NAD C658 Streaming DAC Review

[Jhify]

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]

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.

 

[BDWoody]

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]

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

 

[Soniclife]

It still missing a feature , very close to be the kind of product i want .

DAC/Preamp with room correction + EQ and subwofer output , why no sub out ?

Look at the miniDSP SHD.

 

[Koeitje]

@amirm if its a factory refurb, could it be that they just put a broken unit back in circulation?

 

[BurgerCheese]

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

Maybe time for a quartered panther.

 

[Jim777]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[georgeT]

The Matrix Element i was close but, subjectively, was not as resolving as the Oppo UDP-205
- Rich

<checks specs and measurement .
My guy, what are you even doing here?

 

[RichB]

<checks specs and measurement .
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]

Have you tried the Minidsp SHD?

Thanks for the tip!
It looks interesting.

- Rich

 

[Koeitje]

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]

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]

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

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-minidsp-shd-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/