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NAD M33 Streaming Amplifier Review

doorofnight

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Because, as far as I understand, fronts will then be fed a full range signal and I like them being cutt off for better imaging/focus and less distortion at higher volumes. I like the overall sound better (cleaner) when the fronts are dedicated to mid and high frequencies and the subs for low freqs.

Also, again as I understand now, DIRAC will see the L-Sub and L-Front as One unit, and the R-sub and R-Front as the other unit. I am not sure if this will be better for SQ (phase, delays)?
 

pogo

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If you want to use a SUb under DL without the disortion problem, it might also help to lower the overall target curve in the text editor by 3dB or even less.
 

vanwalsum

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I hear some minor distortion in soms tracks with replay gain disabled also. So I am not sure this is the same issue.

My general opinion about the NAD M33 is that is a formidable amplifier, DIRAC limited is doing a very good job (my UMIK is faulty, this is why I had dissapointing results) and my unit is stable up to now. What I like is that it is quiet easy to turn subwoofers off and have the fronts fullrange and corrected by DIRAC. The sound (my Epicons are "full range") is slightly better with subwoofers, but very doable without. When I listen to an album that causes distortion I simply turn off the subwoofers and I am fine, but still expecting NAD to solve this issue. Still, yet, very dissapointed in NAD. My Lyngdorf gear never had any distortion errors.
Hi! How did you find out your Umik was faulty? I also liked the Dirac results more with the suplied mic.
 

doorofnight

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Hi! How did you find out your Umik was faulty? I also liked the Dirac results more with the suplied mic.

I am quiet new to DIRAC (I am used to use REW for measurements and creating filters) and I didn't understand the volume calibration because using the bar on the main volume didn't seem to have any effect on the measured volume. After I ruled out that I was doing something wrong, I changed it for the the NAD microphone I noticed that suddenly the software made sense.

After remeasuring with the NAD mic the sound is excellent. Great soundstage and exact pinpoint in voices.

Also, when I used the UMIK and then measured the results in REW with and without DIRAC I noticed loss of volume up to 200 Hz. It was a very strange measurement. The UMIK is OK with REW, though. But somehow faulty with the NAD M33. I must explore this further in the future.. It might be me. And yes, I use the correct calibration file for the UMIK and I follow the instructions and point the mic to the ceiling.

It must be me, I can be quiet chaotic when I have little time to explore new software.
 

Remko_K

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Jan 11, 2022
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Hi, I'm looking to buy the m33, I am demoing the unit now vs the model 40n. I noticed the m33 doesn't turn on or off with HDMI earc(LG remote). The input on the m33 also doesn't change to HDMI automatically, the 40n does these things without any issues. I am using a LG C1, any ideas?
Did you enable "Auto Sense" for the HDMI ARC input of the M33? It works fine with my Philips tv.
 

pogo

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Open your preferred target curve file in the operating system text editor. There you will see a list of frequency and amplitude values. Now simply reduce these amplitude values by 3dB each as an example. Then save this file under a different name and apply it.

You must not be in Auto Target Curve mode, but must select the classic surface.
 

Calou

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I hear some minor distortion in soms tracks with replay gain disabled also. So I am not sure this is the same issue.

My general opinion about the NAD M33 is that is a formidable amplifier, DIRAC limited is doing a very good job (my UMIK is faulty, this is why I had dissapointing results) and my unit is stable up to now. What I like is that it is quiet easy to turn subwoofers off and have the fronts fullrange and corrected by DIRAC. The sound (my Epicons are "full range") is slightly better with subwoofers, but very doable without. When I listen to an album that causes distortion I simply turn off the subwoofers and I am fine, but still expecting NAD to solve this issue. Still, yet, very dissapointed in NAD. My Lyngdorf gear never had any distortion errors.
In the last release of Dirac there is mention of fix for faulty gain settings for Umik 1 usb on Mac OS. Maybe finally a plausible explanation for the troubles some of us experience with Gain and using Umik1.

Dirac Live®​

Dirac Live 3.3.3​

2022-05-12

Fixes

  • Software gain not applied correctly on UMIK-1 (USB-C version) on MacOS.
  • Crash that could occur in some situations after a position was measured.
  • Excessive wait on "Testing Connection to Servers".
  • Corrected curves lost when loading a project with DLBC.
  • New target curves not shown correctly when loading a project.
 

Markus27

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Hello everyone,

I am considering upgrading my system to a new M33.
Is it fair to say that now, with the latest upgrades, the majority of the issues are gone?

Also, if I wanted to go down a different route with discrete components, for example with NAD C298+ToppingD90SE+Bluesound Node N130, would it be much better as a choice in terms of sound quality? I understand that, by doing this, I will completely lose DIRAC, which seems to be a game changer particularly in difficult rooms (my living room is very difficult given the the light walls and significant resonance). I am really keen on buying a solution with DIRAC at this point.

Using a Powernode 2 today, I want to stick with the BlueOS, which I personally love for my needs.
Any feedback is welcome.

Thank you in advance
 

fcracer

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Hello everyone,

I am considering upgrading my system to a new M33.
Is it fair to say that now, with the latest upgrades, the majority of the issues are gone?

Also, if I wanted to go down a different route with discrete components, for example with NAD C298+ToppingD90SE+Bluesound Node N130, would it be much better as a choice in terms of sound quality? I understand that, by doing this, I will completely lose DIRAC, which seems to be a game changer particularly in difficult rooms (my living room is very difficult given the the light walls and significant resonance). I am really keen on buying a solution with DIRAC at this point.

Using a Powernode 2 today, I want to stick with the BlueOS, which I personally love for my needs.
Any feedback is welcome.

Thank you in advance
The only issue that remains is the intersample over issue where there isn't sufficient headroom under certain circumstances (poorly recorded music that results in samples being above 0db and with the subwoofer output turned on); this can be mitigated by turning on the tone controls which drops the overall volume by a few db. If you're not using the subwoofer output, then there are no issues. In regards to separates, I can't speak for the sound quality, but I can say that Dirac is the single biggest improvement I've made to my listening environment; it's remarkable technology and I wish I had come across it earlier in my audio journey.
 

slaweks

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The only issue that remains is the intersample over issue where there isn't sufficient headroom under certain circumstances (poorly recorded music that results in samples being above 0db and with the subwoofer output turned on); this can be mitigated by turning on the tone controls which drops the overall volume by a few db. If you're not using the subwoofer output, then there are no issues. In regards to separates, I can't speak for the sound quality, but I can say that Dirac is the single biggest improvement I've made to my listening environment; it's remarkable technology and I wish I had come across it earlier in my audio journey.
And M33 still does not have the full DLBC.
 

Markus27

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The only issue that remains is the intersample over issue where there isn't sufficient headroom under certain circumstances (poorly recorded music that results in samples being above 0db and with the subwoofer output turned on); this can be mitigated by turning on the tone controls which drops the overall volume by a few db. If you're not using the subwoofer output, then there are no issues. In regards to separates, I can't speak for the sound quality, but I can say that Dirac is the single biggest improvement I've made to my listening environment; it's remarkable technology and I wish I had come across it earlier in my audio journey.
Thank you. I won't be using a Subwoofer so it sounds a lot of things have fallen into place. DIRAC is something I want, if I wanted to look for an alternative to this integrated amplifier, is there anything you would recommend?
 

Markus27

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And M33 still does not have the full DLBC.
Thank you for this. Just googled it now:
"Bass and speaker performance have long suffered due to sound waves reflecting off of surfaces in rooms not designed for optimal home speaker performance. Home theater audio will sound more rich and precise than ever before thanks to DLBC’s intelligent processing. Dirac Live Bass Control uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to co-optimize the components of a sound system to deliver accurate, consistent bass throughout a room."

but foremost

"Bass performance suffers when the sound waves from speakers and subwoofers start to bounce around a room,"

That's exactly the issue I have with my current seetup, I wonder if the current DIRAC implementation in the M33 is good enough. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Thanks!
 

Alexanderc

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Thank you. I won't be using a Subwoofer so it sounds a lot of things have fallen into place. DIRAC is something I want, if I wanted to look for an alternative to this integrated amplifier, is there anything you would recommend?
Alternatives include NAD C399, upcoming NAD C389, NAD C658 + amp of your choice, minidsp shd + amp of your choice, or the Anthem STR integrated. All of these will be less expensive but have some trade offs.

If I had the funds and wasn’t using a sub, I’d go with the M33.
 

Markus27

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Alternatives include NAD C399, upcoming NAD C389, NAD C658 + amp of your choice, minidsp shd + amp of your choice, or the Anthem STR integrated. All of these will be less expensive but have some trade offs.

If I had the funds and wasn’t using a sub, I’d go with the M33.
Thanks. I will check to see which of them actually has Purifi Eigentakt™.
 

fcracer

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Thank you. I won't be using a Subwoofer so it sounds a lot of things have fallen into place. DIRAC is something I want, if I wanted to look for an alternative to this integrated amplifier, is there anything you would recommend?
The only other alternative is the Cambridge Audio EVO 150 but it lacks Dirac. I bought one for my other house as I couldn’t justify two M33s.
 
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