NAD C 446 Digital Media Player

[hugh]

The Media players enables owners to stream AM/FM radio, internet radio or music from a networked computer, hard drive, Apple or Android smartphone to their home theatre system.

The C 446 is able to stream music collections from all networked devices using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standards. The UPnP Digital Audio Renderer (DAR) technology allows the user to browse, create playlists, and change songs from anywhere in the home using a range of network devices.

Audio formats supported include MP3, FLAC, WMA, WAV, and AAC.

The NAD C446 will sell for $800 in Canada.

[jem]

I do love the NAD products. I had a great NAD receiver for a number of years, and have been really regretting replacing it with an inferior product when it died. That being said, this is pretty expensive for a music streamer.

[hugh]

Personally, I would never pay that kind of cash especially since the capability is built into most new high end receivers or can be add for considerably less.

[jokeDR]

I still love NAD for their HI FI gear. Their Home theatre offerings are too expensive for the most part IMO.

[AmowAgou]

If Monster Cables have customers, so would NAD. There are many people with money to burn.

[dufferdan]

Honestly, with the competition out there now and with music streaming becoming more mainstream by the day, you would think it should be pretty easy for a company, especially a company like NAD with a reputation for solid products, to get it right. Reading the data sheet, for an $800 streaming device, they miss the mark on several fronts:

Media Formats: No ALAC. Looks like they are avoiding Apple interactivity, which while one might want to avoid Apple licensing fees, iTunes is so ingrained that you would expect them to embrace it. I know Twonky can do it for you, but it is $30 incremental, and for newbs, might be a little too complicated.

FLAC and WAV: 1.5mb/s max. Not sure what this means for streaming formats, but since WAV and FLAC are rated the same, it look like max resolution is 16/44.1. Minimum I would expect at this price point would be 24/96, but at $800, 24/192 isn't out of the question. Certainly 16/44.1 does NOT qualify as HD audio, at least in my book.

Ethernet: 10/100 only? Really? in this day and age? Use gigabit and put in a buffer to eliminate dropouts.
Wireless: b/g only? Likewise, give it N and a buffer

No mention of internal DAC's used or anything.

Toslink out only. Sorry, but needs an RCA digital out as well. Better bandwidth for high resolution files. But, since it is uncertain as to whether it can actually play hi-rez FLAC files, it may not be an issue.

I have been an NAD fan since the 80's. But for $800 I would expect a lot more from them, especially since the Squeezebox Touch can do basically everything this thing can do, at almost half the price, with careful shopping. If it even came close, I'd have bought one and moved my Touch tot he cabin.

If I may suggest a little homework for NAD when they bring out version 2:

Look at the Touch, Squeezecenter Software and iPeng for iPad/Ipod Touch. Wrap that into an $800 product, with hi-rez file capability, iTunes interoperability, and a few other little innovations, and I will be all over this thing. But as it sits, with what I am reading, it is a great big "meh".

[pharsyde]

review from whathifi .

http://www.whathifi.com/review/nad-c446


techradar as well ..

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/aud...-989245/review

[blueroomelectro]

Also a pass for me. Any PC running iTunes, an iPad running Remote and an AirPlay receiver IMHO is a much better arrangement.