• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

NAD C658 Streaming DAC Review

Jhify

Active Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
127
Likes
98
I was very close to purchasing this unit several times. After seeing the disappointing bench test results of the NAD T758 V3 I sent in, I just couldn’t trust NAD without seeing it measured first. It has a great feature list, a shame it doestn’t measure better, but not surprising unfortunately. However it does have a ton of functionality which could be quite useful in the right setup. Really strange the digital inputs wouldn’t work. Thanks to Amir for the measurements and to the owner that sent it in.

Same, but I found better solution for my needs. A mac with audirvana. I can stream tidal and have dirac live room correction and remote it from my smartphone or laptop. Then you can just hook it up to any DAC/Preamp you'd like with the features you need and measurements that suits you.
You could have a look at the mini SHD as well. It has streaming, dirac live, many inputs and outputs and sub management you can tailor for you needs.
 

georgeT

Member
Joined
May 9, 2019
Messages
94
Likes
101
Location
Romania
You could build a small HTPC with a Creative AE-5 sound board and have 6 channels to play around. NAD is banking on people too lazy to do their research.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jam

BDWoody

Chief Cat Herder
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
6,948
Likes
22,625
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
NAD is banking on people too lazy to do their research.

I think that's a good summary of the entire 'high end audio' world.
 

Mnyb

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Messages
2,640
Likes
3,609
Location
Sweden, Västerås
Thanks for the review.

I have this unit in our living room setup and it is plagued by horrendous software. Subwoofer outputs have level issues, plopping sounds when changing tracks, some sort of occasional phantom noise...
Networking issues...
See lengthy complaint thread in AVS forum....

Stay away from this unit - headless panther tells it all.

Pity it does not work , otherwise an ideal concept
 

Koeitje

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
2,292
Likes
3,880
@amirm if its a factory refurb, could it be that they just put a broken unit back in circulation?
 

Jim777

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
May 28, 2019
Messages
124
Likes
203
Location
Greater Boston
This website has been a God send. First, there was something I didn't like about my system and I wasn't suspecting the Oppo, and I wasn't going to believe the local audio dealer that told me so. Well @amirm gave me the truth about it that I could trust. Then I considered this NAD the dealer proposed, but I wasn't ready to risk something without measurements this time, so I ended up with an RME that I love, it just has been sounding great on everything. Now that I see these measurements, I see that I dodged a bullet. Thanks 1000x @amirm for all the hard work, I'm getting so much more value here than my small monthly contribution.
 

ex audiophile

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 28, 2017
Messages
635
Likes
805
Like Hephaestus I bought one of these new, and I also found the software interface sucked and I noticed popping, but not pooping or plopping noises. The overall performance was inconsistent (sometimes coming on, sometimes not) so I returned it to Amazon. Looks like it was a wise choice indeed. Thanks Amir
 

Sorwis

New Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2020
Messages
2
Likes
8
Thank you for the measurements!

Two months ago, after a rather lengthy consideration, I bought this device used for just shy of 1200€. Accepting the modest reported specs from the start I'm satisfied with the unit delivering the advertised performance. I would've liked to see the headphone and phono preamp measurements as I'd presume that those would be the low points of the device. My personal reason for choosing the C658 was really the set of features it combines. It's a true one-box solution for my living room as I dislike fiddling around with multiple dedicated devices and remotes. I have connected my TV, CD-player, turntable and an old radio receiver to this single device. I use it daily for streaming music (mainly Spotify) and occasionally to stream from a network source. The room correction was a must have feature for me. I'm using it with a pair of active monitors (Genelec G Fives) and I haven't encountered any major problems with the operation. While I'm content with the purchase I'm still keeping my eyes open for comparable devices.
 

Vindermere

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2020
Messages
39
Likes
29
Thanks for the review.

I have this unit in our living room setup and it is plagued by horrendous software. Subwoofer outputs have level issues, plopping sounds when changing tracks, some sort of occasional phantom noise...
Networking issues...
See lengthy complaint thread in AVS forum....

Stay away from this unit - headless panther tells it all.
I can confirm, many bugs with this product like nad avr.
 

RichB

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 24, 2019
Messages
1,946
Likes
2,611
Location
Massachusetts
Are there NAD products that test well?

I am still looking for a reasonably priced <2K Roon streamer/dac for my game room. The Matrix Element i was close but, subjectively, was not as resolving as the Oppo UDP-205 when during level matched with a Fluke Meter using Roon to to simultaneously stream to both devices.

- Rich
 

Dj7675

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
2,116
Likes
2,781
Are there NAD products that test well?

I am still looking for a reasonably priced <2K Roon streamer/dac for my game room. The Matrix Element i was close but, subjectively, was not as resolving as the Oppo UDP-205 when during level matched with a Fluke Meter using Roon to to simultaneously stream to both devices.

- Rich
Have you tried the Minidsp SHD?
 

amadeuswus

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 8, 2019
Messages
277
Likes
265
Location
Massachusetts
Thanks Amir for this review. As a one-man operation, he seems to be measuring/reviewing gear at the rate of operations like Stereophile/Absolute Sound--or waaaay beyond. How this is possible I can't imagine.

I had my eye on this NAD component for a while ... moving on.
 
Last edited:

RichB

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 24, 2019
Messages
1,946
Likes
2,611
Location
Massachusetts
<checks specs and measurement :facepalm:.
My guy, what are you even doing here?

Measurements are like a resume, you need a good one for consideration.
Roon endpoint was not measured by ASR but I reserve the right to do level matched comparisons and make up my own mind.
For my application, I made a determination with more rigor than most ;)

- Rich
 

RichB

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
May 24, 2019
Messages
1,946
Likes
2,611
Location
Massachusetts

Koeitje

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
2,292
Likes
3,880
Are there NAD products that test well?

I am still looking for a reasonably priced <2K Roon streamer/dac for my game room. The Matrix Element i was close but, subjectively, was not as resolving as the Oppo UDP-205 when during level matched with a Fluke Meter using Roon to to simultaneously stream to both devices.

- Rich
Yes, their amplifiers are pretty good. Anything that has digital stuff going on they seem to fuck up. Their Master series amplifiers use NCore and Purify, but even their class A/B integrated amplifiers are pretty good.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...surements-of-nad-c-320bee-pwr-amplifier.8504/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iew-and-measurements-of-nad-m27-pwr-amp.9036/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-measurements-of-nad-7050-streaming-amp.6983/ (DAC section is fucked, but the amplifier is not too bad)
 

Mnyb

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Messages
2,640
Likes
3,609
Location
Sweden, Västerås
Thanks for the heads up on minidsp the SHD was new to me . btw have not performance been a mixed bag here at ASR tested minidsp products has have some problems ? is there any third party test on the SHD .
At least they are probably better then NAD :)
 

Koeitje

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
2,292
Likes
3,880
Top Bottom