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NAD M51 wish PC based connectivity

This DAC really works for me. It soaks up the bits on the disc and presents them in a balanced and natural way that I hadn't heard in another DAC.

My goal was to get back into computer audio. My wife has a Macbook pro so with all the software packages for MAC audio I thought I would find one that really works and one that can utilize our idevices (IPAD, etc.)as a nice remote interface.

Problem with that idea is that I completely dislike iTunes. The way it tries to manage libraries has wasted so many hours of my life (not to mention my libraries) that I simply don't want to go there. The software packages (I tried, 4 of them) were not without there own set of issues. Some worked sort of, some just didn't sound right. I grabbed my work PC and loaded J-River. Wow, not that's a nice piece of software. Logical and easy to manage with many options it looked like the ticket. But I couldn't get it to work in a direct manner with the NAD. It'll play but its playback is inferior to streaming HDMI through my Oppo BDP-95 which has been stellar. I'm hopeful NAD or JRiver can fix this in an update soon.

Are there any other PC based packages that I'm missing with direct connectivity, USB based and a healthy remote app for the iDevices?
128x128desalvo55
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
forget Foobar. If you must use PC I would recommend either Jplay in conjunction with Jriver or XXHighend.

Personally I would stick with the Macbook pro and use Amarra player with iTunes. better SQ.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
desalvo55's avatar
desalvo55 OP
257 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. I've gotten J-River to work with the NAD. There was a playback mode section at the bottom of a file type window I missed that was set to "automatic". Strange location IMO.Even after giving up the Jriver engineers found the solution.

SQ really jumped using the Jriver audio engine. I need to AB with some audiophile ears in the next week to compare with the stellar sound quality of the HDMI Oppo NAD combo. It might be a wash and that's a good thing.

I was really disapointed using the MAC as a music server. Using LiTunes is simply nightmarish when you're trying to maintain your organized libraries. It's funky behavior toasted my MP4 library more than once. The behavior of the audio software programs was so bad I might assume this brand new Macbook pro has bad memory. It was/is Windows 3.0-like. So I can't pretend Amara and Audionivana and the rest is bad software, but it wouldn't roll on my Mac with 8 gigs.

With MC17 on a PC with 4 gigs - no hiccups with current setup.
danik97
1 posts
 
Hello. I'm ver interested how M51's soun в in comparison with Wyred$sound and who is better?

Want to add some mood to my HD800.
desalvo55's avatar
desalvo55 OP
257 posts
 
Never got an opportunity to hear the W4S in my system.

J-River plays but not without its hiccups. When left alone, PC wakes from sleep, NAD requires a reboot. Need to debug as it's annoying.
bodiezaffa
4 posts
 
Did you download the nad m51 driver before you connected it.
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