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NAD C 399 HybridDigital DAC Amplifier

nick-v

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Very interesting product! Hopefully it's measurements will be more similar to M33 rather than C658.
 

holbob

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Who did you sleep with to get all of this 650 pound? or is it audiophile math?

Audiophile maths would be adding money, not taking away surely. I got lucky with the DDRC-24 - wasn't charged customs when ordered 2x4HD, and currency conversion came to £143 when I upgraded it to Dirac.
 

Jone5

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Agree it's not cheap.

On the other hand, if you want an integrated DAC/amp with Dirac/Bass management, dual subwoofer, HDMI, phono, and wireless streaming, (and I think a lot of people DO want all those things) then I think it's still the cheapest option on the market?

Although that's more of a criticism of the market than anything else. It's such a good feature set it's wild that someone like Rotel isn't offering a comparable product to offer more competition. Nad are basically competing with themselves.

Can someone confirm that the bass management in C399 can be used without enabling dirac? I would like to have the control of the subwoofer-mains low/highpass without having to actually run dirac. This was at least possible with NAD M10. Manual of the amp without the bluos module does not mention any bass management options (https://nadelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/C399-OM-EN-v11.pdf) and the functionality presumably is enabled with the BluOS module.
 

NewShoes

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Can someone confirm that the bass management in C399 can be used without enabling dirac? I would like to have the control of the subwoofer-mains low/highpass without having to actually run dirac. This was at least possible with NAD M10. Manual of the amp without the bluos module does not mention any bass management options (https://nadelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/C399-OM-EN-v11.pdf) and the functionality presumably is enabled with the BluOS module.
Not sure on answer to that question, but out of curiosity what’s prompting you to replace an m10 with the c399? Is it just for the increased wattage?
 

Jone5

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Not sure on answer to that question, but out of curiosity what’s prompting you to replace an m10 with the c399? Is it just for the increased wattage?
You are sort of correct :D My M10 broke down and I'm looking for a replacement. Something in the SMPS section of the Hypex amp module gave up (large capacitor melted and probably shorted), so the increased wattage/reserve is one of the reasons. (Unfortunately) NAD is pretty much dominating the market with this type of products or at least they have one of the most appealing combos feature and fidelity wise (BlueOS, Dirac, ESS dacs, decent amp modules).

New M33 is out of my budget and would be my first choice, especially now that people have confirmed that the distortion issue is sorted with the recent FW update (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-streaming-amplifier-review.17302/post-988381).
 

abdo123

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Can you get Dirac live bass control via an upgrade? Or are these subwoofer outs just have a generic analog low pass filter.
 

Jone5

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Can you get Dirac live bass control via an upgrade? Or are these subwoofer outs just have a generic analog low pass filter.
That's what I'm wondering as well. The MDC2 BluOS-D module page ( https://nadelectronics.com/nad-launches-mdc2-bluos-d-module/ ) says: "The all-new MDC2 architecture allows signals to be passed back and forth between module and host component.", so maybe they can route the fullrange signal in to the module and route the high/lowpassed signal to specified outputs in the amp back plate (multiple dacs needed?).
 
D

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Looks like it's getting close to shipping now. The NAD website now has the manual available for download.

I've pre-ordered one, hopefully it will be arriving soon. :)
 

minus3dB

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Outputting 180 W in 8 Ohm for a nc252mp is not conservative at all ;). I guess there is a typo somewhere.
Hypex specifies the max output into 8 ohms as 150 and being voltage-limited at that output. That's assuming NAD in this case has provided sufficient thermal conductivity to dissipate about 60 watts of heat continuously. So yes, 180 into 8 ohms is not conservative at all and suggests to me that NAD used their own SMPS design to overcome the voltage limitation. Hypex's thermal dissipation curves go up to about 210 W power output into 8 ohms with some additional heat dissipation. Is that the way you interpret it?
 

boXem

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Hypex specifies the max output into 8 ohms as 150 and being voltage-limited at that output. That's assuming NAD in this case has provided sufficient thermal conductivity to dissipate about 60 watts of heat continuously. So yes, 180 into 8 ohms is not conservative at all and suggests to me that NAD used their own SMPS design to overcome the voltage limitation. Hypex's thermal dissipation curves go up to about 210 W power output into 8 ohms with some additional heat dissipation. Is that the way you interpret it?
The power supply is integrated in the nc252mp.
 

pablolie

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NAD always claims to modify something in the Hypex architecture, supposedly somewhere in the power feed. I owned an M22 until recently and it was the same thing: Hypex combined with NAD mods according to their claims. I think some teardowns validated the claim. Either way the units measure very well.
 

minus3dB

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NAD always claims to modify something in the Hypex architecture, supposedly somewhere in the power feed. I owned an M22 until recently and it was the same thing: Hypex combined with NAD mods according to their claims. I think some teardowns validated the claim. Either way the units measure very well.
What did you replace the M22 with? That's a pretty good amp.
 

pablolie

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What did you replace the M22 with? That's a pretty good amp.
I should have stated that I still own it -along with a Benchmark DAC2 HGC I use with it as a preamp- but they are in storage. I sold my place and now roam temporarily in an apartment, where I feed my large room with cathedral ceilings perfectly fine with:

Squeezebox Boom (Digital Streamer) -Optical Coax-> NAD D7050 Digital Amp -> KEF LS50 + Velodyne MiniVeee sub

I set it up quite effectively using Dirac for positioning and bass fine-tuning (no EQ though), and it sounds pretty sublime. It will do perfectly fine until I move, perhaps even permanently...?
 
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Rottmannash

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Outputting 180 W in 8 Ohm for a nc252mp is not conservative at all . I guess there is a typo somewhere. Why would the power figures be identical at both 4 and8 ohms?
 

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Rottmannash

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They must have been more conservative in the continuous rating because of heat, but the instantaneous power gives it away. "It can deliver 180 Watts per channel continuous power, and 250 Watts per channel instantaneous power" Into 8 ohms?
 

Rottmannash

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I like that they rated it down to 2 ohm even going as far as 1 ohm for 1ms. Overall the specsheet is a respectable read. Yeah the modules thing is a gotcha. Where did you see 2 ohms?
 

cdkpdx

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I'm interested in a one box streaming integrated with dsp, so the 399 is hopeful. Still seems like we may be paying for R&D or somewhat early adapters with the pricing of these features. Read the first review I've come across of this today, sadly no objective testing.
Luckily I'm not in a hurry and will continue to use my power node in the meantime. Which sounds fine, especially at lower volume levels. Obviously not for handling higher dynamics. Though my Harbeth C7 XD at least are relatively easy load to drive.
 

Rottmannash

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I'm interested in a one box streaming integrated with dsp, so the 399 is hopeful. Still seems like we may be paying for R&D or somewhat early adapters with the pricing of these features. Read the first review I've come across of this today, sadly no objective testing.
Luckily I'm not in a hurry and will continue to use my power node in the meantime. Which sounds fine, especially at lower volume levels. Obviously not for handling higher dynamics. Though my Harbeth C7 XD at least are relatively easy load to drive.
early adopters? I believe NAD has several streamer/amp combos using Hypex amplification. Not exactly reinventing their wheel.
 
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