NAD M50.2 announced for August 2016

[JonMarsh]

The replacement/update to my NAD M50 has been announced during the Munich High End show- it's a nice looking piece, further improving build quality and features and functionality. Oh, and price, too. It move up market from about $2400 for the original M50 to $3999.


Features:

• Wireless (Wi-Fi) and gigabit Ethernet inputs
• Automatic ripping of CD to internal RAID of two 2TB hard drives
• Real time playback of CDs
• Decodes FLAC, ALAC, MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg
• SPDIF Outputs; AES/EBU, Coaxial, Optical
• HDMI output
• USB output (mass storage mode)
• USB inputs, 1 front (host), 1 rear (device)
• RS-232 for external control
• IR in/out
 IR remote control
• TFT touch panel display
• Bluetooth AptX
• Software defined product with upgrade path

Still runs a version of BluOS, like the M50, which is fairly capable and mostly only occasionally frustrating :W (that may seem like damning with faint praise, but software is always a tricky topic, and just getting solidly robust playback is considered a significant achievement a few years back...)


One things I'm surprised about is how there are almost no front panel controls- (other than touch TFT panel- hope that works out) I don't like that trend, because that means if the remote is missing or not working, one is well and truly screwed... didn't like that trend in Blu-Ray players, don't like it particularly for an all in one unit as complex as this one is. Reportedly it will be modular like some of the other recent Master series products, with optional modules to plug in (note, one can just barely see the CD slot underneath the front panel touch screen if you look closely at the picture).

There's a lot to like here, EXCEPT, that I really have my heart set on trying out Roon, as it offers the promise of making the front end more engaging and interesting for the average user, adapting to your own collection and it's contents. And the BluOS front end as implemented on the M50 and iPad was at times a bit glitch and inconsistent about how things got offered up- searching on Albums sometimes wouldn't turn up the same result I was looking for as searching by Artist and scanning their albums, for example.

What I don't doubt is that the hardware will be fairly first class- I'm still up in the air about the AURALiC Aries compared with my M50- (and only the fact that my M50 recently quit connecting to the network for some reason has delayed further investigating this- I suspect it's more likely a software or networking glitch than a hardware issue, but I'm going to be completely reconfiguring the network setup and will hopefully get to the bottom of the issue soon.

Still, this might be an interesting unit to have a look see at if you're not married to another playback software system, come fall of 2016....

[Bruceg]

Nad m-50.2 announced for august 2016

I have an m-50 and an m-52 digital vault to go with it and while I agree with your high opinion of the nad hardware, the Blusound software is simply too problem-prone to be recommended. My m-50 has *also* stopped connecting to the network just like your has. I am working with nad to resolve this problem which was apparently precipitated by a recent software "update." That error (or some other recently introduced one) has rendered my m-52 vault invisible to the software, making the hard drive useless. This is inexcusable with dedicated hardware and software that was functioning properly prior to the software update.

Blusound is a new organization and they are doing their best I guess, but this is not the first serious problem I've had as a result of downloading new Blusound software and i will be avoiding new audio products that are software-dependent as a result of this. Anything at all complex with software is inevitably a pain in the butt. I listen to music to relax, and messing with software is never relaxing to me, though i suppose it is to some.

[wkhanna]

V sorry to hear of your troubles....

..... i will be avoiding new audio products that are software-dependent as a result of this.........

this may prove a daunting task as the microprocessor continues to permeate every consumer product in the audio market.

[Brucetheg]

V sorry to hear of your troubles....



this may prove a daunting task as the microprocessor continues to permeate every consumer product in the audio market.

True, but the end-user doesn't need to be forced into software maintenance. I'm now looking at Bryston's digital players because they can use a web-based interface or a simple remote control and no software downloading or updating is required. Its ironic (and annoying) that NAD used all their tech saavy to build the RAID technology into their system, and that seems to work well, but the underlying software is as problem-prone as conventional hard-disk systems. I.e., now instead of the hard disk causing me downtime, its the software update process. I must say however, that both Bluesound and NAD tech support are being very helpful - they now have my M-50 for warranty repair, since The unit may have a hardware problem beyond the software.

[Brucetheg]

?... I must say however, that both Bluesound and NAD tech support are being very helpful - they now have my M-50 for warranty repair, since The unit may have a hardware problem beyond the software.

Got my M-50 back and it is working properly, but a lot of work went into setting up playlists and, despite being backed up, they have all been lost (due to a board change neccesitating a new device name), along with other setup data that is time-consuming (and frustrating) to re-create. So the bottom line for me is the NAD/Bluesound support staff is great, and the music backup system is great, but the software is far from great and you can still find yourself re-doing a lot of your initial inputting. Sound quality has remained excellent, throughout, i must say.

Bruce

[JonMarsh]

Glad to hear you've gotten yours back and things are working OK for you and still sounding good...

I haven't had time to work on my M50, I'm going to try the "reset to original software" command and see if I can get it to communicate again. I should probably contact NAD, but I suspect it's out of warranty by now- need to look into this. There's just been a lot of other things going on, and I also have to say I'm VERY pleased at the sonics and performance of the microRendu with Sonic Transporter combo (of course, that also has a now priced at $1895 Alpha USB hooked up to it, and a third party power supply for the Rendu, so it's not really an inexpensive setup. But I really like it, running with Roon...

[Steve Manning]

Glad to hear you've gotten yours back and things are working OK for you and still sounding good...

I haven't had time to work on my M50, I'm going to try the "reset to original software" command and see if I can get it to communicate again. I should probably contact NAD, but I suspect it's out of warranty by now- need to look into this. There's just been a lot of other things going on, and I also have to say I'm VERY pleased at the sonics and performance of the microRendu with Sonic Transporter combo (of course, that also has a now priced at $1895 Alpha USB hooked up to it, and a third party power supply for the Rendu, so it's not really an inexpensive setup. But I really like it, running with Roon...

Certainly a case of you trying hard ...... because the add on's are certainly cheating.

[Brucetheg]

Certainly a case of you trying hard ...... because the add on's are certainly cheating.

Here's how you can re-establish wi-fi on the M-50: You must force a hard re-boot after disconnecting the player's ethernet cable from your router. This should force the player to re-set using the wi-fi connection, which apparently is disabled anytime the ethernet Cable is plugged in. This despite choosing "Enable wi-fi" from the players menu. Clearly a bug as support walked me through the process, but you couldn't get the guy to utter the word bug for *anything*. Once you have re-established the wi-fi connection in this way, the system performs well, but toggling back and forth between ethernet and wi-fi is not practical unless and until Blusound fix this.

Sounds great either way, but what a pain!

Bruce

[JonMarsh]

Thanks very much- you've probably saved me a great deal of time...

[Brucetheg]

The most interesting thing to me about the M-50.2 is the inclusion of an *analog* input on the rear panel. The question is whether this is simply used for streaming via the M-50.2, or will it permit ripping of LPs directly to the M-50.2 hard drive. Right now, I have to use a external CD recorder to record an LP to CD-R, then that CD-R can be inserted into my M-50 and the LP can be transferred to the hard drive. But all meta data has to be keyed in by hand,of course. As far as I know, only Roon is capable of expanding fragmentary meta data into a complete listing automatically. But just being able to get LPs more easily onto the hard drive is very helpful, if this is actually supported.

[Brucetheg]

Getting the m-50 to communicate

Glad to hear you've gotten yours back and things are working OK for you and still sounding good...

I haven't had time to work on my M50, I'm going to try the "reset to original software" command and see if I can get it to communicate again. I should probably contact NAD, but I suspect it's out of warranty by now- need to look into this...

I've continued to have problems with my M-50/52 temporarily losing its data, particularly after memeory-intensive operations like backing up long playlists on-the-fly. May have finally solved the problem with a Bluesound tech who lead me to the advanced wireless configuration screens of my TP-Link modem and a value for the Beacon interval was changed from 100 to 50, and the boxes for Enable WMM and Enable Power save Support were deselected. Initially, at least, this seems to have resolved the problem of the Bluesound app periodically losing it completely. Excellent support, but only after I almost jumped out the window in frustration! Hopefully this resolves the problem permenently and maybe its useful info to you.

[wkhanna]

my gosh.
i certainly respect your tenacity (& skill).

[Bruceg]

my gosh.
i certainly respect your tenacity (& skill).

Finally got the NAD M50/52 (along with a Simaudio Moon 300D dac) and the Bluesound software to remain stable while playing very large (>2,000 somgs) playlists, along with their associated meta-data. This had been a major problem for the software for two years! At the same time I've been doing this, I've also been tweaking my VPI Aries with a Rega RB-300 and a Shelter 501. Generally, I listen to the M-50/52 and am very happy with the sound compared to other digital systems I've heard. A short time ago, Dire Straits' "Settin' Me Up?" came up on random play. This is a cut I like and know well. I have the Vertigo audiophile remasterings of *both* the LP and the CD. I like the cut so much that I was inspired to get up and load the vinyl onto the turntable and listen. This turned out closer than I expected, but the vinyl definitely sounded better. A bit more detail and presence throughout, and consequently a "closer" perspective on the music. Sort of wish it didn't turn out this way. Guess I need a better DAC?

Bruce

[JonMarsh]

Now, you know, there is pretty much always something better out there... at some point, any of us have to draw a line and say, "well, this is good enough- I'm getting the emotional engagement I want from the music and there is no point to going further (in this system).

OTOH, if you want to be abusive to yourself, go find a dealer that is able to demo a Berkley Audio RS2 DAC. Preferably with a clock stabilizer like the latest Mutec's in front of it, or if you use a USB source, at least use the Berkley Alpha USB as the interface to the RS2. Better yet, get a Sonore Signature Rendu 2, and render to it with Roon over ethernet to feed the RS2. If you want to go that same basic path, try a dCS Network bridge as the interface; it's relatively reasonably priced for what it does ($4250)

https://www.audiostream.com/content/dcs-network-bridge

Then get back to us about whether you need or want a new DAC.... :W

It really is unfortunate that the software side of the M50/M50.2 is as brittle in performance as it is; when it works, it generally works very well, as regards playback quality for the price. And the interface is OK... unless like me, you tried out Roon last year.