true the M33 would be a competitive value proposition. Even if that isn’t true right now, it might be once its popularity subsides. I know Anthem knocks 20% off their STR series from time to time. I suppose I should call a few dealers to see if they just laugh at me.
Conclusions
There is a lot of good news and some bad news in review of NAD M33. As an integrated product it shows for the first time that quality does not need to be compromised. Performance across the board beats any integrated product like an AVR or even AV Processor on DAC performance. For the first time, we don't have to apologize or make excuses.
If you were however expecting the pure performance of best in class stereo DAC and Purifi amplification you would be disappointed. We can get SINAD of 120 dB in desktop DACs and Purifi performance of 98 dB. And at much lower prices but you would have add a streamer of sorts. And none will have the pretty UI of the NAD M33. And you would have to find one where you can use Dirac (e.g. a PC platform).
As compared to an AVR, the M33 is a home run albeit at much higher price and with just two channels.
All in all, NAD shows the path to superb performance in integrated products. It however stops a bit short of what it could be.
Overall, I am happy to recommend the NAD M33. Just miss the bit of performance it left on the table.
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Noise, yes. If I remember well, your testing of the 1ET400A demonstrator showed the same levels of distortion as the ABH2.Well, the Benchmark AHB2 sets the bar for best performance. In that regard, Class D could stand lowering distortion and noise in another generation.
I like to keep my reviews very brief and to the point. If you want that kind of detail, please seek out other reviews. I did upgrade the firmware and it made no difference as it should not. The amplification doesn't have firmware. And while ADC/DAC could be impacted, they were not.
I could not test HDMI since it only works as ARC and I am not setup to feed it audio that way. I did try though but did not work (my issue, not the device).
That is not completely right either . Firmware is there for diagnostics, the amplification part is purely analog.That‘s not completely right. Each purifi module also has firmware (see data sheet at Purifi homepage). I don't know the design of the M33, but from my point of view there is potential that differences in the output signal may be seen with different firmwares. For example, through other settings of the respective function blocks, adding or deactivating functions, etc.
That is not completely right either . Firmware is there for diagnostics, the amplification part is purely analog.
I am not sure I understand the financials entirely using Google Translate. Is the second graphic the table of Purifi investors? Looks like NAD is an investor via AudioNord?
Consider that you have an analog amplifier with a microcontroller monitoring it's behavior. In case an issue would be detected, the microcontroller will take drastic measures in order to protect both the amplifier, and the speakers. Not something slightly degrading the measurements, something like shutting down everything.Here is a quote from the Purifi data sheet:
…the channel controller monitors and operate all available circuits for environmental checks (Over/Under-voltage, Temperature) and all protection circuits (Current limiting, Overload protection, DC protection, Frequency protection and Bootstrap refresh)…
…
I understand this channel controller can influence the analog signal. Are the thresholds applied for the controller operation hardwired?