NAD C 399 HybridDigital DAC Amplifier

[Alexx]

Good morning.

A technical information please.

I have a pair of Focal 906 on loan to connect to my Nad C399 to be able to make a direct comparison with my Dali, I connected the Focal on output "B" Dali on output "A" what is wrong and that always sound both pairs of speakers?

If I press speaker "A" from the remote control, both pairs are deactivated and reactivated, same thing if I press speaker "B"

If I remove the positive of the speaker "A" I hear the Focal on output "B" if I remove the positive of the speaker "B" I hear the Dali on output "A".

So the outputs work but why with both speakers connected is there no way to switch between speakers?

The amplifier is described with double speaker output "A-B" and also on the remote control there are the "Speaker A-Speaker B" keys to be able to choose which of the two speakers.

Is it a fault? the appliance is about 1 month old
Thanks in advance and best regards.

 

[NTK]

Good morning.

A technical information please.

I have a pair of Focal 906 on loan to connect to my Nad C399 to be able to make a direct comparison with my Dali, I connected the Focal on output "B" Dali on output "A" what is wrong and that always sound both pairs of speakers?

If I press speaker "A" from the remote control, both pairs are deactivated and reactivated, same thing if I press speaker "B"

If I remove the positive of the speaker "A" I hear the Focal on output "B" if I remove the positive of the speaker "B" I hear the Dali on output "A".

So the outputs work but why with both speakers connected is there no way to switch between speakers?

The amplifier is described with double speaker output "A-B" and also on the remote control there are the "Speaker A-Speaker B" keys to be able to choose which of the two speakers.

Is it a fault? the appliance is about 1 month old
Thanks in advance and best regards.

This is from the manual (page 10). So I don't think the C 399 has the necessary circuitry to independently switch on/off the two sets of speaker outputs.

 

[pogo]

Is it a fault?

No. That's why the C399 has a very high damping factor, see also here: Link

 

[Alexx]

Thanks guys for the tip.

Pecacto I had taken a pair of speakers to use it only with the TV movies (more detail than the dali).

Too bad that I will not be able to use it and not have known it before ...

Anyway, a high damping factor seems like a good thing to me exactly?
Thanks again.

 

[Julioale]

Is it normal for the volume to be low up to 50%? and then the increase is more drasctic. In my old NAD 375 Class A it never exceeded 40% and now I need 60% of volumen.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Is it normal for the volume to be low up to 50%? and then the increase is more drasctic.

Absolutely... This is basic principle of digital volume control using dB scale.

AsIn my old NAD 375 Class A it never exceeded 40% and now I need 60% of volumen.

It wasn't Class A and no, you cannot compare two amps by looking at knob position to evaluate their respective power.

 

[Marktrix]

Hi,

did anyone tested the lipsync function of the HDMI-eARC connection?

Is there a delay?

Best Regards

 

[pogo]

Do you have a delay and if so, is it greater than 50ms?
Do you have the BluOS MDC installed?

 

[Marktrix]

Do you have a delay and if so, is it greater than 50ms?
Do you have the BluOS MDC installed?

Great questions. But i am looking forward to buy the c389 or c399 with MDC2 installed. So i am concerned about the lipsync functionallity, because i read about it in the bluesound community. Maybe in here are users that can report there experiences.

 

[MaxBuck]

Great questions. But i am looking forward to buy the c389 or c399 with MDC2 installed. So i am concerned about the lipsync functionallity, because i read about it in the bluesound community. Maybe in here are users that can report there experiences.

This is not directly applicable, but maybe some value. I currently run my TV's digital audio signal through my Node using HDMI-ARC and thence out to my Topping D30Pro DAC and NAD C298 power amp and on to speakers. There is no time delay between audio and video when watching TV. Effectively I'm using the Node as an audio interface when doing so.

 

[gofry]

Hi,
Did anyone setup the C399/88/98 BluOS version as an external amp to an AVR system?
I want to connect my AVR's (yamaha, so not so powerful preout) preouts to the Nad and use it as an external amp for the fronts.
Is there any delay between the fronts and the center?

 

[cdkpdx]

Here is another question. I have a 399 I bought in the states and I'm wondering if there is an easy way to adapt it to the UK? It sounds like these amps aren't much available in the UK/Europe so I'm curious whether I can bring mine over to our place in the UK? It seems like the amp may need to be dual voltage, but already I'm over my head. And guidance would be appreciated. Thx

 

[claudiolo]

Hi,
Did anyone setup the C399/88/98 BluOS version as an external amp to an AVR system?
I want to connect my AVR's (yamaha, so not so powerful preout) preouts to the Nad and use it as an external amp for the fronts.
Is there any delay between the fronts and the center?

yes I did,

my actual configuration is NAD399 and denon avr -x3800h
The nad control the stereo tower and denon all other sound devices.
I connected the denon with nad with the pre out (denon) and line 1 in nad.
With the autosource when i turn on the denon after few seconds the nad turn on.

 

[Ggont]

Hello. Just got this amp. I still have my denon pma 600ne. I thought I was going to be blown away by it. Not so.

The bass seems to be lacking extension compared to denon. Also increasing bass from tone control doesn't seem to do much. I don't speak "audiophile" so will try to describe best I can. Denon had bass but it wasn't very well controlled and sounded boomy. Nad is the opposite. Very well controlled but lacks depth/extension.

Anyone else noticed this? I am using monitor audio silver 500.

Also is there a bug in source output? I get source } instead of source 1. Minor issue but makes me wonder about qc

 

[pogo]

Anyone else noticed this? I am using monitor audio silver 500.

Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 37/36/33 (Denon)
Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 165/159/80 (NAD)

The NAD should sound more controlled and also be able to extract more details in the upper range (speaker dependent).

 

[Ggont]

Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 37/36/33 (Denon)
Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 165/159/80 (NAD)

The NAD should sound more controlled and also be able to extract more details in the upper range (speaker dependent).

Yes. Nad is more detailed. But does this explain why the bass is lacking? Did many back to back listening tests and it is clear. Nad is more than 4x more powerfull and 4x more expensive.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 37/36/33 (Denon)
Damping factor at 4 ohm (63Hz/1kHz/14kHz): 165/159/80 (NAD)

The NAD should sound more controlled and also be able to extract more details in the upper range (speaker dependent).

Really?

Please see this for example.

Audio Myth - "Damping Factor Isn't Much of a Factor"

Myth - "Damping Factor Isn't Much of a Factor" Myth - "A Damping Factor of 10 is High Enough" Myth - "All Amplifiers Have a High-Enough Damping Factor" Where did these Myths Originate? These myths seem to trace back to a well-known paper (PDF) written by Dick Pierce. His analysis shows that a...

benchmarkmedia.com

 

[pogo]

But does this explain why the bass is lacking?

The bass is not lacking, but is reproduced at the correct volume and the swing out behavior of the chassis is reduced, which in turn stimulates the room modes less, i.e. closer to the original signal, since there is less unwanted sound energy in the room
Deficient loudspeakers or bookshelf speakers can benefit subjectively from a lower DF.

 

[Ggont]

The bass is not missing, but is reproduced at the correct volume and the swing out behavior of the chassis is reduced, which in turn stimulates the room modes less, i.e. closer to the original signal, since there is less unwanted sound energy in the room
Deficient loudspeakers or bookshelf speakers can benefit subjectively from a lower DF.

Was expecting that this would be the response. However, people have individual preferences. Would expect increasing bass in tone control to fix that though. Getting another amp ab to compare.

 

[pogo]

Do you have the Dirac Live option?