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I'm not sure if "auto-mute" is the correct term for it. But you know like how a lot of Bluetooth devices will gate to silence if there is no sound, and then when the sound starts back up, there's a delay of a second or so? It's infuriating, but I assume there must be some sort of reason for it. Like, the DAC doesn't know how to interpolate no signal? To mask noise? I'm just spitballing here; if anyone knows I'm curious.
Anyway, I recently took ownership of a (new to me) NAD T757. For the most part I like a lot of things about it. But my feelings about it turned sour very quickly when trying sources through the HDMI and Optical inputs. Basically, it does that same "auto-mute" I was talking about. At first I thought maybe I had hooked something up wrong, or there was something wrong with the source. But no, anything sending a digital signal to the receiver had the same annoying 1/2-second hesitation at the beginning of songs--especially prevalent when switching tracks, but it even was showing up in tracks that just had a bit of silence between them. Sure you could argue "what's a half-second between friends?" But that first attack is what MAKES a lot of songs (ie: you might have heard of a somewhat obscure Beatles song called "A Hard Day's Night") I mean sure, once the song is running you don't think about it anymore, but it's kind of like every meal you eat at a restaurant already has a bite out of it.
Pardon my french, but WTAF is this? This is a $1500+ receiver, not a cheapo Bluetooth box you bring to the beach. I looked back at some reviews of the receiver when it came out and the reviewers did notice this exact phenomenon, but basically shrugged it off. Then I dug deeper and found similar complains on DACs on McIntosh recievers--devices that cost several times more than a NAD. Like how are people not going to the manufacturers with pitchforks? Some guys on message boards were like, "the mute/delay went away when I used an outboard DAC." Like, do you hear yourself!?!? You just spent thousands of dollars on this receiver; it ought to be able to play a bit of silence if that's what's in the recording. Why even include Coax/Optical/HDMI inputs of we have to use an outboard DAC?!? I have 20 year-old receivers that can handle the silence just fine without auto-muting!
Anyway, I recently took ownership of a (new to me) NAD T757. For the most part I like a lot of things about it. But my feelings about it turned sour very quickly when trying sources through the HDMI and Optical inputs. Basically, it does that same "auto-mute" I was talking about. At first I thought maybe I had hooked something up wrong, or there was something wrong with the source. But no, anything sending a digital signal to the receiver had the same annoying 1/2-second hesitation at the beginning of songs--especially prevalent when switching tracks, but it even was showing up in tracks that just had a bit of silence between them. Sure you could argue "what's a half-second between friends?" But that first attack is what MAKES a lot of songs (ie: you might have heard of a somewhat obscure Beatles song called "A Hard Day's Night") I mean sure, once the song is running you don't think about it anymore, but it's kind of like every meal you eat at a restaurant already has a bite out of it.
Pardon my french, but WTAF is this? This is a $1500+ receiver, not a cheapo Bluetooth box you bring to the beach. I looked back at some reviews of the receiver when it came out and the reviewers did notice this exact phenomenon, but basically shrugged it off. Then I dug deeper and found similar complains on DACs on McIntosh recievers--devices that cost several times more than a NAD. Like how are people not going to the manufacturers with pitchforks? Some guys on message boards were like, "the mute/delay went away when I used an outboard DAC." Like, do you hear yourself!?!? You just spent thousands of dollars on this receiver; it ought to be able to play a bit of silence if that's what's in the recording. Why even include Coax/Optical/HDMI inputs of we have to use an outboard DAC?!? I have 20 year-old receivers that can handle the silence just fine without auto-muting!