NAD M50.2

Ok, so final MQA update...I tried some songs from the masters collection which are supposedly able to stream at 24/192 (Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane) but all I’ve seen is 24/96.  So, it looks like the decoding step on the M50.2 isn’t doing everything.  It’s a bit disappointing, but a) 24/96 sounds *just fine*, and b) I’m not paying 2k or so just to get a nice LED to light up somewhere. I’m a bit of a cheapskate that way. 

Also, while most masters songs stream just fine over WiFi, I find that every now and then I run into something that pauses, even at 24/96 (Stevie Wonder’s Living for the City). I’m not sure if it’s a network issue, but I plan to get an 8 port gigabit hub to eliminate that issue anyways. 

Thanks avlee-

i do think you need an MQA DAC to complete but I can’t do this right now either.

if you can believe I moved from the M50.2 from in box on floor to out of box on floor!! Progress.

i am redoing my HT set-up where this unit will be inserted and I’m not there yet.

I sure hope I can get it all under control by the end of this weekend. I am anxious to get the M50.2 rolling as well as the rest of the rig. It’s all torn apart.

Thanks for checking Tidal. It’s so difficult to tell what your getting these days in regards to Tidal.

Rick

When you hook up the M50.2, I would think about using the 12V trigger in to turn it on and off. There is no remote control button for power on/off (or rather, no programmable setting...the M50.2 doesn’t come with a remote, you program in your own codes to it, and I didn’t see a power on/off programmable setting) so you can either turn it on and off by pressing the button or by setting up a trigger for the input you want to use (I went with AES) on your DAC and activating the M50.2 with that. When you turn off your trigger, the M50.2 turns off automatically as well. Pretty useful.

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.